Below is a collection of stories written by bloggers about poor, elderly Singaporeans. They are personal accounts of how some of our senior citizens and the poor live.

 

A Stranger, My Friend by Zyberzitizen:

A cat nearby keeps him company, sometimes laying above his head as he sleeps quietly, oblivious to the cold or the warmth. The void deck has been his home for a while now. Actually, for as long as I can remember seeing him there. What he has for blanket is a thin towel which hardly covers him, and a pillow so dirty none of us would ever use.

 

Sir, May I Have The Can Please? by Alex Au:

From many years ago, we’ve noticed scavengers along our roads, going from one trash bin to another, retrieving stuff that they could resell. I used to cringe seeing how they’d put their entire arm into a filthy bin just to pull out an item. The dirt, the disease, the scratches and cuts they exposed themselves to… I sometimes wondered what it must be like to have such a life, and felt sorry for them. (The picture on the left is not related to this particular story by Alex (Yawning Bread).)

 

Why Did I Procrastinate? by Lilian Lee:

When she placed the plate on the table, the man who was probably in his 60s, put his hand into his bermudas to search for some money. He took quite a while and finally he had his hands out with some coins in it. The lady then took whatever she needed and left the rest intact. The old man then put his hand back into the pocket.

He brought the bun to his mouth and bite into the steaming hot bun. The look he had on his face when he ate the bun was….. I …. I can feel tears welling up in my eyes.

 

An Old Man And His Tin Can Vases by Andrew Loh:

Throughout the entire conversation, he continues to twist the strands of tin foil with his fingers—and ever so patiently, he would apply glue to them and stick them to the main “body” of the vase…. each dollar from each vase he sells perhaps gives him a little peace of mind about tomorrow – in this ever-changing, fast-paced Singapore that he lives in.

 

“Sleepers” in Singapore by Diary Of A Singaporean Mind:

Everytime I work late and pass by the bus interchange near my place, I notice the growing number of homeless at the bus interchange. Each pillar at the bus interchange now has a permanent resident (PR). You ever wonder why the homeless sleep next to pillars….so that the tired people coming back from work don’t step on them when they sleep.

 

Would ANYONE Be Homeless By Choice? by Mr Wang:

You kept on looking for jobs, but except for the occasional odd job as a cleaner or dishwasher, you failed – you became just another one of those “structurally unemployable” Singaporeans. Finally, you couldn’t even get the cleaner/dishwasher job anymore, because the foreign workers from Bangladesh beat you to it.

 

Read also: The homeless and the old (in a so called First World Country) by Rachel.

———————

Subscribe
Notify of
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
You May Also Like

Is MM Lee playing the same old record?

Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew has made some controversial remarks the last two years or so. Should we dismiss them or pay closer attention to his words? Share your views here.

约占教育部全年预算1.8巴仙 国际生奖学金、学费补贴预算共2.38亿元

工人党非选区议员贝理安(Leon Perera)续在国会追击教育部,质问该部对国际生的开支。贝理安询问教育部长,过去10年来,政府每年在国际学生平均开支多少;以及在技职学院、初级学院和自主大学的学生总群体人数中,目前接受政府任何形式财务援助的外籍学生巴仙率。 为解答议员提问,王乙康表示,第一点,我国教育体制核心目的是为国人服务,没有国人会因为国际学生而从高等教育学府中被排挤。 他说,高等学府都有设下录取资格,在本地和国际上保持水准,确保学生有能力应付学业,且能符合市场和业界需求。 在上月8日,教育部长王乙康透过书面回答,我国政府确实为国际学生提供少量奖学金,每年总支出高达1亿3000万新元。不过,他解释政府的确为就读于我国学校和自治大学的国际学生,提供少量奖学金。有关的奖学金总值相当于教育部年度预算的130亿元中的一巴仙,即1.3亿元。 王乙康在今日也重申,130亿元大部分都用在本地学生身上,确保教育成本可负担。 他说,虽然上次已阐明,国际学生的奖学金仅占教育部年度预算的1巴仙,但一些网络消息却扭曲报大叔,从1.3亿元夸大到三亿元。 “真正的开支,我相信肯定少过1.3亿元。”至于国际学生的大学学费补贴预算,则为1亿800万元。 故此,加上奖学金和学费补贴,政府针对国际生的预算总开支,高达2亿3千800万新元。 强调各国透过大学招揽人才 王乙康认为,如果我国不录取国际学生,那么本地学生将会失去同其他国家学生建立关系的机会,也没有机会扩大社交圈子。此外,他强调全球各国都一样,都是透过大学来招揽人才,即便新加坡的人才也被他国招揽,人才的竞争是全球性的。 王艺康补充,全球最佳大学如牛津、耶鲁、慕尼黑大学等都有提供奖学金,很多欧洲大学提供奖学金或免费学费等,有400名我国学生在法国和德国大学受惠。…

Haze: Repeated discussions with Indonesia's central govt ineffective, S'pore should deal directly with provincial administrations, says PVP chief

In order to effectively tackle the haze problem that plagues Singapore annually,…

COC permanently disqualifies 6 convicted City Harvest Church leaders from holding administrative control of any charity

The Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) has just announced that…