On Saturday (3 June), Ms. Sun Xueling, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Punggol West SMC, shared that she received resident feedback with angry tone, expressing frustration against noise generated by heavy vehicles on a road near Punggol Way at night.
The resident also mentioned concerns about the “shoddy maintenance” of uneven cement floors at the void deck.
In Ms Sun’s Facebook post, the sender’s name was omitted.
The sender’s email, dated 28 May, began with the following remark: “Sitting pretty and waiting for your electoral loss will be something to look forward to unless something changes here.”
The email was also addressed to Workers’ Party’s MP, Jamus Lim, and copied to various government agencies, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, and Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean.
The resident initially complained about noise occurring “every night, including weekends and holidays” near Punggol Way. The noise was attributed to trucks, cement trucks, and heavy-duty vehicles with noisy diesel engines.
In addition to the noise complaint, the resident made a racial remark, describing certain individuals as “ex-convicts” and mentioning Indian truckers who allegedly left their engines running without any purpose.
Resident called Ms Sun to do something or “be prepared to lose the ward”
The resident believes that the mentioned road is not supposed to allow for these heavy-duty vehicles, calling Ms Sun or her PAP colleagues to do something about the matter or “be prepared to lose this ward for sure”.
Furthermore, the resident complained about the uneven cement floors at the void deck of 261B Punggol Way.
He criticized the road design by the HDB contractor, describing it as “f*ck sh*t” and stating that it poses a danger to pedestrians crossing the small road.
“Everyday crossing this small road to the amenities is like a challenge. Vehicles would suddenly pop by due to the so called free parking for the public going to the coffeeshop here. ”
The resident suggested implementing Wilson parking before entry into the road or making design changes to ensure pedestrian safety, and requested the authorities to “get it done asap!”
Asked WP’s Jamus Lim and his team to prepare to “take over the ward”
The email included a closing message directed towards Jamus Lim, referred to as “James”, suggesting that he should get a standby team to “take over here (the ward)”, and referred to the news related to the Ridout Road saga.
Ms Sun called for people to be civil and “not use bad language” when raising matters
Commenting on the email, Ms Sun, who is also Minister of State for Social and Family Development and Home Affairs, stating that There are “ways” to provide feedback and “ways” to provide feedback.
“I hope that as a society we can try to be civil and not use bad language to get a point across.”
Ms Sun’s response to the resident’s feedback in subsequent post
In a subsequent update on 4 June, Ms Sun explained that following feedback received on 29 May, the Town Council had deployed contractors on 1 June to rectify the uneven pavement and will monitor the works.
Regarding illegal parking, Ms Sun informed residents that Punggol Central is currently under the enforcement radar of the Land Transport Authority (LTA).
She advised residents to report any instances of illegal parking through the Illegal Parking Hotline at 1800-2255-582 or by lodging a violation report on the website: https://onemotoring.lta.gov.sg/
“In the meantime, a dustbin by the road has been removed on 3rd June, should it attract drivers to stop there. ”
Addressing concerns about the pedestrian crossing at Blk 261, Ms. Sun clarified that there is already a gantry situated approximately 25 meters ahead at the carpark.
“Putting another gantry before the current crossing will cause vehicles to pile up along the stretch of road and should vehicles accelerate after the gantry pole lifts (since there is a upslope), it will pose a danger to pedestrians.”
Netizens called out Ms Sun for constructive engagement and prompt action instead of shaming the resident
In the comment section of Ms Sun’s Fecebook post, some netizens expressed their support for Ms Sun, stressing that there’s no need to be vulgar or personal in getting the point across.
While not condoning the resident’s vulgar tone in expressing his feedback to the MP, a netizen highlighted that the resident’s frustration might stem from their previous feedback and complaints being consistently ignored.
“Sometimes when we write nicely or feedback nicely, we will just get the template SOP reply of “we’re looking into it” and case closed.”
Therefore, the netizen suggested that instead of shaming the resident, Ms Sun should take the high ground and acknowledge the resident’s efforts to provide feedback.
Echoing the sentiment, another netizen also reminded Ms Sun to prioritize focusing on the feedback provided and strive for improvement rather than making comments about individuals involved.
“Good to have feedback from vocal residents”
Another comment highlighted the benefits of having vocal residents who provide feedback, as it is impossible for anyone to be present everywhere to monitor things.
A commenter offered a reminder that whether the communication is expressed in a vulgar or polite manner, it ultimately boils down to different styles of communication.
“Each person has their own behaviour but most important thing is looking at our own behavior,” the comment added that he believed that Ms Sun “is a nice person”.
Another netizen chimed in with a comment, stating one simple rule: to focus on the issue rather than the individual involved.
In response, Sun Xueling reiterated that she had provided a follow-up regarding the matter.
The netizen clarified that his previous comment was actually referring to the crafting of a complaint letter. However, he acknowledged that it is equally important to focus on the response received in order to maintain consistency.
