Rilek1Corner

Tag: low-income

  • 10-Year-Old Girl Works At Charcoal Kiln To Help Family

    10-Year-Old Girl Works At Charcoal Kiln To Help Family

    She is just 10, but she is already putting her family first.

    Every day after school, Intan Maisarah Zulliazam goes to a charcoal kiln near her home in Kampung Belakang Kilang Arang in Kuantan, Malaysia, to help out for about four hours.

    She helps to pick up the charcoal after it cools off and to remove the ashes.

    For her efforts, she earns RM20 (S$6.60) a day, reported the New Straits Times.

    Speaking to New Straits Times, she said she started working because she wanted to help her mother who works as a sweeper.

    The mother, Lizawati Mustafa, 33, got divorced in May.

    The kiln operator took pity on her family and gave the kid a job.

    “Sometimes, I skip classes as I want to help my family but I hope I will be able to finish schooling.” – Intan Maisarah Zulliazam

    Intan has four other siblings, aged between three and 12 years.

    The eldest child has dyslexia.

    It is not known whether the other siblings chip in to help the family.

    Ms Lizawati said the RM800 a month salary barely covers the family’s needs.

    According to her, rent for their dilapidated house alone is RM200 a month.

    Help may come soon as a local group, the Peninsular Malaysia Malay Students Union Pahang chapter, said that they will take up her case with the authorities.

    The group also said that besides giving the children school items, they will try to give them financial help.

     

    Source: www.tnp.sg

  • 12 Year Old Abang Is Both Father And Mother To Young Siblings

    12 Year Old Abang Is Both Father And Mother To Young Siblings

    He cooks, dresses the kids up, takes them to school and stays up till 3am to finish his job.

    The 12-year-old is known simply as “Abang” (or big brother in Malay) to his siblings. We are not using his real name.

    He is a remarkable boy thrown into an unfortunate crisis. His biological father was allegedly abusive, his mother is unwell and his stepfather absent.

    To his younger siblings, including a 30-month-old brother, Abang is father, brother and when he feeds, mother too.

    His sad story begins with his parents’ divorce, five years after his birth.

    Abang’s mother, who wants to be known only as Madam Nora, 35, remarried in 2008.

    But Abang has not seen his stepfather since January after a slew of letters proclaiming outstanding credit card debts landed at Madam Nora’s mother’s flat in Woodlands.

    The couple moved to the current rental flat last August.

    Madam Nora, who has five children (three from her previous marriage and two with her current husband), says her husband owes $40,000.

    To make matters worse, doctors at Tan Tock Seng Hospital have deemed Madam Nora unfit for work until the end of this year because of her health.

    Before her injury, Madam Nora worked at the Woodlands Checkpoint as a Land Transport Authority customer service officer.

    With his mother visiting hospitals and clinics almost three times a week for diabetes and chronic shoulder injury, Abang has no choice but to hold the fort at home.

    “I need to help mama,” the soft-spoken boy tells The New Paper on Sunday during a visit to their two-room rental flat in Woodlands.

    He is set to take his Primary School Leaving Examination this year.

    “She is already sick and if I don’t help her, she will be alone,” he says.

    Every day after school, he prepares lunch – it is usually fried rice or instant noodles – for his four younger siblings.

    While his three siblings, aged 11, nine and seven, eat their lunch, Abang sits patiently feeding his 30-month-old brother.

    “I used to make lunch in the rice cooker. But now we have new pans, so it is easier to make makan (Malay for food) for my adik (Malay for younger siblings)”.

    The family is under the North West Home Fix Scheme, a collaborative effort between North West Community Development Council and Grassroots Organisations. The initiative aims to provide essential household items or repairs to upkeep basic living conditions.

    The family recently received donations comprising cookware, slow cooker, gas stove, kitchen cabinet and a mattress.

    ASSISTANCE

    They also get financial assistance from several agencies including the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore and the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF).

    Madam Nora says the family receives a combined total of $1,270 from the two in cash every month.

    The young boy, 12,  allows himself briefly to be a boy again when he plays with his precious kendama toy. He has no digital devices, and hardly watches TV. The toy is packed neatly away and has pride of place in the bare house when he is done. He then goes and gets the younger children to do their homework. TNP PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR

    An MSF spokesman says Madam Nora and her children are also provided with “Comcare financial assistance and assistance for medical, rental, utilities, and service and conservancy charges for the six-month period from July to December 2015”.

    The family also gets $100 worth of North West Food Vouchers monthly as part of the North West Food Aid Fund.

