105,000 homeless in Oz.How many in SG?
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Homeless in SG and Australia aka Oz
There are abt 105,000 homeless in Oz.How many in SG?
what are their main causes of homeless in the above countries?
Pl tell me.
Homeless plan in disarray as Kevin Rudd's promised $800m 'war' has yet to begin
Shane Summerfield and Sergio Ballantyne live under the railway viaduct in Sydney's Woolloomooloo. Picture: Renee Nowytarger
The Australian - 22�时�Homelessness Australia executive officer Simon Smith said he understood some states and territories were pushing hard to count any extra money they had ...Rudd homeless promise 'comes to nothing' ABC OnlineFears homelessness strategy has stalled Third Sector MagazineFive states to receive funds under $800m homeless plan The Australian -
How can you compare? How big is Oz? How big is Singapore? What is the population of Oz and what is the population of Singapore?
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SPARE SOME CHANGE?
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want to know how many homeless people are there in singapore har?
just go take a walk around the neighbourhood after midnight, and see the number of people sleeping on park benches, on the void decks and you will know.
not many, but there's quite a number, mainly foreign workers.
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Go write a 3-page doctoral thesis on homelessness in Singapore and Australia.
Don't forget the 4-page appendix.
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Spineless Singapore How many?
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Singapore poor left out in the cold
Thu Feb 15, 5:18 AM
SINGAPORE (AFP) - When Singapore's finance minister took the floor of parliament to deliver the national budget, Lim Meng Seng hoped he could spare a little cash for people like him.
Sitting on the kerb in Chinatown with a trolley full of cardboard pieces in front of him, Lim is among those left behind by the city-state's economic boom.
Low-wage earners such as Lim have become an increasing concern to the government, which warned Thursday of a widening income gap and announced budget measures to help the less fortunate.
Lim, 50, said he was laid off from a better-paying hotel job six years ago and now tries to make ends meet by juggling two jobs.
At night he helps out at a food stall, earning 700 dollars (458 US) a month. If he is lucky, he makes another 100 dollars (65 US) a month collecting cardboard boxes during the day and selling them to recycling companies.
"I was thinking that the government should give me some extra money because I am from the lower income group. I have financial difficulties," said Lim, father of a school-age child.
Official statistics released this week showed that average monthly income per person, adjusted for inflation, increased across all income levels last year but rose fastest for the wealthiest 10 percent.
"Income gaps are widening," Second Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said in his budget speech.
A "Progress Package" of government handouts last year was weighted in favour of lower-income groups and helped reduce that disparity. Among the package was about 400 million dollars in "workfare" bonuses to the elderly and low-income wage earners.
Workfare will now become permanent, with an annual 400 million dollar supplement for low-income workers, Shanmugaratnam said.
He also announced an increase in the tax on goods and services (GST) from five to seven percent and a cut in corporate tax.
Many low wage earners interviewed ahead of the budget said the government should give a bigger hand to the poor, especially in the face of the GST increase and what they describe as the rising cost of living.
Lim said he received 300 dollars under last year's "Progress Package" but could use more.
"They should give more money on a monthly basis and also cut down public utility bills, town council bills and telephone bills," he said.
H.S. Lee, a cleaner earning 650 dollars a month, said a GST increase will hurt the poor.
"With more GST, it's not fair. Eating, taking the bus and even buying clothes all would mean higher expenses. How would I have enough?" she asked.
Lee, who supports two children, expressed doubt that any incentives offered in the budget would ease her burden.
"Any extra offset packages given will be used to pay off the higher food, transport and other costs. The package is only something sweet to the ear, but it won't be much help in reality," she said.
Workfare supplements the incomes of older low wage earners, but some Singaporeans are not working at all.
The government said Wednesday that unemployment was 2.6 percent in December, and the consumer price index rose 1.0 percent last year.
R.J. Deng, 55, said he has no steady job but picks up 20 or 30 dollars a day, when he can, by collecting old newspapers and cardboard boxes to sell.
He said that if the GST goes up, "it is only good for the government and driving competition among businesses. The lower income group will be badly affected."
Lee Sui Chor, 69, a diabetic who had a leg amputated, said he is supplementing government benefits with his personal savings of more than 1,000 dollars.
"How long will it last? My retirement fund monthly payout of 297 dollars from the government is not enough to feed myself, pay for rent and visit the doctor," said Lee, who lives with his mentally ill brother in a one-room flat.
"The government say they would help the elderly. I don't really see it. It's not even here yet," Lee said.
Singapore officials on Wednesday reported better-than-expected 7.9 percent economic growth last year and Thursday's budget speech widened the social safety net.
But the government has ruled out ever adopting the generous welfare systems for which Scandinavian countries are known.
Singapore's poor, like the cardboard collector Lim who works two jobs, are uncertain whether their lives will get better.
Lim worries the money he has put into a government-backed saving scheme will be sapped to pay for his housing, as well as for medical care as he ages. -
Singapore ranks 79 in terms of Quality of Life Index 2008 according to International Living.
