SINGAPORE: More Singaporeans are coming forward to
seek help through ComCare, the government's social assistance
service for the needy.
The ComCare hotline has seen a 150 per cent spike in
calls over the past three years, with 4,616 calls registered in
2010.
20 per cent of these calls were for help for cases
such as domestic abuse, gambling, and elderly care.
This is up from seven per cent when ComCare was launched in
2008.
During a visit to the ComCare call centre at Clemenceau Avenue on
Thursday, Minister of State Halimah Yacob said the call service
should be prepared to handle more cases in light of a looming
economic crisis.
Madam Halimah Yacob said: "The economic situation as we see is
weakening, it takes a bit of time to flow through in terms of the
impact on jobs and families.
"Therefore we need to watch over the next few months whether there
will be a spike in calls. We've been discussing with the call
centre operator, for them to put in more manpower."
Vivien Ong, manager, ComCare Call, said: "We are actually starting
to recruit, interview and select suitable candidates to be part of
ComCare Call, in anticipation of any possible surge.
"Because the training process is quite lengthy, I want to make sure
the operators are trained properly.
"We are also reviewing the system to see how we can make it more
robust in the event that there is a surge in calls."
Singaporeans who need help can call the 24-hour hotline at
1800-222-0000.
- CNA/cc/ck