    To supplement the financial aid her family gets, Madam Nora prepares food packets for people who like her cooking.

    Abang has to help her and because of that, he usually goes to sleep at 3am three times a week.

    He tries his best at school and has passed all the subjects except mathematics.

    “Sometimes, when I am in school, I feel tired but usually, it is okay. I can stay awake,” he says. Abang and his three siblings attend a primary school that is a 15-minute walk from their home.

    Abang does not ask for anything for himself. But he does have one wish – to meet his football heroes. He says: “The LionsXII footballers are good. My favourite players are Khairul Amri, Sahil Suhaimi and Faris Ramli.”

    When asked what he would do if he got the chance to meet them, he laughs and says: “I don’t think I will get to meet them. They are big stars.

    “If I ever get the chance to meet them, I won’t know what to do but I think I will ask them to teach me ball tricks.”

    He then excuses himself and goes back to helping his siblings with their homework.

    “Sometimes, when I am in school, I feel tired but usually, it is okay. I can stay awake.”

    – Abang, who often goes to sleep at 3am three times a week because he has to help his mother prepare food packets

    Her hero amid health, money, marriage woes

    BOND: Madam Nora and her five children are close. TNP PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR

    The young boy, 12,  allows himself briefly to be a boy again when he plays with his precious kendama toy. He has no digital devices, and hardly watches TV, looking after his younger siblings, cooking, and cleaning for them. The toy is packed neatly away and has pride of place in the bare house when he is done. He then goes and gets the younger children to do their homework.

    Madam Nora says she has not managed her diabetes.

    She also has a chronic shoulder injury which she says was caused by an unattended dislocation years before.

    According to a doctor’s letter, the injury means she is deemed unfit to work until the end of this year.

    Having Abang, who she calls her “commander-in-chief”, has eased her burden.

    “He really is my hero. He helps in any and every way that I need help, especially with the children.

    “I do feel bad sometimes but he knows that I need all the help I can get and he is willing to do it,” Madam Nora says.

    “Abang is also the only person I can confide in. He has matured quickly because he had to understand our situation.

    “He hasn’t failed me once.”

    Madam Nora recalls an incident when the financial situation was so bad that Abang took his daily $1 allowance from his mother, kept it for 30 days and subsequently put the $30 back into her wallet telling her “use it for yourself, mama”.

    Her first marriage – from which she had her three children – ended when her ex-husband turned into an abusive alcoholic, says Madam Nora.

    She tied the knot for the second time in 2008.

    She remains married to the man, whom she says works at Certis Cisco Security.

    But that relationship is troubled too. She has not seen him since January because he has been avoiding debt collectors over unpaid credit card debt amounting to $40,000.

    LETTERS FROM BANKS

    While the letters never reached their rental flat, Madam Nora has seen them – notices that came from two different banks – when the family lived at her mother’s flat.

    Her husband’s absence, especially during times of trouble, has not quite put Madam Nora past the marriage.

    She says he is still responsible towards the children.

    He turned up at the hospital to sign the paperwork for Abang when he went for an operation in February, allowing the child’s hospital expenses to be deducted from his CPF.

    Madam Nora says: “Abang is not his son. Yet he came to help sign off on his medical expenses”.

    “He helps in any and every way that I need help, especially with the children. 
I do feel bad sometimes but he knows that I need all the help I can get and he is willing to do it.”

    – Madam Nora on her eldest son

    A day in abang’s life

    6am: Abang wakes up and gets ready for school.

    6.45am: He takes his three younger siblings with him to school. It is a 15-minute walk.

    2pm: School ends.

    2.15pm: Abang and his siblings go to their grandmother’s flat, a 15-minute walk away to pick up their 30-month-old brother. They then walk 30 minutes to get home.

    2.25pm: He prepares lunch for his siblings. He also feeds his baby brother.

    3pm: They all take a shower. Abang bathes his youngest brother and puts him to bed for his afternoon nap. The rest start on their homework.

    5pm: Abang takes a nap.

    7pm: He helps his mother prepare dinner.

    8pm: He helps his mother put the youngest boy to bed.

    Midnight: He helps his mother prepare food orders for the next day. He also has to run errands including picking up groceries at the 24-hour supermarket nearby.

    2.45am: Abang and his mother finish all the food preparation for the next day.

    3am: He goes to bed.

     

    Source: www.tnp.sg

  • Cheng Jun Koh: Yes We Did Speak To The Cardboard Collectors

    Cheng Jun Koh: Yes We Did Speak To The Cardboard Collectors

    “What you cannot defend, doesn’t belong to you”

    Looking at the comments of the past 24 hours, some referred to my team through our friends, one would have thought that we had committed atrocities and transgressions of the worst nature.

