The Straits Times
Jan 31, 2010
special report: homeless wanderers
Number of homeless people doubles
More than half found sleeping in void decks; most of those picked up are placed in homes
By Radha Basu, Senior Correspondent
The number of homeless folk picked up by welfare officers driving around Singapore's housing estates, beaches and streets has doubled in the past two years.
A total of 253 people were picked up by officers from the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) last year, up from 123 in 2007. More than half were found sleeping in void decks of Housing Board blocks.
More than six in 10 were men aged below 60 and 'capable of working', said MCYS. The rest were divided equally between women and older men. Around 85 per cent were Singaporeans.
Most of the vagrants were admitted to government-run homes for destitutes where they get free food, clothes and shelter, but face curbs on their freedom.
Those picked up from void decks and beaches last year included 17 families, up from just four in 2007.
But these numbers do not paint the full picture as about 260 other people, including 43 families, are staying at two temporary shelters for the homeless, run by New Hope Community Services, a voluntary welfare organisation (VWO).
One of the shelters is for families, the other for single men, many of whom are homeless ex-offenders. Five additional flats were released to the VWO last week and it expects to take in another 40 people by the end of next month.
A third shelter, operated by Lakeside Family Service Centre, was set up just a month ago and is currently housing 12 families.
The family shelters are located in a series of three-room HDB flats. Many of the families staying at these places were referred there by welfare agencies such as community development councils (CDCs) and family service centres (FSCs).
Unlike welfare homes, the family shelters allow residents to come and go as they please and charge between $50 and $150 a month, depending on the size of the families and their ability to pay. Families must also cook their own meals, though food rations are provided.
While the rise in numbers coincided with Singapore's deepest recession in years, MCYS said there is no direct evidence to link this with the financial crisis.
Ms Ngo Lee Yian, the ministry's deputy director for residential and after-care services, said the biggest cause for the spike was 'greater awareness' on the part of Singaporeans who called the ComCare Call hotline (1800-222-0000) to tip off the ministry on homeless people in their neighbourhoods.
The spike in hotline calls led to increased patrols by officers from MCYS' Destitute Persons Service, which, in turn, saw more people being picked up, said Ms Ngo. There were around 280 patrols last year, up from 160 in 2007.
Members of Parliament such as Charles Chong and Seah Kian Peng have seen a rise in cases of constituents seeking help over housing problems.
'The number of HDB-related cases I see rose significantly after flat prices started to rise,' said Mr Chong, who gets about 15 such appeals every week. 'Most are requests for rental units, though cases involving evictions or homelessness remain few.'
Pastor Andrew Khoo, executive director of New Hope Community Services which runs the eponymous shelter, said there are three main factors causing the down-and-out to land up on his doorstep.
Some shelter residents were forced to sell their homes because they lost their jobs and could not keep up with mortgage payments. About 60 flats are voluntarily surrendered to the HDB every month, The Sunday Times understands.
Others, said Pastor Khoo, had taken loans from banks and could not service them after interest rates were raised.
Such people also typically have strained relationships with family members and are often ineligible to rent or buy HDB flats.
'So they have no one to turn to for help,' said Pastor Khoo.
He added that about 60 per cent of the families staying at his shelter are Malay, and 20 per cent are Indian.
The shelters can house the homeless for only three months. During that period, families work with social workers to find alternative accommodation. On release, about 40 per cent go to live with friends or relatives and about 30 per cent rent a flat from the HDB.
New Hope has a waiting list of about 30 families, most of them fear losing their homes. Currently, two to three families are packed in each three-room flat.
'Some may have to sleep in the hall,' said Pastor Khoo. 'But that's better than living out in the open.'
Jan 31, 2010
special report: homeless wanderers
Strict housing policies, illness and divorce leave some stuck
Mr Zailan, his wife Faridah and their children in a shared three-room flat run by the New Hope Shelter. Now that he has a steady job, Mr Zailan has applied for his own rental flat but it could be at least six months before he gets one. -- ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN
For 14 weeks between February and June last year, divorcee Zailan Abu Satamin, 40, and his third wife Faridah Atan, 26, drifted from beach to beach with an infant and two toddlers in tow. They say they were too poor to afford even a tent.
