Homeless people who are “not there” in Singapore (6 photos)

This is one of the popular myths that Singapore is such a rich city that there are no homeless people here. Of course I have. It’s not like in Florida, when the whole street is taken over, but someone with eyes can easily notice a couple of things in a day’s walk.





So it turns out that there are homeless people in Singapore?

Of course, it is impossible to solve all social problems at all levels. Plus, in addition to people left without shelter and food, there are also people with disabilities who are simply prone to vagrancy. So they make up the bones of Singapore's homeless people, if they don't get too impudent and don't bother people.



There are conditionally homeless elderly people. They live with children and just go away all day because they are disturbing the house.

There are 200,000 millionaires in a country of 5 million, and how many homeless people there are. According to recent studies, in the city itself, from 900 to 1050 people sleep in the open air every night (not counted in suburban areas).

Most homeless people gather at night in the business district of the city. About 40% of them have no job and nowhere to go.

And 60% have part-time jobs with very low earnings - cleaner, cashier, courier.





In shops in Singapore, cashiers often work standing. This is senseless cruelty just for the sake of cruelty, but old people can't work in such positions

And they cannot afford to constantly have a roof over their heads; they simply save in case of rain. Otherwise, in the cold they will get sick and die. This is called "saving for rain."

Almost 90% of them are over 60 years old.

Where do they come from

Mostly these are old people. The point is that in rich Singapore there is practically no social service in the form in which we, residents of the former USSR, are accustomed to it.



A happy old man found an old chaise longue that will become his outdoor bed, the main thing is to find a place

All medicine for people over 12 years of age is paid, school is also paid. There are very conditionally “cheap” schools, but there are no free schools at all; look for grants and funds if you want to give your child an education.

And there are no pensions at all either. Absolutely. Now the state has launched a program to ensure that people put 20% of their income into their own savings account for old age. And then there are the financially careless people who gave birth to today's homeless people.



That's where the old ice cream makers are on the streets from seven in the morning

Before this, children had to support the elderly. If the children died, they quarreled, if the couple is childless, these are not government problems. This is where old ice cream makers over 80 years old travel around the city of Singapore. They need to earn their living.

But there are few positions in which you can work at this age. I have to go out and beg.



Parking corners, passages, dead ends, anywhere where people won’t bump into you, you can spend the night. Luckily it's warm most of the time

And here you can’t say “as much as God sent.” Everything in the stores is quite expensive, so it is not customary to give less than one Singapore dollar.