CLEARING OF PERMANENT CAMPERS ON EAST COAST BEACH

CLEARING OF PERMANENT CAMPERS ON EAST COAST BEACH: 5.

Mr Viswa Sadasivan asked the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports if in recent weeks there has been a surge in action by Government officers clearing the East Coast beach of permanent campers who are mainly homeless and, if so, what happens to

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such persons who may not have homes to go back to.

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: I thank the Member for asking this rather topical question. It gives me an opportunity to set out the facts.

The Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) conducts routine joint patrols with NParks at public beaches and parks on a regular basis. These patrols aim to identify, to investigate and to provide assistance to any persons found begging or squatting in these public areas.

MCYS will conduct a thorough evaluation of their social and financial situation. We work closely with the Community Development Councils as well as the voluntary welfare organisations in order to provide comprehensive social and financial assistance.

There are a variety of housing options available to potentially homeless people. Wherever possible, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) will assist them to buy a flat within their means. But for those who need temporary accommodation whilst working on a longer-term solution, HDB will refer them to interim housing managed by the private sector. If they are unable to afford their own accommodation and have no family members who can help them, then HDB will assist them with rental flats under the Public Rental Housing Scheme.

For persons who need short-term accommodation over and above, these other options, then one other possibility is transitional shelters which are run by voluntary welfare organisations. Currently, these are run by New Hope Community Services and Lakeside Family Centre. We are in the process of appointing a third operator for these transitional shelters.

The last resort for those who are unable to work and lack family support is to be admitted to a Government-funded welfare home for destitute persons.

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But, nevertheless, I would like to stress that, in fact, most of the squatters that we have come across have actually had other housing options. Some have homes but they have domestic problems. Some have previously owned HDB flats. More than one have enjoyed substantial housing subsidies which they have then encashed by selling their flats.

Let me cite you one example. There was a couple that was recently featured by Al Jazeera English. Some Members in the House, I think, may have seen this video online. According to Al Jazeera, the couple claimed that they had been homeless for nearly two years as a result of divorce proceedings. The Al Jazeera video alleged, and was entitled, "government policies force some onto the streets".

Unfortunately, Al Jazeera did not bother to check the facts. The facts, in fact, tell a very different story. Singapore is a very small place. When we see people on videos I can ask my staff to find the people, see who they are, what their needs are and establish the facts. So we found this couple. The facts tell a very different story. The man in the report had sold two direct-purchase subsidised flats and a third resale flat with his ex-wife. In these three sales, this man made a tidy profit in excess of $224,000. I think Members in this House will agree that that is not a small profit to make from selling three flats. The lady, on the other hand, had previously sold a direct-purchase subsidised flat – I do not have the figure as to how much she made from that – and is currently the owner of another resale flat but she co-owns that with her ex-husband.

They were supposed to sell it after their divorce, but they have not sold it yet. So when she went to HDB and said, "Let me have a rental flat". HDB said, "There is a small problem. You are currently the owner of another HDB flat." And that was not all.

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We checked with the CDC and said, "Do you know this couple?" The CDC said, "Yes, we know them very well". In fact, she is still receiving financial assistance from the South West Community Development Council under the Work Support Employment scheme, and she has been receiving assistance since July 2009.

Despite all these circumstances, the social workers at the FSC then offered sheltered housing for this couple. But the couple rejected the offer and also other services which were offered by my Ministry. So this is a clear example where the foreign media has failed to ascertain the facts. Even worse, some irresponsible websites have gone on to fuel these falsehoods by circulating this widely on the Internet. Now that the facts are out, let us see whether these people who have been propagating falsehoods have the courage and the honesty to set the facts right. We will wait and see.

Let us come back to the issue at hand. Homelessness is a complex problem. It is not simply a matter of offering subsidies ad infinitum . The Government will continue to provide concrete assistance to enable people to achieve self reliance. But people must also do their part and they must take responsibility for their decisions and the consequences of their decisions. They must also be willing to cooperate with the social workers and work through their social and domestic issues. And we also need people to be prepared to accept the offers of accommodation that we make to them.

Mr Speaker, these steps are not necessarily easy or popular, but this is the only way to create long-term sustainable solutions. Let me end by reiterating my determination to ensure that every Singaporean has a concrete roof over the head and food on the table. And if Members of this House or indeed anyone out there in the community knows of

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anyone who needs help, please call the ComCare Helpline – I repeat the usual mantra – 1800 222 0000 or email me directly. I think Members of this House know me well enough now, know that I always act on feedback from anyone here.

Mr Viswa Sadasivan (Nominated Member): I thank the Minister especially for his assurance at the end. I am just curious about the reasons some of them turn down the offer of accommodation. I cannot quite understand why they want to live under such abject conditions, even at the jeopardy of their own safety and security, and not accept an offer from the Government.

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: I think the Member would have to speak to the individuals concerned, and every family will have its own list of reasons why they believe the beach or the park is better than the welfare home. I have made a standing offer to Members of this House, "Please come and visit our welfare homes". I am actually quite proud about them. There is nothing to be embarrassed about. I think one issue, however, is that the offer of assistance by the Government, or indeed even offers of assistance by the voluntary welfare organisations and the social workers, come with conditions attached. The conditions include getting your life in order, resolving your domestic issues, discharging your responsibilities to your children and your wife or ex-wife, getting a job, going for training and to be honest with you, some people find this regime rather onerous and rather intrusive. They turn around to me and say, "No, thank you. I want to do it my way and my way on the beach or in the park". And the truth is NParks has done such a great job that our beaches and our parks are really pretty good.

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If Mr Speaker allows me an extra minute, you know I was stuck in Paris last week. After clearing email, I walked along the streets. The sun sets at about 8.30 pm. By about eight o'clock, I noticed that there were some people bedding down in front of doorways of nice buildings and I realised that is Parisian homelessness. The point is homelessness or potential homelessness is actually a universal threat all over the world. The question is how best to fix this.

In Singapore, we have given people cheap affordable rental housing as well as heavily subsidised first-time entry into home ownership. The people who insist on staying on beaches and parks are not first-timers, not people who bought their first flat or people in their first rental flat. These are people who, almost always, have sold a second or a third flat, have unfortunately dissipated the subsidies, encashed them and now have run into problems. I think so many of the Members in this House would have faced the situation where, quite frankly, has become emotional blackmail. If you do not give me this rental flat, you do not write this letter strongly enough, you do not scold Minister Mah Bow Tan loudly enough, I am going to sleep on the void deck and I am going to invite the press to come and take pictures and I will put pressure on you. I am sure every Member in this House, including I suspect Mr Low Thia Khiang, would have faced such a situation.

We must not become callous to this. I still view every person without a roof over the head as someone who needs help. But we must be very careful as to how we deliver the help. And, yes, our help does come with strings, but our strings are ultimately to put the person back onto his own two feet. Like I said before, it is not easy and it is not popular, but I believe this is the way to do it. I think we are actually doing much, much better than many other first-world cities anywhere in the world.