Yee Jenn Jong: Sending the right signals

Former Non-constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) Yee Jenn Jong wrote in his blog on Tuesday (21 March) about the flyers that were recently circulated by the residents’ committee of Fengshan constituency, and the privileges that seem to come with serving as a grassroots volunteer.

In his post, he mentioned that the issue over priority given to Primary 1 students whose parents are active community leaders was something that he addressed in Parliament in 2012. Subsequently in 2013, Yee joined in on the debate and asked “if it can be a criterion for community leaders to have first made specific contributions to the schools before they are being considered for priority” to then-Senior Minister of State for Education (SMS), Ms Indranee Rajah.

The flyers from the residents’ committee of Fengshan constituency not only drew a response from Yee, but also from the Worker’s Party (WP), which had contested the single seat during the previous election. WP’s response was the flyer pictured on the right, aimed to mimic the recruitment efforts.

Below is Yee Jenn Jong’s blog post in full:

We have often heard, “Do what I say, but don’t do as I do.”

Sometimes the messaging can be quite subtle. Those in leadership positions may not realise it if we are not sensitive enough. The recent viral publicity over flyers by a Residents’ Committee touting the benefits of serving as grassroots volunteers such as car parking privileges and priority registration in primary schools for their children, comes to my mind.

The issue of priority registration for primary 1 for community leaders is something that I had been concerned about, and had raised in parliament several times. In 2012, then-Education Minister Heng Swee Keat had a written reply for my question on this privilege for grassroots leaders. He said that an average of 330 children were admitted yearly under the active community leaders scheme, just less than 1% of the primary 1 cohort (we have around 30,000 babies born each year). They only need to have served for one year as a community leader.

In 2013, I joined in the debate on this issue with a supplementary question for then-Senior Minister of State for Education (SMS), Ms Indranee Rajah. I had asked if the Ministry has done any survey to see how many community leaders have actively contributed to the schools that their children are enrolled in, and ‘if it can be a criterion for community leaders to have first made specific contributions to the schools before they are being considered for priority’. The reply was that the SMS was not aware of any such survey and that the criterion is based on contribution to the community, as opposed to contributions specifically to the school. In other words, the community leaders need not contribute any time or service to the school the child is enrolled into under priority registration. This is strictly a reward for ‘contribution to the community’.

During Committee of Supply debate in 2013, I had also spoken on the topic as I asked for a general review of the Primary 1 admission system. Specifically on the issue of community leaders, I had said “I feel community leaders need not be given priority. Being a community leader for the purpose of getting into top primary schools does not gel with the spirit of community service.”

I felt so because they do not necessarily add value to the primary school, unless they are also actively helping in the school in their position as a community leader. It becomes very transactional; the priority is a reward for the community leader, and a backdoor to get an edge to enter desired primary schools.

MOE has been touting that “Every School is a Good School” for several years already. So every school should be good enough for the community leaders’ children. Yet allowing for such privileges sends exactly the wrong signal, even if in a subtle way. That’s the same way ordinary folks will feel when a leader says that every school is a good school but they see that the leader’s own children are in preferred schools.

I agree with former Nominated MP Calvin Cheng, who, as reported in the Straits Time article of this flyers episode, had left a pointed comment on his Facebook saying: “‘Selfless dedication’ does not need to be rewarded by preferential access to primary schools. Just saying.”

I think it is time to do what we say.