punggoleast@wp.

sg Punggol East SMC

Tea with Li Lian
Date: 25 May 2014 (Sun), 4pm
Venue: Blk 143A Rivervale Drive
Punggol East Bulletin
May 2014
Whats Coming Up
1. Two New Childcare Centres
I met up with the Early Childhood De-
velopment Agency (ECDA) in May
last year to discuss the acute short-
age of childcare centres in Punggol
East. I was elated to have signed on
the letter of support on suitable sites
identifed by the ECDA in Punggol
East earlier this year. The exact loca-
tion of these sites was reported in the
Straits Times on 5 April 2014. They
will be operated by anchor operator,
Eton Houses E-Bridge Pre-Schools
(Tel: 6336 3322), at Blk 178A River-
vale Crescent and Blk 116A Rivervale
Drive. Although we are not able to
have as many as we wanted, I would
still like to thank the ECDA team for
their efforts!
2. Blk 188 Rivervale Drive Basket-
ball Court
It was brought to our attention that
the benches at Blk 188 Rivervale
Drive court were frequently vandal-
ized, Town Council replaced the
same bench twice in a year. A police
report had been made and the dam-
aged bench removed. (See photo left)
Town Council will not be putting in
new benches in this area unless there
is growing demand from residents.
There are currently 8 benches in the
area.
Town Updates
Meet-the-People Session
Blk 135 Rivervale Street
Every Monday except public holidays
7.30pm to 9.30pm
Welcome!
Dear Residents of Punggol East,
In this issue, we have a special feature on the Budget 2014 debate in
Parliament that took place between 3rd to 13th March 2014. The President
will be making his address on 16th May followed by debate on the address
from 26th to 30th when Parliament reconvenes.
I would like to take this opportunity to remind all residents that the dengue
season is back. The Town Council will continue to carry out pest control
work. As the number of dengue cases rise, we should stay vigilant and alert
to our surroundings. The best persons to fght dengue are ourselves. By
taking necessary precautions, we can reduce the number of dengue cases
to protect our loved ones. NEA offcers who conduct inspection in your
premises are required to put on their authority cards. On more information
on how to identify an NEA offcer please refer to this link.
Next, we have been receiving feedback on pigeons creating a nuisance.
Town Council found that this is happening because someone is feeding
them. Please be reminded that it is an offence to feed pigeons. You can be
fned up to $500 under the Animal & Birds Act administered by the AVA.
I am happy to announce that 2 new childcare centres will be coming to
Punggol East. I was informed that registration will take place between mid to
end of May 2014. Please keep a look out for banners put up by the operators.
Registration will be on a frst come frst served basis with priority given to
Singaporeans and PE residents. I hope that this can help alleviate some of
the problems that parents are currently facing in Punggol East.
Lastly, June school holidays are around the corner and here is to all our little
ones: Have a great holiday, recharge, rejuvenate, re-energise!
Thank you,
Lee Li Lian
(Continued on page 2)
One Day JB Farm Tour
Date: 22 Jun 2014 (Sun)
Date: 29 Jun 2014 (Sun)(SOLD OUT)
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Punggol East Bulletin May 2014
Punggol East SMC 2
What does the Black Cat do?
(1 Apr)
Spotted a silhouette of a black cat
while doing my estate walk. Initially,
I was not sure about its effective-
ness. Last week, I met a resident who
faced the same problem. I proposed
to her to try this out. You can get this
from any Daiso and we have a Daiso
in Rivervale Mall. I was pleased to
receive an email from her that the
method worked! Do you know what
is this for? This can help to solve a
very common problem seen in many
estates.
Thank You Ms Lee (20 Apr)
Residents sometimes express their
appreciation over successful appeals
done during MPS. Usually, these are
done verbally, via small tokens like
biscuits or through email. Last week,
I received something different. There
was this resident who had sought
help through MPS to place her two
children in a childcare centre. This
resident send pictures of her children
in their new childcare uniform, poising
happily for the camera while enjoying
themselves at the playground. At the
bottom of the picture, I saw the words
Thank you Ms Lee.
I was very touched when I saw this.
Whichever method one uses, our vol-
unteers are very encouraged by the
small differences we have made to
their lives.
My Grandmas Old Neighbour
(27 Apr)
During my house visit yesterday
morning, I met an elderly lady, better
known as Ah Choo, age 81. She turns
out to be my grandmas old neighbour
in Pulau Brani during the post war
times. She knows me as my aunts
younger sisters daughter. What a
small world! In September 1971, work
for the development of the Brani naval
base commenced, and villagers living
on the island were resettled on main-
land Singapore.
3. Walkway from Rivervale Plaza to
Kangkar LRT
We received feedback on the need to
modify the pedestrian walkway lead-
ing from Rivervale Plaza to Kangkar
LRT station because the walkway
was prone to accident. LTA did modi-
fcation works to create a gentle slope
with tactile paving (see photos right).