Singapore falls behind countries like, Turkey, Jamaica, Tunisia, Albania, Seychelles, Honduras, Bermuda, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bahamas, Barbados, Botswana, Paraguay, Macedonia, Cayman Islands, Taiwan, Grenada, Bolivia, Ukraine, Namibia, Antiquan & Barbuda, Cyprus (Greek), Moldova, Israel, Mauritius, Ireland, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Colombia, South Africa, Chile, Dominica, Belize, Romania, Latvia, South Korea, Andorra, Estonia, Slovakia, Brazil Croatia, UK, Monaco, Panama, Mexico, Ecuador, Poland, Greece, Slovenia, Czech Republic and Bulgaria.
http://www.internationalliving.com/
http://www.il-ireland.com/il/qofl2008/
RANK 79
No poverty in S’pore? Think again.Singapore’s poor emerge as delicate political issue
Asian Wall Street Journal
January 30, 2007
SINGAPOREBy YAROSLAV TROFIMOV
DURING rush hour in Singapore’s ultramodern subway system, wrinkled old ladies squat on the underpass floor with handfuls of small tissue packets that they sell at one Singapore dollar, or 65 US cents, apiece.
These are the poor of Singapore, left behind by the boom that has transformed this tropical island of 4.5 million people into a regional business, finance and technology hub. Poverty here isn’t nearly as desperate as in its Asian neighbors, or even many Western societies. But it has become an increasingly sensitive political issue, prompting new tax and social policies that the government is expected to unveil in the annual budget presentation Feb 15.
According to official statistics, at least 40% of Singapore’s households saw their real incomes decrease from 2000-2005 — while the overall economy posted some of the world’s highest growth rates, surging by 7.7% last year.
“The question is, who is all this growth for?” says Manu Bhaskaran, an adjunct fellow at Singapore’s Institute of Policy Studies and a partner at the Centennial Group, an advisory firm. “Shouldn’t the government be aiming for lower growth, but better distribution? “
The government’s strategy so far is to pursue a balancing act of generating more revenue for helping the poor without scaring off the global investors who have long been attracted by the city-state’s low-tax regime. “The dual objective is to ensure that the Singaporean economy continues to remain competitive, and to strengthen the inclusiveness of Singaporean society,” says Lim Swee Say, secretary-general of the National Trades Union Congress and a government minister.
Most of Singapore’s poor are in their 50s or older, and many are onetime manufacturing workers who lost their jobs to cheaper competitors in China, Vietnam or India. Many lack education and English-language skills that are needed to prosper in expanding sectors such as services and finance.
It is only in recent months that senior officials began to speak out on the problem of structural poverty, recognizing the potential perils for a multiracial, multireligious society such as Singapore’s. “It is essential for us to tilt the balance in favor of lower-income Singaporeans, because globalization is going to strain our social compact,” Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in a speech last fall.
Singapore’s People’s Action Party, founded by Mr Lee’s father Lee Kuan Yew — who is still a senior government member with the title of Minister Mentor — has controlled the island since independence in 1965, winning nearly every seat in parliamentary elections. The country’s mixed population of Chinese, Malays and Indians has accepted decades of the PAP’s often authoritarian rule in exchange for phenomenal economic growth that has transformed this former British trading outpost into one of the world’s most prosperous states.
While providing subsidized housing and health care, Singapore’s government has long resisted calls for European-style unemployment benefits for the poor, describing welfare as a “dirty word” and rejecting the idea of a minimum wage. Instead, the government has come up with the concept of “workfare” — a large-scale program to top off the incomes of those Singaporeans who accept low-paid work. Details of the program will likely be given in the budget presentation.
“We can’t stop the income gap from widening because the wages are determined by the global competition for knowledge workers, and by the excessive supply of unskilled workers,” says Mr. Lim, the minister and union leader. “But what we’re trying to do is to make sure that the widening income gap doesn’t necessarily translate into a widening social gap.”
Most developed economies fund such social programs by redistributing wealth through progressive taxation: the top-bracket federal income tax rate is 35% in the US, and at least 40% in most of Western Europe. But Singapore is ideologically opposed to this model: the island-state has been steadily slashing its top income-tax rate, from 55% at independence in 1965 to 28% in 2000, to 20% today. Making up for the shortfall in revenue, Singapore established a general sales tax, currently at 5%.
It is the sales tax that the government is planning to tap again to pay for the “workfare” initiative. According to Mr Lee, with the new budget the sales tax is likely to rise to 7% — a measure that, economists calculate, will generate some S$1.5 billion of extra government revenue.
The plan is far from popular. In the two months since Mr Lee in November first mentioned a likely sales-tax rise, the proposal elicited unusually vocal criticism from Singapore’s corporate world and opposition leaders alike. The influential Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry complained the sales-tax increase is “likely to have an immediate and detrimental effect on local spending,” undermining Singapore’s long-term competitiveness.
Sylvia Lim, leader of the Singapore Workers’ Party and an opposition Parliament member, also pointed out that the poor — the ostensible beneficiaries of the proposal — would be hurt the most. “We need to strengthen our safety nets through some redistributive policies,” she asserted, adding that consumption taxes, such as the sales tax, “are generally regressive and likely to compound the underclass problem.”
While the government usually ignores the minuscule opposition in this tightly regulated country, the business community’s pleas found a receptive audience. Aware that corporate taxes are even lower in rival business centers such as Hong Kong and Ireland, Singapore signaled it would sweeten the pill for businesses: To compensate for the higher sales tax, the corporate tax rate, currently 20%, would be shaved by at least one percentage point.
“This is a tough and competitive world,” Minister Mentor Lee told Singaporean journalists as he explained the planned corporate-tax cut. “People don’t come here because they like Singapore — they come because the returns are better.”
