Netizen Claimed Bukit Batok MP Lacked ‘Empathy’ But Deleted Her Post Later; MP Has Since Responded

During the election periods, you can expect a lot of drama to surface.

Like this one criticising Ivan Lim, or the ones about Shawn Huang throwing food and his surname.

Which conjures a lot of emotions in the affected parties, but also produces a lot of show for the popcorn gallery.

Today’s case on PAP’s Murali Pillai is actually pretty civil. In fact, it seems like it’s already privately settled. But hey, a good drama with a good ending is better than no drama.

One can even argue that dramas force your characters to grow stronger.

Anyway, here’s what happened.

27 June 2020: Netizen Recounted Two Occasions Being Let Down By MP Murali Pillai

In the netizen’s Facebook post, she wrote about her encounters with her MP in Bukit Batok, which made her seriously question if he is empathetic enough.

The Facebook post has since been removed (remember that we said this was privately settled).

Chua is in her early 20s with a complicated family background.

She lives with her mother, in her 60s, in a one-room rental flat. They are separated from her father, in his 70s, who was never married to her mother.

Additionally, she also has a grand aunt in her late 80s staying in another rental flat.

In this situation, Chua is required to provide for her three elderly loved ones, climbing the corporate ladder right after poly.

And here’s another problem: as she’s too young, and her parents are too old and without income/CPF, she can’t buy a flat to house her parents.

What… what a filial child. Give this woman a medal.

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Case 1: Meet-The-People Session: “Get Married”

So Chua went to MP Murali Pillai’s Meet the People Session, hoping that he’ll help her appeal to HDB.

Chua explained to him the unfortunate circumstances led to her parents’ non-marriage and that her parents lost their previous flats due to retrenchment and scams (it’s implied that the scammer scammed her mother of a flat), landing them in a rental.

But his alleged reply left her close to tears.

He had allegedly told her that she can only blame her parents for “not planning properly”, and that her only solution was “to get married”.

Then he had her escorted out as she is “clearly emotional”.

Left to her own devices, she appealed to HDB on her own but they (HDB) wanted proof that her mother didn’t own her past purchase and that she was scammed.

So she gave up.

Case 2: A Pipe Leak That Was Never Fixed

Last year November, a rental unit directly below Chua’s unit caught fire, and her neighbour died, being trapped in the flat.

Apparently, SCDF could not access the water source as the fire hose was locked.

Jurong-Clementi Town Council said that this was the fault of an external contractor.

The fire burnt through drain covers and caused the pipes in Chua’s unit to leak. Even the corridor of the surrounding units of the burnt flat remained grey from the fire.

Although the MP had told residents that he will have people looking in this, nothing was done weeks after the fire even with residents reaching out to the town council.

Which is to say, nothing was done for more than half a year from Nov 2019 to June 2020.

But MPMP Replied

In his Facebook post, MPMP mentioned that people have contacted him over Chua’s Facebook post.

He spoke to Chua to understand her situation and find out how he can help her, and “assured her that she need not change her opinion” of him.

The details of her case, as mutually agreed, will be kept confidential. He asks everybody to respect Chua’s privacy.

As Chua’s post is now removed, we can assume that her situation looks to be improved.

Perhaps the lesson learnt here is to not bring problems to MPS but to bring them to Facebook. As they say, technology is a lot more efficient nowadays.

But here’s to hoping that this is just a one-off case.

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