SINGAPORE — Soh Siew Geok, 72, is perhaps Singapore’s most avid attendee of Meet-the-People Sessions (MPS). The Yishun resident has ventured as far as Jurong and Marine Parade to meet various Members of Parliament — but not exactly to seek out help on municipal or personal issues.

Instead, the affable retiree takes a bus to MPS across the island to collect the autographs of the country’s political representatives as a hobby. Since 2015, she has acquired more than 90 signatures from the likes of active stalwarts DPM Gan Kim Yong and Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh, to retired politicians like Lim Swee Say.

“It all started in 2015, when I bought the SG50 commemorative notes in Tampines and bumped into some MPs after my purchase. I thought it would be a good idea to get their signatures,” she tells The Straits Times in Mandarin, though admitting that she has forgotten which MPs these were.

“And, since I’d already got a few signatures, I thought that I should just try to collect everyone else’s,” adds the former newspaper distributor and toy factory worker. That idea has blossomed into a spirited quest to obtain the signature of every MP, no matter their party colours.

With the nine-day campaigning period of GE2025, Soh no longer has to limit herself to MPS and has started walking the ground too.

On April 25, she was spotted at Mayflower Market & Food Centre requesting the autograph of Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong. The leader of the PAP slate in Ang Mo Kio GRC was on a walkabout in Kebun Baru SMC.

This was not her first time collecting his signature but it was special. This time, SM Lee signed her autograph book in Chinese, having previously penned his name in English.

SM Lee did not recognise her, she says with a laugh, but she never expected him to. Her encounters with MPs are typically fleeting. It took eight visits to his constituency before she finally met him and got his autograph for the first time.

One of her friendliest interactions was with Minister of Health Ong Ye Kung, who took the time to ask her about her plans for the book, which he said “must be worth a lot”.

“I might give this to my son if he wants it — or I might donate this to a museum,” responded Soh, who has a 32-year-old son. Her husband, who is 68, prefers to keep a low profile, and she declined to reveal what either of them does for a living.

Not every encounter is warm and some MPs have been less than friendly, she lets on. Declining to reveal names, she says: “You don’t have to sign in my book, I’ll just leave an empty space beside your face.”

Her book is a patchwork of faces snipped from residents’ committee brochures. Her cut-out of SM Lee’s face was from a brochure given to her by her brother, who lives in Ang Mo Kio GRC. She taps friends living across the island to send her brochures and MPS timings.

The book is kept in her cabinet and her husband and son are not aware of its existence, she says.

“I do it secretly and I don’t need anyone’s permission,” she says. “Of course, I’m very happy about the signatures I’ve collected — I often take it out from the cabinet and admire my booklet.”

A few friends have questioned her about collecting the signatures of candidates who have yet to be elected. But Soh tells them it is her book and she makes the rules.

She times her outings for golden hour — just before the evening Meet-the-People Sessions begin. A decade of travelling around Singapore has rewarded this retiree, who might otherwise be cooped up at home, with something special: “Because of this hobby, I’ve realised how beautiful Singapore can look at night. The most beautiful place in this country is the east coast because of the sunsets.”

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This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.