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hi sg ty
i know u will post the homeless in SG.therefore,i dunt post .
Thanks.Mate.great pics.have u done any more homw work on homeless in SG.
Pl share here.
some of them are FT.
Great job.
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some of them are FT.
Are these FT?
Originally posted by Atobe:
Here are a few samples to help kick-start your idea:
Lee Hsien Loong: "We have helped those who needed help..... no one will be left behind"
Lee Kuan Yew: - ''You go down New York, Broadway. You will see the beggars, people of the streets..... Where are the beggars in Singapore?''
Goh Chok Tong : - "Your worries are mine too... we are one big family."
Kishore Mahbubani : - "There are no homeless, destitute or starving people [in Singapore]..... Poverty has been eradicated."
Mrs Goh Chok Tong: - ''$600,000 is peanuts.''
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6,552 posts since Jan '03
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'Sleepers' in Singapore....
"There are no homeless, destitute or starving people [in Singapore]…Poverty has been eradicated."
-Kishore Mahbubani, Singapore's permanent representative to the UN
"You go down New York, Broadway. You will see the beggars, people of the streets...Where are the beggars in Singapore? Show me."
-Lee Kuan Yew"There are no homeless people in Singapore because they are called SLEEPERS. Singapore is ingenious we have gotten rid of homelessness without spending a single cent" - Lucky TanEverytime I work late and pass by the bus interchange near my place, I notice the growing number of homeless at the bus interchange. Each pillar at the bus interchange now as a permanent resident (PR). You ever wonder why the homeless sleep next to pillars....so that the tired people coming back from work don't step on them when they sleep. Since every pillar is now occupied, I wondered where a new homeless person would go. The Sunday Times has the answer....
"Sleeping in the city is becoming popular...." - Sunday Times 24 June 2007.
"Sleeping in void decks, Changi beach, bus interchange is also very POPULAR especially among the poor..." - Lucky Tan
Some of you might have criticised the govt for building the extravagant Esplanade spending hundreds of millions tax payers money on a building that hosts operas, musicals and symphonies that only the richer citizens can afford. But you are wrong, while the rich get to watch "Les Misérables", the poor get to sleep in the underpass between Esplanade and the Citilink Mall at night. The Esplanade is indeed a very useful building both rich and poor people get to use it.
It seems not all the 'sleepers' are jobless. Why do people with jobs need to sleep in those places? The answer is very simple and logical. The real wages of some workers are now so low that after the numerous bouts of utilities increase, transport fare increase, and rental increases, there is hardly any choice but to sleep on streets. I would do it too if I make $900 a month because I can save $100 on transport because I sleep close to where I work, another $200 on rental and $50-$100 of utilities bill....in other words I can save half my income, by sleeping in public places.
As Singapore heads for top 1st world status, the cost of living can only rise relative to the wages of low income workers. We can see greater utilisation of our public buildings, MRT stations, bus interchanges and 24hr MacDonald's outlets as they double up as sleeping areas for these sleepers. It is great that our beloved govt had such great foresight to invest so much money on these beautiful buildings such as the Esplanade we now know how much vision it took.....I really couldn't imagine that the Esplanade could be actually be that useful to everyone.Meet Singapore's nomad families
by Braema Mathi, Senior Writer
For four years, the newly-weds lived on the beach.
From 2003 to 2007, they lived off their catch from the sea, did odd jobs, and washed in public toilets.
At 16, Madam Siti (not her real name), a Primary 4 dropout, married Mr Osman (not his real name), 25, despite parental objections. They were ostracised by both their families.
They lived in a series of pitched tents at Changi, East Coast, then Sembawang beach. When Madam Siti gave birth, her sister and in-laws took them in for a few months before conflicts drove them out to the beach.
This went on till last year.
Madam Siti, now 21, and Mr Osman, now 30, and their two children aged two and five, showed up at the Ministry of Community Development Youth and Sports' Thomson Road headquarters, asking for help to end their nomadic existence.
With rising living costs and property prices, the number of nomadic families is on the rise, according to nine family service centres (FSCs) here. Each of the FSCs says it sees between 10 and 30 such cases each year.
Lakeside FSC counsellor Edwin Quek says: 'We are seeing more cases. The families cannot cope with mortgage loans payments and the cost of living.'
His centre has already received eight calls for help between March and May this year from displaced families, up from one or two cases earlier this year.
Social workers also say they see more families - with one FSC it was one case a month - sleeping at void decks, often with children in tow and showering in public toilets.
This goes on till they are allotted rental flats from the HDB or till they can afford to rent or buy a unit in the open market.
But the wait for an HDB rental unit is now up to 15 months - double the waiting time in 2006. The number of people applying for heavily subsidised HDB rental flats has shot up by at least 30 per cent in the past few months.
Now, there are 4,000 eligible applicants in the queue, waiting for one- and two-room rental units. Depending on household income and other factors, the rents are fixed between $26 and $205 a month for a one-room flat and between $44 and $275 for a two-room unit, a fraction of the market rates.
Fallible family network
According to social workers, most of these transient homeless are divorcees and the down and out.
In some divorce cases, after the matrimonial homes are sold, proceeds split between spouses and creditors paid off, there is often not enough cash or savings left to buy another flat.
Others are caught in a swirl of bad decisions and poor planning, resulting in the banks seizing their flats over unpaid mortgage payments.
