Singapore—Activist Gilbert Goh regularly conducts outreach programmes to aid the homeless in Singapore, and in a Facebook post about a visit to Toa Payoh, he noted that as much as the country has progressed over the years, “there are still pockets of the elderly population who is being left behind”.
In a Facebook post on Sunday (June 6), Mr Goh wrote whenever he goes to Toa Payoh for the homeless distribution programme, it “always felt like walking down memory lane,” as his childhood home is there and he lived there for nearly 30 years.
“There are beautiful memories of a great satellite town with very modern advanced facilities like a library, sports stadium and swimming pool,” Mr Goh wrote.
He and his team had been at Aljunied the night before (June 5), but made “a tactical switch of distribution” to Toa Payoh as they did not see many rough sleepers at Aljunied, perhaps because they had gone there too early.
The activist called the switch to Toa Payoh both “timely and appropriate,” as his group was able to help a number of homeless people there, most of whom are senior citizens.
Mr Goh’s group identified Toa Payoh as a place where there is a homeless cluster. He wrote in his post that “the usual suspects are all there plus a few whom we couldn’t spot all along till yesterday”.
He described them this way: “mostly elderly men in their 60s with one almost reaching 80. There are also two women in the group of rough sleepers numbering close to 10 in total.”
The other homeless clusters in Singapore that his group has identified are at Changi beach, Changi Airport, Geylang Serai, Harbourfont, Bedok, Beach Road, Waterloo and Chinatown.
Mr Goh’s group then went on to distribute masks, clothes, food and a sleeping bag. And “some very elderly ones”, he added, received a $50 angpow.
There were also those to whom they decided to give foldable beds “as they seem to be rooted in one spot for many years”.
Mr Goh added, “As mentioned, I have stayed in Toa Payoh for close to 32 years but seldom do I see that many homeless elderly in that popular satellite town which regularly demands $500,000 for a 4-room resale flat.
Things have really changed since I left the hometown almost 30 years ago and though we have progressed well ahead economically as a country, there are still pockets of the elderly population who is being left behind.”
He ended his post with his characteristic call to “Do something good for Singapore.”
In another Facebook post on Monday morning (June 7), he highlighted an elderly Malay woman who had been homeless at Toa Payoh even before the pandemic struck last year.
The woman had told them in the past that she left a shelter due to personal reasons and that she “sleeps rough outside a coffee shop whose owner is sympathetic towards her”.
Mr Goh added, “The same electric wheelchair accompanied her whenever we are there in the past suggesting that she may have some mobility issue.
“She is cheerful and friendly, always chatty and hardly grumbles about her homeless condition. But yesterday, she is rather quiet and simply accept the stuff with a simple thank-you.”
He then urged readers that when they visit Toa Payoh, “please drop by to say hi” to the auntie.
/TISG
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