punggoleast@wp.sg Punggol East SMC

Tea with Li Lian

Date: 25 May 2014 (Sun), 4pmVenue: Blk 143A Rivervale Drive

Punggol East BulletinMay 2014

What’s Coming Up

1. Two New Childcare Centres

I met up with the Early Childhood De-velopment Agency (ECDA) in May last year to discuss the acute short-age of childcare centres in Punggol East. I was elated to have signed on the letter of support on suitable sites identified by the ECDA in Punggol East earlier this year. The exact loca-tion of these sites was reported in the Straits Times on 5 April 2014. They will be operated by anchor operator, Eton House’s E-Bridge Pre-Schools (Tel: 6336 3322), at Blk 178A River-vale Crescent and Blk 116A Rivervale

Drive. Although we are not able to have as many as we wanted, I would still like to thank the ECDA team for their efforts!

2. Blk 188 Rivervale Drive Basket-ball Court

It was brought to our attention that the benches at Blk 188 Rivervale Drive court were frequently vandal-ized, Town Council replaced the same bench twice in a year. A police report had been made and the dam-aged bench removed. (See photo left) Town Council will not be putting in new benches in this area unless there is growing demand from residents. There are currently 8 benches in the area.

Town Updates

Meet-the-People SessionBlk 135 Rivervale StreetEvery Monday except public holidays7.30pm to 9.30pm

Welcome!

Dear Residents of Punggol East,

In this issue, we have a special feature on the Budget 2014 debate in Parliament that took place between 3rd to 13th March 2014. The President will be making his address on 16th May followed by debate on the address from 26th to 30th when Parliament reconvenes.

I would like to take this opportunity to remind all residents that the dengue season is back. The Town Council will continue to carry out pest control work. As the number of dengue cases rise, we should stay vigilant and alert to our surroundings. The best persons to fight dengue are ourselves. By taking necessary precautions, we can reduce the number of dengue cases to protect our loved ones. NEA officers who conduct inspection in your premises are required to put on their authority cards. On more information on how to identify an NEA officer please refer to this link.

Next, we have been receiving feedback on pigeons creating a nuisance. Town Council found that this is happening because someone is feeding them. Please be reminded that it is an offence to feed pigeons. You can be fined up to $500 under the Animal & Birds Act administered by the AVA.

I am happy to announce that 2 new childcare centres will be coming to Punggol East. I was informed that registration will take place between mid to end of May 2014. Please keep a look out for banners put up by the operators. Registration will be on a first come first served basis with priority given to Singaporeans and PE residents. I hope that this can help alleviate some of the problems that parents are currently facing in Punggol East.

Lastly, June school holidays are around the corner and here is to all our little ones: Have a great holiday, recharge, rejuvenate, re-energise!

Thank you,

Lee Li Lian

(Continued on page 2)

One Day JB Farm Tour

Date: 22 Jun 2014 (Sun)Date: 29 Jun 2014 (Sun)(SOLD OUT)

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Punggol East Bulletin May 2014

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What does the Black Cat do? (1 Apr)

Spotted a silhouette of a black cat while doing my estate walk. Initially, I was not sure about its effective-ness. Last week, I met a resident who faced the same problem. I proposed to her to try this out. You can get this from any Daiso and we have a Daiso in Rivervale Mall. I was pleased to receive an email from her that the method worked! Do you know what is this for? This can help to solve a very common problem seen in many estates.

‘Thank You Ms Lee’ (20 Apr)

Residents sometimes express their appreciation over successful appeals done during MPS. Usually, these are done verbally, via small tokens like biscuits or through email. Last week, I received something different. There was this resident who had sought help through MPS to place her two children in a childcare centre. This resident send pictures of her children in their new childcare uniform, poising happily for the camera while enjoying themselves at the playground. At the bottom of the picture, I saw the words Thank you Ms Lee’.

I was very touched when I saw this. Whichever method one uses, our vol-unteers are very encouraged by the small differences we have made to their lives.

My Grandma’s Old Neighbour (27 Apr)

During my house visit yesterday morning, I met an elderly lady, better known as Ah Choo, age 81. She turns out to be my grandma’s old neighbour in Pulau Brani during the post war times. She knows me as my aunt’s younger sister’s daughter. What a small world! In September 1971, work for the development of the Brani naval base commenced, and villagers living on the island were resettled on main-land Singapore.

3. Walkway from Rivervale Plaza to Kangkar LRT

We received feedback on the need to modify the pedestrian walkway lead-ing from Rivervale Plaza to Kangkar LRT station because the walkway was prone to accident. LTA did modi-fication works to create a gentle slope with tactile paving (see photos right).