The official approach taken in dealing with such families is for social workers at FSCs - as a first option - to encourage homeless families to live with relatives, friends or strangers.
This is also for practical reasons, as relatives often charge less rent - from $150 for a room - compared to the $500 and above that landlords who are strangers charge.
But such arrangements often do not work out. With not just one but several children and boxes of belongings in tow, the goodwill of relatives quickly crumbles under the pressures of living together in a small space.
Social workers cite cases where rules imposed by relatives and landlords - that include no cooking, minimum noise levels and a cap on water usage - are difficult for families to adhere to. Before long, typically no more than a month or two, they are thrown out again or prefer to leave.
When their circle of kin is exhausted, they start living in void decks, beaches, quiet stairwells in commercial buildings, bin centres and out of vans.
'They just want to live on their own, without all the tension of living with others,' said a social worker with 10 years of experience, who declined to be named.
The problem of nomadic families was hotly discussed in Parliament early last year. Ang Mo Kio GRC MP Inderjit Singh noted then that many residents were in negative equity and had defaulted on mortgages, which resulted in repossession of their flats by banks. He asked if these cases were increasing because of the policy change of allowing banks to handle HDB mortgages.
In reply, Dr Mohamad Maliki Osman, Parliamentary Secretary for National Development, said families planning to take up a bank loan should understand the implications of taking on this responsibility.
Each month, about 60 repossessed flats reportedly go on sale. Many of these belong to families which over-extend themselves financially, for example, by buying a bigger flat than they can afford.
'Families often do not manage their budgets well and there is no planning,' said Mr Quek.
Others lose their homes because of sudden illnesses or loss of jobs. Many more are victims of ignorance. They do not know, for example, that the HDB rules include a 30-month waiting period if they have sold their flat bought with certain conditions from the HDB, or that they can apply for another HDB loan or subsidy only subject to conditions, if they have already done so previously.
'They go into this buying and selling of flats without knowing enough about all the policy hitches. They need more guidance,' said Mr Quek.
No room at shelters
The most vulnerable nomads tend to be divorced, lower-income women with children, said Mrs Rachel Lee, a social worker with Fei Yue FSC.
Most landlords are reluctant to take in lone women with children. They wonder if they can pay up and fear getting drawn into their family problems.
'There is also a huge constraint in space as, often, they tend to have a lot of household stuff that they have to take along, besides the children,' she said.
The hardest hit are nomadic children, who need a stable environment but end up on the move all the time, showering in public toilets and witnessing endless family feuds. Many end up skipping school.
Mrs Chua Yen Ching, principal of NorthLight School that caters to students who fail their Primary School Leaving Examination, said: 'It is important for a child to come to school without having such problems as a barrier to his or her learning.'
But there are few long-term solutions in sight.
Singapore currently has only one shelter for displaced families. New Hope Shelter for Displaced Families, run by New Hope Community Services at Yishun, has housed 41 families since it began operations a year ago.
It can accommodate 22 families at any one time. It now has four families on the wait-list - which ranges from 'a few days to weeks, depending on how long it takes current residents to leave', says its centre manager, Mr Ravi Philemon.
Each family can stay up to three months and has to pay $150 a month for utilities and food rations.
There are three other shelters here, meant for battered women. All three - a 40-bedder run by the Good Shepherd Sisters, a 22-bed Star Shelter run by the Singapore Council of Women's Organisations, and a 50-bedder run by the Singapore Anglican Community Services - have taken in homeless families, though they are not equipped to handle children.
Their social workers note that many of the families stay beyond the three months allowed, simply because they cannot afford market rate rentals.
Self-catering shelters?
The HDB has announced that it will build more rental flats, from the current 43,000 units to 50,000, over the next few years. It will also review the eligibility criteria for rental housing to help the 'genuinely poor'.
One way forward, suggests Mr Chua Wei Bin from Ang Mo Kio FSC, is to set up a committee that includes both social workers and HDB officials to better assess options for homeless families.
That way, besides the HDB's eligibility criteria, other issues like family dynamics can be factored in. For example, on paper, a nomadic family may have siblings they can stay with, but they may be estranged or feuding.
Pastor Andrew Khoo of New Hope Community Services, which runs a shelter for the homeless, said that more temporary shelter space will be needed and hopes to raise funds for it.
Associate Professor Ngiam Tee Liang, head of the National University of Singapore's social work department, adds that although the state wants homeless families to seek refuge first with relatives and friends, those who have tried their best but failed to go down that route should not be left out in the cold.
'With close monitoring, genuine families in need must be helped in getting a home,' he said.
Another solution that Mr Gerard Ee, executive director of Beyond Social Services, suggests is to offer a self-catering shelter for families where they manage themselves and their finances on their own.
Once they show that they are capable of moving on, they are given HDB rental units.
'Shelters unfortunately institutionalise dependency. They must be short-term solutions. Families must find their own solutions. This way, we give them that opportunity and also respect their lifestyle, without going into rescue mode,' he said.
The Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports placed Madam Siti's family in the New Hope Shelter. They stayed there from June to September last year and were given counselling, budgeting and parenting classes.
Mr Osman, previously a cleaner earning $600 a month, has since landed a higher-paying job with help from the shelter. He is now a car-washer, making $800 a month.
The family now lives with Madam Siti's sister in a one-room flat. They stick to a tight budget worked out by the centre for them - $50 for food, $100 for rental, $100 for transport, the rest for the children.
