PAP team hands out free teddy bears at Fengshan
Bedok 85 Market was abuzz on Nov 17 with East Coast GRC MP Cheryl Chan and her team of volunteers – who included a new face – handing out People’s Action Party (PAP) teddy bears to residents as part of the ruling party’s 70th anniversary celebrations.
The bears, clad in white PAP T-shirts, made their debut at the popular market alongside Ms Melissa Tan, 46, chief executive officer of home-grown waste management firm Wah & Hua.
The long-time party volunteer – who was previously active in Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment, and Transport Amy Khor’s Hong Kah North SMC – had joined the Fengshan team in its activities one to two weeks ago.
At the Nov 17 event, Ms Tan greeted residents alongside Ms Chan.
When approached, she told The Straits Times: “As I have been with the party for many years, I take the opportunity to visit other areas to see how they conduct activities from time to time.”
She added that she has been volunteering with the PAP for 20 years and was currently “getting to know volunteers and residents” in Fengshan, which is part of the five-member East Coast GRC helmed by Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat. Apart from Ms Chan, the other MPs in the GRC are Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Maliki Osman, Senior Minister of State for Digital Development and Information, and National Development Tan Kiat How, and Ms Jessica Tan.
Ms Melissa Tan took over Wah & Hua in 2000 from her father Steven Tan, who started the company in 1978 as a waste collector with a small fleet of trucks. She is also chairwoman of the Waste Management & Recycling Association of Singapore.
In 2021, under her leadership, the company, which came to provide sustainability-driven solutions in the collection, recycling, processing and disposal of multiple waste streams, was acquired by Blue Planet Environmental Solutions, a regional investor.
Asked if she was a potential PAP candidate in the next general election due by November 2025, Ms Tan, who has also attended other activities in East Coast GRC, said she was unable to comment.
On Ms Tan’s public engagements in the area, Ms Chan said the party had been sending different members around. “Sometimes, we’re just testing the vibes on the ground,” the MP added.
For over an hour, residents queued up for the 1,200 teddy bears being given out. At one point, there were some 130 people in the queue.
Some drink stalls at the market, as well as two coffee shops nearby, were also giving out hot drinks in PAP mugs.
Ms Tan said she did not expect the turnout to be so big. “It’s nice to see that the residents here are warm and friendly,” she added.
Meanwhile, Ms Chan said her team wanted to celebrate the party’s 70th anniversary, which is on Nov 21, by giving away something that would be liked by many people, and the reception towards the event showed that the bears drew children, grandparents and working adults alike.
An 81-year-old resident who wanted to be known only as Madam Phoon learnt of the event from a notice pasted in a lift. She said she made it a point to finish her marketing by 9am so that she could queue for one of the bears.
She went home with a bear, two mugs and a flask filled with the hot beverage that came in the mugs.
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