Some 1,800 more people were diagnosed with cancer in 2014 than four years earlier, new figures reveal.

The latest cancer report released by the National Registry of Diseases Office shows that there were 13,241 cases in 2014 and also estimates that one in four men and one in five women here are likely to get cancer by the time they are 75 years old.

The disease remains Singapore's biggest killer and the deadliest type remains lung cancer, which killed more than three people a day from 2010 to 2014. In those five years, a total of 6,899 people were diagnosed with lung cancer and 5,732 died of it.

The most common cancer type for men is colorectal (4 per cent will get it by the age of 75); for women, breast (7 per cent by age 75).

A total of 9,320 people were diagnosed with colorectal cancer between 2010 and 2014, and 3,723 died.

The report said that while it is the most commonly found cancer here, the number of cases appears to have plateaued since 1995 and has been decreasing gradually in recent years.

This cancer generally hits people over the age of 40 years and rises sharply from around the mid-60s.

Related: Latest treatment for lung cancer

More than half the colorectal cancer cases were discovered in later stages when the tumour is no longer contained within the colon or rectum.

But with better treatment, about 10 per cent more people survived for at least five years from 2010 than they did from 2005.

The report said there was an overall increase in the survival rate for colorectal cancer for both genders. This was seen almost across the board for all ethnicities, age bands and stages of the disease.

The next most common cancer is breast cancer, which accounts for almost one in three cancers in women. In the five years from 2010 to 2014, a total of 9,274 women were diagnosed with breast cancer.

More than seven in 10 breast cancer patients survived at least five years in this period. The survival rate was 67.5 per cent in the previous five-year period.

The highest survival rates of 80 to 90 per cent were among women who discovered the cancer early, before it spread beyond the breasts. More than 400 women a year die of breast cancer.

Professor Chng Wee Joo, director of the National University Cancer Institute, said, "Cancer incidence is rising because of an ageing population ... (with) better treatment cancer patients are surviving longer."

He added that the focus of doctors now has shifted somewhat. In the past, it was centred on how long they can extend survival - "now it is how to make these patients feel less like cancer patients".

salma@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on March 19, 2016.
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Woman overcomes cancer to start online cheongsam business with mother

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Lianhe Wanbao

Actress Tiffany Leong, 30, dies of cancer

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Tiffany Leong's Facebook page, The Biography Channel, Instagram, The Star/ANN, Lianhe Zaobao

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Peter Boudewyn, The Straits Times

She looked out from her second-storey flat and saw the back of a red car slam into the front of a white lorry in the carpark on Thursday night.

She then saw a blue ComfortDelGro taxi reverse and vanish under her HDB block in Bedok Reservoir after it ran over and flattened a small tree.

"Suddenly the taxi flew into the void deck," said the resident, a supermarket worker who wanted to be known as Mrs Liang.

She had turned to look out her window after hearing the screech of tyres and several loud bangs.

Mrs Liang, who is in her 50s, rushed down and saw a damaged taxi in the void deck.

Across the carpark, there was a red car with its front crumpled and its back against a lorry.

Black tyre marks scarred the tarmac and metal debris and glass shards were scattered all around.

The taxi, the red car and two lorries were involved in the accident that took place near Block 702, Bedok Reservoir Road, at around 11.30pm on Thursday.

Aside from the taxi, the other vehicles were parked.

Madam Sandy Goh, 48, a volunteer at the neighbourhood's Senior Care Corner, rushed to the scene after receiving calls from senior citizens about the accident.

Madam Goh, a tentage clerk, said she spoke to some senior citizens who had witnessed the accident.

SLAMMED

They told her the taxi was trying to reverse into a parking lot when it moved forward and slammed head-on into the red car, which was parked a few metres away.

The impact was so great that the red car shifted to its right and scraped the side of a blue lorry parked next to it.

"The red car then travelled backwards, up and over the kerb, all the way into the other side of the carpark, hitting the front of the (white) lorry," she said.

Madam Goh said there had also been a close call involving some teenagers.

The taxi had reversed towards three male teenagers sitting at a table at the void deck.

She said the mother of one the teenagers told her they saw the car coming and managed to run out of the way.

She added that the taxi driver, who looked like he was in his 60s, escaped injury.

"He looked quite confused. I heard the police officer asking him what had happened, but he said he didn't know," Madam Goh said.

Mrs Liang said: "Luckily it happened at night, around 11pm. There are a lot of elderly who like to walk around our neighbourhood.

"If it had happened at 6pm or 7pm, that would have been terrible."

Mr Quah Seng Hong, driver of one of the affected lorries, said the damage to his lorry was minor.

The cleaner, who was working part-time delivering goods with the lorry, told The New Paper: "It was just a simple scratch... I just called my boss to see what I should do.

"He came to see the lorry today and made a report to the company."

No injuries were reported.

A ComfortDelGro spokesman said it is assisting the police in their investigations.

chooxh@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on March 19, 2016.
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Read also: Changi Village accident involves a taxi, a car and 7 motorbikes

Vehicle smash-up at Changi Village looks like disaster scene

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Stomp

Well-known local undertaker Roland Tay hit the big 70 two days ago, but he spent the day the same way he has spent his days for over 40 years since entering the death trade.

Aside from a birthday lunch with his family, it was business as usual for the founder of Direct Funeral Services.

Mr Tay, his daughter Jenny Tay and her husband Darren Cheng are always on call due to the unpredictable nature of their job.

Now, in a new TV series called Death Is Our Business, viewers will be able to get a glimpse of the highs and lows of their profession, the dynamics in their personal relationships as well as Ms Tay and Mr Cheng's wedding last year.

The six-episode reality TV docu-series, which will debut on Channel 5 on April 2 at 10pm, offers behind-the-scenes access that will shed light on the funeral services industry.

Filming took place over two months between September and November last year, when the production crew trailed the trio as they attended to the families of the deceased, made funeral arrangements, oversaw the embalmment of corpses, scattered ashes in the sea and more.

It took Ms Tay, 30, the company's managing director, a while to get used to the cameras.

"You'll see some of our arguments, or moments where my father cooked his famous pig's trotters for us, which he also offered to the crew," she told The New Paper.

Mr Tay, who said he is not camera-shy, to knowing laughter from Ms Tay and Mr Cheng, added: "Sometimes I can't sleep because there's a (cameraman) standing there watching me. It's a very weird feeling."

Meanwhile, the calls from affected families just keep on coming.

Mr Tay, who mans the company's hotline, has three mobile phones and never misses a call.

Two Nokia 105 mobile phones - one in hot pink and the other in black - have the dedicated functions of making outgoing calls and answering incoming calls.

Sometimes, Mr Tay is on both mobile phones as he attends to an incoming call on one while placing an outgoing call on the other.