When Madam Siti turns 21 next month, they will join the queue for an HDB rental flat, forgoing their dreams of buying a flat, as they know they cannot afford it for now and do not wish to get into debt.
'I never want to go back and live at the beach. I want to live in our own house soon and build up our lives,' she said.
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6,552 posts since Jan '03
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RISE IN NUMBER OF BEGGARS
By Theresa Tan
THE number of beggars and vagrants rounded up by the authorities rose sharply in the first six months of this year, with many being foreigners.
The foreigners, who included bogus monks and nuns and the disabled, were found begging at hawker centres, temples and MRT stations during festive periods.
Most of these foreign beggars come from China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) told The Straits Times.
In the first half of the year, 181 destitute persons - or beggars and vagrants - were picked up. This is a big increase over previous years, which saw an average of 207 destitute persons rounded up each year from 2005 to 2007.
The MCYS said foreign beggars and vagrants played a 'significant' role in the increase, accounting for 74 of the 181 people picked up. This compares with 51 for the whole of last year, 29 in 2006, and 21 in 2005.
During the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, MCYS officers see more 'women and elderly men from neighbouring countries' begging outside mosques and in Geylang Serai.
Foreign beggars are a familiar sight outside the Sultan Mosque on Fridays, when it is packed with worshippers, said Ustaz Mohd Khair Rahmat, a mosque manager.
About 10 to 15 beggars, mostly foreigners, will hang around on Fridays and their numbers usually double during Ramadan, he said. Most are from Malaysia and Batam, with some from Pakistan.
Ustaz Mohd Khair added: 'The Pakistani beggars are more aggressive. They will ask you for money, saying they are from some orphanage or madrasah in Pakistan. And if you ignore them, they will keep following you and asking you to give.'
Earlier this year, the Sultan Mosque began telling its congregation that if they wanted to help the poor, they should donate money to the mosque, which would channel it to genuinely needy cases.
On Friday, The Straits Times found over 10 beggars outside the mosque, mostly women. Some had young children in tow. They would not speak to the press.
The MCYS patrols about 16 times a month to pick up vagrants and beggars on the streets of Singapore. It then conducts a 'detailed social investigation' into their background.
Foreign beggars and vagrants are repatriated and blacklisted by the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority.
Local destitutes who are found to be 'homeless, without means and without family support' are sent to a welfare home. There were about 1,790 destitutes living in the 10 welfare homes last month.
It is an offence to beg in Singapore. Those who have at least two previous begging records can be fined up to $3,000 and jailed for up to two years.
Said an MCYS spokesman: 'There is no reason for any needy Singaporean to beg or be a vagrant. If the public detects any person who needs more assistance, they should contact MCYS through the ComCare helpline at 1800-222-0000.'
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hi sg ty
i know u will post the homeless in SG.therefore,i dunt post .
Thanks.Mate.great pics.have u done any more homw work on homeless in SG.
Pl share here.
some of them are FT.
Great job.
Wow lionnoisy, not bad, SingaporeTyrannosaur likes to criticise you but you still praise him over his research effort.
Some people, you criticise a bit he will harbour a grudge but lionnoisy did not do so.
SingaporeTyrannosaur, since lionnoisy is not hostile towards you, why not end your sock puppet posts against him?
Forgive and forget?
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Originally posted by Ah Chia:
Wow lionnoisy, not bad, SingaporeTyrannosaur likes to criticise you but you still praise him over his research effort.
Some people, you criticise a bit he will harbour a grudge but lionnoisy did not do so.
SingaporeTyrannosaur, since lionnoisy is not hostile towards you, why not end your sock puppet posts against him?
Forgive and forget?
you really don't know lionnoisy
lol
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Singapore ranks 79 in terms of Quality of Life Index 2008 according to International Living.
Singapore falls behind countries like, Turkey, Jamaica, Tunisia, Albania, Seychelles, Honduras, Bermuda, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bahamas, Barbados, Botswana, Paraguay, Macedonia, Cayman Islands, Taiwan, Grenada, Bolivia, Ukraine, Namibia, Antiquan & Barbuda, Cyprus (Greek), Moldova, Israel, Mauritius, Ireland, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Colombia, South Africa, Chile, Dominica, Belize, Romania, Latvia, South Korea, Andorra, Estonia, Slovakia, Brazil Croatia, UK, Monaco, Panama, Mexico, Ecuador, Poland, Greece, Slovenia, Czech Republic and Bulgaria.
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Originally posted by ditzy:
How can you compare? How big is Oz? How big is Singapore? What is the population of Oz and what is the population of Singapore?
yes cannot compare.Govt got give them money every month despite homeless
our govt dont
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Originally posted by limywv:
tyrannosaur, you should tone down your comments...
why?
why do we have to hammer the nail if it stick out? The pictures speak louder than his words. So why ask him to tone down? What exactly did he wrote?
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Originally posted by Arapahoe:
why?
why do we have to hammer the nail if it stick out? The pictures speak louder than his words. So why ask him to tone down? What exactly did he wrote?
There's always some people who are not able to deal with in their face reality.
Some who choose to close their eyes and pretend everything always fine and dandy.
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Hi here is a little culture shock to me that u can get a free needle for
drugs injection by dialing a no. in almost everywhere in oz.
This is good that it can reduce AIDS by sharing needles.
but ....i dunt know wat to say.read on....