    It would be fine leaving the situation as it is; we came across encouraging feedback and were heartened by many who appreciated the hard work of the team. It is expected that certain perennial anti-establishment pages will misconstrue and exploit the issue for their agenda. But it is when the tsunami of negativities started to influence even neutral sources that I believe we should offer more people a glimpse into our project.

    We are group of students from different JCs, polytechnics and universities, brought together by Youth Corps Singapore (YCS), a movement that supports youths keen to serve the community. Apart from our team, there were also other teams formed during the induction programme. Under the programme, we had a list of different projects to choose from; we eventually settled on cardboard collection due to its enduring presence in our society – “Why are there still cardboard collectors in our first world country? Who are these people who are slogging away under inclement weather in our neighbourhoods?”

    We strived to find out more about them, and we did. This was in January, and we had already started planning about how to approach the cardboard collectors at Veerasamy Road (a scope defined by YCS together with our community partner—Social ServiceOffice @ Jalan Besar). We began with a pilot study of the situation, interviewing residents staying in the vicinity (knocking on doors unit by unit) and talking to shop owners (who provide the cardboards that collectors pick up daily).

    What we gleaned from the residents included road safety concerns,and we’ve also read about cardboard collectors who had to resort to sleeping on the streets to look after their cardboards overnight. We started working onsolutions that could alleviate these perceived problems – including installation of signboards to caution drivers and providing storage spaces forthe cardboards.

    All these while consistently engaging the cardboard collectors and allowing them to get accustomed to our presence.

    We acknowledged the need for a long-term solution; one that would perhaps get them off the streets, but in the short-term, we wanted to respect and support them in what they are doing and making it safer for them.

    It is not long after we realised that the collectors are reflecting the same sentiments as some of our previous interviewees. The collectors do not seem to welcome a storage area, or signalers that they could attach to their trolleys; they have been doing this for years and will not change their long-ingrained habits just because we tell them to. This is the moment when we realised that this community has diverse needs, each collector have their story to tell and implementing a blanket “solution” to problems we perceived to exist, would truly be an ostentatious form of “wayang”. We eventually discarded the idea and embarked on a needs analysis research as proposed by SSO.

    The team talked to close to 45 cardboard collectors over a 2-month period, including many young foreigners in the trade. We eventually narrowed our interview pool to 13 collectors, on the criteria that they are Singaporeans/PRs aged 55 and above, as suggested by SSO to be the most vulnerable group. This would be the first study of its kind. The questions would focus on health, financial status, social and family support of the collectors.

    These are our main findings:

    1.    Most cardboard collectors do it for the money (no doubts about it).

    2.    Minority does it for other reasons – form of leisure/exercise, recycling (small but exists).

    3.    Most hold another job (in orderto earn enough/have other sources of income security, depending on how you seeit).

    4.    Most are financially able tosupport themselves/deny the need for assistance (again, depending on how you see it).

    5.    Most are supported/offeredsupport by their families, including a few who do not want their families to know,as they do not approve.

    6.    Cardboard collectors are facing competition from younger foreigners.

    Yes, we met an isolated case of one who stays in landed property. But no, we will not generalise to say that most are not in it for the money. A few shared with pride on how their children have gone overseas for studies or are enrolled into local universities, and despite their financial support and objection to cardboard collection, they prefer to continue working as they’ve been doing it for years and would like to continue seeing their friends/as aform of exercise. Not less than a handful cited flexibility and freedom of this job as the reason behind. We’ve also met one who griped about CHAS and itsinadequacies as she did not know which clinics were involved in the scheme and went to the wrong one. Some lamented about the rise in foreigners competing forcardboards.

    In essence, we uncovered diverse reasons for cardboard collecting,which is a surprise as we initially thought ALL are in it for the money. Butwithout doubt, the vast majority is in it for the money. However, most are consistent in saying that they do not require assistance. We do not know whether this is due to their resilience and independent streak or there other reasons that theyare unwilling to share. This would require more follow-up investigations.

    We presented the facts as it is to Minister Tan at MSF HQ, but werepleasantly surprised when he suggested visiting the scene for himself. Contrary to some suggestions online, the only “sweeping” of the place was done by Minister Tan’s lone security personnel as per the norm. The team was worried that there would be very little to none cardboard collectors on that day; the team had gone down on many occasions and on some days not found any collectors. There was no way of contact beforehand with the collectors and most of them do not have their personal form of contact or are unwilling to share. I hoped for more collectors to be present so that the Minister would have a higher chance of meeting the truly needy ones and offering assistance. The Minister checked their ICs against the record and together with briefing by SSO, had hopefully gotten a better insight into thesituation.