His third phone, a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 smartphone, serves all other purposes.

AT WORK: (Clockwise from left) Undertaker Roland Tay using three mobile phones to man the company's hotline; Mr Tay's daughter, Ms Jenny Tay, applying make-up for a deceased. (Bottom right) Mr Tay directing his staff on where to transport the body. Photos: Courtesy of Darren Cheng, Mediacorp

DEDICATED

Mr Tay is so dedicated to his job that his black Nokia mobile phone has a Velcro strip attached to its casing.

Said Ms Tay: "He answers his phones anywhere, so he'll stick them to the bathroom wall, the bed frame or the steering wheel. Even when he showers, his phone follows him.

"He told us he was having trouble sleeping for three days when we tried to take over.

"He likes the personal touch of talking to the families himself and these families are familiar with him.

"Even in the middle of the night, he picks up the calls, sleeping about three or four hours each night."

The trio insisted there is nothing "eerie or creepy" about their jobs.

Still, as Mr Tay put it, the dead do follow him - literally.

"For cases of the poor or destitute who have no families, I collect all their ashes and keep 20 to 40 urns in my car or bedroom if I forget to bring them up to the shop.

"I believe they know we're just doing our best to help them so it's all okay," he said.

The trio also find themselves sometimes being the bereaved families' pillars of strength.

On the show, Mr Tay was forced to break the news to a family that their grandmother, who was in her 70s, had died in Genting Highlands.

He had been informed about her death before the family through his contacts there.

But thinking he was a con man out to scam them, the family called the police to intervene.

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Lianhe Wanbao, Lianhe Zaobao, The New Paper

DELICATE

"I don't blame them. It's tough being the bearer of bad news. You have to do it in a very delicate manner and try your best to console them after," said Mr Tay.

Emotions do get the better of them, but they have to try their best to be strong for the families.

Mr Cheng, 31, the company's operation and business development director, recalled one of his earlier cases where an only son, a 26-year-old man, chose to end his life.

He recalled: "When the eulogy was delivered at his funeral, the master of ceremonies wrote one that helped the boy say goodbye to his parents.

"After that, his parents held onto each other and wept as they said goodbye.

"I couldn't take it, I had to go to the toilet to wipe away my tears."

Direct Funeral Services is especially known for its pro bono work, arranging free funeral services for murder victims, the poor or the destitute.

Mr Tay often tries his best to fulfil all requests and he approaches cases with a "never say no" attitude.

When a sickly 84-year-old man named Mr Wee, who was living alone in French Road, asked that Mr Tay handle his funeral when he dies, Mr Tay was worried that he would not know when that would be.

So he signed up for Singtel's Home LIVECam service to monitor Mr Wee through his mobile phone daily.

"He told me he doesn't want to die and decompose like his neighbour.

"We came up with this plan so I will know if he falls or if anything happens to him," said Mr Tay, who occasionally pays Mr Wee a visit with Ms Tay.

While Mr Tay believes in karma, he has a stronger belief that the deceased deserve a dignified and proper send-off.

"Race, wealth or nationality never matters... As long as they were once breathing, once alive, I'll do my best to help them," he said.

ashikinr@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on March 19, 2016.
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Mindef is conducting an SAF open mobilisation today.

The following codewords are being activated: Glass Cone, Single Layer, Rice Bowl and Cargo Dock

A lack of time and a lack of interest are the most common reasons for not reading, according to a National Arts Council (NAC) survey.

And it does not help that a large proportion of people prefer online pursuits to reading books.

Of the 1,015 Singaporeans and permanent residents surveyed, 56 per cent had not read a literary book between March 2014 and March 2015.

Almost half of these non-readers cited lack of time as a reason for not reading. The same proportion cited a lack of interest. (See chart.)

Other reasons given for not reading included work commitments - with one in seven people saying so - and family commitments, raised by one in nine. Over one in eight said they preferred other activities.

This is according to the first National Literary Reading and Writing Survey, released on Monday.

Literary books, according to the NAC, include fiction, poetry, drama, graphic novels, creative non-fiction such as biographies, critical writing and anthologies.

Asked why other written works such as newspapers were not included, NAC's acting director of sector development (literary arts) May Tan said: "Encouraging people to read fiction and poetry is a priority for the council as we believe that the literary arts is an avenue for self-expression, learning and reflection.

"Reading allows us to see the world through the lens of the different characters in a story, opens our minds to different opinions and perspectives and helps nurture a sense of empathy in us."

Older people were less likely to have read a book in the year before March 2015. Less than a quarter of those aged 60 and above had done so, compared with more than half of those in their teens, 20s and 30s.

Another factor distracting people from book reading could be the Internet. The survey found that two in five people said they preferred the Internet and social media to reading books.

Observers said the findings were not necessarily cause for concern.

"The results show just one part of the state of literary arts," said Mr William Phuan, managing director of non-profit arts company The Select Centre.

Other aspects tied to reading not fully reflected in the survey include the number of literary books borrowed from libraries, he added.

The survey did, however, find that about a third of respondents got their literary books by borrowing them from the library or other people, or as gifts.

Said Mr Phuan: "The next step is really for all the various stakeholders - from publishers to writers, from educators to policymakers - to figure out together how to use all this information to encourage people and boost the percentages."

One way to get students interested is to give them a say in what they read for class, said Assistant Professor Suzanne Choo from the National Institute of Education.

"I think we should encourage students to read good works of literature, but we should also attend to their... interests."

Popular teen novels could be brought into the classroom for discussion, she suggested.

"If we find, for example, that many students are reading John Green's popular teen fiction The Fault In Our Stars, why not bring this into our classroom?" she said.

Mr Kenny Leck, owner of independent bookstore BooksActually, said the focus should be on cultivating the joy of reading rather than on instrumental goals such as improving English proficiency.

"The emphasis on reading for education is killing it slowly," he said. "If reading is about broadening one's horizons, then maybe we will have a fighting chance."

But for some people, technology has come in to fill that role.

SIM-University of London student Ang Beng Heng, 24, said that he prefers scrolling through news apps and Facebook feeds on his phone to reading fiction books because it is a convenient and accessible way to keep himself updated on current affairs.

"Current affairs are more often used as a conversation topic," he said. "It is also more important and related to work and career." janiceh@sph.com.sg

yuensin@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on March 19, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

Three businessmen schemed to give more than US$380,000 (S$515,400) to a manager with Apple to advance the business interests of their company, which went on to make around US$12 million worth of sales to the American technology giant.

Tan Thiam Chye, 58, Tan Kah Huat, 47, and Chuow Chun Lim, 46, directors and shareholders of Fastening Technology, also gave bribes totalling $180,000 to a Singaporean sales director of a company for his help to win business from Apple.

