Translated by Donaldson Tan
This is a non-verbatim translation of Zaobao report 《’他打开了我政治的窗口’——罗文丽谈詹时中》 dated 7 April 2011.
(2011-04-07)● 游润恬 报道
Mr & Mrs Chiam See Tong at a walkabout
16岁的情人节，罗文丽收到詹时中送上的一朵康乃馨，顿时心花怒放。几秒钟后，他的一句“我是因可怜卖花的老太婆才买这朵花”，却像是大热天往她头顶泼的一盆冷水。
“我当时觉得他很吝啬，后来明白他是个节俭的人。他经历过二次世界大战，家庭经济一度陷入谷底，所以养成了节俭的美德。”
反对党圈内一直流传詹时中“看一分钱比车轮还大”，跟随他多年的新加坡人民党主席沈克栋去年甚至踢爆他没遵守党章，把议员津贴的10％捐给党，每月只给区区500元。
传想两份议员津贴罗文丽替丈夫喊冤
罗文丽（62岁）日前接受本报专访，在回应这样的批评时说：“他虽然每个月只给500元，但他在其他方面给得很多，例如他当年跟新加坡民主党打官司时，几万元的律师费都得自掏腰包，党一点都没有帮到。”
也有人传说詹时中夫妇是因想要两份议员津贴，所以詹时中才会去集选区领队竞选，让罗文丽在他守了27年的波东巴西区“坐享其成”。她对此喊冤，指出詹时中去角逐集选区，其实是做了很大的牺牲。
“他必须走出自己稳操胜券的地盘，投入全新的战役。他这么做完全是为了带领更多反对党人进入国会。”
他的算盘是自己所领导的团队即使败选，队员也可能有机会以非选区议员身份进入国会。而他本身担任过名正言顺的国会议员，已不打算以非选区议员身份，再“从后门”进入国会。
如果夫妻俩在来临大选中都空手而归，是否会双双退出政坛？
罗文丽说：“我想不会。我们会留在人民党，努力使它壮大。”
她有个宏愿，就是想看到所有的反对党团结起来，合并或结盟成为一个大政党。
“现在大家的意见都不相同，我希望彼此更加认识之后，想法会变得比较一致，那么发出的声音就会比较有力。”
一舞舞出40年恋情初约马克思墓前
她也希望举办更多论坛，以同年轻人对话，吸引他们加入反对党。
今天的罗文丽不再是35年来陪在詹时中身边走访选民的妻子，而是在学习如何从丈夫手中接过政治领导棒子的政治人物。
过去30多年来，她从未接受记者深入的专访，这次向本报记者开腔，还深情地道出詹时中是如何走进她的人生，又是如何开启她认识政治的窗口。
那是70年代初的一个冬天，在英国首都伦敦的新马学生会正在为留学生举行农历新年舞会。詹时中被一名皮肤白皙，身穿红色连身裙的姑娘深深吸引，还请她跳了一支舞，甚至大胆地开口要了她的电话号码。就这样，一段近40年的感情开始萌芽。
詹时中当时在伦敦念法律。这名潮州商人的儿子本来是念科学，曾在四德女中教了八年书。后来到伦敦念法律。罗文丽小他14岁，本是“联邦姑娘”，在吉隆坡出生和念完中学，当时正在伦敦一家医院念三年护士课程。
她说：“还记得我们在伦敦的第一次约会，他竟然是带我到马克思的坟墓！我哪儿懂马克思是谁？詹说那是共产主义之父。”
除了约会地点另类，热爱政治和历史的詹时中也不时带罗文丽参观古堡或战争博物馆。她自认之前对政治和历史没兴趣，是詹时中把她带进了知识境界。
詹时中在伦敦时开的是一辆白色福士伟根甲虫车。两人毕业后，他决定从英国开着这部甲虫车越过英吉利海峡、穿越东欧、中东，最后从印度乘船到槟城，先把她送回吉隆坡，然后自己回到新加坡。
这段横跨两个大陆，历时三个月的路程，为罗文丽奠下了世界观。
“当我们在阿富汗的沙漠迷路时，碰到几名看似庞克（punk）的阿富汗青年。我本来还担心他们会对我们不利，没想到他们却很热心地花半天时间帮我们带路，途中还说如果真找不到营地，可以去他们的家借宿。他们的善良和同情心，让我感动。”
认识詹时中，也让她成了不一样的人。
“我开始对护士以外的世界更加了解，不像从前只会跟其他护士吃东西煮东西买东西。”
旅游成了两人的共同嗜好，罗文丽还喜欢在旅行时接触新事物。
两人在新加坡结婚不久，詹时中便投入政治。如今罗文丽步他后尘，她真有这样的能力吗？
她拥有护士学位，婚后在本地医院当了约一年护士，之后就到詹时中的律师事务所帮忙。
她认为她的职业经验对议员工作有一定的帮助。
“我以前在妇产科部门当护士时，自己负责一个病房，一晚得照顾40个婴孩，喂了这个那个又哭。这训练我做事情要按部就班、要有一套系统。”
护士训练也培养她对细节的注意。例如她会仔细检查波东巴西市镇理事会聘请的清洁工人在做清扫工作时是否认真。
“我一次看到他们用机器把落叶吹到沟渠里。这怎么可以，会让蚊子滋生的！”
她承认没有研究经济或政治理论，不过并不认为这就不能当议员。
“市镇的课题也影响很多人，不是所有议员都得谈民主或宏观经济的大道理。”
她表示有一些律师、医生、统计学家和前高级公务员朋友，都愿意为她提供写国会讲稿的想法和材料。
“他们虽然有想法却未必想从政，所以可以透过我在国会传达意见。当然，我不会盲目接受所有的意见。”
准备国会讲稿对她来说并不陌生。由于詹时中身体不好，他今年在国会上参加政府财政预算案辩论的多篇讲稿，都是罗文丽撰写的。
当詹时中以国会议员身份到国外参加会议或进行访问时，她也伴随左右，和他一起出入各种ce
“我有自己的一套政治想法。我不属于年轻的类型。我认为只要身体健康、有信念、有同情心、有诚信、懂得虚心接受批评，并愿意服务人民，就是好的政治人物。”
—
“He opened my window to politics” – Lina Luo
