One of my friend who lives near Mah Bow Tan's MPS venue said that whenever there is a 5th Monday of the month, Mah Bow Tan will not do his MPS duties for that week.
As a result, if there are needy residents who need to see him, they will only have to do so the following week.
Curious, I went to do some investigation and realised that 29 Sep is the fifth Monday of Sept and Mah Bow Tan boldly declared on his FB that the week will have no MPS.
My friend can't wait to vote Mah Bow Tan out but for some reason, Mah has stuck around Tampines due to a weak opposition. As a result, some fence sitting voters still choose to vote for PAP rather than an unknown opposition.
Mah exemplifies all the bad qualities that all voters should be wary of instead of voting this kind of calibre into Parliament.
1) Putting His Own Corporate Investment Interests Over People's Interests
It is no secret that Mah has been very active in private sector ever since stepping down as MND Minister in 2011.
Besides holding directorships in public listed companies, he is also the 5th Largest GSH Corp. Click on http://therealsingapore.com/content/retired-minister-mah-bow-tan-now-5th-largest-shareholder-gsh-corp
Last year, when Mah Bow Tan spoke on the White Paper Bill on 6.9 million, he wanted Singapore to go for the maximum resources and ensure that companies have access to cheap labour to boost his investments.
Netizens ozzy blasted him, "Knn I really HATE him so much. Wonder how many Singaporean HATE you too?"
Another commented, "If there is a vote for the most hated minister, i am sure he will be in the top three."
2) For Being a Back-Door MP.
In 1984, when PAP didn't have have GRC system, Mah Bow Tan stood in contest with Chiam See Tong and lost. Lee Kwan Yew jeered at Chiam's O level results while exalting Mah's excellent scholarly achievements which led to Mah's loss.
In 1988, PAP had the GRC system and Mah finally went into Parliament through the backdoor of Tampines.
Recently, former Hougang PAP contender Desmond Choo and Ong Ye Kung decided to give up their fight and go through the back-door system in the GRC.
Voters still can remember Tin Pei Ling as the Kate Spade Back-Door MP as well.
But it was Mah who first started the ball rolling in 1988 Elections.
3) For Leading the Way to Make Citizens Pay-and-Pay
Mah held positions in Transport and MND and during his time there, he made no apologies for making people pay and pay with COE and HDB flats to fatten up PAP's coffers.
Many MPS visits are HDB related issues. During his time in MND, he verbally instructed HDB officers to stop telling citizens to visit MPS but instead solve the problem with HDB officers instead.
Is this the kind of Minister that you want?
4) For being the AWOL and Mute Champion in Parliament
Mah seldom attends Parliament and when he does, he usually falls asleep.
And when he does attend, he hardly raises any questions or speaks up. Each MP is entitled to ask 5 questions for each session and has around 10 minutes to make a speech or speak up on an issue.
CJ
TRS Contributor