The trio were each jailed for 27 weeks yesterday. Each admitted to three of nine corruption charges.

They abetted in a conspiracy to give bribes totalling US$383,295 to Apple's then global supply manager Paul Shim Devine. Devine has since been convicted and sentenced to 12 months in jail and fined US$4.5 million in the United States for various offences.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Kelvin Kow said Andrew Ang Kok Kiat, sales director of Jin Li Mould, another Apple supplier, approached Fastening in late 2008 and offered to help the company get business from Apple in return for a 3 per cent commission on the negotiated contract price. The trio agreed to the proposal.

Fastening was later awarded Apple projects.

Subsequently, Ang told the trio that they needed to pay a "commission" to Devine in return for the projects awarded. They agreed.

In January 2010, Devine set up a shell company called CPK Engineering in California, which was used to receive corrupt payments from Fastening over 10 months.

The trio paid a total of US$383,295 to Devine, of which US$376,295 was calculated as 3 per cent of sales that Fastening made to Apple.

Urging the court to impose a nine-month jail sentence on each of the men, DPP Kow said the amount of bribes was "enormous".

Defence counsel Anand Nalachandran said his clients did not initiate the corruption.

He said the trio had invested years of energy and and effort to establish the group which was previously recognised as a Top 50 Enterprise.

Ang, 41, has since completed his 12-month sentence for receiving bribes totalling about $282,000.

The maximum penalty for corruption is a $100,000 fine and five years in jail.

elena@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on March 19, 2016.
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In late 2014, local film-maker Dominic Ow had the chance to interview former Special Branch detectives who fought against communist insurgents in the 1950s.

What he discovered about the period fascinated him. "It was when Singapore lost its innocence in the context of modern-day terrorism. There were bomb attacks on police stations, assassinations," said the 43-year-old producer of the well-received 2010 documentary series on national service, Every Singaporean Son.

Mr Ow's research into the communist insurgency for another project gave him the idea for a fictional series drawn from real-life events. He directed and produced it with funding from the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Yesterday, a media screening of the series, titled Age Of Terror, was held at the National Library in Victoria Street. On Thursday, a screening was held at the same venue for Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean and more than 100 students and teachers from secondary schools and junior colleges.

The series delves into the violence and ideological struggles that occurred when the Malayan Communist Party sought to establish communism in Singapore after World War II.

More than 8,000 people were killed or injured in the insurgency.

The series follows a fictional Special Branch detective as he lives through events inspired by history, such as the bombings of police establishments in 1956.

Mr Ow hopes the new series will bring clarity to the chaos of the Malayan Emergency.

"Like many who grew up in Singapore, the history I studied in school was less a narrative than a series of data points," he said. "We have to have a better sense of our history, not just from 1965 onwards, but a longer view of history."

Another aim of the series, he said, was to remind viewers of the continuing threat of terrorism.

Mr Ow was writing Age Of Terror when the terror attacks on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo took place last year. It impressed on him the need to discuss terrorism through his series.

"It was never far from our minds that as a story, it (Age Of Terror) needed to have parallels to what is happening today... Singapore is not immune to terrorism. The ideologies might change, the methods might change somewhat, but the possibility of this happening is always there."

Age of Terror is available for free at www.ageofterror.sg

rybentan@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on March 19, 2016.
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Reader Madam Lim asked ST: "How hygienic is tap water from Housing Board rooftop water tanks? Does PUB conduct checks? I sometimes drink water from the tap. Can bacteria breed in it?"

Housing reporter Janice Heng went to the national water agency, PUB, to find out.

It is safe to drink directly from the tap, says the PUB. And rooftop water tanks are checked at least once a year, to make sure that water quality is maintained.

Singapore's tap water is well within international guidelines set by the World Health Organisation, as well as the United States Environmental Protection Agency's drinking water standards.

It is suitable for drinking without further filtration or boiling.

In fact, on its website, the PUB discourages households from using filtration devices such as water filters and purifiers. If such filters are not cleaned or replaced regularly, bacteria could grow on them.

At PUB's waterworks, water from reservoirs is treated and disinfected. "This frees the water of harmful bacteria and makes it wholesome and safe for consumption," said the PUB.

To ensure the quality and safety of the drinking water supply, the PUB monitors water quality across the entire system: from reservoirs and waterworks, to the distribution network of pipes, all the way to consumers' taps.

Each year, more than 400,000 water quality tests are conducted in the PUB's accredited water quality laboratory. "This includes water samples collected from taps in HDB flats and thus far all samples have passed," said the PUB.

As for HDB rooftop tanks, responsibility for them falls on town councils. The PUB requires building owners, management corporations and town councils in charge of high-rise buildings with water tanks to engage a licensed water service plumber at least once a year to inspect the water tanks.

Where necessary, the licensed water service plumber must clean and disinfect the water tanks and certify them fit and safe for the storage of drinking water.

The plumber has to submit the certification, complete with water sample test reports, to the PUB.

Additionally, the PUB carries out spot checks on these premises and samples water from these tanks.

"PUB takes a serious view of the safety of our water supply to customers," it said.

"Should there be lapses, PUB will not hesitate to take enforcement."

If lapses are found, owners may face a fine of up to $10,000, a jail term of up to a year, or both.

janiceh@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on March 19, 2016.
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The Singapore Children's Society raised a record $5.89 million through two fund-raising initiatives last year.

In 2014, this figure was $3.275 million.

The fund-raising efforts of 1,639 companies and individuals were recognised at the 1000 Enterprises and 1000 Philanthropists for Children-in-Need Appreciation Dinner held last night.

The guest-of-honour was Mr Teo Chee Hean, Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security, who is the patron for the two fund-raising drives.

One programme encourages individuals to contribute $1,000 a year to the society.

chenj@sph.com.sg

A record number of over 15,000 job seekers attended the first day of the STJobs Express 2016 held at the Suntec Convention & Exhibition Centre today.

Despite the weak job market, close to 1,000 jobs are currently available at the event that is also on tomorrow.

The job fair is open to Singaporeans, permanent residents, and foreigners with valid work and student passes. Admission is free.

Organised by career portal STJobs, the two-day event has attracted a range of employers from industries such as banking and finance, education and training, government, healthcare, hospitality, IT, and manufacturing.

They include AIA, Great Eastern, AXA, NTUC Income, Republic of Singapore Navy, Eric Seah & Associates, Resorts World Sentosa, Marina Bay Sands, Borneo Motors, JCU Singapore and MDIS.

Apart from meeting potential employers face-to-face, visitors can also attend free seminars on-site on the latest job trends and market outlook conducted by various industry experts.

Job seekers can also take advantage of the career coaching sessions and the psychometric profiling tool at the event.

