Knocking on people's doors are all in a day's work for an electoral candidate. And it has been done so much that it can evolve into an art form, as People's Action Party (PAP) candidate Eric Chua shared on his Facebook page.

"My experience visiting door-to-door the last two weeks have taught me the artistry of knocking on doors. There is a knock for every type of door and every situation."

Here are six ways of knocking on doors, according to Chua.

1. Upright 4-knuckle knock

The most common and simplest of knocks, an upright four-knuckle knock will do nicely if the gate has ample solid space to knock.

2. Standard horizontal 4-knuckle knock

Not to be confused with the upright knock, this standard horizontal four-knuckle knock is great for tapping on doors, bypassing gates with bars.

3. Tight space 3-knuckle knock

This is a little bit tricky, but it can be used on gates with unique shapes – for example, the ones with diamond-shaped gaps. Squeeze your hand through the gate and get your three-knuckle knock in there.

4. Find an opening for a 2-knuckle knock

If you're confronted with a gate with horizontal bars and remain unsure on where to knock, "sometimes, you gotta just find an opening that only allows a two-knuckle knock", said Chua.

5. Open-door, through the gate 2-knuckle knock

This is the best scenario every candidate hopes to get. A house with an open door, where you can easily slide your hand through the gate and use a two-knuckle knock as a preamble before shouting, "Hi, anyone home?"

6. 2-knuckle gentle knock

Good for early mornings or late evenings, the two-knuckle gentle knock will ensure that you don't disturb residents if they are asleep.

While this is a handy guidebook for knocking on doors during the campaigning period, another method is just using the doorbell, as one pointed out in the comments section.

Chua will be contesting in Tanjong Pagar GRC together with Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing, Joan Pereira, Indranee Rajah and Alvin Tan. 

The PAP team will be facing Progress Singapore Party (PSP) candidates Michael Chua, Harish Pillay, Wendy Low, Terence Soon and Abas Kasmani in the constituency.

trining@asiaone.com

For more original AsiaOne articles, visit here.