Andrew Loh /
Comments surrounding a New Paper article about a “youth with low IQ” who was involved in an incident with Aljunied GRC MPs Cynthia Phua and Lim Hwee Hwa written in 2009 has been described as “slander that has been viralling online.”
In language which suggests that legal action could be in the works, a message on the Aljunied Facebook group said: “We were wrongly accused that not only that we had not been compassionate, also that we had pressed charges against the poor boy.”
They Facebook message further stated: “We had continued to help after the incident and we will continue doing so.”
The New Paper article (8 May 2009) is reproduced here in full, followed by the message posted on the Aljunied Facebook page.
Teen arrested for violence at MP’s office
[PROBLEMS: The mother (R) hasn't worked since she broke her wrist after falling while cleaning a fan. Her son (C) suffers from thalassemia, a blood disorder that leaves him weak and sickly. ]
By Ng Tze Yong
A YOUTH with low IQ has been arrested by police after flying into a rage at a Meet-the-People Session (MPS), upset at what he felt was his MP’s cold-shoulder treatment of his mother’s financial plight.
The 17-year-old boy hoisted an aluminium foldable chair over his head and slammed it against a glass door seconds after walking out of MP Cynthia Phua’s Serangoon North office with his mother.
The boy, who has been released on bail, has been told to report back to the police on 12 May, where he may be charged with committing a rash act.
The offence carries a jail term of up to six months and a fine of up to $2,500.
The youth cannot be named because of impending court proceedings.
This is the third incident in recent months involving MPs and their constituents.
The boy and his mother, 53, are familiar faces to the grassroots volunteers at the MPS.
The unwed mother with Primary 6 education gets by on a $400 monthly salary as a part-time cleaner.
He attended a special school and suffers from thalassemia, a blood disorder that renders him weak and sickly.
The mother said that things went from bad to worse in November 2004 when the boy’s father disappeared and stopped paying the $300 monthly maintenance due to her.
As a result, she visited the MPS about once a month for the past few years to request for various kinds of financial aid.
January this year saw a crisis unfold in their lives, when the mother broke her wrist after falling off a chair while cleaning a fan. She hasn’t worked since.
She said the HDB was then in the middle of repossessing her flat and giving her a rental unit, but she was unable to pay the $138 in rental deposit and stamp duty.
So last Monday, she went to the office at Block 125, Serangoon North Ave 1, where MP Lim Hwee Hua holds her MPS, hoping to have her sign an appeal letter for HDB.
But that day, Mrs Lim, who is also a minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, was abroad. Fellow Aljunied GRC MP Cynthia Phua stood in for her.
The mother’s request was granted – Madam Phua signed the letter – but mother and son left fuming, claiming that Madam Phua had put them down.
She claimed that shortly after they had entered the office, Madam Phua asked her son a series of questions:
‘She asked him, ‘Who are you? What are you doing? Why aren’t you working?’ she claimed.
The mother said she wanted to explain her son’s condition, but wasn’t given a chance.
‘I felt like we were being scolded,’ she said.
The meeting ended after two or three minutes, she said.
As they were walking out, the son snapped.
His outburst with the chair – two blows against the glass door, which didn’t break – was ‘strong enough to get someone killed’, said the Serangoon PAP branch secretary, Mr Poon Mun Wai.
As grassroots volunteers scrambled to calm down the teenager, his mother begged a neighbour to whisk him home immediately.
Later that night, the police arrived at their flat and arrested him. He was released on bail at about 1am.
When contacted, Madam Phua contradicted the mother’s version of events, saying she felt that their conversation ‘went well’.
She said: ‘Like any normal case at MPS, I have to try to understand the case first of all…
‘I had to ask some pointed questions about his employment status to understand the root cause of the problem, so that I can be more effective in helping them.’
During the one week after the incident, the mother pondered what to do.
She got her son to shave off his shoulder-length orange-dyed hair to get rid of bad luck.
For days, she said, he couldn’t find the courage to face himself in the mirror. He also decided to put on hold a long-time dream to audition for Singapore Idol.
Two days ago, she returned to the MPS again alone and clutching a handwritten letter of apology from her son.
‘Please fodgive me for what I dad I am sinelely truely I’m sorry (sic),’ the teenager had written in big, neat handwriting.
The apology, however, was not acceptable to Mrs Lim, who was back chairing the MPS after returning from abroad.