After graduating, I went back to Kuala Lumpur where my father had a small law firm and was working for Tan Cheng Lock.

I travelled to Singapore a few times, hoping to get some lead work.

I would meet up with Kuan Yew and he would take me out for lunch at a chicken rice stall in Middle Road. On my first visit, he asked where I was staying.

I told him I was at the hotel next to the railway station.

He said, "Oh, it's a terrible place! I have a spare room in the house." So I stayed with him a few times at Oxley Road. I think I slept in what would eventually become his daughter Wei Ling's room because she wasn't born then. He was very kind to me.

The first time I went to his home, his mother, who I had already heard was a very famous cook, insisted I stay for dinner. She cooked everything. I think I nearly burst myself that night.

When Kuan Yew won the elections in 1959 and became Prime Minister, I would meet him at his office at City Hall and we would go for lunch. Those were good times.

One of his favourite fruits was pomelo. Once, while enjoying some pomelo at his office, he told me it was from lpoh, specially brought in by Malayan Airways pilots.

At the end of that visit, he called his secretary to ask how many of the fruit were left and asked her to put two in my car.

The last time I saw Kuan Yew was in late December 2014, at a dinner, together with a group of his friends.

They always included me in these dinners, which were held every two months; they considered me to be his oldest friend, I guess, at least in age. Someone would organise a dinner for him.

They would give the excuse that the poor chap was lonely, but actually all they wanted were his views.

He knew everything!

MR LEE AS A CO-WORKER AND BOSS

There were a couple of occasions after graduation when Kuan Yew and I worked together on some legal cases. In one case, the richest man in Penang had insulted Dr Lim Chong Yew, a prominent politician and medical doctor. We worked on the case together for a short while until it was settled. We also did a few other small cases together.

At that time, he was famous as a lawyer.

Clearly, he was brilliant. He was the most brilliant man I have ever met. If he was on a legal case, he would work through every detail and angle.

When he set up the People's Action Party, he was absolutely thorough, in the same way he responded to questions at university or analysed cases. When we studied our cases, he always made sure he covered everything.

The very first time he came to Kuala Lumpur was in the early 1950s. We went for dinner at a restaurant in an amusement park in Bukit Bintang.

We walked into a room that was empty but this newspaper chap, who was part of a wedding reception in the next room, noticed him and recognised him as Lee Kuan Yew from Singapore.

He came up to Kuan Yew and asked him some questions, and soon, half of the wedding guests trooped over. I think Kuan Yew never ever liked any of this attention.

In 1982, when I was vice-chairman of OCBC Bank, I was seconded to the government to help restructure the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

Eventually, I was appointed to head the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation. But I had to leave after a while.

What happened was that there had been a question asked in Parliament which was filed but not published.

The issue was about Singapore money being transferred to a Malaysian. Dr Goh Keng Swee asked me, "Are you a Malaysian?" Indeed I was. So I was sent to see Lim Siong Guan, who was then principal private secretary to Kuan Yew, who then said I should become a Singapore citizen.

He would put up a paper with three names - Lee Kuan Yew, Hon Sui Sen and Goh Keng Swee - and also get them to sign it.

I remember going to Empress Place to get this done. There was a nice lady there who gave me a book. I held it, took an oath, and so I became a citizen.

I then worked for Lim Kim San. I was in a room next to Dr Goh, who was at the Ministry of Education at the time; Kim San's office was across from Dr Goh's.

I was actually on loan to Kim San because he was short of staff. He wanted someone to write letters for him - he said lawyers always wrote good letters - but he looked at me and said to Dr Goh: "I just don't like this bloody chap." Dr Goh dismissed it and told me Kim San was just in a bad mood that day.

The next time I saw Kim San, he was in a good mood and had forgotten we had ever met. I wrote simple letters for him; they were for his constituents or people requesting help from him, promising them that things would be done but that it would take time and we would do our best in the meantime. Kim San was very nice to me after that.

I had learnt to write very short letters, and the minutes I wrote while at the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation were also short. When I first gave the minutes to Kuan Yew, its new chairman, he said: "I don't like this. It's rubbish. I want to know exactly what each person said." He wanted more details.

In 1989, Kuan Yew was looking for a new Chief Justice and he said my name had been put up by several judges. He said, "Think about it," and told me to make a decision quickly.

I replied: "Can I think about it?"

He said: "That was what I said. But I hope your answer will be yes because you have done nothing for Singapore!"

He practically scolded me, bringing up the fact that I had declined his offer to be a Supreme Court judge in 1972.

He said there was no time to waste. I asked him what I was supposed to do. He said: "Become Chief Justice! Just clean up the whole thing, you know what to do."

I said: "Fair enough. But if the job is too much for me, will you release me?"

There was no answer.

The next thing I knew, he was telling people he had found a person and my name was published in the papers. So that was how I became Singapore's second Chief Justice.

This article was first published on March 20, 2016.
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I witnessed Mr Lee's determination and discipline first-hand during the trying period of 1996 and 1997. First there was his 1996 lawsuit against Yazhou Zhoukan, a Chinese language newsweekly, which had published the comments by a lawyer, Tang Liang Hong, alleging impropriety in Mr Lee's purchase of two flats.

While the publication quickly retracted the statement and paid a settlement fee, Tang, who would run as a Workers' Party candidate in the 1997 General Election, refused to apologise. In fact, six months later at an election rally, he repeated the allegations and stated that, if elected, he would raise the matter again.

All this coincided with the period when Mr Lee was having heart problems and had to have a second stent put in.

He was bogged down with health problems and was asked to slow down.

But he kept on going. Despite his ill health, he gave a talk at the Nanyang Technological University on March 14, 1996.

He was just recovering and his blood pressure readings were not good, but he felt it was very important that he addressed the students. He felt it was crucial that they heard the Government's point of view.

We had to make special arrangements for an ambulance; doctors were also on standby, although they sat discreetly in a corner.

That day he spoke from 8.30pm to midnight, engaging in long exchanges with the students. A normal person would have stayed at home and rested, but not Mr Lee.

It was clear that, to him, duty trumped almost everything. When a mission was key, he always rose to the occasion.

MR LEE AND MRS LEE

Mrs Lee was his constant companion and his sounding board.

She also helped me often by reducing his sting and I was most grateful to her. When he was irritated by an issue or by his health, and I had to bring bad news to him, Mrs Lee would prepare him first.

She would say to him, "Alan is coming in with some bad news but, remember, he is just the messenger."

Many times, I would be at his desk in the office and she would be sitting in a corner, reading or knitting.

When he was unhappy or upset about something, she would say, "Harry! Harry! Cool down!" She had a very strong human touch.

