The couple live on $490 a month, and are supported by help from the community. They get 25 free lunches at the hawker centre and community centre every month, provided by grassroots organisations. Food rations are also given to the couple twice a month. Both have stopped working because of ill health and are not supported by any relatives. They rarely venture out of their Bendemeer Road one-room flat, and even when they do, it is only to take in the sights at Tampines Central.

He had a short-lived marriage at age 19. It ended when his wife died suddenly less than a year after they wed. Mr Lim has stayed single since. His only sibling, an older sister, has died. Mr Lim, who has high blood pressure, passes his days drinking coffee and chatting with other elderly folk in Toa Payoh and keeping his Bendemeer flat clean. To help him out, the community centre has provided him meal coupons.

After a stroke in 2003, Mr Teo has been living on $290 a month from the Public Assistance (PA) scheme. A bachelor, his sister and brother have both died, and the only relative he still sees is a cousin who visits him occasionally. As he cannot walk properly after the stroke, Mr Teo takes a taxi to the Singapore General Hospital for his regular medical check-ups, which are paid for under the PA scheme. But he says he is still short by at least $100 each month. He cooks at home because it is inconvenient for him to walk out to eat, and says he needs more money to cover his food bills.