7 April 2011. Yew Lun Tian reports
When Lina Luo was 16-year-old, Chiam See Tong presented her a carnation flower to commemorate Valentine’s Day. She was elated but Chiam See Tong turned out to be a wet blanket. “I bought this flower because I sympathised the elderly flower seller,” he told her.
“At that time, I thought he was stingy, but later I learned he is a very thrifty person. He developed this virtue after experiencing 2 world wars and extreme poverty,” Lina Luo told Zaobao. Lina Luo is the wife of Chiam See Tong, Secretary-General of the Singapore People’s Party (SPP) and Member of Parliament (MP) for Potong Pasir.
It is rumoured for many years in the Opposition circle that Chiam See Tong “sees the penny coin bigger than a car tyre.” Even his long-time follower cum SPP Chairman Sin Kek Tong complained last year that Chiam See Tong, being a SPP MP, underpaid his dues to the party’s coffers.
Although the SPP Constitution stipulates that each SPP MP must contribute 10% of his parliamentary allowance to the party fund, Chiam See Tong pays $500 a month to the party.
Lina Luo: Not eyeing double MP allowance
In an exclusive interview, Lina Luo (62 year-old) told Zaobao, “Although he pays SPP $500 a month, he has made significant contributions on other fronts. For example, when SPP was in legal dispute with the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) years ago, Chiam See Tong acted in the capacity of the party’s lawyer and absorbed the legal fees, which were in the magnitude of tens of thousands of dollars.”
There are rumours saying that Mr & Mrs Chiam eyeing double MP allowance is the main motivation for Chiam See Tong to lead a team to contest a GRC, while Lina Luo can comfortably inherit the stewardship of Potong Pasir from her husband. She protested at the accusation, emphasising that it is in fact a huge sacrifice by her husband to contest a GRC.
“Chiam See Tong has to walk out of his political stronghold at Potong Pasir and contest in unfamiliar territory. He is doing this as a bid to expand Opposition presence in Parliament,” she said.
In his game plan, even if his GRC team looses at the General Election, there is good chance that his team members can become NCMPs. Having been an elected MP, he has no intention to enter Parliament via back-door by becoming a NCMP himself.