As he got older, of course, he became more mellow. My predecessors told me I was quite lucky!

MR LEE AND GETTING DOWN TO THE GROUND

Sometimes, on Saturdays at about 11am, Mr Lee would send me an instruction to visit a certain precinct in the afternoon.

He only wanted the town council manager and one ministry officer to be around - no MPs or anyone else. And certainly no media.

By the time I called to inform the precinct, there was little time left for them to prepare for his visit. At the most, they could only ensure that the floors were swept. Certainly they could not repaint anything as he would be able to smell the fresh paint.

He also liked to make spontaneous private visits to the homes of families of different races.

The town council manager would choose three families from different socio-economic backgrounds: from those who lived in one-room flats to those in five-room flats.

Mr Lee would talk to them and get their views. In Chinese, we call it wei fu chu xun (to go on an inspection in plain clothes).

I remember two households in particular.

One was a Malay family living in a five-room flat. Their bathroom was like a hotel's, with twin washbasins, hairdryer and all the amenities. It showed that they were able to live very well.

The other family also lived in a well-decorated flat.

The son, a surgeon working in Hualien, Taiwan, was not admitted into the National University of Singapore (NUS) but he was so keen to be a doctor that he went to Kaohsiung University where he qualified as a surgeon.

I can only speculate that instances such as this would have set Mr Lee thinking.

Subsequently, NUS increased the intake of students into its medical school and the Singapore Government recognised the qualifications of more foreign medical schools.

Even on Sundays, when the staff weren't working, Mr Lee would get his security officers to drive him around the housing estates. On Monday mornings, I would get a note detailing his observations.

He always felt the best way to get honest and direct feedback was to go down to the ground himself.

Whenever we travelled overseas, he would ask to go to the local market. He would look at the fruits and fish on sale and, immediately, he would get a feel of how prosperous or poor the place was.

I remember once we were in Dalian, China. At the market, he saw a pineapple and asked the vendor where the fruit came from.

The vendor said it was from Taiwan. He said, "You mean there's trade between Taiwan and China?"

That was in 1994. It is a clear example of how the reality on the ground could be different from common perception.

Unless you saw and experienced it for yourself, you would not get the real feel of things.

On these market visits, Mr Lee would also ask the price of an egg and what people's monthly wages were. Everywhere he went, he made it a point to get first-hand information.

MR LEE AND HIS DIET

Mr Lee ate a lot of fruits. Before leaving for a trip, he would first ask for a list of fruits available in the city he was visiting.

Once, before a trip to New Delhi, he asked why watermelon was not on the fruit list.

I quickly sent a telex to our high commission who replied that they were afraid that the watermelon might be contaminated with the hepatitis C virus.

He said to me, "Silly fellow, you only get hepatitis C from animal products."

I relayed this back to New Delhi and a week later, we received a formal letter from the physician to the High Commissioner of the United Kingdom.

The letter explained that in New Delhi, syringes are used to inject sugar water into the watermelons to sweeten them and these syringes may carry the hepatitis C virus.

Mr Lee liked to drink beer, usually one glass or at most two.

He used to drink Swan Lite Lager because of its low alcohol content. When this beer went out of production, Mr Lee switched to regular beer. He also enjoyed red and white wine.

While he liked Japanese food particularly, he also enjoyed Western food.

When he was having his health problems, two physicians supervised his meals, which would consist mainly of steamed fish, blanched vegetables and plain chicken soup.

In the evenings, he would either run or swim. When it came to exercise, he was quite a taskmaster.

This article was first published on March 20, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

After I moved to Hong Kong, I sort of became Kuan Yew's second port of call. Run Run Shaw was No. 1, my wife Pauline and I, No. 2.

He liked Pauline and found her simple and earthy ways agreeable.

He and Geok Choo would often come over for dinner.

I would get a caterer and offer good food. I would get instructions, of course, that he could not eat this or that.

The conversation would be light with interesting anecdotes, and I would like to believe they had pleasant evenings dining at our home.

Kuan Yew and I seldom engaged in super-warm or super-friendly talk. But some time in 2007 or 2008, he said a very funny thing that touched my heart.

We were walking down from his hotel to the car to go to dinner.

Pauline was with Geok Choo in front. He turned to me and said: "Come to think of it, finally, it's only friendship that matters."

In other words, everything is gone but the only thing left is friendship. I thought, "My God! I am seeing the human side of him!"

On their last few visits to Hong Kong, Kuan Yew became increasingly warm towards me.

He and Geok Choo would stay in our hotel. She was already unwell and, because of her vision problem, we pasted coloured paper on the walls of their room so that she wouldn't bump into them.

A few years later, I found myself walking with Kuan Yew to make sure he wouldn't bump into the corridor walls.

Kuan Yew visited me a few times after Geok Choo passed away in October 2010. One thing about him I would say is that he stayed true to one woman his whole life, and that is quite remarkable for a man of those times.

He led an exemplary life, a disciplined life. He never womanised or drank to excess. He smoked for a short time, but that was it.

MR LEE AND HIS LEGACY

In 2010, he wrote me a letter asking for my candid views.

He wanted to know why he always found Hong Kong full of business activity and people with strong enterprising spirit.

Whenever he visited Hong Kong, he always asked to be taken to some government unit or a home industry, where something new was always being invented, and he would be totally amazed by what he saw.

He asked me to write to him and tell him my views frankly.

So I called up my niece Kay and asked if I should talk so straight that I hit him in the solar plexus.

She said it sounded like that was what he wanted.

So I wrote back to him and told him that he had straitjacketed too many of his people in his zeal and impatience to build up Singapore quickly.

There was genius in them, but they could not move.

I told him to take a pair of scissors and cut them loose.

Kuan Yew had a super gung-ho style. He was like such a powerful elephant that when he stomped on the ground, all the plants were crushed. But in so doing, he created the miracle called Singapore.

Also, because of his great zeal and dedication, Singapore was his obsession, and his attitude and behaviour flowed from that: You harm Singapore, I smash you.

My assessment of Singapore as an outsider is that no one could have achieved what Lee Kuan Yew had achieved for Singapore and for the people of Singapore.

Singapore, compared with China, is like a drop of water to a bucket of water.

But that does not mean the drop of water is not important.

This article was first published on March 20, 2016.
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Don't ask me how many times I tried to say "no" to Lee Kuan Yew. And don't ask me how many times he accepted it. The number is zero.

Mr Lee is one who, once he sets his mind he wants you, doesn't expect you to decline. He will use his way to convince you. You cannot say "no". Because, you know, whatever he asks you to do, it is for the nation.

The first time I tried to say "no" to Mr Lee, he wasn't even in the room. In September 1967, I received a letter from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), signed by the Deputy Secretary.

It got to me late because it was not sent to the right address.

