A van called home

A van called home

After divorcing his first wife two years ago, an operations executive has been living out of a van at East Coast Park.

The van belongs to the cleaning company that the man, who wanted to be known as Mr Ahmad, 50, works for.

Mr Ahmad's current wife, who wanted to be known as Madam Rose, 30, joined him in February, with his daughter and son, to live out of the van at Carpark F2.

They are one of several families that spend the night at vehicles at that carpark.

Their son, now two, is in the care of charity infant care Sanctuary House, while their daughter, four, sleeps with them in the van.

With their daughter due for kindergarten next year, both Mr Ahmad and Madam Rose are yearning to live in the Punggol three-room flat that they have successfully applied for last year.

But she has yet to pay the $20,000 resale levy.

The levy was imposed after Madam Rose sold her flat after her divorce and before the mandatory five years minimum stay period.

With the levy due on Oct 24, their dream of moving into their flat seems further than ever.

They claim they can't save much from Mr Ahmad's $2,100 salary, after the family's monthly expenditure, said Madam Rose.

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A large chunk of it goes towards paying their daughter's babysitter. Laundry, their daughter's diapers and milk powder, and Mr Ahmad's monthly alimony to his ex-wife whittles the couple's savings down even more.

Madam Rose sometimes works part-time as a housekeeper, but brings in only about $20 to $80 a month.

The Government gives up to $60,000 in grants for low-income families to buy a flat.

Mr Ahmad joked about his accomodation.

"When people ask me where I live, I tell them 'Block F2'," he said, referring to the carpark.

"The unit number is the number plate on the van," he said.

How they live

The back of the van, lined with a foldable mattress, serves not just as their bed but also their dining table.

Angry Bird pillows are stacked and placed neatly by the side of the van.

An Akira TV screen hangs on the wire mesh barrier of the vehicle and provides the family with some entertainment through the night.

Next to it is a small, whirring electrical fan.

Both items were birthday gifts from friends, Mr Ahmad said.

They are powered by the van's battery through an inverter.

Tucked at the rear is a water dispenser which they fill regularly with tap water from the nearby toilet.

Their day starts at 6.20am, when Mr Ahmad makes a dash for the only indoor shower cubicle in the male toilet so he does not have to wait for his turn.

By 7am, they leave to drop his daughter off at the babysitter's at Sims Drive. He will then drop Madam Rose off before heading to work.

If she does not have any housekeeping jobs that day, she will either be "loitering around" or meeting friends and relatives.

"Sometimes I meet friends in the hope of borrowing a bit of money to pay off the levy," she said.

After work, Mr Ahmad picks up his wife and daughter and it's back to East Coast Park for the night.

After some TV and chit-chatting, Madam Rose unfolds the mattress when it's close to midnight.

The rear of the van is a tight fit for the three of them as they lie down.

Clothes are washed once a week at 24-hour coin-operated laundromat Wonder Wash, where a 20kg load costs $9.

They said they are worried about the environment their daughter is growing up in.

And it is not just Madam Rose and Mr Ahmad who are eager to move into a flat.

Around them, others too said they are waiting, some for rental flats.

In September, Parliament heard that there are 1,900 registered applicants waiting to be allocated a rental flat.

There have also been 13,700 rental flat applications made since 2011, which were deemed not eligible by HDB.

Some of these applicants owned other homes, have means to buy their own flats and have immediate relatives who own private properties.


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