THE waiting area at a Meet-the-People session (MPS) looks like that of a clinic.

Except that here, it's not the sick you see, but the down-and-out.

On their faces, you see different stories. They're etched with frustration, anger and puzzlement - but also hope.

For the hour or two that they wait for their turn to see their MP, they allow themselves the luxury of hope.

It's invested in an MP's sympathetic ear and his or her powerful signature. That signature doesn't move millions. But here, the little squiggle gives hope.

There are two kinds of people, generally, who come through these doors - those who fall through the cracks of the system, and those who want something the system cannot give.

The first group comes with convoluted stories, relating the drama serial-type circumstances which caused them to slip through the layers of safety nets, and wind up at the MPS as their last resort.

They take you on a tour of the mazes that are their life stories and the dead ends they now face.

The second group, the ones who ask for something outside the system, comes looking for compassion, breathing room, a little more time, one more chance, or the turn of a blind eye from a system legendary for its ruthless efficiency.

From here, the signed appeal letters go out, to hospitals, PUB, ICA, HDB...

Quiet desperation

It may or may not help. But what's more important is the acknowledgement of their plight from the MP's listening ear.

It's the type of quiet desperation that puts the hoo-ha over the Lehman Brothers Minibonds debacle in perspective.

None of the needy who came that night talked about investments. Nobody lost money, you suspect, because they didn't have any to begin with.

It's almost like they live in a world of their own, said Dr Lily Neo, MP for Kreta Ayer-Kim Seng, part of Jalan Besar GRC.

She added: 'Six months ago, I started noticing an increase in the number of people (going to her MPS) to look for financial help.' All they know, she said, is that prices at the market are rising and odd jobs they used to find around the neighbourhood are suddenly not there.

They won't protest at Hong Lim Park.

But they come to see their MP, sitting in their chairs, half-watching Channel 8 on the silent TV set, and anxiously watching their queue numbers, waiting for their turn at hope.

It's not the investors or the banks who need the most help at this time. It's them.

This article was first published in The New Paper on October 18, 2008.