Money woes drive family out of home
PUBLISHED ONOctober 11, 2014 12:00 AMByChai Hung Yin
If only we hadn't borrowed. If only illness had not struck. If only the business had not failed. If only I had realised there was help.
These "If onlys" litter this young family's journey from a four-room flat in 2006 to being homeless and living at the beach.
Life was rosy when Mr Sam, 32, and Madam Mary, 28, got married in 2006. They bought a flat in Woodlands and had a son soon after.
Mr Sam was an officer on board a ship, drawing about $2,000 monthly. But things started spiralling downwards when Madam Mary's father was diagnosed with kidney failure in 2008.
Madam Mary, now a nursing student, said: "My mum remarried, so I had to look after my dad. I'm the eldest girl of six siblings."
She has an elder brother and the other sisters are still schooling.
To help his wife cope, Mr Sam quit his job and worked as a courier service driver, earning about half his previous salary. To supplement his income, he also worked as a valet at night.
But this loss of income had serious consequences, especially with the medical bills and mounting household expenses they encountered after their second child arrived in 2010.
Madam Mary's father, 51, died several months later, but soon after, her grandfather became ill.
NIGHTMARE
And the nightmare began again. Struggling with mounting bills, the couple started borrowing from illegal moneylenders.
Madam Mary said: "We were so desperate. We couldn't cope anymore and nearly divorced."
Mr Sam said: "It was a stupid thing to do. When the time came to pay up, I borrowed from another ah long. I didn't think of how to repay (the debts)."
Unable to cope, they sold their flat in 2012 and moved in with Madam Mary's grandparents.
They used the $100,000 profit from the sale to pay off the debts they had incurred in the form of credit card bills, hire purchases, ah long debts, outstanding medical bills and money used for daily expenses and transportation fees, which came to about $80,000.
With the leftover money, Mr Sam started a logistics business with a series of rented vans to do delivery, but it failed last year.
He then began working again, doing a similar job with a company that provided him with a van.
Madam Mary started her nursing course last year and was not bringing in an income.
Then came the next blow. She and her family had to move out when her grandfather died in January this year. By then, the couple had three children and Madam Mary's grandmother, 70, did not want the family of five living with her.
Madam Mary's mother was unable to help as she had her own difficulties.
With nowhere to go, the family ended up living on the beach at East Coast Park. For a month, they were on tenterhooks, living with the constant fear of being discovered by the authorities.
Mr Sam said: "When the police came to patrol, we would pack up and drive to another spot. We would stay a few hours here and then five hours later, we would move again."
Mr Sam even resorted to taking his four-year-old son and two-year-old daughter with him on his delivery rounds.
He said: "They ate and slept inside the van. The van was very messy.
"My supervisor would ask me why I took my kids around. I hated to explain my situation. When they asked, I became fed up because it reminded me of my problems."
Soon, his eldest child, eight, also stopped going to school because his parents were too tired to send him there.
Fortunately for Mr Sam, he met someone and told him about his plight. That man advised him to call the ComCare hotline number. Mr Sam called that very day.
By nightfall, Mr Sam and his family had a roof over their heads as New Hope Community Services, one of the three transitional shelters in Singapore, stepped in.
Mr Sam says: "That night, they took us in. I was so happy."
The shelter uses a series of HDB flats rather than one central home to house their clients and the couple and their children now share a three-room flat with another couple with five children.
With help from the social workers, the couple are working towards getting their own flat soon.
Their eldest child is back in school and is receiving tuition given by volunteers. They have also managed to secure childcare places for the two younger children.
Mr Sam, who has only Primary 2 education, plans to upgrade himself by taking courses after his wife completes her nursing course next year.
Mr Sam said: "It is only now that I start to plan. I was very naive and immature."
chaihyn@sph.com.sg
They sleep in parks, void decks
An elderly couple lived at a park near a coffee shop in Toa Payoh for the last three years.
Mr Tan Eng Seng, 73, and his 64-year-old wife used to live at a temple in the past 40 years, but moved out after Mr Tan got another job.
He used to work at the temple and was paid about $200 to $300 a month, reported Chinese evening newspaper Lianhe Wanbao. To earn more, he got a job as a cleaner in Chinatown for about $1,200 a month. But he and his wife could no longer live at the temple once he got the cleaning job, he was reported as saying.
With nowhere to go, they camped out next to a coffee shop at Block 75, Lorong 5 Toa Payoh.
The couple have a daughter in her 40s, who is renting a room. But Mr Tan was reported as saying that it is not convenient to live with her.
He told Wanbao: "When I'm at work, my wife stays at my daughter's place. When I get off work at 10pm, I take her to the park. We bathe at the coffee shop toilet and eat our dinner there.
"We are not afraid of the mosquitoes, but dread the rain. If it rains, we would run to a nearby void deck for shelter. We just hope to get a rental flat.
"I'm the type who has to keep working. I cannot be idle. As long as I can work, I will continue working."
Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) said that the couple have been admitted to a shelter since July 30 this year.
Its spokesman said that social workers from a Family Service Centre are working with the couple on their long-term housing options.
In another case, Mr Peng Xin Long, 42, was reported to sleeping in parks and void decks in Ang Mo Kio, lugging a luggage bag and two plastic bags filled with medicines.
The former safety supervisor with a construction site was said to have lost his job after an accident on Feb 18 that broke his ribs, fractured his thigh and blinded his left eye.
He spent about a month in the hospital and another four months in a nursing home. After he was discharged, he had no where to go and no money to pay rent so he got evicted.
A social worker recommended to him a halfway house, but he said there are too much restrictions.
Mr Peng is surviving on donations and handouts from friends.
Help for the homeless
Typically, a homeless person in Singapore is a former flat owner, has low income and weak social support, or has fallen out with family members or friends they have been living with.
Between 2011 and 2013, the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) has provided support and shelter to 565 individuals and 404 families.
An MSF spokesman said that government agencies help by, among other things, assisting them in buying a flat within their means or helping them reunite with family members.
For those with no options, the Housing Board provides rental flats under the Public Rental Scheme.
The spokesman added: "For those who need temporary rental accommodation while they wait for or work out their longer-term housing option, HDB may refer them to interim rental housing."
There are also transitional shelters for those in crisis.
The MSF spokesman said: "The shelters work with relevant agencies to help these families regain stability and independence.
"Efforts are taken to ensure the children continue to attend school and that the safety, welfare and interests of vulnerable family members are taken care of."
YOUNGER
New Hope Community Services senior case manager Jamie Soo, 34, said that a few years ago, she saw couples in their 40s to 50s with children, but now, the couples are much younger.
She said: "Since last year, there have been more young couples with children, such as boyfriends and girlfriends with babies."
The stay at the shelter is not free. Adults pay $50 a month and $25 for a child. Families pay a maximum of $100 monthly regardless of the number of members.
Ms Soo said: "We want to impart (the message) that nothing is free. They need to have the habit of paying, so that when they have their own rental flat, they will continue to pay. Eventually, they can continue it as part of their lifestyle."
MSF also said that some families are unwilling to work with government officials or social workers.
Said the MSF spokesman: "A number do not accept alternative accommodation. They are also unwilling to cooperate and work on their social and domestic issues, or make changes to their lifestyles. Some insist on getting special consideration for housing of their choice."
If you know of anyone who needs help, call the ComCare hotline: 1800-222 0000
This article was first published on Oct 9, 2014.
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