SINGAPORE: A fashion accessory that belonged to a Member of Parliament (MP) will soon be auctioned off.
MP for Marine Parade GRC, Ms Tin Pei Ling, has donated her Kate Spade bag to AWARE's fundraiser.
The bag had received
much publicity after a photo of her posing with the box circulated on
the internet after she was introduced as a candidate in the General
Election last year.
The iconic bag, still in mint condition, will go under the hammer at AWARE's auction next month.
The auction price for the bag starts at S$500.
Ms
Tin said AWARE had approached her in June this year and she felt it was
worthwhile to do something meaningful for a worthy cause.
She
explained: "I thought that since the bag received so much publicity
during the last General Election, I felt it could be put to good use to
draw attention to a worthy social cause.
"In this context, in the
course of my work in the community, I do meet a lot of women, from
single mothers, sometimes abused wives and even the elderly. I feel for
them and I think they need our help and support.
"Therefore I
thought it would be worthwhile to contribute towards AWARE's efforts
like their crisis helpline, their befriender services, legal clinic and
even counselling services".
Asked if the publicity about the bag
would be revived again since it is being put up for an auction, Ms Tin
said: "I think there will be some public attention but I hope this
attention can be drawn to the worthy social causes we are trying to push
out here and that is to try and reach out and help women who really
need our support out there in the community."
The AWARE auction is part of the AWARE Awards, Singapore's first gender equality awards.
Money raised from the auction will go towards funding AWARE's Support Services.
This
year's AWARE fundraiser is known as the Supersonic Big Ball, which will
be held on 10 September at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel.
- CNA/ck