It had been sent to Nanyang University, and they took some time to redirect it to me.

The letter said: "This is urgent. When you receive this, contact the undersigned immediately."

I called the PMO. The gentleman on the line said: "I have been waiting for your call! Quick, come over!"

So I went to City Hall. The moment the Deputy Secretary saw me, he scolded me. "Why are you still here?"

I said: "If I'm not here, where should I be?"

"Don't you know?" he said. "The United Nations General Assembly has already started. You're supposed to be there. Why are you still here?"

I told him truthfully: "Nobody told me. What am I supposed to do there?"

At this point, he said, "Wait", and turned to somewhere behind his desk to pull out a stack of papers. He found the extracts of some Cabinet meeting notes.

"See? Here. PM told Cabinet he himself wants to talk to you. He didn't tell you?"

He did not. The Deputy Secretary told me the Singapore delegation would be headed by Yong Nyuk Lin. But as a Cabinet minister, he would not be able to stay throughout from the opening until the end of the session.

I was supposed to be with the guys who would stay for the whole General Assembly.

He would leave everything to the remaining members of the delegation.

And who were the other guys?

If I recall, I believe they were S R Nathan from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Osman Omar, a senior police officer. And the third guy - that's me.

PM Lee had already gone off to the United States. President Lyndon Johnson had invited him. Singapore was just a newborn nation, a tiny little one. Yet we were invited by a superpower.

It showed that the US regarded us as important. So of course PM had to go. He was accompanied by the Foreign Minister, S. Rajaratnam, and Rahim Ishak, the Minister of State for Education.

At the time, there were two great powers in the world: the United States and the Soviet Union. Rajaratnam had said before, we are friends with everyone. So we had to balance things.

At the same time that PM went to the United States, Dr Toh Chin Chye, the Deputy Prime Minister, led another delegation to visit the USSR.

So, with both our PM and DPM away, another delegation was needed to represent Singapore at the UN General Assembly. At the time, one of the topics being discussed in the UN was the seat of China.

It was then held by the Republic of China government in Taiwan, but the People's Republic of China government in Beijing was claiming that it should be the rightful owner of the seat in the UN.

l thought maybe S R Nathan and Osman Omar would need someone to help read the Chinese reports in the UN papers, so I should go help.

That was my ignorant thinking at the time. Later on, I learnt that everything we received was in English.

So I said to the Deputy Secretary, "How many days do I need to be there?"

"It's three months!"

I jumped. "I cannot go. Three months is too long. I'm not a civil servant, I am helping in my family's business. It is year end. I have to help to close the company accounts."

But the gentleman explained that because both the PM and DPM were out on official trips, he had nobody to give the approval to change the members of the delegation to the UN General Assembly. He said: "Please help me to solve this problem."

Since he told me his difficulties, I said I would go back and discuss it with my colleagues in the company.

Luckily, they understood that this was an important task; it was for the nation. They advised me not to decline and said they could handle the company's accounts themselves.

With their consent, I immediately informed PMO. They arranged for my air ticket and the necessary papers, and I was off to New York within three days. This was the first time I flew that far a distance.

As part of his US visit, PM Lee visited New York. All of us in the UN delegation gathered to greet him. When he saw me he said, "Eh! How come you are here?"

I was stunned and didn't know what to say. He had already forgotten!

Singapore was not even three years old at that time, and he was already so busy running from place to place to make sure people knew us and took us seriously that he even forgot that he wanted me to go to the UN!

He expected all the rest of us to do our work too, so much so that he even forgot to tell some of us to do the work.

But actually, he knew very well what you did and when you did your work.

He is one who is very grateful and really puts it in his mind that you were with him through the hard times, whatever your status. Whoever helped him during the crucial years, he will always remember you.

I became MP for Tiong Bahru in 1968, and started helping Mr Lee in his Tanjong Pagar ward in 1976. Mr Lee told me that Tanjong Pagar was no longer the same as when he first became an assemblyman.

In the 1950s, the people who lived there were construction workers, sampan men, trishaw riders, Harbour Board workers, hawkers.

They were very hard-working people and supported Mr Lee through the hard times. They started the Goodwill Committee after the racial riots in 1964.

PM Lee never forgot what they did.

By 1976, the residents living around Duxton Road who were affected by the Government's resettlement plans in the area had been given priority to relocate, to places like Kampong Silat and Bukit Purmei. Some young families from other areas were moving into the newer housing blocks at Tanjong Pagar Plaza.

PM Lee knew that the old ones would no longer be relevant to the new residents. He wanted me to find new residents to keep the grassroots organisations alive.

He also told me: "Mind you, don't hurt the feelings of the older ones."

HOW WALKABOUTS CAME ABOUT

The next time I tried to say "no" to PM Lee, I did it in person. It was in 1981.

I had been in Parliament for about 13 years, as a backbencher. Now and then, Mr Lee would ask me something, or tell me something he wanted me to do, or I would tell him something I think he should know about. That was all our interaction.

I wasn't involved in any big policies or anything like that.

One Saturday in December 1981, near midday, he called me to see him in his office. I went there. He asked me to sit down, then chatted with me, sharing with me his worries. This was after we lost the Anson by-election in October.

He felt an urgent need to groom the younger generation of party leaders. He thought the young ones had good brains, but not the skills to reach out to the people and be accepted by them. He said he needed someone to help him.

Earlier, he had people like Lim Kim San. Lim Kim San had very rich experience in the Chinese business circles and had a wide network.

Now that Mr Lim was already retired, PM needed someone to help him provide a bridge between the young ministers and the people.

He wanted me to help him in the PMO as his Senior Parliamentary Secretary.

It was a Saturday. He wanted me to start the next Monday.

I told him I couldn't because I had responsibilities in the family's business. But he wouldn't take my "no" for an answer. It was December. I explained to him I would need to settle the company's year-end accounts, so I requested to start the following year.

"Okay. 2nd January," he pronounced. He was very decisive.

With that settled, he then asked me: "Now, what do you have in mind to do?"

My mind was racing. I was thinking to myself, you just called me into your office this morning, I didn't know what for, and now straightaway you want me to tell you how I intend to get it started!

But I managed to reply: "First, I agree with you. This group of young ministers, they have very good brains. But they are more technocrats.

They don't have the experience of communicating with the masses. Once the people have the chance to see them face to face, to talk with them, they may accept them more."

I then reminded PM about the way he had conducted himself in the 1950s during the fight for self-government, and in the 1960s in the battle for merger, all the things he did to convince people to support him.

I myself was young at the time, and knew very little about politics.

But I went to listen to him at the rallies. We were all eager to see how this man could help us get rid of British rule.

