How to make Lim Swee Say cry
ONLINE EXCLUSIVE
By Wong Kim Hoh
Minister in the Prime Minister's office Lim Swee Say (in red) teared as his grassroots leaders sent him off while singing a Mandarin song during a farewell dinner thrown by Buona Vista residents at Commonwealth Crescent. -- ST PHOTO: LAU FOOK KONG
HER name is Fresh, and she is from China.
Her matronly figure was sheathed in black tights and a gold sequinned top, at least a size too small. But her voice was big, and full of feeling as she crooned the Teresa Teng classic, The Moon Represents My Heart, just for Mr Lim Swee Say.
She was part of the entertainment at a boisterous farewell dinner thrown for the labour chief by Buona Vista residents at Commonwealth Crescent on Friday night. After 15 years, the Minister in the Prime Minister's office recently left the ward to helm the People's Action Party in East Coast GRC.
The organisers of Friday's shindig - which also celebrated the third anniversary of My Buona Vista Place community service centre - wanted not just to pay tribute to Mr Lim but also to make him cry.
After all, he has been known to turn on the waterworks quite easily. He wept copiously when an unseeded Thai player trounced and deprived Singapore's badminton ace Ronald Susilo of a place in the Olympics badminton semi-finals in 2004.
'He even cried at movies like Homerun and 881,' said My Buona Vista Place chairman Jackie Goh, 37, referring to the two melodramas by filmmakers Jack Neo and Royston Tan respectively.
No effort was spared to elicit Mr Lim's tears at the party, initially planned for just 200 but which finally accommodated 1,500 residents and supporters. They dined on an eight-course Chinese dinner under a white marquee, next to an open carpark.
Holding court in Hokkien, Mandarin and English was master of ceremony Lee Pei Fen, decked out in her getai best.
All she needed to do was exhort, and the crowd would gamely wave their the night's equivalent of xylume sticks: handheld plastic fans bearing Mr Lim's face.
A contingent of singers and dancers - many in sequins, feathers and thigh-high leather boots - bravely worked the crowd, belting out Mandarin, Hokkien and Malay songs.
In between, grassroots leaders including Major-General (NS) Chan Chun Sing - Mr Lim's successor at Buona Vista - took to the stage to pay tribute to, and spill a few 'secrets' about the MP, such as his penchant for bawdy jokes.
The organisers later upped the ante with a video. Set to suitably sappy music, it featured a collage of photographs and featured interviews with people who had worked alongside the minister, as well as residents who have fond memories of his time in Buona Vista.
As fried prawns were served, Mr Lim went on stage to receive gifts and tokens of appreciation from residents and stakeholders in the area.
A 15m scroll bearing the well-wishes and signatures of more than 1,000 residents was dramatically unfurled by a cavalry of grassroots leaders.
Other gifts from groups such as the Holland Village Shopkeepers' Association included a framed calligraphic couplet, a giant eagle statue and a plate with a beautifully painted carp, the Chinese symbol of success and abundance.
Although moved, Mr Lim's tears did not materialise, not until the finale when he stood on stage, flanked by grassroots leaders, residents and performers.
The band struck up the opening notes of Emil Chau's Friend, and on cue, diners waved their fans, picked up the lyric sheets thoughtfully placed on their table and sang along with gusto.
The English lyrics - With our hearts in unison, we convey our heartfelt thanks; here we are wishing you all the best in future - verged on the corny but the sentiments and affection were heartfelt and reverberated loudly in Commonwealth Crescent.
And that's when the dam burst.
Mr Lim took off his glasses, reached into his pocket for his handkerchief to wipe the tears away.
He looked down the stage to see a long line of residents - young and old - waiting to shake his hands and bid him adieu.
He cried again.
ONLINE EXCLUSIVE
By Wong Kim Hoh
Minister in the Prime Minister's office Lim Swee Say (in red) teared as his grassroots leaders sent him off while singing a Mandarin song during a farewell dinner thrown by Buona Vista residents at Commonwealth Crescent. -- ST PHOTO: LAU FOOK KONG
HER name is Fresh, and she is from China.
Her matronly figure was sheathed in black tights and a gold sequinned top, at least a size too small. But her voice was big, and full of feeling as she crooned the Teresa Teng classic, The Moon Represents My Heart, just for Mr Lim Swee Say.
She was part of the entertainment at a boisterous farewell dinner thrown for the labour chief by Buona Vista residents at Commonwealth Crescent on Friday night. After 15 years, the Minister in the Prime Minister's office recently left the ward to helm the People's Action Party in East Coast GRC.
The organisers of Friday's shindig - which also celebrated the third anniversary of My Buona Vista Place community service centre - wanted not just to pay tribute to Mr Lim but also to make him cry.
After all, he has been known to turn on the waterworks quite easily. He wept copiously when an unseeded Thai player trounced and deprived Singapore's badminton ace Ronald Susilo of a place in the Olympics badminton semi-finals in 2004.
'He even cried at movies like Homerun and 881,' said My Buona Vista Place chairman Jackie Goh, 37, referring to the two melodramas by filmmakers Jack Neo and Royston Tan respectively.
No effort was spared to elicit Mr Lim's tears at the party, initially planned for just 200 but which finally accommodated 1,500 residents and supporters. They dined on an eight-course Chinese dinner under a white marquee, next to an open carpark.
Holding court in Hokkien, Mandarin and English was master of ceremony Lee Pei Fen, decked out in her getai best.
All she needed to do was exhort, and the crowd would gamely wave their the night's equivalent of xylume sticks: handheld plastic fans bearing Mr Lim's face.
A contingent of singers and dancers - many in sequins, feathers and thigh-high leather boots - bravely worked the crowd, belting out Mandarin, Hokkien and Malay songs.
In between, grassroots leaders including Major-General (NS) Chan Chun Sing - Mr Lim's successor at Buona Vista - took to the stage to pay tribute to, and spill a few 'secrets' about the MP, such as his penchant for bawdy jokes.
The organisers later upped the ante with a video. Set to suitably sappy music, it featured a collage of photographs and featured interviews with people who had worked alongside the minister, as well as residents who have fond memories of his time in Buona Vista.
As fried prawns were served, Mr Lim went on stage to receive gifts and tokens of appreciation from residents and stakeholders in the area.
A 15m scroll bearing the well-wishes and signatures of more than 1,000 residents was dramatically unfurled by a cavalry of grassroots leaders.
Other gifts from groups such as the Holland Village Shopkeepers' Association included a framed calligraphic couplet, a giant eagle statue and a plate with a beautifully painted carp, the Chinese symbol of success and abundance.
Although moved, Mr Lim's tears did not materialise, not until the finale when he stood on stage, flanked by grassroots leaders, residents and performers.
The band struck up the opening notes of Emil Chau's Friend, and on cue, diners waved their fans, picked up the lyric sheets thoughtfully placed on their table and sang along with gusto.
The English lyrics - With our hearts in unison, we convey our heartfelt thanks; here we are wishing you all the best in future - verged on the corny but the sentiments and affection were heartfelt and reverberated loudly in Commonwealth Crescent.
And that's when the dam burst.
Mr Lim took off his glasses, reached into his pocket for his handkerchief to wipe the tears away.
He looked down the stage to see a long line of residents - young and old - waiting to shake his hands and bid him adieu.
He cried again.
