Chitchat Why Jamus Lim join Workers' Party ?

[jw5]

Jamus went on house visits.

Jamus Lim​

8 h ·
This week, #TeamSengkang was able to wrap up our house visits at 313D #Anchorvale. While we only had six floors to complete, our more involved conversations meant that we only wrapped up after a little less than two hours, having touched on issues large and small.
I was lucky enough to stumble on the home of an ex-colleague. Although she was engaged in a work call (at 8:45 in the evening), I managed to chat with her parents. They had moved into #SengkangGRC from a condo elsewhere. The resident shared that he had been pleasantly surprised that maintenance and cleanliness standards were as high as they were at an HDB estate, and I explained that we take environmental concerns very seriously, because it directly impacts the lives of our constituents, and we know that they care about such matters too.

 

[jw5]

Jamus poses unmasked with an unmasked father and son.

 

[jw5]

Jamus asks for permission to speak to resident.

 

[jw5]

Jamus asks dog if he has any problems.

 

[jw5]

Jamus prepares a meal.

Jamus Lim​

14 h ·
This week, we had a whole lot of excess kale left behind at the #Anchorvale food rescue exercise. So I took home two bunches, and after stripping out yellowed and wilted leaves (thanks Mom!), I was able to prepare penne with (meatless) Italian sausage and kale in a white wine sauce, further embellished with some rehydrated porcini, roasted semi-dried tomatoes, and aged parmigiano reggiano (the dish is usually prepared with broccoli rabe, which is basically impossible to find in Singapore, but the kale lends a bitter hint that imitates the original dish).
Our family does not always eat in a completely environmentally-sustainable manner—tapao, done in a hurry, often relies on whatever plastic or styrofoam containers the vendor provides, and the provenance of the ingredients is uncertain—but we try to do so when we can. We generally cook only fish and vegetables at home, and for this dinner, the kale was rescued, while the plant-based sausage was made using less land, water, and energy than actual meat would have required. You don’t have to go full hog (no pun intended) and turn vegan, but we can all try to make the occasional conscious eating choice, and do our part as consumers for our collective environmental future.

 

[jw5]

Jamus went on a hike.

Jamus Lim​

12 h ·
As preparation for our #Anchorvale Jeju hike, #TeamSengkang met up with some of those who signed up to hike the Southern Ridges. It was the first time that I experienced the trail, but having spent my childhood years in the Telok Blangah area—and now that I work around the Kent Ridge area—the starting and ending points of the hike were metaphorical bookends for my own Singaporean journey.
We’ll have another preparatory hike in the weeks to come—this time, to start at McRitchie, and end at Bukit Timah—which I’m looking forward to as well, since it’s been ages since I’ve last had the opportunity to hike the central catchment area (we do the TreeTop Walk with guests from abroad, but COVID had put paid to, well, guests from abroad).
Thanks to Sheryl at Travel Wander for guiding us along the way, and for sharing stories and histories of the places we went to. We are mulling the possibility of rolling out Singapore-based hikes for residents of #SengkangGRC in the future, so do let us know if there is interest!

 

[jw5]

Jamus poses unmasked with unmasked hikers.

 

[jw5]

The hike begins!

 

[jw5]

Jamus admires the greenery.

 

[jw5]

Jamus admires HDB flats.

 

[jw5]

Jamus tracks the hiking trail.

 

[jw5]

Jamus continues house visits.

Jamus Lim​

14 h ·
This week’s house visits brought #TeamSengkang to 355A, where we had so many long, sobering conversations that we only made our way through a third of the block (in our defense, it was also a pretty dense block, with 10 units per floor). With so many Singaporeans returning to the workplace, many conversations revolved around the labor market, and in particular, the place of foreign talent relative to our domestic workforce. Two stories—from two ends of the jobs ladder—left an impression on me.
One resident shared his thoughts about the new ONEPass scheme. He just returned after a long stint in China, and had a difficult time securing a job here, despite his extensive experience and solid skill set. He expressed his concern that ONEPass—despite its high qualification bar—would ultimately end up exacerbating the difficulties locals faced in advancing to the upper tiers of the corporate hierarchy, thereby relegating them to being trapped in middle management. This fear was further corroborated by his impression that many foreign nationals working here tended to favor their own countrymen, further alienating Singaporeans when they seek at job at home.
Another resident spoke about how Singaporeans enjoyed few privileges in the local job market. He said that it was especially tough for those who were competing against foreigners willing to work for less, since the opportunity to earn Singapore dollars—which would translate into much more in terms of purchasing power in their home currencies—more than made up for a comparatively lower salary. Without any special dispensation, many would turn to alternatives like private hire driving. For him, this is an unbelievable state of affairs; in other countries, it is the migrants that drove the Ubers and Grabs, but it seems to be the other way round here.
Importantly, unlike nativist sentiments that are now commonplace in many countries, these Singaporeans were not instinctively anti-foreigner. Rather, it was the gnawing sense of feeling like Singaporeans are disadvantaged in their own country. As someone who has felt that sense of discrimination as I competed with others as an expat abroad, it breaks my heart to hear that there are many workers that feel the same way, right at home. #SengkangGRC

