At the recent Budget 2019 debate in Parliament, MP Lee Bee Wah paid tribute to the Budget 2019 drawn up by the PAP government.
Speaking in Mandarin, she told an “Ah Kong and Ah Seng” story to remind Singaporeans how generous and caring “Ah Kong” is to “Ah Seng”.
Her parliamentary performance was captured on video which was widely circulated on social media:
This was what she said (translated from Mandarin):
I would like to conclude this budget debate with a story:
There’s a boy who lives next door to me.
His name is Ah Seng.
He has an “Ah Kong” (grandpa) who loves him very much.
Ah Kong would always scrimp on himself.
Even when his clothing is torn, he would mend it over and over again.
He saved every cents, one cent at a time.
Every 3 or 5 years, Ah Kong would take out a sum of money to give to his dearest Ah Seng.For example, when Ah Seng went to the university, Ah Kong gave him a sum of money.
When Ah Seng wanted to go overseas to participate in immersion programme, Ah Kong gave him a sum of money.
When Ah Seng wanted to get married, Ah Kong gave him a sum of money.
When Ah Seng and his friends wanted to start a small business, Ah Kong also gave him a sum of money.One day, Ah Seng asked his Ah Kong, “Ah Kong, Ah Kong, why did you always give me money only every 3 or 5 years? Why didn’t you give me money every year?”
At this moment upon hearing this, Ah Kong was deeply disappointed and also extremely angry. Ah Kong using his Hokkien dialect scolded: “Di Zi Si Gui Kia (你這死鬼仔 – You dead ghost)! Di Zi Bai Jia Zi (你这败家子 – You black sheep of the family)!”
“You have such a good Ah Kong and you still don’t know (不知死 – Don’t know what is death).”
“Ah Gong stays frugal because of you.”
“Is other people’s Ah Gong also so good to them?”
After telling her story, MP Lee said, “Mr Speaker, my residents do understand we have a very good government – very carefully and cautiously manages our finances so that we can have budget and finance surpluses, and Pioneer and Merdeka Generation Packages.”
“Not every government can accomplish this,” she added.
So, what do you think of MP Lee’s “Ah Kong and Ah Seng” story?
