Soon after I was told that I would be fielded in Marine Parade, I made a quiet visit here to recce. I liked what I saw – a well-laid out, spacious, spanking new estate. Like Louis Armstrong, what a wonderful place, I thought to myself.
When the 1976 GE was called, Dr Goh Keng Swee rang me up to check how I was coping. I told him that I had no Branch in Marine Parade.
He laughed but comforted me ...by telling me not to worry. Just put a table and a few chairs in the void deck, and people would step forward to help, he said.
True enough. When Fong Sip Chee who was fighting J B Jeyaretnam in Kampong Chai Chee learnt that my new Branch had no money, he donated $2,000 from his Branch. He also directed 3 or 4 of his Branch members who were living in Marine Parade to stay and help me. I have never forgotten his generous spirit of comradeship.
Several market stallholders also came forward to help – egg sellers, tau gay and tau kwa sellers, fishmongers and pork sellers. One of them, Lim Bak Hee, a fishmonger, stayed back to help in the Branch. I also remember Tan Beng Huat, a pork seller. I understand that he passed away some years back.
The people I named were only some of the many people who came forward to help me and make a difference to Marine Parade. To all of them, I say a big ‘thank you’.
- ESM Goh Chok Tong speaking on 40 years serving in Marine Parade (excerpt)
When the 1976 GE was called, Dr Goh Keng Swee rang me up to check how I was coping. I told him that I had no Branch in Marine Parade.
He laughed but comforted me ...by telling me not to worry. Just put a table and a few chairs in the void deck, and people would step forward to help, he said.
True enough. When Fong Sip Chee who was fighting J B Jeyaretnam in Kampong Chai Chee learnt that my new Branch had no money, he donated $2,000 from his Branch. He also directed 3 or 4 of his Branch members who were living in Marine Parade to stay and help me. I have never forgotten his generous spirit of comradeship.
Several market stallholders also came forward to help – egg sellers, tau gay and tau kwa sellers, fishmongers and pork sellers. One of them, Lim Bak Hee, a fishmonger, stayed back to help in the Branch. I also remember Tan Beng Huat, a pork seller. I understand that he passed away some years back.
The people I named were only some of the many people who came forward to help me and make a difference to Marine Parade. To all of them, I say a big ‘thank you’.
- ESM Goh Chok Tong speaking on 40 years serving in Marine Parade (excerpt)
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