All three candidates contesting in Pioneer SMC took a trip down memory lane while laying out their plans for residents at the start of the fifth night of televised constituency political broadcasts yesterday.
With 24,672 voters, Pioneer is the only single-member constituency in this election with a three-cornered fight.
People's Action Party (PAP) candidate Patrick Tay, 48, said Singaporeans are facing a "greater crisis" this time but can "overcome this mountain of a challenge".
Speaking in English, he started off by recounting his time as a civil defence volunteer in the 1980s and being involved in two crises.
The first was the Hotel New World disaster in 1986 when he distributed food packets to those at the scene and saw the "importance of the community coming together, especially during a crisis, to help each other".
The second was the Sars outbreak in 2003 when he helped "thousands of fellow Singaporeans from the affected industries and sectors undergo skills training" through a surrogate employer programme in the National Trades Union Congress.
"When the economy recovered, many of them went back to their work equipped with new certifications and new knowledge," said Mr Tay, who is an assistant secretary-general in the labour movement contesting his third election.
Previously an MP in West Coast GRC, he assured Pioneer residents who face employment issues, require training to land a new job or who have legal challenges that they will get the help they need.
He also pledged to find innovative ways to connect residents and to make Pioneer a "vibrant and safe home for all to work, live and play in".
The opposition candidate, Mr Lim Cher Hong, 42, from Progress Singapore Party (PSP), said Singapore should be very proud of its development into a First World country, thanks to the hard work of forefathers and those in the Pioneer and Merdeka generations.
While Singapore has "enjoyed many good years" since independence, he noted, the Republic was ranked 34th in the 2019 World Happiness report.
Speaking in English, he highlighted bread-and-butter concerns such as the increased cost of living, lack of job security and worries about retirement needs.
"We are worried how our children will cope in the future and if our parents will struggle in their old age," he said, noting that Singapore's "future is at stake here".
"Do you want to continue to live with regrets for the next five years? Or choose the change that will deliver a better future?" he asked.
Mr Lim, who is an author and chartered financial consultant, said he hopes to address issues in a "transparent way" and "be held accountable for it", even if it is a conversation that may not sit well with some people.
If elected, he said, he is committed to serving the constituency as a full-time MP to push for local issues that residents care about and to maintain high standards of estate cleanliness.
Mr Cheang Peng Wah, the only independent candidate in this general election, said the late founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew had transformed Singapore from a "backwater" but there are "blindsided bugs" and "group-think viruses" that are plaguing the Government today.
Mr Cheang, who declined to give his age, asserted that it is not a "delusion" on his part to run in this election. As a citizen who had benefited from Mr Lee's governance, he is responding to the call to serve by contesting, he said.
The business consultant said politics must serve the people and Parliament must have people with different life experiences to prevent "blinded group-think". Among the changes that he hopes to bring about for Pioneer residents are MRT track sound barriers.
In a reference to retired veteran opposition politician Chiam See Tong and his wife Lina Chiam, he said: "When the Chiams are not around, Cheang must stand up and be counted."
