Dialogue on Integration & MP giving oranges

1 February 2011

Visited the Bloodbank @ Health Sciences Authority (HSA) Building to make my 6th blood donation as the festive period was approaching.

It was innovative for Bloodbank to be distributing apples to blood donors after their blood donation, since oranges would have costed much more.

Don't be afraid~

It must have been a few years since I made my blood donation at HSA. The Donors Refreshments Menu had certainly been ENHANCED!

In the evening, fellow Eunos Grassroots Leaders had a dialogue with Adviser Zainul Abidin Rasheed, representatives from Ministry of Home Affairs and the newly created National Talent & Population Division. The topic was on Integration and Immigration, a hot topic that concerned many Singaporeans.

Presentation by Director of the National Talent & Population Division, Prime Minister's Office

I took the opportunity to share about the lack of infrastructure planning to cater for the sudden population growth, resulting in inconvenience to Singaporeans, such as having to squeeze in packed and crowded trains. I cited a comment posted by a Facebook friend lamenting that she thought she was in a foreign land when she took the train to work.

I also raised the concern of the rising number of foreigners in our tertiary institutions.

It has been a tradition for our Adviser to visit the market and distribute oranges to residents on the night before the eve of Lunar New Year. This is the night when residents would do their final "marketing" to prepare for the celebrations.

Residents shouting "Huat" cheer

We happened to chance upon a TV celebrity Ah Nan

A cheer crafted by Ah Nan: "Eng Ong Huat lah!"