This was the feeling of the people then. This man would go for talks in London, and then once he landed back in Singapore, he would go straight to the kampungs to see the people, staying until the middle of the night still talking to the villagers. That was deep in my mind.

"I was very impressed by you," I told him.

So I suggested: "Why don't we organise walkabouts? I think it can work for us."

"Do you think that will work?" he asked me.

"Let us try it out first," I said.

"You go ahead," he said.

In 1988, I tried to say "no" again, in a way.

I knew Mr Lee wanted to recruit more young candidates, so I offered my seat to be replaced. I had been in politics 20 years by then. I got scolded. "Why?" he demanded. "I have served my time. I think it's time for me to give way to a younger candidate," I replied.

"What nonsense are you talking about? I'm 11 years your senior and I'm not thinking about stopping work."

What could I say to that?

This article was first published on March 20, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

SINGAPORE - A motorcyclist helped clear the path for an ambulance on an expressway here after noticing that vehicles did not make way for the emergency vehicle travelling on the right-most lane.

On Saturday, Facebook user Maria N Clyde Alexander had uploaded a video clip of the motorcyclist waving to other motorists to get them to change lanes.

As of 3.30pm today, the video had already garnered over 12,766 shares.

Ms Alexandar was in the ambulance with her mother at the time.

"I was in the ambulance taking my mom to the hospital. I have to really commend this Malay guy who help (sic) me clear the road," she wrote.

She said she wanted to thank the man for his kind deed and added that he "did it on his own all the way", allowing the ambulance to get to Khoo Teck Phuat hospital smoothly.

debwong@sph.com.sg

I never, in my wildest dreams, thought that I would one day work closely with this great man.

I grew up in Changi Village. My father worked as a civilian for the British at the nearby airbase. Our quarters were at the edge of the nine-hole golf course in Changi.

The golf course is still there. We used to peer over the fence at Mr Lee playing golf with world leaders.

I saw him there with Malaysian Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman.

When Mr Lee came to play golf, he and Mrs Lee would stay at the Changi Cottage. When they were "in town", everybody in the village knew.

In those days, there was not much security around them. They were free and easy and walked around the village. Their particular interest was this Hainanese bakery called A1.

When A1 baked bread, the aroma would pervade the whole village. All the RAF service wives would come out with their perambulators and babies, and queue up for the French loaves.

Mr Lee once made a speech about that bakery and its impact on the whole village.

Every year in Changi Village, we had a sea carnival where traditional Malay miniature boats with big white sails were released to catch the wind.

You just let them go, and see which one reaches Changi Point first. Changi Point was a Malay village near the present Mindef ferry terminal.

This carnival was one of our traditions, and we always looked forward to it.

I was close to the village headman and helped with the carnival.

So there is this picture of Mr Lee firing a shotgun to start the race. And there I was next to him in my Rover Scout's uniform doing crowd control; I was 16 or 17, just out of school at that time.

In those days, the Ministry of Culture used to print huge information posters of the latest happenings and put them on the notice boards of bus shelters all over the country, especially in the rural areas.

That was our Internet.

That picture of me next to Mr Lee holding the shotgun found its place on bus shelters everywhere around the island.

Mr Lee looked very strong and vigorous. He had a warm aura around him; you could tell that this man is a special human being.

I thought that was the closest I would get to him. That was in 1961, I think.

Some time in 1976 or 1977, I moved to Spottiswoode Park near the Tanjong Pagar train station.

My wife worked for the Port of Singapore Authority (PSA), and since PSA had two blocks of staff housing at Spottiswoode, we decided to live there. Later, another seven blocks were added to the estate.

Not long after moving in, I got a call from Mr Chng Jit Koon. He was the MP looking after the constituency then. He asked me to form the Residents' Committee (RC) for Spottiswoode.

We were only the third RC in Singapore.

The first one was in Marine Parade, the second in Tanjong Pagar Plaza.

Our first chairman was Dr Low Cze Hong, a prominent eye surgeon who was living in Spottiswoode then.

Mr Lee was the MP for Tanjong Pagar and he was there at the first RC meeting.

He had everybody's files with him, including our photos.

We all sat like schoolchildren in rows in front of him. He opened the files, called our names, we stood up, and he asked us questions.

Some people, he grilled.

To me, he said, "Jagjeet Singh. School teacher. Moved into Spottiswoode Park. You don't mind serving in the RC?"

I just said, "Yes, sir. Thank you, sir." Then he moved on to someone else. Dare you say no when the PM asks you to serve? I was going to be the secretary of the RC.

I was also the first assistant secretary (we had several assistant secretaries then) of Tanjong Pagar's Citizens Consultative Committee (CCC).

There were many Chinese clans in the constituency, which made the estate more like a Chinese town. But just like back in Changi, I had no problems in Tanjong Pagar and mixed around quite well with the residents.

Every year, in the Hungry Ghost month, I would be invited to represent the CCC at the Ghost Month functions, two or three in a row.

I understood the things that have meaning for Chinese people, one of them being the Chinese zodiac in which each year is represented by an animal sign. And so every year we made Risis gold-plated animal figurines that corresponded to the zodiac animal for that year, and auctioned them off at these events.

From this we were able to raise money for bursaries. Education was one thing we knew we could always get support for.

No one treated me differently.

I remember one Chinese New Year when I was the organising secretary for the Chinese New Year celebrations. In those days, we used to hold media briefings before the Chinese New Year dinner.

A Chinese reporter asked Mr Chng, "How can a non-Chinese help organise the Chinese New Year dinner?" To which Mr Chng replied sharply, "Why not? Next Deepavali, you can be the organising secretary."

You may not believe this. My job on the CCC was to do the minutes. But back then, the meetings were all held in dialects and Chinese.

There were times when I did not catch anything even though I had studied Chinese in primary school.

The next day, I would go to the district office, and together with the district secretary, we would sort out the minutes.

It must have worked because no one said anything. One day, during a meeting, the CCC chairman realised I must have been having some difficulty.

He asked, "How did you do the minutes all this time?" I said that I managed them somehow! After that, they got a gentleman who could speak English to sit next to me in the meetings, and he would translate for me.

Gradually as more people in the committee could speak English, the meetings were held in English. Soon I became a vice-chairman, and then a patron.

My wife once told our children, "This is the meaning of patience and tolerance. Your father sits through these meetings, he doesn't know dialects.

Yet at the end of the day, he is able to produce the minutes." My children used to laugh about this. I used to laugh about it too. But I got it done.

I told my children, I was asked to serve, so I come to serve, I don't come to ask for things for myself or the family.

Even today, my children are grown up and they follow this principle.

My daughter also volunteers at the Meet-the-People Sessions in Sembawang.

Sometimes she tells me, "I am there to serve, like you, not to ask for things." We believe in this.

