Thanking seniors, art close to home and Sers: What politicians are up to this week

SINGAPORE - The Straits Times looks at what politicians, and the politically related, are up to in this weekly series.

In this edition, some MPs celebrate the work of their predecessors, another puts art in the heartland, while the island's newest political party weighs in on the hot-button issue of the Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme (Sers).

Look out for the latest edition of the series every Friday, and check out past ones here.

The 20 former PAP MPs who stepped down at the last general election were honoured by the ruling party on Tuesday (July 12) with an appreciation dinner at Parliament House.

At the event, which saw a substantial turnout of about 100 party members including current MPs and party branch chairs, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong paid tribute to these former politicians and presented valedictory letters to them.

But PM Lee was not the only one who was handing out tokens of appreciation. Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong received a pencil case with artwork of Singapore's Civic District from his good friend, Manpower Minister Tan See Leng, who took over from him as MP for Marine Parade after GE 2020.

"Earlier, PM had written me a tribute letter for having served 44 years as an MP over 10 electoral terms," said ESM Goh on Facebook.

"I feel honoured for the trust and support that the party, Marine Parade residents and the people of Singapore had shown me."

As is tradition at such post-GE dinners, the newest crop of MPs prepared appreciation gifts for the MPs whom they succeeded.

This is a party tradition and is a token of respect and gratitude from the current generation to the previous generation, said Senior Minister of State for Finance and Transport Chee Hong Tat, who was chairman of the organising committee for the dinner.

Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth Alvin Tan said on Wednesday that he was asked by Ms Yeo Wan Ling (Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC) and Ms Rachel Ong (West Coast GRC) to perform a piano solo at the event.

"A room full of MPs and giants like MParader (ESM Goh) and Charles Chong. I'm not sure anyone could tell, but my pedal foot was trembling throughout my number," said Mr Tan in his Facebook post, which included a photo of him playing a medley of songs favoured by his mentor, Dr Lily Neo.

"We stand on the shoulders of these giants who served Singapore with dedication. We owe so much to them, and we will do our best to build upon what they have built," he said.

The 16,000 Facebook followers of Workers' Party MP Leon Perera (Aljunied GRC) may have noticed that he has been posting about eye-catching pieces of art adorning a few Housing Board void decks.

The first of his two visually arresting posts was made on July 9, in which he uploaded two photos of murals - one of a stork in profile, and another of what appears to be a heron crossing a stream in a forest.

"In a corner of Serangoon Avenue 4, a highly talented artist with a heart for building community bonds is painting walls at a few of the HDB block void decks. His work is in progress. I will share more about the artist and the project when it is completed," said Mr Perera.

And share more he did. On Thursday, Mr Perera made a second Facebook post where he uploaded more photos of the murals. Two other scenes were teased, along with a photo of a group of three people watching the artist at work.

A clue in one of the photos indicates that the mural artist is Mr Jacky Mak, who has been commissioned to paint the murals to celebrate the origins of the town's name, Serangoon.

Spelled Saranggong in old land grants, the name Serangoon is believed to be derived from the word "ranggong", a species of adjutant stork that once called Singapore home.

Mr Perera revealed that four blocks were being painted.

"The progress has been great. And our incredibly talented artist has shared that over 100 residents living in the area have come up to him to say hello, chat and watch him work. The friendliness of this community is awesome!" he said.

Singapore's youngest political party, the Singapore United Party (SUP), has weighed in on the ongoing discussions surrounding the Ang Mo Kio Sers exercise.

In a Facebook post on Monday, the party said that it had met with residents of Ang Mo Kio GRC to listen to those affected by the government acquisition exercise.

The issue has grabbed headlines since April, when it was announced that four HDB blocks in Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3 have been picked for Sers. Recently, it has been reported that some residents were unhappy with having to fork out up to $100,000 for a similarly sized replacement flat.

The SUP said that from its discussions with residents, the cost of moving appeared to be the topmost of concerns, followed by worries about the size of the new units.

"The residents touched on the smaller size of new units and (that) this may not facilitate gatherings... especially for three-tier families with children and grandchildren to congregate at any one time in the new household," said the party, which is led by former Reform Party (RP) chairman Andy Zhu.

The SUP said it also spoke to nearby residents who were not affected by Sers, and that they echoed similar sentiments as their neighbours.

"Together as one, we will stand by you and be your representative," pledged the SUP.

The SUP was formed by Mr Zhu together with seven other former RP members, and registered as a society on Dec 24, 2020.

An RP slate that included Mr Zhu and two other current SUP members faced off against the incumbent PAP team led by PM Lee in Ang Mo Kio GRC during GE 2020.

The PAP received 71.91 per cent of the vote share, and RP got 28.09 per cent.