An elderly woman says that she and her husband sold their home here because their daughter in Australia wanted them to live with her.
Widowed last year, she says she was neglected and decided to return to Singapore, where she has no choice but to live in a hotel.
A report in the Chinese-language Shin Min Daily News,says that after selling their flat in 2018, Madam Zhang and her husband emigrated to Australia, where their only daughter had lived for the past 15 years.
Madam Zhang, said her daughter was the one who asked them to make the move as she wanted to take care of them. Madam Zhang’s husband had already been diagnosed with colorectal cancer, and they decided that they would relocate to Australia after his condition stabilised.
But things changed after the husband died in Mar 2021, says Madam Zhang. She says her relationship with her daughter soured. The mother said the daughter did not take good care of her and even hid some of her deceased husband’s investment returns from her.
After selling their four-room flat in Marine Crescent, Madam Zhang said, she and her husband left with whatever savings they had. When they arrived in Australia, they spent almost S$20,000 to build a “granny flat” on their daughter’s land. The term refers to a self-contained living space often separated from the main dwelling on a property.
Since Madam Zhangreturned to Singapore this year, she’s been living in a hotel. Netizens who commented on her plight said it was not an isolated case and that many other elderly people had also fallen through the cracks.
Here’s what they said:
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