http://antineodem.wordpress.com/2007/05/07/helping-the-poor/
The Poor and Social Reality in Singapore
May 7, 2007
An important article in the Straits Times written by a Ngee Ann
Poly lecturer. How long must we pretend that the needy in Singapore
exist in Mars? Yes, they exist but somewhere out of MY universe.
Can we really blame them for not being to find jobs or just having
a general despair with their lives? What kind of imposition are we
placing on other Singaporeans, instead of listening and trying to
reconstruct what they actually feel, think and breathe?
http://www.straitstimes.com/portal/site/STI/menuitem.c2aef3d65baca16abb31f610a06310a0/?
Does it mean that because we are educated that we think that people
are merely lazy? Or do we think we have done our job just because
we have policies* available to help the people? It is one thing to
have policies, it is another to have enough people to implement
them effectively. It is one thing to be educated, it is another to
think that every Singaporeans have the same opportunity as you to
be educated.
As James Scott argues, I paraphase, Lets not conflate states
policies with the actual social reality and implementation on the
ground. Wise words indeed.
Help for the poor: So close, yet so far
By Vivi Zainol, For The Straits Times
WHY do needy Singaporeans continue to fall through the cracks
despite the Governments array of public aid schemes?
To tackle this question, 18 of my students at Ngee Ann Polytechnic
interviewed more than 30 low-income households for a vacation
module. They found the biggest barriers to be education and
language.
Many are illiterate. With little knowledge or understanding of
schemes to help them, its not surprising that some say they know
the Government is helping them, but they feel it is not doing
enough.
Some would rather get an extra job than ask for help. Others
struggle to make themselves understood and say they do not have the
time, money or energy to make return trips to their MP or Community
Development Councils (CDCs) to ask for more help.
For those who did bother, a common complaint heard by students was
that the CDC officers are rude.
Several years ago, as a Straits Times community reporter, I had
heard the same comment when I asked a woman with three children,
and whose husband was in jail for a drug offence, why she did not
ask for help. Describing how her experience with CDCs turned her
off, she said a CDC officer had sarcastically asked her: Didnt
your husband leave you any money?
If he had, why would I be asking for help? said the troubled
woman, who had contemplated suicide.
One group of Ngee Ann students decided to observe CDC officers in
action after receiving the feedback. At one CDC, officers were
unfailingly polite - it was the low-income group which was being
demanding and uncooperative. However, all the CDC officers were
Chinese - help-seekers speaking Malay and Indian had to struggle to
make themselves understood.
At another CDC, student Nurlina Fatima Shafrin, 18, recalled how a
CDC officer was heard commenting loudly to another officer nearby
on how irritating the people who had come to ask for help were,
even when the latter, who were filling up forms, could hear
them.
What is interesting to note is that interviews by students
uncovered a perception among low-income earners that the
higher-educated tend to look down on them and are arrogant.
Formally attired CDC officers also unintentionally give the
impression that they are less approachable.
Not all CDC officers are trained social workers - there are not
enough social workers to go around in Singapore.
Also, some members of the low-income group can be downright
prickly, believing they have a right to receive handouts from the
state.
But surely everybody deserves good customer service regardless of
income group? The poor have their pride too.
Could CDCs perhaps train their staff to understand the
sensitivities and psyche of the lower-income group? Steps could
also be taken to ensure that staff on duty speak different
languages and dialects. Members from the low-income group could
even be employed to help.
Its good news indeed to hear that the Government has raised public
assistance spending from $96 million to $140 million, and ComCare
funding from $43 million to $67 million. With that much money
allocated to the needy, it makes sense to ensure these funds reach
the ones who need immediate assistance.
Take Mr Ramasamy Ratran, a 52-year-old Indian man, who was a
pitiful sight when my students and I chanced upon him. He was lying
on the dusty floor in his rented two-room flat, having been
discharged from hospital just two weeks earlier.
Fortunately, a former female neighbour and a male friend had taken
it upon themselves to look after Mr Ramasamy, who is epileptic and
living on his own. Medical social workers had settled his hospital
bills, but he was getting no financial help while he was
recuperating and unable to work.
Can you please help him? He needs help. When I first came two
weeks ago, there was no electricity. His flat was in total
darkness, pleaded the former neighbour, who had helped to top up
his prepaid utilities smart key to get the electricity back
on.
Mr Ramasamy was not the only one my students and I found in need of
assistance. When barber Yahya Pinghani, 39, was hospitalised for a
kidney problem, he could not work and had no daily income for
weeks. His children skipped school that week because there was no
money for the bus fare.
Mr Pinghanis wife Murni, 41, complained how, after three weeks,
her single friend who had applied for help with her at a CDC had
already received assistance while she and her family were still
waiting. She revealed that her family owed a whopping $4,000 in
utilities bills.
CDCs do give $200 once-off emergency assistance, after which the
needy wait six to eight weeks for CDCs to respond. So what do they
do when help is a long time coming? Many see their MPs, getting a
$50 cheque for their trouble, or resort to collecting food from
voluntary welfare organisations. How many know that they can get
immediate assistance from your Citizens Consultative Committee? I
did not either, for that matter, till I asked around.
Perhaps it is time that bulletin boards in HDB flats were put to
better use. They could advertise where the poor can get help and
give details of the schemes. Many low-income earners are
illiterate, but the ones who are not will surely help to spread the
word around.
It could also be made mandatory for medical social workers in
hospitals to inform social workers or CDCs when a person who is
from the low-income group is discharged so they will give him
temporary financial assistance during his recovery period.
Last year, the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports
(MCYS) set up a community care network for the elderly in Ang Mo
Kio. Under this scheme, grassroots leaders are trained by family
service centres to identify needy households.
Perhaps if this outreach scheme is formally extended to include all
needy Singaporeans, not just the elderly, it could be used to
ensure no one falls through the cracks and to explain the help
schemes available to the needy.
MCYS minister Vivian Balakrishnan recently called on Singaporeans
to be eyes and ears on the ground, saying we need the whole of
society and not an army of bureaucratic civil servants, when he
outlined $140 million worth of initiatives for the low-income
group.
The findings of the 18 Ngee Ann polytechnic students who ventured
out of their classroom may not be conclusive, but simple
observations like theirs should not be belittled. Like any jigsaw
puzzle enthusiast will tell you, even one small piece makes a
difference.
The writer is a lecturer at the School of Interdisciplinary Studies
at Ngee Ann Polytechnic.
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REACHING OUTPerhaps it is time that bulletin boards in HDB flats
were put to better use. They could advertise where the poor can get
help and give details of the schemes.
