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Becoming is a series in which we show people who have had to overcome adversity to become the people they are today.
I’m on the train, on my way to Khatib station and the rain is incessant. However, I’m not afraid to get soaked later. This is because Nee Soon South has a network of well-connected covered walkways. “You can get anywhere in Khatib without an umbrella, even if it rains,” a friend tells me proudly.
The woman who designed this? Dr. Lee Bee Wah, who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for the Nee Soon Group Representative Electoral District (GRC) from 2011 until the recent General Election in July this year. She had personally walked the grounds in her Nee Soon South to discover all the “holes” in the corridors and, as is known, brought the issue to Parliament.
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I’m with her in her beloved neighborhood on a Sunday and it’s been a while since she’s been to the coffeeshop in block 848 that she used to visit weekly without fail. And as we head to your regular table, it feels like you’re with a celebrity.
Residents stop us eager to shake her hand and take a photo with her. “Long time no see”, “We miss you” and “You look slimmer and in better shape” were the common compliments that were thrown on his way as the food packages reached his hands.
People keep coming to talk to her even after we sit down to breakfast and I can barely ask a question without being interrupted. And this love is a mutual love, as I discovered when I spoke with Dr. Lee, she is as dedicated to them as they are to her.
“My residents are so warm. They treat me like a member of their family. They trust me, they share their challenges, their family problems. They also share their joy with me.”
Without saying yes to what life has in store for him
As long as it benefits her residents, there is nothing Dr. Lee won’t do, even if it means irritating the government. Telling him that he only needs to say “yes” and taking the given result like everyone else does not sit well with him.
She was frank about this trait of hers when she was interviewed by the Popular Action Party as a potential candidate for the 2006 elections. In a panel made up of founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew and current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, she said: “I am not a ‘yes woman’ “.
Unsurprisingly, she would find all kinds of ways to find solutions to the difficulties her residents faced when she was a deputy. It takes me to the Lentor underpass in its old neighborhood, which links the Lower Seletar Reservoir to the Springleaf Nature Park.
“I realized that residents would walk along the river under a bridge to get to the other side of the road just to catch a bus. And I felt this was quite dangerous, especially when the water levels are high and the road is slippery, “he added. she shares while pointing out the makeshift path.
While an airlift could have solved the problem, the Land Transportation Authority (LTA) said the number of people using the bridge did not justify the cost it would incur.
However, when the North-South highway was announced, he saw an opportunity to add an underpass to the plans. And when the highway was delayed, he somehow managed to get a separate budget for the underpass approved and moored at NParks to build a park connector next to it.
“We need to persevere, find the opportunity to raise it again. For problems that interest me a lot, I will always try to find the right moment, the opportunity to raise it again until it is resolved.”
Her tenacity to address issues close to her and the hearts of her residents has not always gone well with her fellow politicians.
“Initially during my first term, some of the ministers could not accept what I am doing. They even complained to the Prime Minister (PM),” he shares.
“The prime minister called me to go to his office. I told him, this is feedback on the ground. Do you want me to give you genuine feedback? Then of course he said yes and that was it.”
“My residents” is how she refers to the people who live in Nee Soon South during my interview with her.
“But now you are no longer his deputy,” he pointed out.
“It doesn’t matter, they will always be ‘my residents’,” he smiles.
Nor does he rule out appearing in a government agency in the future. “If there’s anything I can do, I feel like I can help improve some of the policies, I’ll be willing to participate.”
Watch the video to learn more about the former Malacca MP’s trip to Singapore, how her desire to help others led her to enter politics, and the strong relationship she has built with its residents.