 

[jw5]

Jamus poses unmasked with an unmasked family.

 

[jw5]

Jamus asks for permission to speak to resident.

 

[jw5]

Jamus wants to do meaningful and important work.

Jamus Lim​

13 h ·
Last week, I spent about half a day walking around with the #Anchorvale property and project manager, as we discussed improvements that could be rolled out during the next repairs and redecoration (R&R) cycle. Works for five clusters (Cove, Harvest, Horizon, Isles, and Vista) had been delayed due to COVID-19, but the process of moving forward with these projects is now underway.
Some folks have expressed their conviction that MPs should not be bogged down by town council matters, but rather focus on issues of national importance, leaving estate management to professionals. I see the merits of this argument. After all, we have finite hours in the day, and time spent on the nitty-gritty of the estate does take away from our time devoted toward working on policy matters of national concern. That said, I actually find the work we do on this front both meaningful and important.
After all, the average resident doesn’t distinguish (or wish to distinguish) between what might be within the purview of the MP, government, or agency; they just see everything as part of the public commons. Rather than passing off the issue as someone else’s responsibility, we should at least ensure that the appropriate agency takes on the matter, and try our level best to close the loop on cases presented to us.
Moreover, our constant presence on the ground means that we would have developed a keen understanding of niggling problems, along with a fresh perspective. Indeed, we have tackled some longstanding (and seemingly intractable) bugbears, and taken a crack at resolving them. Finally, I share @PritamSingh76 ‘s view that estate administration lends us invaluable experience—while also lending confidence—that #workersparty MPs are more than capable of exercising successful oversight of town councils (as well as, by extension, other arms of government).
More generally, by voting for us, residents have put their trust in us, to address their concerns, large and small. We gain precious insight into these during our house visits, estate walks, and meet-the-people sessions. If we do not take an active involvement in helping with the small improvements that make their lives matter, then our job would be, at best, incomplete. #SengkangGRC

 

[jw5]

Jamus discusses recycling.

Jamus Lim​

11 h ·
Most of us who have traveled or lived abroad for any extended period will probably have noticed that recycling is often sorted into different categories of items. For some, this can be a pain (others may find zen the exercise). In many European countries, there is sorting into at least 3 categories, like glass, metal, and paper. China, true to form, is rolling out sorting, by fiat. It’s more decentralized at the municipal level in Japan; in one town where there are a whopping 45 different categories! In contrast, in the U.S., single-stream recycling is commonplace. These would eventually need to be sorted at the back end, and a lot of this is performed by the prisoner population (America has the largest prison population in the world).
In Singapore, we currently have single-stream recycling. I can see the benefits of this—to encourage recycling in a population where such practices remain relatively uncommon—but it could also make us less mindful of the entire ethos of recycling (I also often have a strange suspicion that stuff that gets taken away in this fashion simply gets trashed. My witnessing of cleaners at my school commingling trash and recyclables once hardly lends confidence).
As it turns out, the National Environment Agency (NEA) is exploring a number of sorting schemes here. At the moment, most of these still occur on the back end; town council conservancy contractors are most likely to be the folks that separate out and recycle e-waste. There seems to be a plan for beverage container return by consumers, however. My sense is that more awareness has to be built gradually, perhaps with a national education drive (many people still don’t realize that styrofoam doesn’t recycle, nor does greased cardboard, like pizza boxes). Certain estates are also piloting segregated recycling.
My hope is that we’ll all get to the stage where sorting and recycling becomes second nature, as it is in many other advanced economies. Even better, we build our sense that recycling is actually the third resort, after reducing and reusing. In our household, we try to practice these principles (although Mom’s hoarding of used jars and tapao containers can get a bit much). #makingyourvotecount

 

[jw5]

 

[jw5]

 

[jw5]

 

[jw5]