4. Blk 146 Multi-storey Car Park Lift

I received repeated queries on when the lift for the multi-storey car park at Blk 146 would be completed. I wrote in to HDB to ask for a status update and request for them to put up notices to inform residents. HDB responded on 8 April 2014 and informed us that there are still on-going works needed to be carried for the lift and roof shel-ter works, which would then be fol-lowed by testing and commissioning. The revised expected completion of the works is extended to 2nd quarter of 2014. HDB apologised for any in-convenience caused.

5. 2-Way Mirror at Rivervale Cres-cent

We requested LTA to install a convex mirror to improve the line of sight of approaching traffic at Rivervale Cre-sent close to the two temples located there. LTA replied that convex mirrors are usually placed in multi-storey car park or within private estates roads.LTA said that to place a convex mirror across a 10m-wide road at Rivervale Crescent, the image projected by the mirror may be distorted and not ac-curate, which may cause other safety concern. To improve safety, LTA ar-ranged to paint ‘SLOW’ markings and

install traffic signs on both sides of the road bend near the bus stop, which is scheduled to be implemented by 3rd quarter of 2014.

6. ComCare Assistance

Please be informed that with effect from 2 Jun 2014, ComCare assis-tance services will be transferred from Sengkang Community Club, River-vale Community Centre and Punggol Park Community Centre to SSO@Sengkang. The Social Service Office (SSO) is located at Blk 261C, Seng-kang East Way, #01-506, Singapore 543261.

Town Updates (cont’d)

Li Lian’s PE Experience

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Punggol East Bulletin May 2014

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Budget Feature

The following are excerpts from Li Li-an’s speech in Parliament, delivered 4 March 2014. For the full text, please click here.

Pioneer Generation Package

... A more flexible use of Medisave would greatly benefit the elderly, since many of them may not suffer from an approved chronic condition, but have other illnesses that require costly long-term care and constant medical atten-tion ... I hope to see a wider range of medication, outpatient treatment and perhaps early screening tests to be included into the usage of Medisave. The Workers’ Party has also consis-tently called for Singaporeans above the age of 75 to be allowed to with-draw from Medisave for any medical care without restrictions.

... The policy framework for our pio-neer generation should also consider how we can enable our pioneers and the elderly to lead a more meaningful life in times of good health. ... Today we have a number of schemes and activities to encourage active aging, but at the same time there is more we can do to enhance retirement activi-ties to keep our pioneers active, inde-pendent and happy. ... One recom-mendation to extend the PGP beyond healthcare would be to implement a

discount scheme or “PGP Pass” for the Elderly to access major tourist attractions for free or places of enter-tainment for a discount.

Caregiver support (translated from Chinese)

... let us not forget another group of people. ... They are our family care-givers, including grandparents who take care of young grandchildren, homemakers and those who take care of sick family members. This group of people work very hard through day and night. They not only exhaust themselves physically and mentally, but also sacrifice their career and work income so as to devote their time and energy to take good care of family members in need. ... Caregivers defi-nitely do not give less of themselves than who are formally employed, but they are often neglected. ... I hope the Government could provide some di-rect assistance to caregivers. ...

Work-Life balance

... We have talked extensively about the need to institutionalize work-life balance to address our current low fertility rates and the stress that bal-ancing careers and families have, es-pecially on mothers. Despite govern-ment efforts to encourage this through

Flexi! Works schemes, it seems that more needs to be done to change the mind-set of employers. ... As part of the budget recommendations, DPM outlined the ICT for Productivity and Growth (IPG) programme to acceler-ate the adoption of ICT (Information and Communications Technology) solutions. I would like to recommend that solutions that can enable flexible work policies should feature as ap-proved solutions. ...

Single parents

The Budget rightfully focuses on ways to reduce income inequality in soci-ety. As such, it is important to address specific segments of society that are “at risk” of falling behind ..., especially when it comes to children. Many stud-ies have shown that children from single-parent households have lower economic mobility than children born to married parents. ... Madam Speak-er, the ones who inevitably suffer the most because of these measures are the children of single parents. Our focus when addressing the issue of single-parent households should be on the child, and we should not be punishing a child for whatever actions we deem his or her parents to have committed.

Li Lian’s COS cuts (Click on each image for links to the full text)

Excerpts from Li Lian’s Budget 2014 Debate Speech

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Punggol East Bulletin May 2014

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The Punggol East Constituency Committee (PECC) aims to bring residents together to interact and know one another better through activities and community events.

The Punggol East Bulletin is published by the PECC editorial team, edited by Daniel Goh and Sng Poh Liang, with photographs by Jacky Koh and Ng Swee Bee. For enquiries and feedback on the bulletin, please email punggoleast@wp.sg

Tea With Li Lian (9 Mar 2014)

4D2N Bentong & Kuantan Durian Trip (20-23 Mar 2014)

Events