Singapore — A resident from Bukit Batok wrote to Chee Soon Juan asking if he could help because, even after waiting for two-and-a half hours, he could not get his MP to act on his request.
In a Facebook post on Friday (Mar 19), the Singapore Democratic Party’s (SDP) secretary-general wrote that the resident, Mr Salim bin Said, griped that even “after waiting for 2.5 hours at an MPS (Meet-the-People Session) to see the MP, his request was not attended to”.
Stressing that MPs should work full-time, Dr Chee asked: “Why do MPs, working part-time only but drawing a salary of $16k a month, make residents suffer such a time-wasting ordeal just to seek assistance?”
Dr Chee shared the letter that Mr Salim wrote.
Mr Salim was trying to seek help from his Member of Parliament, Mr Murali Pillai. He added that his daughter had represented him as only one person was allowed to enter the meeting area.
“After about 45 minutes of waiting, it was our turn. According to my daughter, the officer took notes of what the issue was. After which, the officer suggested to speak to MP Murali further with regards to the matter. We were hopeful,” Mr Salim wrote to Dr Chee.
Mr Salim added that when his daughter went in to speak to Mr Murali after two-and-a-half hours of waiting, “Mr Murali did not even mention about the action taken for the matter at all which is what we are waiting to hear.”
“As my daughter went out, he (Mr Murali) quickly barged out and called me in. He then explain the same to me just like what he told my daughter. He was very rude in his reply and used a sarcastic tone as I tried to explain that he is not answering my query at all. He kept repeating the career fair over and over again,” Mr Salim added.
Mr Salim wrote that the entire ordeal had affected them emotionally as they were hoping that Mr Murali might put in a word for him at the company where he was seeking a job.
“With this experience, he is definitely not suited to be the MP and represent Bukit Batok”, wrote Mr Salim.
TISG has reached out to Mr Murali for comment and clarification. /TISG