Walkabout on 4 April 2015

At 9.30am sharp, the SDA team, led by Mr. Desmond Lim Bak Chuan gathered at the coffeeshop at Block 445 Pasir Ris Drive 6 for briefing over breakfast. The members were all decked out in their signature lime green polo shirts.

Mr. William Lim Lian Chin (standing on the right beside Mr. Desmond Lim in below photograph) was the anchor for today's outreach program and he also played the role of a shadow Grassroots Adviser as well.

 

In between the walkabout and interaction with the residents, it was common to see the group gathered around to discuss how they could reach out to the people better.

At 10.00am sharp, the group of about 6-7 members went around the coffeeshop as a group to distribute the 4-paged leaflet which was translated into English and Chinese, with photographs of the members inside as well as photographs of their previous interaction sessions.

Today's outreach walkabout team was being accompanied by SDA's shadow Town Councillor, Mr. Derrick Tan, who also took the opportunity to observe and understudy for his role of Town Councillor.

 

 

 

 

The interaction was rather well-received by the coffeeshop and food court vendors as well as the diners themselves.

The demographics of most of the patrons around the vicinity consisted mainly of young families and elderly citizens; and 80% of them were Chinese.

 

 

The walkabout continued on from Block 445 towards Blocks 444 and 443. The well-coordinated team did not merely touched base with the vendors and patrons of coffeeshops and foodcourts, but enthusiastically approached passer-bys as well as the retailers located amongst the rows of shophouses. These two photographs depict the team chatting with a handphone shop owner and a fruit stall owner, the latter welcoming Mr. Desmond Lim and team very warmly.

 

 

 

At the coffeeshops and foodcourts, the members said their warm hellos and exchanged friendly handshakes with everyone who was receptive towards their approach – there were amicable elderly citizens, middle-aged individuals as well as young families with polite children who greeted the members and said thanks upon receiving the leaflets (on behalf of their parents).

 

 

 

This initiative paints a clear picture of the caring members who set aside precious time over the weekend to connect with the people personally, chatting with them to see if they could render assistance in any area, and bringing smiles to the faces of the people around the estate with this simple touch.

Most of the leaflets were being accepted when the members handed them over, and the recipients’ eyes feasted upon the content the moment they got hold of the leaflets. When most of their eyes were still glued to the pages after the initial cursory curious glimpses, and none of the leaflets were left behind for the cleaners to clear, it was a good sign that the leaflets managed to arouse the interest of the people.

The general observation throughout the morning was that the rest of the people were more than happy to offer a handshake, chatting the members up (some of them catching up because the members have already become familiar faces by now), asking questions and posing for pictures together.

The main issues gathered from the people during this morning's outreach walkabout were mainly the concerns with overpopulation, the ever-increasing CPF minimum sum and CPF withdrawal age.

By 11.30am, the members have finished visiting all the shops and food centres between Blocks 445 to 442, and distributed 500 copies of the current issue of leaflet to the residents here, generating awareness for their beliefs. It had been a meaningful day for the members and they look forward to connecting with more people this way soon.

The above walkabout was covered by SDA's field journalist Ms Elle Chen.