Well, anyway, this is what it takes to be a grassroots leader. Mr Lee, and Mrs Lee, cared about what was happening with us grassroots leaders. Seven out of 10 times that Mr Lee came to Tanjong Pagar, Mrs Lee would be with him.

She would ask me about my children, even after they had finished university. Mrs Lee was like that.

She was also very strong like Mr Lee, but she also had this caring way.

FIRST DINNER WITH THE PM

I remember the first time I sat down at the same dinner table with Mr Lee. It was after the National Day Rally held at the National Theatre, near where the Van Kleef Aquarium used to be.

It was my first National Day celebration. The dinner was held outdoors in huge tents.

There were large round tables and you were required to sit together with your MPs. We sat down; nobody dared to touch anything. Mr Lee then picked up his chopsticks and one by one, he put the food on each of our plates.

It was the first course, a cold dish with an assortment of appetisers on a big platter.

One by one, around the table, with his own chopsticks, with his own hand, until every one of our plates had food on it. We just sat without moving. We didn't know what to do.

Then our PM told us: "Come, eat."

This article was first published on March 20, 2016.
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SINGAPORE - A motorcyclist who went out of his way to help clear a path for an ambulance on the Pan Island Expressway (PIE) has received widespread praise on social media.

A video clip of his kind gesture, which was uploaded by Facebook user Maria N Clyde Alexander on Saturday (March 19) afternoon, had more than 13,000 shares.

She wrote: "I was in the ambulance taking my mom to the hospital. I have to really commend this Malay guy who help me clear the road... he did it on his own all the way..."

The video showed Mr Mohamad Rafiq Azhar riding ahead on the right-most lane of the expressway and attempting to signal to vehicles to give way, allowing the ambulance an unobstructed path to Tan Tock Seng Hospital.

The 20-year-old, a logistics and supply management student at Republic Polytechnic, told The Straits Times he had first noticed the ambulance at a traffic junction along Upper Changi Road East at around 4pm.

He was on the way back to his Bedok North home after attending a wedding in Pasir Ris.

"I heard the siren and saw a lady seated in the passenger seat of the ambulance. She look quite worried and I assumed her relative was being taken to hospital," Mr Rafiq, who has been riding for about eight months, told The Straits Times.

"Right there I knew they needed to get to hospital as soon as possible and decided to take the initiative to help."

Mr Rafiq said he cleared a path for the ambulance along the PIE all the way to the Balestier Road exit - a distance of about 15km.

He then made a detour and headed back home.

"I did not mind travelling the extra distance as it felt really good. This is not the first time I'm doing something like this; I did the same for another ambulance a few months ago, although it was only for a short distance on a main road," he added.

"I've seen some of the road users not giving way to the ambulance or emergency vehicles in general. It is saddening to see that happening and I thought that maybe I could make a difference."

Mr Rafiq , who did not know that he was filmed, said he was shocked at how the video clip hadgone viral.

"My family and friends all praised me for doing the right thing. Some thought it was dangerous, but I feel that an act of kindness has no limits. I will definitely do the same again."

This article was first published on March 20, 2016.
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THE People's Action Party (PAP) is set to announce its candidate for the Bukit Batok by-election today, The Straits Times understands.

Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam told reporters yesterday: "We will be announcing our candidate very soon, and we are confident we have someone who is known to residents, who works very hard, and is sincere at heart."

Mr Tharman, who is the PAP's second assistant secretary-general, was asked for his comments hours after Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) chief Chee Soon Juan announced he would contest the single seat vacated by former PAP MP David Ong.

"I am not surprised that Dr Chee Soon Juan has indicated that he is going to stand in Bukit Batok. We welcome the contest," he said.

Mr Tharman, who is an MP for neighbouring Jurong GRC, was at an event to mark the first anniversary of founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew's death.

Click on thumbnail to view photos. Source: 

The Straits Times, Berita Harian, Shin Min Daily News

He has been directly overseeing developments in the Bukit Batok single-member constituency since Mr Ong tendered his resignation two Saturdays ago, over an alleged affair with a grassroots volunteer.

He also attended last Monday's Meet-the-People Session in the constituency alongside Jurong GRC MP Ang Wei Neng, who has taken over as chairman of the Jurong-Clementi Town Council from Mr Ong.

Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs and National Development Desmond Lee is looking after the constituency in the meantime.

Last week, Mr Tharman had assured residents their needs would be tended to till they get a new MP: "We will make sure that problems are solved, that their needs are taken care of, that all the projects that are ongoing carry on smoothly and are completed."

He also said last week that the PAP had a few "very strong candidates" it was looking at: "When we finally announce the candidate, I can assure you it will be someone committed to the interest of Bukit Batok residents, and who will be able to also speak for them and Singaporeans in Parliament."

leepearl@sph.com.sg

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RESIDENTS of Hougang town can look forward to three more community spaces along waterways in the neighbourhood by 2018.

These are among 20 projects slated for completion in the next five years under the ABC (Active, Beautiful, Clean) Waters programme.

Work on the three Hougang projects at Hougang Avenue 10, Sungei Pinang and Serangoon Reservoir, over a total distance of 2.2km, starts next month.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong officiated at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Hougang projects yesterday morning.

He urged residents to keep the waters clean, adding that otters may visit if waters are well looked after.

Some upcoming features include a new deck over the canal at Hougang Avenue 10, which can be used for community events. A pedestrian bridge across Sungei Pinang will better connect the housing areas to amenities such as Punggol Park.

There will be more greenery at the three locations to liven up the concrete structures, and a fishing spot along the edge of the Serangoon Reservoir will also be built.

The three projects will cost about $19 million.

Gan Thiam Poh, an Ang Mo Kio GRC MP who oversees the Sengkang South division, an area which will benefit from the new projects, said the bridge will help pedestrians, including the elderly and those on wheelchairs, to go to Punggol Park and enjoy the facilities there.

Yesterday's event, which was also attended by Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Masagos Zulkifli, marked the 10th year of the ABC Waters programme under national water agency PUB.

This scheme aims to beautify Singapore's blue spaces and transform concrete canals and drains into areas that can also be used for community events and recreation.

Since it started in 2006, 32 projects costing about $150 million have been completed.

They include a 3km stretch of the Kallang River located within Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park.

This project has been a hit not just with humans, but also with birds such as the purple heron and collared kingfisher, which have been seen along the naturalised river.

Otters have been spotted frolicking there too.

Durairaj Baktha, 53, a Hougang resident of three years, appreciates the Government's efforts to beautify the neighbourhood.

"I really like the greenery, it gives me peace of mind. My three sons also cycle often, and I think they will look forward to more greenery along the way to Punggol Park," added the project manager.

audreyt@sph.com.sg

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