If Mr & Mrs Chiam were defeated at the polls, would both of them retire from politics? Lina Loh said, “No. I will remain, working hard to grow the party.”
Her vision for electoral politics is that all the opposition parties will either merge or form a major alliance.
“Everyone’s view is different. I hope through enhanced understanding, we can develop a common view and become a louder and more effective voice,” she said.
It all started at Karl Marx’s grave 40 years ago
Lina Luo plans to host more dialogues to engage youths and to attract them to join Opposition politics.
She is not the same lady who accompanied her husband canvassing for votes 35 years ago. Today, she is a political figure who is learning the ropes from Chiam See Tong on how to provide political leadership.
For over 30 years, she has never accepted any media interview. However, this time, she shares with Zaobao on how Chiam See Tong entered her life and opened her window to politics.
Their love story begun in London during the 1970s. It was winter when Chiam See Tong first first met Lina Luo at a Chinese New Year celebration ball organised by the Singapore-Malaysia Student Association. Her porcelain white skin and red dress caught his attention. He invited her for a dance and asked for her telephone number.
At that time, Chiam See Tong was studying law in London. He was a son of a Teochew merchant and previously studied science at university. He taught at Cedar Girl’s School for 8 years before embarking on legal study in London. 14 years his junior, Lina Luo was a ‘Kampong Girl’ who grew up in Kuala Lumpur. She was in London on a 3-year nursing program.
“I was shocked that he brought me to Karl Marx’s grave during our first date. I had no idea who Karl Marx was at that time. Chiam See Tong later then told me Karl Max was the Father of Communism,” Lina Luo remembered fondly.
Chiam See Tong, being passionate about politics and history, brought Lina Luo along when he toured castles and visited war museums. She admitted she had no interest in politics and history in the past, but it was Chiam See Tong who brought her into his intellectual world.
He used to drive a red and white Volkswagen Beetle when he was in London. After both of them graduated, he decided that they would travel in this car from London to Singapore, via the English Channel, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and India. At India, they would take a ferry to Penang, then dropped her at her home in Kuala Lumpur before he returned to Singapore.
This three-month journey across two continents widened her horizons.
“We stumbled upon some local punks when we were lost in a Afghanistan desert. At first, I thought they were a threat. However, they turned out to be very friendly and helpful. They spent half a day helping us to find our way and even offered their homes should we can’t find any accommodation. I was moved by their kindness and compassion,” she said.
Lina Luo: Knowing Chiam See Tong transformed me
“I begin to be aware of the world beyond the nursing sphere, no longer like other nurses who only eat, cook and buy.”
Lina Luo not only became curious about new things, but also travelling became their common hobby.
Not long after both of them married in Singapore, Chiam See Tong begun the pursuit of his political career. Now that she has followed his footsteps, does she have his capabilities?
After being a nurse for a year in a local hospital, she started helping out at Chiam See Tong’s law firm. She believed that her working experience is relevant to being a MP.
“I was a nurse at the Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology. I was in charge of a ward which meant I had to oversee 40 babies every night. It was quite chaotic but the experience taught me to appreciate a step-by-step systematic approach.”
Her nursing training also cultivated her eye for details. For example, she would meticulously inspect the cleaners hired by the Potong Pasir Town Council and evaluate if they had carried out their work seriously.
“There was a time I spotted them using the leaf-blower to transfer leaves into the drains. This is unacceptable as it would facilitate the breeding of mosquitoes.”
She admitted that she had never studied political and economic theories but this should not disqualify her to be a MP.
“There are many issues that affect ordinary people, and these issues are not limited to democracy and economics.”
She added that among her friends are lawyers, doctors, statisticians and former civil servants who are willing to help her to write parliamentary speech and carry out policy research.
“While they have ideas, they lack political ambition so I can be a conduit for their ideas in Parliament. However, I would not blindly accept every idea.”
She is also no stranger to preparing parliamentary speeches. Due to his medical condition, Lina Luo assisted her husband to write parliamentary speeches for this year’s Budget debate.
She also accompanied Chiam See Tong when he was interviewed or assigned to attend international conferences in the capacity of a MP.
“I have my own set of political views. I don’t belong to the youth category too. As long as I am healthy, have confidence, empathy and sincerity, have the humbleness to accept criticism and the intention to serve the people, I am a good politician.”
