From straitstimes.com:
Family of 12 faces eviction for not paying bank loan
Ten children, an ailing wife, and a $10,000 dollar debt paint a bleak picture
By E-von Yeung
Mdm Latipah (left) weeps as her husband Mr Mohd Ali described their financial woes and fears for their children's future. -- STRAITSTIMES.COM
A FAMILY of 12 has been sent packing, literally, from their flat next month for not keeping up with bank loan payments.
Mr Mohd Ali, 40, his wife Latipah, 35, and their 10 children will soon be evicted from their home, in which they have lived for more than four years.
According to Mr Ali, they owe the bank about $10,000 in arrears and have been unable to pay up.
'We want our family all together. We have some financial problems also. I have a lot to pay,' said Mr Ali.
The picture is bleak. Mr Ali said he earns only about $800 a month as a cleaner, his wife has a heart problem and is unable to work, and they have 10 children to support as well as medical bills to pay.
Already, servicing the bank loan for their 3-room flat in Yishun takes more than $800 a month, he said.
Homeless again
Four years ago, the family had been homeless for two years, living at Busoorah Street and sleeping on cardbard boxes.
They would go to the nearby Sultan mosque for their showers.
The family of 12 had also slept outdoors at Yishun Town Gardens for a month.
From the youngest child, who is two years old, to the eldest, who is 17 years old, the kids had to stop school at times, for up to two years at end.
Both husband and wife fear the possibility that social services might take their children away from them.
'I'm worried we don't have a home. I'm worried about my kids. Every night I pray that God will protect my family,' said Mdm Latipah.
Mr Ali already had problems keeping up with payments to the bank OCBC since the second year they moved in.
Despite receiving a total of about $16,500 worth of aid since March 2004 - from the Community Development Council (CDC), the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore, Yishun Family Services Centre and MP Mr K Shanmugam, among others - Mr Ali's heavy debt did not go away.
Financial prudence key
Mr Ali said his family had moved out of their rental flat more than 4 years ago.
They already had difficulties in meeting the monthly rental of about $300 but yet, Mr Ali went on to buy his sister's flat in Yishun by taking a $150,000 bank loan.
This decision proved to be a burden too heavy to bear.
Mr Shanmugam said that financial management is important when making decisions on property purchases.
He told straitstimes.com: 'When we make financial decision which are bad or imprudent, it's not possible for someone else to come and bail you out.
'But we must try to do the best we can because there are children involved. Our task is to not sit and moralise, but to try and help in whatever we can.'
On behalf of the family, Mr Shanmugam has already appealed to OCBC to grant them more time to repay the bank loan.
He has also written to HDB to expedite a request for a rental flat.
After reviewing the case, HDB has shortened the usual waiting period of 3 1/2 years to six months.
OCBC Bank's Head of Consumer Secured Lending Gregory Chan told straitstimes.com that it is only after exhausting 'all reasonable possibilities' that 'the bank resorts to foreclosure'.
Extensions can be granted on a case-to-case basis, on compassionate grounds, he said.
straitstimes.com understands that OCBC has already extended the original date of eviction from Nov 16 to Dec 31.
The HDB has said it will not and cannot intervene because a loan is a private contract between a mortgager and the bank.
Families like Mr Ali's who are facing financial difficulties do have various alternatives to get help, according to Singapore Children Society's Senior Counsellor Noor Sida Abdullah.
'If they have school-going children, we can assist them with the School Pocket Money Fund. If they require financial assistance, that's where we can link them to the CDC, to self-help agencies. We also work closely with the MP, if they need advocacy.'
But Ms Sida said financial prudence is paramount, and early intervention - or seeking help - before debts become too big to handle.
Still, for Mr Ali and his family, it seems that all avenues of help for this family have been explored, and wandering homeless on the streets may soon become a tragic reality.