FOOT PATROL MOBILE NEEDLE EXCHANGE
Needle Exchange
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I am not saying SG is perfect.But there are many over estimate Oz
situation.Homeless is just one of the too many problems in Oz,among
drugs,organised crimes,guns,corruptions etc etc.
1.There is no point to show so many photos of SG homeless.We can see.right?
I think SG MCYS shall look into this problem,together with
various CDC,Community Development Councils and NGO's etc.
2.Look at the problems in Oz.
U can find that there are many Homeless centers in big cities to small
town.I dunt know why.Is The demand so high down under?
Homeless is not a stand alone problem,like in SG.
Homelessness Australia is just one of them.
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http://www.homelessnessaustralia.org.au/site/experiencing.php
How many people were turned away?
On an average day during the collection period, an estimated 654 people (436 adults and unaccompanied children and 218 accompanying children) required new and immediate accommodation in SAAP (AIHW 2009b: Tables 7.1, 8.1 and 9.1). Of these, 269 were able to be accommodated, while 385 people (241 adults and unaccompanied children and 144 accompanying children) were turned away without receiving SAAP accommodation.http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/aus/bulletin71/aus-114-10773.pdf
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I give u examples of good services for Homeless in Oz.
Vic
Crisis Help Network: Melbourne Homeless Service
http://www.melbourne.homeless.org.au/
Just arrived in Melbourne and Homeless? press this link for information
Street Rights
Travelers Aid Society of Victoria
Regional public transport information
Homelessness Statistics Melbourne3.There is no Heaven in the Earth ,yet.
Anyplace which is slightest further away from Hell is a Heaven.
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Originally posted by deathmaster:
want to know how many homeless people are there in singapore har?
just go take a walk around the neighbourhood after midnight, and see the number of people sleeping on park benches, on the void decks and you will know.
not many, but there's quite a number, mainly foreign workers.
They sleep there because the streets and benches are so clean, the air so fresh and cooling, that it's better than their beds at home
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1,050,000 homeless in Singapore
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Originally posted by lionnoisy:
Hi here is a little culture shock to me that u can get a free needle for
drugs injection by dialing a no. in almost everywhere in oz.
This is good that it can reduce AIDS by sharing needles.
but ....i dunt know wat to say.read on....
FOOT PATROL MOBILE NEEDLE EXCHANGE
Needle Exchange
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I am not saying SG is perfect.But there are many over estimate Oz
situation.Homeless is just one of the too many problems in Oz,among
drugs,organised crimes,guns,corruptions etc etc.
1.There is no point to show so many photos of SG homeless.We can see.right?
I think SG MCYS shall look into this problem,together with
various CDC,Community Development Councils and NGO's etc.
2.Look at the problems in Oz.
U can find that there are many Homeless centers in big cities to small
town.I dunt know why.Is The demand so high down under?
Homeless is not a stand alone problem,like in SG.
Homelessness Australia is just one of them.
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http://www.homelessnessaustralia.org.au/site/experiencing.php
http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/aus/bulletin71/aus-114-10773.pdf
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I give u examples of good services for Homeless in Oz.
Vic
Crisis Help Network: Melbourne Homeless Service
http://www.melbourne.homeless.org.au/
Just arrived in Melbourne and Homeless? press this link for information
Street Rights Travelers Aid Society of Victoria Regional public transport information Homelessness Statistics Melbourne3.There is no Heaven in the Earth ,yet.
Anyplace which is slightest further away from Hell is a Heaven.
Here is a cultural shock that in a highly policed state such as Singapore, the number of arrests has not seen any effective reduction in drug abuse - but an increase.
More drug arrests in 2007 due to heroin, Subutex abuse
By Jermyn Chow
CLOSE to 80 per cent more drug addicts were arrested last year, no thanks largely to heroin and Subutex abusers.
Out of the 2,166 drug abusers who were picked up in 2007, two-thirds were hooked on heroin and Subutex - mostly repeat abusers who are above 30.
But Singapore's drug enforcement agency, the Central Narcotics Bureau, said it is only to be expected as 2007 was the first full year that Subutex users were caught, after the drug was outlawed in August 2006.
The majority of Subutex abusers are Malays - about 1000.
One area of concern is the 670 heroin abusers caught, swelling six times more from the 116 arrested the year before.
CNB's deputy director Vijakumar Sethuraj attributed the increase to the 'rational choice' addicts made after Subutex was re-classified as a controlled drug, hence making it more expensive than heroin.
CNB said that the price of an 8mg Subutex tablet now costs about $120, as compared to $40, before the clampdown two years ago.
The average street price of heroin, on the other hand, goes to up $50 per straw.
Traffickers, synthetic drug abusers also up
More drug traffickers were also arrested last year.
The number of illicit traders, mostly from neighbouring Johor and Batam swelled to 769, up by about 30 per cent.
But CNB cautioned that the supply is not driven by demand in Singapore, as drug pushers just want to 'flood the market'.
There were also slightly more users of the synthetic drug users last year.
