SINGAPORE — During one of their recent community outreachs at Block 106A Canberra Street, the Singapore Democratic Party’s Sembawang GRC team, led by their CEC member Jufri Salim met a resident, Madam Ida who requested SDP visit her neighbour to see whether the opposition party can render any assistance to the family.
Jufri, with his fellow party members from the Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC team, which includes Abdul Salim, Daniel De Costa, and Gene Lim, visited Madam Ida’s neighbour, and they were greeted by an elderly in her late 70s with poor eyesight.
“Upon meeting her, we also learned that it was not just her eyesight that she lost. Two months ago, Mdm Hawa Bee’s son, who was the sole breadwinner at home, passed away, leaving behind two orphaned daughters, 22 and 20, respectively. The eldest is a second-year poly student, while the younger sister is in ITE,” posted SDP on their Sembawang GRC Facebook page.
SDP explained that Madam Hawa did go to seek assistance from the nearest Social Service Office but was allegedly told by the staff that when her son had passed away, he had left her some money from the CPF. Thus she should live off that CPF money first and only seek help when they money had been used up.
“When asked if she ever approached MUIS for assistance, to which she did, a while back, but they have yet to respond. This seems to be a common practice for MUIS because when we visited a family in need of financial assistance last year, who had sought help from MUIS, this was the same reply that they gave us. We hope that MUIS will look into this matter and can be more efficient and effective to provide help,” added the party on social media.
Besides seemingly needing help to cope with the daily expenses, Madam Hawa also has other bills to worry about as she has been diagnosed with medical conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and other illnesses, according to SDP.
“She goes to the polyclinic on a monthly basis for her medical checks. She claimed that she is not under any assistance and has not met any medical social worker, so she needs to pay in full (after Government subsidy for Singaporean) for each visit and for the medicines dispensed. The last time she visited the polyclinic, she was billed to home due to her financial strain,” explained SDP.
Before the team called it a night, they went to the nearest supermarket to buy some groceries for Madam Hawa to pass to her, along with a cash donation. SDP added that they intend to help Madam Hawa and her grandchildren by connecting them to relevant institutions that provide the necessary assistance, such as support for monthly rental and utility bills, help for their medical needs and tertiary education (school fees, books, transport,) and monthly financial assistance.