Family & Life Magazine Issue 10 | Page 9

KopiTalk, held at, you guessed it, a kopitiam. “It’s free and easy. Anyone can come in and have a meal, and if they have any questions, they can fire away. Even if they don’t, they are more than welcome to sit down and listen,” says Baey. The KopiTalk sessions are popular. The chairs are always filled with people from all walks of life. And while some of their opinions might run contrary to Baey’s position on the matter, the MP welcomes and even entertains the differing and dissenting views. His forthright nature is refreshing and certainly quite the antithesis to a party usually regarded as cold and economical. His passion for serving is infectious – he left his corporate job in 2012 because he wanted to spend more time helping the people. Without being prompted, Baey acknowledges that more could definitely be done by the incumbent government to reach out to the people. “The occasional dialogue session that is organised for the people are, I guess you could say, ‘organised’. For example, there are 200 seats in the auditorium and to make sure that you have a good turnout, you fill perhaps half of the seats with grassroots people. Then you bring in school students and other volunteers to fill up a couple more seats. So, the actual number of people walking in are quite little,” says Baey. We jog in step and in silence for a few heartbeats. “Perhaps we don’t do enough publicity for these sessions,” Baey ponders. THAT T WORD We’ve finally come to the crossroads in our conversation, that tipping point when I could choose to either plunge headlong into a healthy debate about the uneasy relations between the government and the people in the online space or veer the interview into safe, not-choppy waters. I had envisioned this in my head prior to the run and up to that point, I had still not decided the path I wanted to jog on. But now, I was sure. Baey’s stance on online regulation is well-documented. He’s always advocated for a light touch even though recently, the government has started to be a tad more heavy-handed. He doesn’t blame them. “The government has to have certain rules in place and some of the actions they take is to send the message that they have this stick that they can use if they want to, but they’ll use it sparingly.” Baey, on the other hand, believes that the online sphere, especially social media, is capable of self-regulation. “Social media is a neutral platform and can work both ways. While it seems that there are overwhelming anti-government views online, I believe that the majority are rational people. They are reading everything but they are keeping silent,” says Baey. “The key is to trust the people. Put your point across in an acceptable and digestible way and then, let the people form their own judgement.” Trust. It’s an interesting, almost alien concept in a country that has been described as a benevolent dictatorship but Baey genuinely feels that in an increasingly chaotic political landscape, it is perhaps the only way forward. Trust that the bulk of the population is able to discern the right from the wrong and the fabrications from the truths; trust that the online situation will not get out of control; trust the people. And indeed, Baey tells me that the government is indeed in the process of switching gears. It might take a while but Baey, with an ironic wink, tells me to trust the government too. TRADITIONAL VALUES IN A MODERN WORLD With his modernist societal views, you’ll be surprised to know that Baey adheres to a rather traditional mindset when it comes to family matters. He grew up in a typical Asian family, a mother who stayed at home and took care of the family while the father worked in the day and returned to a home-cooked dinner. Education was seen as the golden ticket and Baey and his two brothers studied hard, scoring university degrees and scholarships. Baey and his wife have also compromised on one of the country’s most hotly debated academic issue – tuition. “Our children have never gone for any tuition lessons,” Baey reveals, the result of