Instead, they lived in the rain shelters that dot Singapore's parks.
After his last divorce, Mr Zailan sold the three-room Boon Lay flat he owned with his second wife in January 2007. He had remarried by then. Early last year, he lost the room he rented from a friend when he could not pay the rent.
He turned to the South West Community Development Council for help and it referred him to the New Hope Shelter where he now stays with his family.
Interviews with homeless folk, social workers and government officials indicate that divorce, dysfunction and disease, coupled with public housing policies that strictly regulate the amount of government help a family can get, may be making some people here homeless.
The number of homeless picked up by government welfare officers has doubled over the past two years - from 123 in 2007 to 253 last year, said the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS). About 60 families also give up their flats every month, unable to service the loans, though most end up staying with friends or relatives.
So who are these people and what makes them homeless in a nation that prides itself on having one of the highest home-ownership rates in the world?
Problems often start with divorce, and former spouses selling jointly-owned flats. HDB rules state a person cannot rent a flat within 30 months of selling one.
Mr Zailan sold off flats twice after his two divorces. After the second sale, he and Madam Faridah rented rooms from friends. The children came soon afterwards, straining his $950 monthly income.
'There were times when we were unable to pay and landed up on the streets,' he said. On such occasions, his family was of no use, he claimed. His parents are dead and his stepmother already has 17 relatives living in her three-room flat. Madam Faridah's mother is dead and her father lives in Batam. She said she is not in touch with most of her 10 siblings.
Not planning for crises like job loss or illness also make some homeless.
Take, for instance, an unemployed 53-year-old who was wandering around one of Singapore's beaches last weekend.
The former aerospace technician, who wanted to be known only as Mr Seah, said he has been homeless for a year since he was evicted from his rental room. Estranged from his former wife and three grown up sons, he showed The Sunday Times a doctor's note stating that he suffered from depression and anxiety attacks.
His illness, he said, cost him two jobs. But because he has bought and sold HDB flats three times, he is not eligible to apply for a rental flat. He claimed the last sale in 2008 - after his divorce - netted $100,000 into his Central Provident Fund account. But as he had no cash, he could not rent from the open market. So a blue tent on a beach is his home for now.
Many of the homeless take refuge in tents at parks and beaches as they deem void decks too visible and unsafe. In April last year, the National Parks Board (NParks) introduced permits allowing applicants to camp on the beach for up to eight days every month. It issued 21,000 such permits last year.
NParks estimates 10,000 people camped in parks in 2005-2006. Indeed, some homeless folk are using the permits to take shelter at the beach. When The Sunday Times ran into Ms Alvar Magdelene, 38, and her husband, Mr Velayutham Agamuthu, 44, the couple were camping at a beach with a valid permit - and their dog, Angel.
Ms Alvar, a bankrupt divorcee who remarried three months ago, had to give up the one-room rental flat she shared with an acquaintance earlier this month.
Mr Velayutham also has no place to stay and no job. When their permit expired last week, they applied again under Ms Alvar's name, only to find out they had been 'blacklisted' for six months.
That is because permits are meant for those who camp for 'recreational purposes', said NParks director for parks Kong Yit San. Homeless people, he said, are referred to MCYS officers.
Deputy director of MCYS' residential and after-care services branch Ngo Lee Yian said the ministry has in place a mechanism to help such people.
First, officers work to establish the identities of the homeless and the reasons for their plight, she said. A stay in a welfare home or transitional shelter may be necessary for those with no 'immediate accommodation options'. Families and individuals are also referred to community agencies for help with jobs, financial aid or counselling.
Ms Ngo said MCYS will set up more shelters for families in crisis over the next few months. 'The important thing is for people to seek help early - and not wait till you are homeless.'
But this takes time. Mr Zailan, who now has a steady job, has applied for a rental flat - the debarment period is finally over. But it could be at least another six months before he gets one.
His tenure at the shelter, however, expires next month. 'I can only pray that we don't have to go back to the beach again.'
But Pastor Andrew Khoo, who runs the shelter Mr Zailan is in, is sanguine this will not happen. 'Homelessness is never permanent in Singapore, given that there is so much help in the community.'