The number of people using synthetic drugs such as Erimin-5, ketamine, Ecstasy and Ice increased by about 3 per cent, making up about 30 per cent of all drug abusers.
http://www.straitstimes.com/Latest%2...ry_196470.htmlSingapore
Singapore Last Year
Nearly 2,200 drug abusers were arrested in 2007, a 78 percent increase from 2006 when 1,218 were arrested, the TV Channel NewsAsia reported on Tuesday. The TV channel NewsAsia quoted the Central Narcotics Bureau ( CNB) as saying that most of those arrested were subutex abusers, followed by heroin abusers, said the report. The Bureau also pointed out that most of the druggers, or 77 percent, were repeat abusers, while the proportion of first time drug abusers arrested decreased from 39 percent of the total abusers in 2006 to 23 percent in 2007. This decline was described by the Bureau as a "well contained drug situation".
Source: Daily News / 16 January 2008 /
http://www.dailynews.lk/2008/01/17/wld05.asp
What could possibly be the cause of such increase in arrests ?
If Singapore is such a small country, with a small population compared with other neighboring countries, surely the problems should have long been resolved.
What possibly could be the reasons behind this continued blight ?
A Big-time Burmese Drug Trafficker’s Singaporean Connection
Friday, 29 February 2008
In an action that Burma watchers view as long overdue, the United States earlier this week slapped financial sanctions on wealthy Burmese businessman Lo Hsing Han, his US-educated son, Steven Law and Law’s wife, Cecilia Ng, a Singaporean businesswoman.
At least 10 Singaporean companies owned by Law’s wife have been targeted by the sanctions. Among other things, the sanctions point up the often-unhealthy way the Singaporean government chooses to ignore relationships between its financial community and unsavory Burmese businessmen. Because of the ties to Lo’s main corporate vehicle, Asia World Co. Ltd, the story also illustrates graphically the narco-state that Burma’s rulers have visited upon the world stage.
Asia World is targeted by sanctions also. And, included among the Singaporean companies owned by Ng is Golden Aaron Pte Ltd, which has been linked to the Chinese state-controlled oil and gas giant, China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC). Under the sanctions, any bank accounts and financial assets the individuals or their companies hold in the United States are frozen and Americans are forbidden from doing business with them.
Asia World is considered to be Burma’s biggest and most diversified conglomerate. Lo is chairman and Steven Law is the company’s managing director. The story of the connection between the Singapore Government and the Lo and Law family was first reported by Australia's SBS Dateline in a report called "Singapore Sling." In a 1997 article, the US magazine The Nation also described the web of connections between Asia World and the Singapore government, which “is directly connected to key business ventures of drug kingpin Lo” through a series of investments in the Myanmar Fund, including some by the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC).
In a letter to the magazine the Singapore embassy in the US said that GIC was a passive investor in the Myanmar Fund and was not involved in investment decisions, and that the Myanmar Fund had been wound up.
Asia World is involved in industrial investment, development, construction and transportation. It imports and distributes goods into Burma and owns a supermarket chain. It was recently involved in road construction from Pyin Oo Lwin in Shan State to the Chinese border, the renovation of Rangoon’s international airport and the construction of a deep water seaport at Ahlone near Rangoon. It was also one of two main contractors for the construction of the new capitol at Naypyidaw. In 2001 the company’s authorized capitol was given at about US$40 million.
Rangoon’s port, which handles 40 percent of Burma’s container traffic, is also run by Asia World which also operates a cargo and shipping business from the port. This and Lo’s ownership of Burma’s largest bus company has led some to speculate about whether he is using the facilities for continued drug trafficking.
Lo and Steven Law were refused visas to travel to the US as long ago as 1996 for suspected drug trafficking activities. The property interests of Golden Aaron are now reportedly blocked.
These moves follow sanctions earlier this month against the business empire of Burmese tycoon Tay Za and 33 other Burmese generals and business people and 11 companies which have had their assets frozen and were denied travel to the US. This is the latest in an ongoing series of financial sanctions aimed at hurting Burma’s ruling State Peace and Development Council through its business contacts.
“Unless the ruling junta in Burma halts the violent suppression of its peoples, we will continue to target those like Steven Law who sustain and who profit corruptly because of that support,” said Stuart Levy, Treasury Department Under-Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.
According to the Treasury Department, “In addition to their support for the Burmese regime, Steven Law and Lo Hsing Han have a history of involvement in illicit activities. Lo, known as the ‘Godfather of Heroin,’ has been one of the world’s key heroin traffickers dating back to the early 1970s. Law joined his father’s drug empire in the 1990s and has since become one of the wealthiest individuals in Burma.”
The saga of how Lo and his son acquired their fortune and the outward trappings of respectability has many twists and turns including several brushes with death. Lo, 70 or 73 years old depending on the source, began in the drug trade in 1960 when he organized a local militia in the Kokang area of Shan State. The government turned a blind eye to Lo’s drug trafficking in exchange for his assistance in fighting Shan insurgents. He was dubbed the “King of Opium” by US authorities in the 1970s.
His fortunes then changed. Thai police arrested Lo in 1973 and deported him back to Burma, where he was found guilty of rebellion and sentenced to death. However, he was given amnesty in 1980, and he moved back to Shan State where he built his headquarters at Salween Village near Nampawng southwest of Lashio. He immediately reestablished himself with a new militia and resumed his role in the drug trade.
The wisdom behind granting Lo amnesty was borne out when Lt General Khin Nyunt used him as a go-between in 1989 in arranging ceasefires with Kokang and Wa insurgents who had recently mutinied against their Burmese Communist Party leaders. In exchange, according to a memo from the Thai Office of Narcotics Control Board in 1993, Khin Nyunt gave Lo the right “to smuggle heroin from the Kokang Group to Tachilek [on the border with Thailand] without interception.” By 1994 he controlled what was regarded as the most heavily armed drug trafficking organization in Southeast Asia.