4. Blk 146 Multi-storey Car Park Lift
I received repeated queries on when
the lift for the multi-storey car park at
Blk 146 would be completed. I wrote
in to HDB to ask for a status update
and request for them to put up notices
to inform residents. HDB responded
on 8 April 2014 and informed us that
there are still on-going works needed
to be carried for the lift and roof shel-
ter works, which would then be fol-
lowed by testing and commissioning.
The revised expected completion of
the works is extended to 2nd quarter
of 2014. HDB apologised for any in-
convenience caused.
5. 2-Way Mirror at Rivervale Cres-
cent
We requested LTA to install a convex
mirror to improve the line of sight of
approaching traffc at Rivervale Cre-
sent close to the two temples located
there. LTA replied that convex mirrors
are usually placed in multi-storey car
park or within private estates roads.
LTA said that to place a convex mirror
across a 10m-wide road at Rivervale
Crescent, the image projected by the
mirror may be distorted and not ac-
curate, which may cause other safety
concern. To improve safety, LTA ar-
ranged to paint SLOW markings and
install traffc signs on both sides of the
road bend near the bus stop, which is
scheduled to be implemented by 3rd
quarter of 2014.
6. ComCare Assistance
Please be informed that with effect
from 2 Jun 2014, ComCare assis-
tance services will be transferred from
Sengkang Community Club, River-
vale Community Centre and Punggol
Park Community Centre to SSO@
Sengkang. The Social Service Offce
(SSO) is located at Blk 261C, Seng-
kang East Way, #01-506, Singapore
543261.
Town Updates (contd)
Li Lians PE Experience
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Punggol East Bulletin May 2014
Punggol East SMC 3
Budget Feature
The following are excerpts from Li Li-
ans speech in Parliament, delivered
4 March 2014. For the full text, please
click here.
Pioneer Generation Package
... A more fexible use of Medisave
would greatly beneft the elderly, since
many of them may not suffer from an
approved chronic condition, but have
other illnesses that require costly long-
term care and constant medical atten-
tion ... I hope to see a wider range of
medication, outpatient treatment and
perhaps early screening tests to be
included into the usage of Medisave.
The Workers Party has also consis-
tently called for Singaporeans above
the age of 75 to be allowed to with-
draw from Medisave for any medical
care without restrictions.
... The policy framework for our pio-
neer generation should also consider
how we can enable our pioneers and
the elderly to lead a more meaningful
life in times of good health. ... Today
we have a number of schemes and
activities to encourage active aging,
but at the same time there is more we
can do to enhance retirement activi-
ties to keep our pioneers active, inde-
pendent and happy. ... One recom-
mendation to extend the PGP beyond
healthcare would be to implement a
discount scheme or PGP Pass for
the Elderly to access major tourist
attractions for free or places of enter-
tainment for a discount.
Caregiver support (translated from
Chinese)
... let us not forget another group of
people. ... They are our family care-
givers, including grandparents who
take care of young grandchildren,
homemakers and those who take care
of sick family members. This group of
people work very hard through day
and night. They not only exhaust
themselves physically and mentally,
but also sacrifce their career and
work income so as to devote their time
and energy to take good care of family
members in need. ... Caregivers def-
nitely do not give less of themselves
than who are formally employed, but
they are often neglected. ... I hope the
Government could provide some di-
rect assistance to caregivers. ...
Work-Life balance
... We have talked extensively about
the need to institutionalize work-life
balance to address our current low
fertility rates and the stress that bal-
ancing careers and families have, es-
pecially on mothers. Despite govern-
ment efforts to encourage this through
Flexi! Works schemes, it seems that
more needs to be done to change the
mind-set of employers. ... As part of
the budget recommendations, DPM
outlined the ICT for Productivity and
Growth (IPG) programme to acceler-
ate the adoption of ICT (Information
and Communications Technology)
solutions. I would like to recommend
that solutions that can enable fexible
work policies should feature as ap-
proved solutions. ...
Single parents
The Budget rightfully focuses on ways
to reduce income inequality in soci-
ety. As such, it is important to address
specifc segments of society that are
at risk of falling behind ..., especially
when it comes to children. Many stud-
ies have shown that children from
single-parent households have lower
economic mobility than children born
to married parents. ... Madam Speak-
er, the ones who inevitably suffer the
most because of these measures are
the children of single parents. Our
focus when addressing the issue of
single-parent households should be
on the child, and we should not be
punishing a child for whatever actions
we deem his or her parents to have
committed.
Li Lians COS cuts (Click on each image for links to the full text)
Excerpts from Li Lians Budget 2014 Debate Speech
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Punggol East Bulletin May 2014
Punggol East SMC 4
The Punggol East Constituency Committee (PECC) aims to bring residents together to interact and know one another better through
activities and community events.
The Punggol East Bulletin is published by the PECC editorial team, edited by Daniel Goh and Sng Poh Liang, with photographs by
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Tea With Li Lian (9 Mar 2014)
4D2N Bentong & Kuantan Durian Trip (20-23 Mar 2014)
Events