Tanjong Pagar resident calls people sleeping in void decks an “eyesore”

SINGAPORE: A resident of Tanjong Pagar has taken to crowdsourcing for solutions on social media after finding it problematic that people were sleeping at the void decks in his estate.

In a post on the COMPLAINT SINGAPORE Facebook page on Wednesday (July 10), Facebook user Rin Lexign asked “if anyone has ways to stop people from sleeping for long periods at void deck at Blk 32 Margaret Drive.”

The Facebook user added that the people who sleep at the void deck at the HDB block also drink beer and often leave beer cans and bottles in the area.

They claim that the Tanjong Pager Town Council and the police have been informed but that they cannot keep on calling the police regarding the matter.

“It is an eye sore & not safe for residents where there are drunken men around. As there is also no CCTV at the corner, many people are always hiding at this void deck area drinking beer and smoking,” Rin Lexign added.

The Facebook user also posted photos of two men sleeping on the benches, as well as a picture of some bottles and cans.

Commenters on the post wrote that one solution could be to remove the benches and to redesign the void deck. However, one netizen wrote that when benches were removed from the void deck where they live, beer-drinkers took to taking discarded chairs or beer crates “and had the audacity to chain them to bicycle racks for their use,” which cleaners then removed,

“Most of us don’t mind if it’s workers from nearby work areas resting, sleeping at the void deck during their breaks. At least they don’t dirty the place or make us feel unsafe,” the netizen added, showing that there is not just one type of person who sleeps on benches at void decks.

Some of the people who do so may actually be homeless. While Singapore has a high rate of homeownership due to government policies of providing affordable housing, there are still some people who end up on the streets.

Some commenters sought compassion for potentially homeless individuals, instead of calling them “eyesores.”

CNA reported last year that according to a nationwide street count from 2022, there were 530 rough sleepers. In 2021, the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy conducted a study that found that there were 420 homeless in shelters.

“Despite growing public attention in recent years, the size of the homeless population in  Singapore has always been unknown. Measuring homelessness in a systematic and transparent way enables us to provide guidance for policy and service planning,” said LKYSPP’s Dr Ng Kok Hoe in 2019. /TISG

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