SINGAPORE: A Member of Parliament took to social media to address a complaint received from a Tampines resident about the new design on a block courtyard that included aeroplanes.

The resident had expressed his unhappiness with the design to the Town Council.

And although he had been explained twice, he refused to accept it and “demanded the design be changed or erased,” wrote Baey Yam Keng in posts on Instagram and Facebook.

Mr Baey had announced choices for designs for repainting works for Blk 472-484 at Tampines North a year ago.

He wrote that the resident was the only person who had given negative feedback on the design based on the board game 飞机棋, also known as “aeroplane chess” or “Fei Xing Qi.”

The resident felt the design had “bad and poor taste.”

Mr Baey added that he took the resident’s concerns seriously and wrote:

“After discussing with the town council, checking with some residents and grassroots leaders, and thinking through it, I support the town council’s decision to stick to the original design concept.”

He listed his reasons for doing so.

First, the design is part of a series of nostalgia themes adopted for block painting in Tampines North, as the team has been inspired by the TV test pattern, Tingkat, cassette tape, and Polaroid camera, along with the aeroplane board hame.

He further clarified that the board game is not an “attempt to disguise warplanes.”

Secondly, the MP also said that the design had been the popular choice based on residents’ votes last year when they had three design options to choose from.

When households voted, around 80 per cent chose the board game design.

“It means that the bulk of residents had no issue with the aeroplane design,” he added. “It would not be fair to the majority to change the design now.

I understand that the resident was not involved with the voting as he does not live in this cluster of blocks.”

Thirdly, he underlined that the painting works had been paid for using Service and Conservancy Charges (S&CC), and to spend on charging the design would not be a prudent use of these funds.

Mr Baey also wrote that he had explained this to the resident and hoped he would understand it. In addition, he gave an example of related feedback taken seriously by the Town Council.

When some residents reached out to say they had either red or green reflections from the gable end wall of a neighbouring block, some changes were made.

“After reviewing this with the painting contractor, both the gable end walls will be repainted mainly in white, with the side beams in red and green respectively.

I am sharing this to illustrate the principles guiding Tampines Town Council on what they are able and unable to do regarding residents’ feedback,” added the MP. /TISG

Read also: Tampines North residents to vote on courtyard repainting design inspired by board game