Week 2: Poverty in Singapore

Hello there, readers of this fine blog! This week, our assignment is to share about "Poverty in Singapore". As students, we rarely spend our time in the city and are therefore not entirely exposed to the financial crisis faced by fellow citizens who surround us in our everyday lives.

It is illegal to beg in Singapore, which is a well-developed and advanced country with a  strong government therefore it is highly unlikely that beggars can be found lining the streets or to see starving children walking the pavements, scrounging for food. However, there are still poverty going on behind the scenes. I'm sure that many of us have seen people going around coffee shops selling tissues or little trinkets to customers having meals there, right? There are still people who have to find a place to sleep at night as they have no shelter to go home to. We can see from these situations that these citizens face financial crisis which is very rare to spot in our everyday lives.

Most Singaporeans are oblivious to the fact that poverty is still a social problem that Singapore's facing. It's not that poverty has been eradicated in Singapore, but that they are largely being hidden - affordable public housing typically means a roof over the heads of the poor. Therefore, in Singapore, although poverty is a rare topic and sight, it is still an underlying problem in Singapore. 

What's fortunate is that the people who are considered "poor" are more well-off than those in other countries. They are not dying from starvation, they have meat on their bones and they have a penny to their name, but it is indeed a hard life. They have to make ends meet everyday and keep finding the security of a home and enough money to support themselves. It is a contant predicament they have to face in reality.

It genuinely disheartens us to see people facing life struggles, be it big or small. Being morally upright, we would feel compelled to help those in need. This picture depicts a man sleeping on a thin layer of newpapers and plastic sheets in the void deck of a certain HDB block. Even though we may not know his story, but we feel absolute pity on him. The few plastic bags by his feet may be the only few possessions he has. We wish that he can be provided with the comfort of a home and secured financial support. Nobody should have to sleep on the streets without a home to retreat to after a long day. If we were him, we would be absolutely gutted to have nowhere to go and not have a place where we can feel safe and experience tranquility.