What's the cost of running a Meet the People session for 5 years?

Assuming a candidate wants to stay in touch with the residents in the voting constituency during non-General Election years, how much would any candidate need to spend, if the candidate runs a MPS every week, for 3 hours?

Let's assume 3 hours rental has a cost of maximum $200. (Instead of renting a place for the whole month).

  • 3 hours @ $200 x 52 weeks x 5 years = $52,000.

What if it's a month, instead of 3 hours? Let's suppose the monthly rental is $4000.

  • $4000 x 12 months x 5 years = $240,000.

That's just for one constituency. As there are 87 seats, let's suppose there's 87 Meet the People Session all over the island (based on 87 parliamentary seats).

  • 87 x $52,000 = $4,524,000.
  • 87 x $240,000 = $20,880,000.

So, we're looking at an investment of about a minimum spending of $4.5M, or a maximum of $20M over 5 years, just to run MPS. And that's just looking at it from the financial perspective. What party has that kind of money?

How many people would you need to help you run a MPS? At least a minimum of

  • 1 person to do registration
  • 1 person to interview the resident and write the letter
  • 1 person to review the letter

So, a minimum of 3 persons is needed. With 87 seats, we'll need 87 x 3 = 261 people.  Are there 261 people out there who would stick it out with you week after week year after year, for 5 years?