    Throughout the process, our team served to be the bridge between the collectors and the SSO officials. The complexity of the issue meant that it took longer than expected.

    It was all worth it though, and especially heartwarming when the collectors start recognising you and initiate the morning greetings.

    We acknowledge that there are limitations to our research; not least self-selecting bias as those who shared may not be reflective of the entire base; results may differ for collectors in another area etc. But we hope that our research will not be swept under the carpet amidst the cacophony of noises and accusations of political posturing, just like how this social issue of cardboard collecting should not be brushed away as irrelevant, but one that inspires more in-depth studies by other interested parties. We hope that more would be encouraged to participate in looking for ways to help and not be put off by the negativities.

    Perhaps it is the election fervour, or the lack of civic society institutions in the past that resulted in today’s association of all grassroots activities with the government. But as the title suggests, the research is a culmination of OUR project, a team of 7 members from various institutions, and we are not political pawns that can be manipulated for reasons other than the genuine desire to serve the community.

    Thank You

     

    Source: Cheng Jun Koh

  • Singapore Budget 2015: 7 Reasons Why Robin Hood Budget Matters

    Singapore Budget 2015: 7 Reasons Why Robin Hood Budget Matters

    I tried frantically to keep up with noting down the giveaways as Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam reeled them off as he announced the Budget 2015.

    A new SkillsFuture Credit account for all Singaporean workers aged 25 and above. Top ups to the accounts of children, secondary school students and post-secondary school students. Higher GST vouchers across the board, with a special bonus for seniors.

    There were too many to list. I gave up and just listened.

    And minutes after Mr Tharman finished the Budget 2015 statement, the first SMS came, from a former colleague.

    A Robin Hood Budget, she said.

    Here are seven noteworthy things about this year’s Budget.

    1. Robin Hood qualities

    It takes from the very rich to give to those who are poorer. Without little fanfare but every determination, the Government raised the top marginal tax rate for personal income taxes from 20 to 22 per cent. It will raise $400 million in extra revenue when it kicks in the Year of Assesssment 2017.

    It gives a lot to the poor, especially seniors from lower-income jobs in the past, under a new Silver Support bonus that aims to give up to about $750 a quarter a person to the elderly.

    2. The 1 per cent gap

    Mr Tharman flagged this gap. No, I’m not talking about the much-touted gap between the top 1 per cent earners and the rest, which has gotten so much flak worldwide for fostering inequality.

    I’m talking about the 1 percentage point projected gap between long-term revenues and long-term spending. The latter is tipped to go up to 19 to 19.5 per cent of GDP from now, as Singapore opens its coffers to spend on health care, retirees, and on infrastructure and investment in education. The former hovers around 18 to 18.5 per cent of GDP.

    How to make up the shortfall of about 1 per cent of GDP?

    This is a structural issue that will have resonance beyond this Budget.

    3. New spending rule

    Mr Tharman has a way to close that 1 per cent gap: Use projected long-term returns from Temasek Holdings.

    The Net Investment Return formula framework was implemented in 2009. He said: “Under the framework, the Government is allowed to spend up to 50 per cent of the expected long term real returns on its net assets managed by MAS and GIC.”

    Temasek was left out as it was undergoing a major change in investment strategy. Mr Tharman said it was a good time to add Temsek to the mix.

    So this Budget is important for signalling the long-term gap in revenue and spending.

    It is also significant for using a new framework that allows Singapore to tap a wider pool of money from expected investment returns on its reserves into the future.

    “The move will bolster our fiscal resources at a time when we have to fund long-term critical infrastructure and develop the human talent and capabilities to secure our future.”

    4. More help for middle-income

    Actually, I should qualify the Robin Hood bit. This Budget takes from the rich, to give a lot more to the middle-income, not just the poor.

    A 50 per cent personal income tax rebate, capped at $1,000, will benefit mid-income earners most.

    The concessionary maid levy is halved to $60. Exam fees are waived for most school students. Child-care subsidies will be improved. Most parents with kids will get fairly large top-ups to the child’s education account, of about $500 per child, regardless of whether the child is in preschool, secondary school or tertiary education.

    5. New way of targeting subsidies

    A new method to figure out who gets more subsidies and government assistance will be introduced for the Silver Support bonus for retirees. It goes beyond the traditional use of housing type. The Silver Support will still use housing type as a proxy for wealth, giving those in smaller flat types more in the Silver Support bonus. But even those in larger flats, up to five-roomers, will get it.

