Small wins, but long struggle for the homeless in Singapore
Rough sleeper Hamad Shukri moving his “bed” from under a tree to a new spot following complaints from residents
When Hamad Shukri got divorced and sold his marital flat, that was the last time he had a roof over his head. After paying his ex-wife S$150,000, paying off the loan and returning S$50,000 (including interest) to his Central Provident Fund (CPF) account, he “didn’t even have the money to pay the housing agent”. The 64-year-old has been homeless and sleeping rough for about six years.
For 82-year-old Yeo Aik Koon and her boyfriend, it was only recently that they were sleeping rough. They had been renting a room, but when the lease came up for renewal, they moved out. “The pandemic resulted in a lot of young people renting houses, so they competed with us, and we were unable to rent,” said Yeo. The couple slept on cardboard outside the electrical pump room of a building in Serangoon Central. To avoid being seen by “too many people”, they would leave their sleeping spot by 6 a.m., keep their cardboard in a nearby fire hose box and return at night — “11 p.m. was fine”, said Yeo. This routine lasted for two months, then passers-by “lodged a complaint”. “Some people saw us sleeping there when they went for their morning exercise, and they weren’t happy,” said Yeo. “The police came and told us that we can’t sleep outside the pump room any more.” That was when social workers approached the couple to help them.
In a city full of home owners, Yeo and Hamad are among a largely invisible population who are homeless. A nationwide street count last year found 530 rough sleepers, while a 2021 study by the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy found that the homeless in night shelters numbered 420. In 2019, there were 921 rough sleepers and 65 people in night shelters. The number of homeless people as a whole has “remained constant”, observed Institute of Policy Studies research fellow Harry Tan, who has researched homelessness for eight years. There are also more of them moving into transitional shelters, which are usually repurposed from old Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats. There are 680 units, each of which may be shared between up to six occupants, run by three operators.
Homeless In Singapore
Singapore boasts one of the highest rates of homeownership in the world, but homelessness still exists. A nationwide street count in 2021 found 1,036 people homeless, comparable to the 1,115 recorded in 2019. Hidden in plain sight, the rough sleeper population in Singapore is largely forgotten and misunderstood.
What is life like for them in Singapore? Why are people homeless?
In this observational documentary, CNA tracks a group of homeless people over a period of five months as they work towards getting out of homelessness. We witness how they navigate the system, and mend broken social ties with the help of befrienders and social workers.
Homeless people in Singapore?
In Singapore, where the household ownership rate is high at about 90%, does homelessness really exist? Abraham Yeo, founder of Homeless Hearts, shares his insights with us.
Find out more about the topic of homeless in Singapore with Dr Ng Kok Hoe in an upcoming public lecture, where he will launch a publicly accessible report of the study’s key findings and a panel discussion.
Interested in this topic? Watch Dr Ng Kok Hoe's public lecture on Homeless in Singapore
How Far Have We Come In Tackling Homelessness In Singapore?
Most of the homeless people in Singapore are older men. Homelessness is geographically widespread but more concentrated in poorer neighbourhoods.
The main reasons cited for homelessness are financial difficulties due to unemployment, irregular work, or low wages; housing problems related to affordability and service barriers; and family conflict. Homelessness often reflects the unique pressure points and policy gaps in each society. Here, it is bound up with persistent problems with retirement income security and low-wage work, and in the accessibility and quality of public rental housing.
Homelessness in Singapore is a problem of poverty and policy. As the pandemic wears on and more people are tipped into poverty, we may see a rise in homelessness unless services are stepped up.
3 Broad Causes of Homelessness in Singapore
Homelessness in Singapore is easy to miss. But according to Assistant Professor Ng Kok Hoe of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, "You will see it if you look." He says the island's homeless people tend to be quite vigilant and make an effort to avoid detection. In terms of appearance, they don't fit common stereotypes of vagrancy and destitution, so it's often difficult to distinguish a homeless person from any other member of the public.
And yet homelessness is a problem, but to what extent? To find out, Dr Ng's team conducted a nationwide count of the number of street homeless people — defined as anyone who was asleep or going to sleep in public places — and interviewed some of them. The team consisted of 480 volunteers, including representatives from more than 20 NGOs and many individual members of the public. Catholic Welfare Services and Homeless Hearts of Singapore, two experienced homelessness outreach groups, were also partners in the study.
