7. Extremely down to earth
During a talk show, hosts asked Mr Chan how they should address him. He casually joked that even if they called him ‘oi’, he would respond.
Sometimes, he would be asked about his infamous ‘kee chiu‘ line. Instead of trying to explain his action, he laughs about it. And when he learnt about parodies made about that, he replied with the question:
Do I want to be a popular politician or a genuinely efficient one?
Clearly, he doesn’t mind them at all.
In case you don’t know about the phrase, Mr Chan had conducted an informal poll at a PAP address 2011, and had asked his audience to ‘kee chiu’ – Hokkien for ‘hands up’ – to vote.
8. Might have ended up as a librarian
As a child Mr Chan didn’t have very big ambitions. He said that all he wanted was to get a scholarship to become a librarian.
His ambition was fuelled by 2 reasons. First, he likes reading books. Second, he wanted to enjoy the air-conditioning. He explained that back then, the library was the only place you could enjoy air-conditioning at.
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