    But it will also take into account past working income of the retiree. It will also look at their household income to gauge what level of support these retirees have.

    As the Silver Support kicks in only from the first quarter of 2016 – in just over a year’s time – it isn’t clear how this new system will work out.

    But it is a novel, and potentially very useful, way of targeting subsidies. It will also be automatic, using presumably income data from Iras and CPF, and household type data from HDB.

    With Singapore going well-down the path of more middle-class welfare subsidies, expect this to be the start of a more refined way of figuring out who deserves what grants and subsidies.

    6. Meritocracy of skills, not hierarchy of grades

    Mr Tharman and other government ministers have been saying for several years now that Singapore has to go beyond a system where people are valued for their academic credentials, to one where every worker is motivated to excel at what he or she does, and rewarded accordingly.

    This Budget puts substance to that dream, with a new SkillsFuture Credit account for every Singaporean aged 25 and above. The Government will give $500 into this account in 2016.

    There will be a concerted push to get Singaporean workers and employers to change our culture to one which values people for skills, not their paper qualifications.

    A range of new SkillsFuture Awards and Fellowships will be introduced. Think of these as the skills-equivalent of the Public Service Commission’s scholarships for academically bright students.

    7. Productivity 2.0

    The first round of measures yielded some good results.

    Mr Tharman said: “Productivity today is 13 per cent higher than at the start of our restructuring journey in 2009. This is an average growth rate of 2.5 per cent per year. All of this gain was achieved in 2010 (11.6 per cent) and 2011 (2.3 per cent) as we recovered from the recession, and growth has been negligible in the three years since then.”

    Next: consolidating measures to focus on innovation and internationalisation. More grants for innovation. Tax breaks for mergers and acquisitions go up to encourage companies to merge and consolidate. The National Research Fund gets a $1 billion boost.

    All in, it can be said to be a sensible yet generous Budget, albeit at the expense of the very high-income. It may disappoint those who wanted a big SG50 Bonus to celebrate the nation’s Jubilee. But it does give out a mass hongbao to all Singaporeans, via top-ups to education funds for children and students, and via the new $500 SkillsFuture Credit for workers.

    More importantly, it sets Singapore on a clear trajectory – Mr Tharman would call it the path of progressivity – but basically the writing’s on the wall: higher taxes on the rather rich, to give to the poor and the middle-income.

     

    Chua Mui Hoong, Opinion Editor

     

    Source: www.straitstimes.com

  • British FT At TTSH Talks Down To Low-Income Patients

    British FT At TTSH Talks Down To Low-Income Patients

    Dear Mrs Tan,

    Please refer to the attached letter from SSO. I visited the Podiatry Department of TTSH last Wednesday for an appointment fixed by their Orthopedic Department with the letter but was shocked to receive an extremely hostile attitude by the HOD Dorcas Sholanke (https://www.facebook.com/dorcas.sholanke).

    The Podiatry Department called up their Medical Social Services to inquire on the validity of the SSO letter to which the MSW retorted that it is not updated in their system and they do not “recognize” SSO statement of their card’s ability to be utilized at all restructured hospitals. Hence, the MSW accordingly rejected the notion of their Podiatry colleague’s request for a “pending memo” so they can proceed with my treatment.

    When that occurred, the Podiatry HOD came to speak with me in a very intimidating and elitist manner that she can only fix an appointment for me to see podiatry again in a few months time, provided I clear the issue with SSO or she will proceed to cancel all my treatment plans and close the file. She also demanded that I pay for the day’s consultation or she will terminate even that consultation and I will have to pay afresh again when I return.

    Appalled at what was happening in a “public hospital”, I took out my camera and wanted to record all her threats so I can let you witness firsthand, what is truly happening on the grounds of your hospitals. She then quickly proceeded to violently snatched my phone but I was lucky enough to dodge it.

    I later spoke to the duty manager of the day who assured me that her behavior will be looked into but I have not heard from TTSH to this very day. I do not know and wonder, how many more Singaporeans out there like myself were treated in such a manner in our own country’s healthcare institutions while I witnessed many foreign patients at the same institution being treated first class.

    I also saw on that same day at TTSH, how a foreigner who parked illegally at the Podiatry department was able to possess negotiating powers for them to amicably and unconditionally release his clamped wheels.

    Please see related links:
    TTSH Podiatry HOD

    Yours faithfully,

    DDC

     

    Source: www.allsingaporestuff.com