VAGABONDS

Dr Koh Lam Son asked the Minister for Community Development what is the latest figure of reported vagabonds and what is his Ministry doing to assist such unfortunate Singaporeans.

The Minister for Community Development (Mr Wong Kan Seng): Sir, a total of 232 beggars and vagrants were reported to the Ministry in 1987. The numbers reported to the Ministry for the past three years are: 1985 - 254; 1986 - 228; 1987 - 232. So on average there has been 20 cases per month reported to the Ministry. Many of these cases reported were from members of the public and they refer to the same persons sighted at different places at different times.

The Ministry's Beggar Control Squad conducted 61 operations in 1987 and they picked up 145 beggars and vagrants. In 1985 they picked up 247 and in 1986 they picked up 152. I will ask the Clerk to circulate these numbers later to you.

The beggars and vagrants picked up by the Beggar Control Squad are admitted to the Ministry's Welfare Homes pending social inquiries into their background. Such inquiries, which have to be conducted within one month to enable the Director of Social Welfare to ensure that only destitute persons within the meaning of the Destitute Persons Act (DPA) are required to reside in the Welfare Homes.

Those with proper places of abode or means of subsistence are discharged to their families, relatives or other care persons with a warning.

The Welfare Homes provide shelter, care and rehabilitation.

Sir, there are really limitations as to what we can do for the destitutes as many of them have psychiatric or suffered from psychiatric disorders, physical disabilities, alcoholism and chronic illnesses like hypertension, diabetes and cardiac problem.

Those who are fit for open employment outside the Home are placed on day release scheme. They go out to work and return to the Home in the evenings. Those fit for light duties are placed in sheltered workshops or on home maintenance programmes. The rest are kept socially active through a series of programmes ranging from Qigong, gardening, indoor games, outing, tailoring, sewing to hair dressing and handicraft.

The Ministry through its welfare service supports the efforts of the Welfare Homes by helping the residents to adjust to institutional life, helping the residents to maintain a fair standard of personal hygiene and grooming, sustaining a pool of volunteers to befriend, advise and counsel the residents through regular visits, providing aftercare for residents who are discharged from the Homes. They find employment for them or help to patch up relationships with their families.

The Ministry will introduce legislation to repeal and to re-enact the existing Destitute Persons Act to make it current and relevant. Under the Destitute Persons Act, beggars and vagrants are treated as destitute persons. Begging is regarded as a social problem.

But able-bodied beggars and vagrants, including absconders and those who are recalcitrants, are more in need of discipline than care. The DPA is not meant to cater for this type of beggars and vagrants. Some of the beggars apprehended in 1987 had cash in their possession amounting to between $250 and $780. Two of them even have bank accounts. One of them has about $29,000 and the other $132,000.

The proposed amendments will differentiate between the able-bodied beggars and vagrants and those who beg because circumstances offer them no alternative. Habitual beggars will be charged in court.

Dr Wang Kai Yuen (Bukit Timah): Among these habitual vagabonds, are there any non-resident Singaporeans who commute to Singapore to ply their trade?

Mr Wong Kan Seng: Yes, there are some of these whom we call "seasonal beggars". They come here at a time when we have a festive occasion and they go off after the festive occasion. There are such people and if we find them in places of worship or hawker centres and so on, we work with the Immigration Department to send them back.

Dr Koh Lam Son: How many of these vagabonds are new cases and how many are repeat cases, ie, the people whom you cannot help and they go back into the streets? Is it true that if a vagrant is found to have a home address, the Ministry will then not give him or her any assistance?

Mr Wong Kan Seng: Sir, I do not have the details of how many were first-time beggars and vagabonds and repeat offenders like this. But if the Member is interested, I will try to dig them out for him. For those, as I said, with a habitual place of abode or relatives or with families, after social inquiries, that means after investigation into their background and if they are able to be returned to their families, we will make an effort to return them.