Dr Koh Poh Koon wrote in his Facebook that he helped a 70-year-old woman who collected 32kg of old newspapers because she wanted to protect the environment.
Dr Koh who is the Minister of State for Ministry of National Development & Ministry of Trade and Industry said the woman was so committed to the cause that she even withstood the injuries she sustained collecting them.
He saluted the elderly woman for being an inspiration.
Many people thought that Dr Koh was out of touch with the general public for some comments he made during the 2013 by-election in Punggol East where he was fielded as a candidate by the People’s Action Party (PAP).
In commenting about daily commute Dr Koh said, “Well, everybody has a car, we have two – my wife drives one, I drive one. We are both professionals, we need to travel”.
This is what Dr Job said:
“Saw 70 year old Mdm Lim from Blk 235 struggling to move 32kg of old newspaper for recycling. Good thing we ran into her and helped her with the load. Found out that with her bad knees and unsteady gait, she actually fell and had a slight bruise on her forehead just before we came across her.
Fortunately she wasn’t severely injured. Asked why she expended so much efforts to recycle these items, she insisted she wanted to do her part to protect our environment. Her single-mindedness towards a worthy cause is deserving of a salute!
Advised her to not over exert and to let us know in future when she needed help with these items. Thank you, Mdm Lim, for being an inspiration and a role model!”