Lo also gained unfettered access to the Burmese economy for his part in the ceasefire deals. This was further enhanced when in the early 1990s, with the Burmese economy on the brink of collapse, the generals turned to traffickers to invest their money in legal and semi-legal businesses. A “whitening” tax of 40 percent, later reduced to 25 percent, was levied on funds repatriated from bank accounts in Bangkok and Singapore. It was also at this time, on June 5, 1992, that Lo set up Asia World.
Law enforcement officials say indications are that since the mid-1990s Lo has stepped back from direct involvement in the drug trade, although he does reportedly maintain contacts, and that has not stopped western law enforcement agencies from trying to find evidence of his continued role, so far without success.
Lo’s business empire, international observers believe, is built on the profits from his drug trafficking activities. These businesses and his money have proved invaluable to the junta.
Lo has maintained strong relations with Burma’s ruling generals. At Steven Law and Cecilia Ng’s 1996 wedding, among the guests was then-Hotels and Tourism Minister Lt General Kyaw Ba as well as three other generals and four cabinet ministers. Lo also organized the catering for the extravagant wedding party thrown for the daughter of Burma’s Senior General Than Shwe in 2006. Despite Lo’s relations with Khin Nyunt, he was notably unaffected when the general was placed under house arrest in 2004.
Lo also has been described by government figures as the most prominent partner for foreigners wishing to invest in Burma, with a massive amount of the joint venture investment done through Asia World. For example, an agreement to import cooking oil from companies controlled by Malaysian billionaire Robert Kuok reportedly has grown into very lucrative real estate and construction deals, including the construction of the Trader’s Hotel in Rangoon, in which Asia World holds shares.
Another joint venture was with Sinmardev International Pte Ltd of Singapore. Headed by Albert Hong, Sinmardev was a consortium of Singaporean and other companies that built a US$207 million industrial park and port on the outskirts of Rangoon. Asia World contracted for part of the construction and holds shares in the project along with the members of the junta and several international investors.
Steven Law, who also goes by Tun Myint Naing, is the managing director of Golden Aaron, which has now been linked to CNOOC. The link was spotted by David Webb, a business commentator and non-executive director of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The relationship goes back to an October 2004 production-sharing contract between Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise and a business group formed by CNOOC Myanmar, Golden Aaron and China Huanqui Contracting and Engineering Corp to explore for oil and gas in Kyaukphyu township of Rakhine State.
According to the official New Light of Myanmar newspaper, the signing ceremony was attended by CNOOC chairman Fu Chengyu and Golden Aaron director Chua Chay Jin.
CNOOC’s 2004 annual report listed itself as the operator of a joint venture with Golden Aaron and China Global Engineering Corp. through which it owns five exploration licenses covering 73,152 square kilometers. The licenses will run out on March 12, 2008 unless they are renewed. The gas deposits are part of the controversial Shwe gas project which is to include a gas pipeline through Burma to China. Human rights organizations have frequently cited abuses related to the project and have called for its cancellation.
The US sanctions may also have an effect on Singapore. The island republic has long been accused of being a shopping and financial center for Burmese generals and narcotics traffickers. Former US Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Robert Gelbard, said in 1997, “since 1998 over half of [the investments from] Singapore have been tied to the family of narco-trafficker Lo Hsing Han.”
Singaporean banks have been repeatedly accused of being used for money laundering by Burmese narcotics traffickers. Although Singapore does have what are considered by the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering effective anti-money laundering mechanisms, the fact that figures such as Lo and Law are able to continue to do business there and keep banks accounts has prompted much speculation. In a recent step to detect money laundering, the Singaporean police announced that after 1 November 2007, anyone carrying or transferring more than $20,650 would be required to submit a report to the immigration authorities.
Whether or not the money is from drug profits, it is being used to finance investment in Burma that the US and international observers claim prop up the regime. While US financial sanctions are not aimed directly at Singapore or its banks, the hint is there that by dealing with individuals and firms on the sanctions list, the banks risk bad publicity.
Although the Money Authority of Singapore is unlikely to advise banks to cut ties with Burmese firms as a result of the US sanctions, some analysts believe Singaporean banks are taking steps to restrict their links to Burmese companies. The refusal of Singaporean banks to deal with Burmese tycoon Tay Za’s Air Bagan airline is seen as a possible example of this. In addition, in late October 2007 the Irrawaddy magazine reported that bank transfers between United Overseas Bank of Singapore and Burma had been suspended temporarily. The risks to their banking relationships with the US may be forcing Singaporean banks to re-evaluate doing business with Burmese firms
http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1076&Itemid=168
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some foreigner come from china , mostly handicapped, without arms or legs. to beg in singapore. they earn alot of $$$.
from the papers, i saw that many of these people are living in hotels and come out in the day time to beg. their monthly "salary" exceed $1500. meaning on day their begged money is $50(at least)
When passing by major MRT, shopping MALL underground linkway, I always saw people begging or playing musical instrument, most is blind, or no legs/arms.
why is these people EVERY WHERE? government never bother to help them? PAP what are you doing. so many begger in singapore.
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I don't mind local people begging.
But foreign beggars?
I know PAP policy is to flood island with foreigners, but this is ridiculous.
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