AMNI Khairiyah, 7, missed three weeks of school this year because her mum couldn't afford the $80 monthly school bus fare.
Her divorcee mother, Kalsom Bee Mahmood, 40, earns $1,200 a month and is struggling to make ends meet as a large chunk of her take-home pay goes toward paying for rental of a room.
The library assistant is now trying to transfer Amni to a school nearer the child-care centre the girl attends, so that her daughter can walk to school.
Read the full report in Monday's edition of The Straits Times.