Party member hailed for efforts to boost residents outreach

He believes in the potential of data analytics to examine and predict the needs of residents and the potential of information technology to help Singaporeans, including the elderly, to understand policies better.

And in putting his technical skills to use in party activism, People’s Action Party (PAP) Woodlands branch (Sembawang GRC) member Pan Zhengxiang, 32, has developed an IT system to enable party members to conduct better outreach to residents. For his efforts, Mr Pan, who is pursuing a doctorate in IT, received a long-service medal (bronze) at the PAP Conference yesterday.

With his data-mining and analytics platform, which is being test-bedded, activists can view issues of concern to residents at different levels — from different blocks in a constituency, down to a single storey of a block.

This can help activists know if unemployment is higher among certain blocks or what residents’ sentiments are towards new policies.

“For Meet-the-People Sessions, when there are certain categories (of cases) that start to build up, we can see whether it’s because of policy shifts or because of global issues,” said Mr Pan, who is known to friends as Jedi.

With predictive analytics, activists may even foresee residents’ needs and develop courses and activities for them, he said.

“I’m interested in technology, so I love to develop these technologies to understand residents better,” said Mr Pan, whose PhD focuses on IT innovations to address ageing.

The Nanyang Technological University student has been a PAP activist for 10 years, starting in Tanjong Pagar GRC, where he tutored children from single-parent households.

Mr Pan, who has been with the Woodlands branch for the past four years, is also a Pioneer Generation ambassador and has developed an app together with other youth activists and volunteers.

The app, which is being test-bedded too, informs residents about MediShield Life and the Pioneer Generation Package through an interactive question-and-answer game. The game’s story and bite-sized tutorial is narrated in the four main languages and in dialect.

NEO CHAI CHIN