Stop. Think for a moment, how much money do you spend at school on a daily basis? Did you answer five maybe ten dollars, that’s about normal right? How much money do your parents give you on the weekend, fifty, one hundred maybe more you say? There are three billion people live less than $2.50 a day[1], that’s less just one slice of pizza at Campus Signature Pizza, and that’s even before you get your drink and your cookie from Subway just next door; do you still think your weekend money is normal? We live in a society that it’s normal to find a fifty or two in every second kids wallet, well every second child in the world is in poverty[2]. Singapore, a beautiful, clean country with one of the highest paid leaders in the world, skyscrapers, and money that seems to be disposable. If only we knew, hidden beneath the surface there are people that live in poverty.
Poverty: “the shortage of common things such as food, clothing, shelter and safe drinking water, all of which determine our quality of life. It may also include the lack of access to opportunities such as education and employment which aid the escape from poverty and/or allow one to enjoy the respect of fellow citizens.”[3] If you have these basic things considered by definition to be poverty then you should consider yourself lucky because ¼ of all people are in poverty.[4] They are denied these basic human rights for various reasons, be it lack of education or their mental state. This also includes the aging of Singapore. One older woman said that “Elderly folks do this to kill time”, collecting scraps that is. They collect scraps just so that they could have enough money to make it thought the day. One kilo of paper boxes or scraps is worth about 13-15, but 13 kilos is only worth about 1.70.[5] Back before the recession selling scraps could earn you up to ten dollars a day, now they are lucky to even make a few dollars off their scraps.[6] Some are working at hawkers where they make only a few hundred dollars a month, and the labor is intensive.
One woman was quoted saying, “it’s hard for us to find work!” the elderly aren’t as accepted or revered as they were back in early times, in this fast moving economy you always have to be on your toes and up to date, or you fall behind.
The people can’t get money because the CPF “holds their money and uses it to control them” says one man. CPF or Central Provident Fund is the social security savings plan that is in place for citizens of old age.[7] One reply to a blog, where I got a lot of information from, a man stated “I was in Geylang East Polyclinic for an appointment and while waiting, I decided to explore the area. I found a HUGE number of old man and old women locked up behind a gate in the top most floor. Although they were locked-in, there were exercising machines and tables for these people… that was their only other choice.”[8] These people have no choice because it’s either that or starve out on the streets. To know that the government is allowing this to happen is shocking to say the least. Forcing them to live all in one place in unpleasant conditions is bad enough, but to be locked up behind a gate, like a caged animal is getting to the point of becoming inhumane.
Poverty may not seem like such an issue in this technology savvy world, but really it’s everywhere you look. Do you clean your own room, cook your own dinner, and do your own laundry? If you answered no then mostly likely living in Singapore it’s your maid that does all those things for you. How much money do you think she makes a month, 300 maybe even 400? Most maids make the minimal requirement for their work, 200 SGD a month[9]. An average earning of a Singapore citizen is about 4345 SGD a month, that’s a bit more than 21 times the amount of money, those peoples maids make a month[10].
There are countless stories about the impoverished elderly, they “lead just as tragic lives. Many have to, literally, work until they die.”[11] One Singaporean friend of mine said that the kids of these people might even be wealthy but the respect for their parents has gone down the drain.
Poverty is being hidden by the government, they aren’t admitting that there is poverty apparent in the country, they have said that the “move from poverty to plenty has taken place within one generation”[12] To raise awareness about this issue I created a YouTube video with interviews in both Mandarin and English to show both sides of Singapore. The video features the song Mad World performed by Gary Jules, and interviews by Charlotte and myself.