The first of its kind, the report Homeless in Singapore: Results from a Nationwide Street Count, which was launched on 8 November 2019, estimates there are between 921 and 1,050 street homeless people in Singapore. Most of whom are older Chinese men. It also found that homelessness is a chronic problem. One half of those interviewed said they had been sleeping outside for one to five years. A third said they had been homeless for six years or longer.
Fewer homeless people sleeping on S'pore streets last year; city area has highest number
The second nationwide street count of the homeless in Singapore found 1,036 people in 2021. PHOTO: ST FILE
The number of homeless people in Singapore fell slightly last year, at a time when homelessness was on the rise in many countries amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
But the issue of homelessness also became less visible, as more people who would have slept on the streets went to stay at temporary shelters. The second nationwide street count of the homeless here found 1,036 people last year - 7 per cent less than the 1,115 people during the first such count in 2019.
That first nationwide street count has been described as a landmark study of an issue that was hidden from public discourse until recent years. While the overall number has fallen slightly, where the homeless make their bed for the night has also changed. The second street count found that those sleeping on the streets fell by 41 per cent from 1,050 in 2019 to 616 last year, while those staying at a temporary shelter for the homeless shot up from 65 to 420 in the same time period.
Over 40% drop in people sleeping rough on Singapore streets in 2022
The number of people spending the night in public spaces here fell by more than 40 per cent to 530 in 2022, from 921 in 2019, according to a Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) report released on Monday. The most common reasons cited for sleeping rough were disagreements with family or co-habitants, issues securing or maintaining housing, and financial problems, MSF found in a single-night street count and survey it conducted in November 2022.
While efforts have been stepped up to offer such rough sleepers help, about half of those surveyed said they had not sought community or government assistance. Most of the rough sleepers were middle-aged and older Chinese men, a profile generally similar to that recorded in previous local street counts. The nationwide street count builds on earlier counts carried out by the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP) in 2019 and 2021. The 2019 count had found 921 people sleeping rough across the island. The 2021 count found 616 rough sleepers but is not directly comparable as it was conducted over several nights. In the latest count, almost half of the rough sleepers were sighted near or at Housing Board blocks, which included void decks, stairwells, pavilions, playgrounds and exercise stations. One quarter were sighted at parks and benches, 12 per cent around commercial areas such as malls, and 11 per cent in food centres and markets.
The majority of sighting locations were sheltered and well lit. Rough sleepers said they intentionally chose such locations, with shelter and availability of facilities surfacing as top considerations for the choice of sleeping location. While previous local street counts suggested that rough sleepers were more likely to be found in larger and older neighbourhoods, the 2022 street count did not find a similar trend. Kallang, Geylang, Bukit Merah, the Southern Islands and Tampines saw the highest number of rough sleepers.
'They slept in one corner and peed in another': Clementi residents complain of elderly man and woman who spend nights at HDB stairwell
An elderly man and his girlfriend have reportedly been spending nights at a stairwell of a HDB block in Clementi, leaving the area in a dirty state. PHOTO: Facebook/Complaint Singapore
An elderly man who reportedly spends nights with his girlfriend at the stairwell of an HDB block in Clementi Ave 3 is causing a disturbance for some residents. The man, believed to be in his 70s, has been spotted by resident Li Baihua sleeping rough at Block 441A with a 50-year-old woman, apparently his girlfriend, since December last year, according to a report by Shin Min Daily News yesterday (Feb 12).
"My husband saw how pitiful the man was and gave him water and wanted to give him some money, but he declined. He appears to have limited mobility and needs a walking stick to get around," the 68-year-old retiree told the Chinese daily. Li added that while she did not pay much attention to the man and his girlfriend previously, she noted that the pair had been making the space very dirty lately, such as leaving leftover food around, which had made the situation for residents intolerable. She shared: "They slept in one corner and peed in another, and it smells really bad. We are also concerned that it may attract insects and rats."
The elderly man had once revealed to her husband that he has a home in Teban Gardens but didn't share his reason for choosing to sleep at the stairwell instead. In addition, Li shared with the Chinese daily that she had once witnessed the elderly man lying down at the stairwell in his underwear with his girlfriend, who was said to have been fired from her position at the coffee shop nearby recently. "This is really inappropriate. There are other residents nearby and children too," she added.