As MP of Marine Parade GRC, helping residents with their needs is part of the job for Tan Chuan-Jin. However, one recent encounter with a resident has left him with raised eyebrows.
Tan took to Facebook on Tuesday (Jan 17) to share the encounter with the resident who attended his Meet-The-People Session on Monday.
Describing this particular resident who approached his team to appeal for housing, the Speaker wrote: “This resident said he was homeless and his father was violently abusive and a drunk.
“He also had a debilitating stroke on his right side. Couldn’t use his right hand at all.”
Speaking to AsiaOne about the incident, Tan recalled that the man could “barely walk”, and how some of the volunteers had to “help him take out his documents from his bag“.
After helping him with his housing matters, Tan also had his team arrange for the resident to pick up free lunch every day under Kembangan-Chai Chee People’s Association’s food distribution programme.
Coincidentally, one of the volunteers recognised the resident and showed Tan a video clip of the man walking normally.
“When he came [on Tuesday], we wanted to observe to see what the situation was,” said Tan.
While collecting his meal, the man was “moving very slowly with a lot of difficulties”, but was walking normally once he turned the corner.
In his post, Tan also mentioned that he was “worried that others will be taken in by him”.
‘We just help first’
When asked about how often these incidents occur, Tan replied: “Often enough that it doesn’t surprise me.”
Typically, when his team are alerted to such cases, they first try to verify if the resident is indeed pretending.
“Some of them might need help, it’s just [a question of] why are they exaggerating? What are they asking for? Sometimes they do it for a range of reasons,” he explained.
However, he shared that these checks are often not completely fool-proof, due to how long it takes to do so.
“I accept the fact that goodwill is sometimes taken advantage of…unfortunately in some cases they don’t just do it here, they go to other places. That’s why we try to coordinate and understand, and then make sure that help is provided appropriately.”
Going back to the intent of his Facebook post, Tan emphasised that it was to remind his followers that things aren’t always what they seem.
“But it should not stop us from helping others,” he reiterated. “Our position is when in doubt, we just help first.”
This article was first published on AsiaOne and republished on theAsianparent with permission.