I wish the country can do more for Singaporeans who aren’t “officially poor” but “live in conditions most of us would consider poverty”

[The_King]

SINGAPORE: Workers’ Party MP Jamus Lim (Sengkang GRC) recently wrote about Singaporeans who are not “officially” poor but “living in conditions that most of us would consider poverty” and getting little by way of government support.

Assoc Prof Lim wrote this after visiting the residents of 302 Anchorvale, the ward he has represented in Parliament since 2020. He wrote that the block had been originally designed with “jumbo” apartments, but these were split up, possibly due to poor take-up.

 

“So they tend to be on the small size, with what seems to be disproportionately more elderly and lower-income residents,” he wrote, citing the example of a couple in their 70s.

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“They survive on a meager CPF payout, because they worked modest jobs previously. But because they do draw something—however little—and their three-room flat isn’t a rental, they end up not being directly covered by any assistance from social services programs. So despite living in conditions that most of us would consider poverty, they aren’t officially poor (). These are Singaporeans that slip through the cracks.”

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However, he noted that the mindset of the couple was “remarkable”.  They take care of their own needs, not wishing to place this burden on their children, though they get “essentially nothing” from the government.

Assoc Prof Lim added that the couple’s biggest fear is not how they’ll manage on a daily basis but the different scams and frauds that would threaten their savings.

“This resilience is admirable, but I wish that, as a country, we can do more for the family, and families like this. There is a weekly food rescue and monthly food ration that we assist with in #SengkangGRC, which helps plug some of the gap that isn’t met by official channels.

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But I personally think that such movements are a reflection of some degree of state failure, driven by a stubborn policy ethos of self-reliance that may have been appropriate while we were a resource-constrained developing nation, but less applicable to one that is routinely among the highest in per capita incomes worldwide.” /TISG

 

 

https://theindependent.sg/jamus-lim-i-wish-the-country-can-do-more-for-singaporeans-who-arent-officially-poor-but-live-in-conditions-most-of-us-would-consider-poverty/

[coffeenut]

Going to get worse with a larger slice of the population ageing .. 

 

Unless gonna import to keep the percentage stable or lower

[XianGe]

18 minutes ago, coffeenut said:

Going to get worse with a larger slice of the population ageing .. 

 

Unless gonna import to keep the percentage stable or lower

 

Ya.. but import or sabo all the condom wun change the outcome cos there will b more old crazy folks... 

[Bigbird]

Poopies is surely doing more for their own agenda!

 

Dilute Sinkies with new 3rd world migrants!

 

Sinkies keep comparing buay kan pinky with his lao peh!

 

New sh!tizens sure happy comparing their slums with "1st world" status!  Elevate liao!

 

#songboh

[XianGe]

70% prefer not to care n dun nid help

[aaur4man]

70% assumes govt will help

[The_King]

On 9/20/2023 at 8:16 PM, coffeenut said:

Going to get worse with a larger slice of the population ageing .. 

 

Unless gonna import to keep the percentage stable or lower

If not why they keep building flat