During the course of my campaigning, people ask me many questions, and a few of them surfaced many times. I spoke about these questions at the rally in Punggol East (Rivervale in fact, blame the gerrymandering on the twisted naming of the area) on 3 May 2011, but maybe the essence was lost amidst the many distractions at the rally. The 3 questions are: Who is Koh Choong Yong? What will he do for Sengkang West if elected? Why vote for him and WP?
Who is Koh Choong Yong?
The first question first. I am just another guy, living in my HDB flat in Anchorvale for the past 10 years. 37 years old today, but I will turn 38 come Polling Day. A year ago I was jokingly telling my friends that Polling Day should fall on my birthday, and coincidentally enough, it really does. 
I am married to a lovely wife, and have 2 boys, Luck Heng and Kang Heng. Kang Heng is 3 and Luck Heng is 7. Luck Heng goes to a nearby primary school – Anchor Green Primary School.
Friends around me know me as an honest and upright person. Of course, you don’t have to take my word for this. What you can do, is to ask people around you. If you are around the same age group as me, there is a chance that someone you know will know me, since Singapore is really so small. A neighbour just commented to me last night, that he wanted to know more about me before supporting me, and just happens that his wife is friends with an ex-colleague of mine. They asked my ex-colleague, and was given a glowing testimonial of me, and that boosted their confidence in me. Some of my friends have done me a favour and posted their testimonial of me on my Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/kohchoongyong
What are my plans for Sengkang West?
Whenever I get this question, I will have to tell people that WP does not make empty promises. Even on a personal level, when dealing with friends, I do not over promise anything. I strive to do my best in whatever I do, and that is the promise I can give.
So people say that this is not tangible enough, but I believe that giving my best is the best promise, because I am confident of keeping that promise. In many stages of my life, I have went into a new organization/company/situation with an empty slate, and through hardwork and determination, proved my ability to people who work with me. There is one phrase I told my boss in my course of my work:“If at first you cannot solve the problem, keeping knocking at it and knocking at it, until one day it chips and breaks.”
As I said in my rally speech, I will take a different approach to solving the transport issues in Sengkang West. I will not simply sit in meetings after meetings after meetings, which has proven to be not so effective. I will instead want to go to the transport company for the minimum ridership they need, and then go back to residents, getting the numbers. If the actual number is sufficient for the transport company, there is no reason for them to reject our request.
Still, this is no guarantee that the transport company will not change the goal post after we get the numbers, but at least the approach is different. To me, it is the willingness to look at alternative approaches that is the difference.
Building a Town Council (physically and organizationally) from scratch is the other thing I will need to do, if I get elected. I may not have personal experience in Town Council management, but I have the 20-year experience of Hougang Town Council to rely on for advice. Another trait of me is also that, I pick up and learn things pretty quickly. My company that I registered in 2004 is named ARCWorks because of the words Absorb, Rethink, Create. I can quickly learn things, think about it, and rethink about it, and produce or create new ideas and approaches to things.
Of course, tacking the transport issue, building up a town council, are just the start of things to come. However, I also do not want to impose my ideas on residents. I will want to take the approach of asking what the residents want, reflect on the feasibility and go ahead if feasible. This may take a little longer, but I think it will better reflect what the residents want.
Why vote for Koh Choong Yong? Why vote for the Workers’ Party?
I am not anyone special, but that is exactly the reason that you should vote for me. I am just another ordinary guy living in Anchorvale, which happens to be in Sengkang West, the guy-next-door. Whatever issues that residents in Sengkang West face, I face them too. Your pain, is my pain.
I live in my five-room flat with my family, say hi to neighbours every morning when I walk my son to school, bring my son on evening bike rides around the area, and pack meals from the coffeeshops – 303, 308 and Koufu once in a while.
Basically, you can call me a “user” of the neighbourhood, in a loose definition of the word. An in my line of work (programming), the most important aspect is to look at things from the point of the “user”. Most of the time, the “user” perspective is overlooked, but it is the most important perspective.
That’s why I think I can safely say that I am more familiar with the area, and will be able to see the problems that residents face, simply because I also use the facilities in Sengkang West.
Some people have said that they have not seen me around, I am not active, and wonder if I cherish their support.
However, it is just a perception. I have knocked on close to 6000 doors since the boundary reports were released. I insisted on talking to every resident that we meet personally, not by proxy. I have been to all the coffeeshops in Sengkang West – 303, 308, Fernvale Koufu multiple times, and many times I will sit down at the table with residents to talk and listen to them. Time consuming but I find it totally worth it. There were even 2 nights that I spoke to residents at Koufu until 1am and 2am respectively.
I don’t bring an entourage with me, because I find that it might be intimidating, and with a small group, I can interact with residents in a more comfortable and personal way, just like making friends. I can sit down with residents at the coffeeshop, bump into residents at a 7-11 when buying drinks, even strike a conversation in my LRT trips around Sengkang West.
This approach is counter-intuitive for someone who is on the campaign trail, but I think it shows the different kind of approach I want to take if I get elected. I want to listen to the residents, I want their views, because I think their views matter.
Doesn’t matter if I end up talking to less residents, because I am confident that those that I spoke to, will be able to feel my attitude and my heart in what I do.
A little anecdote that I can share with you. I was talking to an uncle in 303 coffeeshop, and he told me this:
One day, he was sitting at Fernvale Koufu, and someone extended a handshake to him. As a natural reaction, the uncle shook hands, and the person basically left almost immediately. Looking at the person walking away, the uncle took a little time to figure out what exactly happened. Seconds later, he finally realised – “Oh! Dr Lam!”.
Of course it did not leave the uncle with a very good impression. And how did I know this story? I knew the story, because I sat down at a table when the uncle was having breakfast, took a while to chit-chat, and he shared the story after telling me his views on some other things.
That is the difference in attitude I have.
So why vote the Workers’ Party?
The answer is very simple. The PAP government will only wake up if there is a strong opposition. Have you ever heard the PAP government apologise in the history of Singapore? It happened this week, because the pressure from the possibility of losing Aljunied GRC and other seats probably made the PM rethink about the mistakes they have made previously.
If you want a government that sits up and listens to the people, a more attentive government, the only to do it is to have elected MPs from the opposition to check them in Parliament. Workers’ Party has worked hard to provide a credible choice, giving voters a rational, responsible and respectable party. I chose WP back when I did not have any party affiliations, based on my personal comparison between the PAP and WP. Today, if I were still just a voter in Sengkang West, I will still make the same choice.