will today hike in gst also hike up the numbers of public
sleeper?
Singapores Public Sleepers
By LuckyTan..
Jun 30, 2007
Sleepers in Singapore....
June 24, 2007
"There are no homeless, destitute or starving people [in
Singapore]
Poverty has been eradicated."
-Kishore Mahbubani, Singapore's permanent representative to the
UN
"You go down New York, Broadway. You will see the beggars, people
of the streets...Where are the beggars in Singapore? Show
me."
-Lee Kuan Yew
"There are no homeless people in Singapore because they are called
SLEEPERS. Singapore is ingenious we have gotten rid of homelessness
without spending a single cent" - Lucky Tan
Every time I work late and pass by the bus interchange near my
place, I notice the growing number of homeless at the bus
interchange. Each pillar at the bus interchange now has a permanent
resident (PR).
You ever wonder why the homeless sleep next to pillars? So that the
tired people coming back from work don't step on them when they
sleep.
Since every pillar is now occupied, I wondered where a new homeless
person would go. The Sunday Times has the answer....
"Sleeping in the city is becoming popular...." - Sunday Times 24
June 2007.
"Sleeping in void decks, Changi beach, bus interchange is also very
POPULAR especially among the poor..." - Lucky Tan
Some of you might have criticised the govt for building the
extravagant Esplanade spending hundreds of millions tax payers
money on a building that hosts operas, musicals and symphonies that
only the richer citizens can afford.
But you are wrong, while the rich get to watch "Les Misérables",
the poor get to sleep in the underpass between Esplanade and the
Citilink Mall at night.
The Esplanade is indeed a very useful building both rich and poor
people get to use it.
It seems not all the 'sleepers' are jobless. Why do people with
jobs need to sleep in those places?
The answer is very simple and logical. The real wages of some
workers are now so low that after the numerous bouts of utilities
increase, transport fare increase, and rental increases, there is
hardly any choice but to sleep on streets.
I would do it too if I make $900 a month because I can save:
-
* $100 on transport because I sleep close to where I work,
* Another $200 on rental and
* $50-$100 of utilities bill.
In other words I can save half my income, by sleeping in public
places.
As Singapore heads for top 1st world status, the cost of living can
only rise relative to the wages of low-income workers.
We can see greater utilisation of our public buildings, MRT
stations, bus interchanges and 24hr MacDonald's outlets as they
double up as sleeping areas for these sleepers.
It is great that our beloved government had such great foresight to
invest so much money on these beautiful buildings such as the
Esplanade we now know how much vision it took.
I really couldn't imagine that the Esplanade could be actually be
that useful to every one.
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