‘I made it very clear to (the mother) that this is unacceptable behaviour. It is not justifiable in any circumstance. There’s no excuse to be violent,’ Mrs Lim told The New Paper.
She also explained that she was not in a position to excuse or forgive the boy.
‘I was not present and the police are investigating into the matter. I believe the police will take into consideration the mitigating factors,’ said Mrs Lim.
‘From what I understand, Madam Phua was being very motherly and very helpful inside the room with them.’
Mrs Lim’s response surprised the mother, who had spoken fondly of her throughout the interview with The New Paper just a day before.
She said: ‘I know what my son did was wrong. But how can I not defend him? He is my son, he is not well and he has a problem with his temper.
‘I don’t want him to go to jail and have his future ruined.’
Response posted on Aljunied GRC Facebook site:
Response to Online Slander that Aljunied PAP team is not compassionate
We wish to clarify on the slander that has been viralling online, particularly on the accusation that we had pressed charges on a helpless, mentally handicapped resident who came to MPS in Serangoon North and slammed a chair on the door.
We were wrongly accused that not only that we had not been compassionate, also that we had pressed charges against the poor boy. We didn’t press charges. The mother and son have been coming to MPS regularly and we had been helping them to get financial aids. We had continued to help after the incident and we will continue doing so.
We would like to urge residents and grassroots leaders to look out for those who require assistance but are hesitating to come forward to ask for help.
HELP keep the voice of TOC alive!
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kukujumuku 5 May 2011
I often wonder why people want their home prices to go sky high. Are these people with BRAINS or just TISSUES of matter.……….
=====================
kukujumuku,
These ppl lives in private property and rent out out their HDB flat.
Lots of them are PR.
1 EXAMPLE BELOW
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=118297308214961
Moral compass is lose,
Now,we have to choose,
For someone without empathy,
Certainly do not need our sympathy
Our fellow mankind is in need,
For a compassionate deed,
she is kind to help indeed!
To the police,together they seek!
If the mother and son are known to them and they often “helped” them, then why doesn’t PAP Cynthia Phua seems to know his medical condition?
Why keep asking those insulting questions towards that boy?
When contacted, Madam Phua contradicted the mother’s version of events, saying she felt that their conversation ‘went well’.
She said: ‘Like any normal case at MPS, I have to try to understand the case first of all…
‘I had to ask some pointed questions …..
Ha that’s the problem when you aren’t compassionate, don’t have empathy as an MP and fail to see their suffering and continue with “POINTED” questions – moreover this is just Mdm Phua’s recollection of the truth but what really transpired that made the boy see it differently and lose his composure?
The way I read it, it was pent-up anger that made him hit the glass door as he was leaving. It doesn’t warrant a police case because there is no threat of violence against any person.
That it was ‘strong enough to get someone killed’ is irrelevant because the strength wasn’t directed against a person but the door.For example, sometimes I stamp my foot in frustration and the force of it could also get someone killed if his face was lying on that spot of the ground.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZZcyU5eG5g&NR=1
Promises After Promise(PAP)-Liers
Wolves in Sheep White skin
Be our voice for us from Tanjong Pagar
From one Phua to Cynthia – Just get out Aljunied GRC and all other managerial/chairmanship positions you hold elsewhere. You are vindictive. You are not appreciated. You are judged for what you are. So, please go…………
I can’t stand Cynthia Phua speaks, she simply can’t speak at all!!! Her pronounciations in both English and Chinese are so poor!!!
Be AWARE of new MPs pass their BILLS 2U
a) Energy Sector-Sale of Spore Power etc.Why the new MP from this sector?
b) Finance – New MP is from MAS,Why is he being voted into as MP?
c) Defence Sector–New MP why is our defence spent increasing?
We need a LOUDER opposition to STOP them to pass more unknown bills to SPOREAN
Orange dyed hair?
cracks through
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zC-BBI5rmS4
Before we speak of slander, can the MP please state publicly the kinds of assistance made available to this mother and list instances when they have met mother and son and assistance rendered on each occasion. thanks
8th of May has been a real memorable day for me. ths announcement of electoral results for ALJUNIED GRC… and its totally sweet for me to be able to watch CYNTHIA phua live on TV.. shiok man ! holding back her croc tears. ALjunied voters ! u made my day ! thk you !
Cynthia ! go home lah ! Aljunied dont need u. PAP prob dun need u too !
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