Girl who lived in market stall to be in foster care: For 11 months, she called 2m by 3m space home

SINGAPORE - For 11 months, a 15-year-old girl called a 2.2m by 2.8m space at Circuit Road Market and Food Centre her home. Roughly the size of a bomb shelter,

the food stall was where she slept, bathed and relieved herself.

Owners of neighbouring stalls said the girl, who barely spoke, would bathe herself in the stall using buckets of water her father brought her from nearby toilets.

On April 3, the National Environment Agency (NEA) conducted routine checks and found out that the girl and her father had been living in the wet market stall for almost a year.

The father, 63, is assisting with investigations into ill-treatment of a child or young person by neglect under the Children and Young Persons Act. Those convicted can be jailed for up to eight years, fined up to $8,000, or both.

On May 17, the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) said

it has found foster parents for the girl.

She will be discharged from hospital and put in foster care by the end of May.

MSF said any contact between the girl and her father while she is in foster care will be closely supervised.

On May 9, The Straits Times revisited the stall, which stall owners said has been shut since the girl’s case was uncovered.

A seamstress, who wanted to be known only as Madam Low, said: “The girl rarely left the stall. Sometimes, she will pop her head out and wave to me.”

Madam Low, whose stall is opposite the one where the girl lived, described her as skinny and small.

A 69-year-old resident, who has lived in Circuit Road for over 20 years and wanted to be known only as Mrs Tan, said she rarely saw the girl walk on her own.

“Instead, she walks on her father’s feet like a toddler would. He would hold onto her shoulders as they walked together,” she said.

Mrs Tan, a businesswoman, who previously bought vegetables from the father, said: “I noticed she was always wearing long-sleeved pyjamas, which were quite dirty. She had short hair and sometimes there would be dirt on her face, but she was always smiling.”

She said she was shocked when she read that the girl had been living in the stall.

She added: “How can someone live in such an environment? What if there are rats? At night, the market is closed, and it is dark and quiet. I can’t imagine anyone sleeping there, let alone a young girl.”

Stall owners said the father did not heed their advice to seek help.

Mr Tan Swee Huat, 72, said he tried telling the father to get help from the authorities.

Mr Tan, who sells noodles at a neighbouring stall, said: “When I noticed that she wasn’t enrolled in any school, I asked her father to do so. He just smiled at me.”

Mr Tan said the father told him he has a flat in Marsiling but lived in the stall as it was more convenient.

Said Mr Tan: “He said he considered renting a flat in Circuit Road, but it was too expensive.”

Another stall owner, 55, who declined to be named, said: “I told him he could let the authorities know about his situation, but he just brushed it aside.

“It never crossed my mind to let the authorities know about this, as I felt I had to mind my own business.”

NEA had reported the case to MSF’s Child Protective Service, and the girl was taken under its care and admitted to hospital for medical assessment.

The police and MacPherson MP Tin Pei Ling were also informed.

Stall owners said they were hoping for the best for the girl.

Said Madam Low: “A young girl living like that is such a pity. What happens when she grows up? Who will she depend on when her father grows old? I wonder what will happen to her then.”

An MSF spokesman said: “The nature of child abuse and neglect is that it may not be easy to detect. This is why everyone has a part to play to detect and report cases such as this.”

Those who see signs of potential abuse or neglect can call the National Anti-Violence and Sexual Harassment Helpline on 1800-777-0000, or the police if there is imminent danger, said MSF.