26th May 2012 Voting Day and the case of the missing toilet
Originally published at from beyond the viewfinder. You can comment here or there.
Polling day! I was assigned to cover one of the polling stations in Hougang Central. When I arrived, there were quite a number of people from the press around the blocks facing the polling stations, but nobody was shooting. Soon, I realized that the polling agents were prohibiting any form of photography/videography at the polling stations, meaning that we can’t even point our cameras in that direction. Not wanting to be hauled up for questioning, I loitered around the neighbourhood and somehow got into a conversation with some of the residents at the Elderly corner. They are really nice people, funny at some point.
Voters of Hougang go to the polls. Everyone.
A voter fresh from the polling station.
I couldn’t get a shot of the polling station at Hougang Central because the authorities refused to let us point our camera anywhere near it. So I loitered around the area and had a chat with some happy voters. Many of them have been staying in Hougang for ages.
Mr Png Eng Huat from Worker’s Party leaving the polling station after a brief inspection. Guess who’s at the back? Felix!! I shot his ROM afew years back and he called me when he saw me snooping around the polling station, trying to get a shot of Mr Png.
Back at the PAP HQ, Mr Desmond Choo talking to supporter before leaving for the polling stations in the rain.
The “Elderly Corner” under Block 831. After spending some time talking to the folks who finished voting, they asked me which news agency I was from, which I replied I was helping out a web publication. Then he asked if I could help him ask why their requests for toilets at Block 831′s elderly corner are not approved over so many years. He pointed out that this corner was put in place in 2002 (see date above TV) and their MP told them that their requests have repeatedly been denied. Yet, the block right opposite the road, Block 513 has a toilet. The difference was that Block 513 was under Aljunied GRC back then when the toilets were built. I can’t help but feel sorry for them. While the place doesn’t look like it has had a makeover, it was pretty well maintained, but without a toilet, an elderly corner is like a house without a roof. I can imagine the kind of inconvenience when you desperately need to answer the calls of nature while having a chat with friends.
Now that the polls are over, I hope both parties work together and give the elderly residents at Block 831 a decent toilet. It’s not that hard to have it approved, or is it?
The tale of two constituencies (pre-GE11).