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Nicole Seah’s recent post shows her lack of professionalism.

sgmatters.com nicole seahs recent post shows her lack of professionalism nicole seahs recent post shows her lack of professionalism 1

Recently, Nicole Rebecca Seah Xue Ling (“Nicole Seah”), Kenneth Foo Seck Guan (“Kenneth Foo”), and the Workers’ Party (“WP”) East Coast Team visited the newly renovated hawker centre located at Blk 216 Bedok Food Centre and Market (“216 Hawker Centre”).

On December 3, Nicole Seah and Kenneth Foo posted on Facebook regarding their visits to 216 Hawker Centre.

They cast aspersions on the funding for the renovation.

Senior Minister of State, Mr Tan Kiat How (“Mr Tan”), called them out on Facebook. He also give them the facts on the funding for the renovation of 216 Hawker Centre.

According to Mr Tan’s Facebook photos, he met the WP Team on the same day of the visit and spoke with Nicole Seah.

sgmatters.com nicole seahs recent post shows her lack of professionalism nicole seahs recent post shows her lack of professionalism
Source: Mr Tan's Facebook

So here’s my question, since both of them met face-to-face, why didn’t Nicole Seah ask Mr Tan about the renovation funding?

What was her intention in creating that Facebook post with no mention or photo of a conversation with Mr Tan, who was on the ground during their visit?

Is it to cast aspersions on their opponent? Is WP trying to take credit away from the East Coast Town Council, which the People’s Action Party manages?

The renovated hawker centre is the culmination of the efforts of the East Coast Town Council together with the dedication of hawkers from 216 Hawkers Association and representatives from Bedok Town Centre Merchants’ Association. They spent hours and hours discussing the plans, months before the work even started.

Residents also provided valuable feedback which resulted in features such as resized tables to give those who are less mobile more space, and anti-slip floor tiles to give added safety to seniors and their caregivers.

Crucially, the project is funded from the town council sinking fund with additional funds raised by the East Coast team.

It is unbecoming of Nicole Seah and Kenneth Foo to make claims on Facebook when Nicole had the chance to ask Kiat How about the renovation. 

What bothers me is this.

sgmatters.com nicole seahs recent post shows her lack of professionalism nicole seahs recent post shows her lack of professionalism

The second part of her post stated that she had met a resident during her walkabout, and she shared the resident’s story as a true anecdote that she could not verify.

Let's take a closer look at her story.

Nicole mentioned she spoke with a blue-collar worker nearby who almost cried as she shared the story with her.

According to Nicole, the worker said she was verbally abused by a supervisor, who also used a mop to express his anger and abused low-wage employees who could not afford to resign.

Nicole further emphasized, “This individual is fortunate enough to leave the company and found another shift job.”

As Nicole explained, she offered the worker to write an appeal to the Ministry of Manpower (“MOM”) for further assistance, but the worker declined her offer as she worried about the potential consequences as she also finds it difficult to land gainful employment.

Why would reaching out to the MOM hurt the worker’s chances of finding a new job if she had already left her previous employer and got a new job? It doesn’t make sense at all!

Let’s assume this anecdote is accurate and give Nicole the benefit of the doubt. I would like to ask the following question;

    • Was Nicole’s advice to the Worker correct?

    • Has Nicole Seah considered that not all employment matters require immediate attention from the MOM?

It is unlikely that the worker will encounter any workplace discrimination after reporting her former abusive employer with the assistance of the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices. This is because TAFEP is very professional and know how to handle workplace concerns while protecting the worker. 

As a PR professional as well as a politician, Nicole shows a lack of professionalism by making such a post.

If her intent is to create awareness of workplace harassment, in this case, she should first give her full effort to assist the worker in the appeal, once she had brought light to the case and stopped any potential future abuse in the alleged workplace. After that, she can then publicise the case as a case study to share. This is the right way to go about it. 

It is not worth publicizing a post if nothing can be done and no facts can be verified.

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