Thinking Aloud
Break new ground, think out of the charity box to help the needy
Many family service centres and charities are not just relieving hardship but working with families to get to the root of the problem
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If you have a good job, own your home, and your children are doing reasonably well in school, you would consider yourself doing all right in Singapore.
Job, housing and education are must-haves to the good life here.
Singaporeans work hard to try to achieve all three, and also expect the Government to do whatever it can to help them do so.
This is the core of the social compact that exists between the Government and the people, and it has not changed over the years, no matter what new labels are given to it.
What has changed is that there is now a higher level of expectation, from both sides, of what the outcome ought to be in terms of better jobs, higher-quality housing and more rounded education.
The Government has taken on the job of delivering on all three fronts, and the people judge it by how their own lives have improved accordingly. An important part of the contract is that Singaporeans have to put in the effort and be as self-reliant as possible.
This is how a social compact works - both sides must believe in it, that it is achievable and strive to make it happen.
You could say this has been how the ruling People's Action Party has secured its mandate over the last 60 years, and its longevity will depend on whether it continues to deliver its side of the bargain.
But one problem, which has become more evident in recent years, stands in the way of its proud record: it is that a significant segment of the population is unable to achieve even one of those promises.
The poorest households earn barely enough for their daily basic needs when the breadwinner is in a low-paying job, unable to own a flat, and have children who struggle to keep up with school work and fall behind academically.
According to the latest annual household income survey released in February, families with monthly income per household member of less than $1,000 make up 9.4 per cent of all households - the poorest level that official data captures - or about 131,000 families.
Of these, 52,000 families are in public rental flats.
At this level, the social compact that the majority take for granted is an impossible dream.
If you are a bottom earner, living in a rental flat, your children will be disadvantaged compared with wealthier families and your chances of getting out of the poverty trap will be severely reduced.
The flat is small and cramped, both parents are often stressed from having to make ends meet, and every little problem - a sickness, job retrenchment or a child failing in school - can become a full-blown family crisis.
One thing leads to another, and it can easily lead to a downward spiral which affects the next generation's capacity to uplift themselves - which is how a permanent underclass develops.
To be fair, the problem isn't as bad as it was 20 years ago, and the wages of large numbers of Singaporeans have increased from an expanding economy and government financial transfers.
For example, in 2000, those with incomes of less than $1,000 per member made up 35.9 percent of all households, almost four times the number today.
That's a significant proportion moving out of the bottom.
But - and this is the crux of the issue - for those at the bottom of the bottom in rental flats, the problem is still as stark and as difficult to resolve as it was 20 years ago.
If you are part of this group, you might think there has been no progress at all, and that time has stood still for you and your family.
In fact, it is probably worse today as the cost of living has increased substantially since then.
This is a major problem when Singapore is making the transition to a post-pandemic world with a new 4G leadership promising a new social compact with the people.
What will be in it for the poorest which will be different from the past? What new ways can be found to get them unstuck?
The answer cannot be just more handouts which, though helpful to relieve the hardship, will not get them out of the poverty cycle.
I am at the South Central Family Service Centre in Delta Avenue to find out.
It is an interesting place to visit because the people here understand that the job, housing and education issues are intricately linked and you have to tackle them all at the same time.
This is ground zero where they come face to face with families struggling to hold regular jobs, keep their children in school and pay their rent.
I am particularly interested in KeyStart, a scheme to help families with young children in rental flats own their homes.
Support comes by way of an initial grant to pay for the flat (around $12,000), money to do it up, such as window grilles and kitchen cabinets, and an emergency fund when unexpected problems arise such as an illness or a job retrenchment.
So far, 108 families have applied out of which 84 were successful with funds of more than $1 million expended.
South Central believes home ownership will be good for these families, providing them with a stable and conducive place to bring up their children.
Why shouldn't these households enjoy the benefits of ownership along with the 90 per cent of Singaporeans most of whom have gained financially from property appreciation over the years?
It seems perverse that the group in greatest need is left out of the home-ownership dream.
But to qualify for South Central's assistance, you must want to be a home owner and be able to keep up your monthly mortgage payments.
You have to do your part to show that you understand what it means to own a home.
The panel that assesses applicants looks out for motivated parents who care enough for their families to want to do something about it.
I hear a lot about journeying with the family and being there to help them when needed.
It means a lot to these households that there is someone who believes in them, and will look out for them should an unexpected crisis occur in the future.
This is what a social compact means - both sides committed to each other for the long haul.
You need a leap of faith to make it work, and much painstaking and laborious work.
The man behind South Central, Mr Stanley Tan, has an even bolder idea: Next year he wants to bring 80 children from rental flat families to stay in a residential premises during weekdays, away from their cramped homes which they will return to only during weekends.
At their new residential home which is now being retrofitted at a former community centre in Haig Road and which will eventually house 240 students, they will attend tuition and enrichment classes, replicating the experience of better-endowed families.
It is another leap of faith that the outcome will be different when you change the environment and support these students in ways their families are unable to do.
South Central isn't the only one in Singapore which understands the complex nature of the problem.
Many other family service centres and charities are doing this sort of work - not just relieving hardship but working with the families to get to the root of the problem.
Care Corner, which recently celebrated its 40th anniversary, has several initiatives for at-risk youth and vulnerable seniors, and a programme to help disadvantaged children make the transition from pre-to primary school, supported by the Lien Foundation.
There is something about all these efforts that point to how the poverty and inequality problem can be tackled.
The common factor: They demand commitment from both sides, to work on the issues together, and to be there for each other throughout the journey.
None of them believes in one-off handouts.
There is no certainty about the results, progress can be slow and there are always setbacks.
Mr Tan wants to improve the chances of success and shorten the learning curve.
His charity, =Dreams Asia, launched a competition on Thursday, with a $500,000 prize to the person or group with the best answer to alleviate poverty. (Disclosure: I am on the judging panel.)
He wants to do this because he believes the problem can be solved but charities need to try out new ideas and be less risk-averse and dependent on the Government. With the prize money he is hoping more of them will be willing to break new ground.
It is another leap of faith that there are Singaporeans who care and will step forward with their bold plans.
(Details of the competition at www.dreamsasiabreakthrough. com)
• Han Fook Kwang is also senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University
I hear a lot about journeying with the family and being there to help them when needed.
It means a lot to these households that there is someone who believes in them, and will look out for them should an unexpected crisis occur in the future.
This is what a social compact means - both sides committed to each other for the long haul.
It means a lot to these households that there is someone who believes in them, and will look out for them should an unexpected crisis occur in the future.
This is what a social compact means - both sides committed to each other for the long haul.
