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14-07-2015, 06:10 PM
An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:
by Bertha Henson
HIS wife called him naive for thinking that he wouldn’t be pilloried for his social media post about speaking to older folk who collect cardboard. Social and Family Development Minister Tan Chuan-Jin ticked off the epithets that had been used to describe him: “ivory tower”, “out-of-touch”, “stupid”.
He had half-expected that, he said, but “wah lao…”. He launches into how politicians especially from the People’s Action Party, simply couldn’t “win”. If they stayed put, they would be scolded for being too cloistered; if they went out, it would be linked to how they were prepping for votes.
He said he was simply trying to show that people shouldn’t make generalisations about how others live their lives. Go talk to them. Find out how they’re doing. And help them or direct help to them.
As for those who described the post, “Have you ever Spoken to a Cardboard Uncle or Aunty”, which he uploaded yesterday as “wayang”, to paint a softer, gentler image for the impending General Election, he replied: “But I’ve been doing this for the past four years! I don’t post everything I do, but I do post some.”
A check on Facebook showed active feeds on both his public-figure and personal Pages. On this public page, the former Manpower Minister shares mostly photos from his visits with residents or of community events he has attended.
On occasion, Mr Tan has also posted his thoughts about everyday Singaporeans, not unlike his post on cardboard collectors, such as his encounter with a tissue-paper seller in February. He also posts regularly on Twitter (@chuanjin1).
But few of his posts have attracted the same passion with which netizens have taken to his most recent note about the elderly who earn or supplement their income by collecting cardboard. While some praised him for taking the time to find out about other people’s livelihoods, others have been more cynical. Among these, some responses have been downright derisive, especially towards his comment that some of the older folk were treating cardboard collecting as a “form of exercise”.
Why would anyone collect cardboard as a form of exercise? Was this an excuse the minister was giving for the failure of the system to provide for older folk?
Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com (http://www.sammyboy.com/showthread.php?210483-Even-his-wife-tells-TCJ-that-he-was-naive&goto=newpost).
by Bertha Henson
HIS wife called him naive for thinking that he wouldn’t be pilloried for his social media post about speaking to older folk who collect cardboard. Social and Family Development Minister Tan Chuan-Jin ticked off the epithets that had been used to describe him: “ivory tower”, “out-of-touch”, “stupid”.
He had half-expected that, he said, but “wah lao…”. He launches into how politicians especially from the People’s Action Party, simply couldn’t “win”. If they stayed put, they would be scolded for being too cloistered; if they went out, it would be linked to how they were prepping for votes.
He said he was simply trying to show that people shouldn’t make generalisations about how others live their lives. Go talk to them. Find out how they’re doing. And help them or direct help to them.
As for those who described the post, “Have you ever Spoken to a Cardboard Uncle or Aunty”, which he uploaded yesterday as “wayang”, to paint a softer, gentler image for the impending General Election, he replied: “But I’ve been doing this for the past four years! I don’t post everything I do, but I do post some.”
A check on Facebook showed active feeds on both his public-figure and personal Pages. On this public page, the former Manpower Minister shares mostly photos from his visits with residents or of community events he has attended.
On occasion, Mr Tan has also posted his thoughts about everyday Singaporeans, not unlike his post on cardboard collectors, such as his encounter with a tissue-paper seller in February. He also posts regularly on Twitter (@chuanjin1).
But few of his posts have attracted the same passion with which netizens have taken to his most recent note about the elderly who earn or supplement their income by collecting cardboard. While some praised him for taking the time to find out about other people’s livelihoods, others have been more cynical. Among these, some responses have been downright derisive, especially towards his comment that some of the older folk were treating cardboard collecting as a “form of exercise”.
Why would anyone collect cardboard as a form of exercise? Was this an excuse the minister was giving for the failure of the system to provide for older folk?
Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com (http://www.sammyboy.com/showthread.php?210483-Even-his-wife-tells-TCJ-that-he-was-naive&goto=newpost).