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Have you ever considered to which extent urban poverty existed in Singapore and what were the interactions that drive the dynamics of urban poverty in Singapore? Poverty is said to exist when a person or community lacks the financial resources to satisfy a basic standard of living including, shelter, food, and education. The World Social Summit identified poverty eradication as a social concern that needs to pay attention to and address the root causes of poverty (UN, n.d). Therefore, this article attempts to use the newspaper articles and media from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to answer the above question of poverty in Singapore and the interactions that drive the root cause of it.

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Urban poverty existed in Singapore throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It is evident by the existence of coolies and jinrikisha (rickshaw) pullers in the country who were also called lower social-economic groups. They were engaged mostly in unskilled, hard labor which took a toll on their bodies, exposed to harsh living conditions, and yet earned only a small amount of money. An article in Straits Times newspaper of 1912 even described the rickshaw-pulling as “the deadliest occupation in the East and the most degrading for human beings to pursue” (“DOUBLE RICKISHA”, 1912). The reason was that in some of the European continental countries, animals, especially dogs were used for pulling small carts, thus, this occupation clashed with the view of humanitarian. The article also stated that a human pulling a rickshaw with two passengers in it while being exposed to all weather was more than a person could sustain without injury to one’s health in a long run.

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The Straits Times MONDAY, OCTOBER 28. DOUBLE RICKISHAS.
The Straits Times, 28 October 1912, Page 8

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In this case, there might be a question on why this occupation even existed in the first place. An article in Malaya Tribune in 1916 mentioned that these kinds of jobs were usually taken up by Chinese emigrants from China as they were unable to earn a decent livelihood in their country (“RICKSHAS”, 1916). The previous article from the Straits Time also mentioned that Chinese would do anything to earn a little extra money and even if any special kind of work might have an effect upon a man’s length of days since they were already facing poverty back in their homeland (“DOUBLE RICKISHA”, 1912). Despite their hard work, they only earned as little as $1 a day and were still required to pay around 20 to 30 cents of their daily income for the rickshaw rental (Tan, 2005).

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RICKSHAS.

Malaya Tribune., 5 April 1916, Page 8

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One of the factors that had driven the poverty in Singapore was low-wage employment. Since rickshaw coolies were unskilled and poorly educated, it caused the earnings of these people to be so low that it did not permit them to live in decent and healthy rooms. Thus, they had to rent a place of accommodation at rickshaw depots whereby as many as 200 residents shared two or three kitchens and latrines (Lenore, 2002). Therefore, the houses were overcrowded, unsanitary, and had a low standard of living. Their poverty also exposed them to unhealthy surroundings which could cause hygiene and health problems.

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Another factor that had driven the urban poverty in Singapore was the people who did not seem to consider the suffering of the unfortunates who were compelled through poverty which they have no control over. Based on an article found in Malaya Tribune in 1919, a year after World War II, the government conducted Food Control Regulation to control the price of rice and ensure enough rice to feed the people as there were poverty and distress in the country (“ANOMALIES OF FOOD SITUATION AND DEAR LIVING”, 1919). According to the newspaper article, the regulation did not benefit the lower social-economic groups as even if the dealers had stocks of rice, they did not offer them for sale unless it was their customers of long-standing or customers who could pay a higher amount. With that, the stock of rice was becoming shorter and many of the poorer classes had to pay a higher price for it. Furthermore, the retail dealers also did the same with other food including eggs, fish, and raw meats. For example, the retail dealers sold the eggs for six or seven cents when they were ordered to sell them for three to four cents. Due to these factors, the cost of living had increased enormously, and the poorer classes had to suffer the most from it since there is no special brand of eggs or vegetables that is specially reserved for them at an affordable price.

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ANOMALIES OF FOOD SITUATION AND DEAR LIVING.

Malaya Tribune., 24 October 1919, Page 4

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In the newspaper article of The Straits Time in 1845, it is stated that poverty existed in Singapore even after more than twenty-five years since the first formation of the settlement (“The Diseased and indigent of Singapore, their Miseries and the Means for their Relief”, 1845). The drivers behind the existence of poverty were because no provision was made to help the poor, no asylum was provided for the sick, or no refuge existed for the homeless. Overall, it can be said that it is always a hardship to be poor and once someone is in the category of poverty, it is difficult for them to leave that undesirable state because no eye pities them or no hand is outstretched to help them. Based on the analysis of the local news in 1850-1852, there were many crimes such as robberies and thefts ("Local", 1851). From it, can be concluded that crimes are a partial result of overlooking the social issue like poverty in the country.

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LOCAL.

The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser, 15 February 1850, Page 2

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The social concern about poverty did not stop there. A newspaper article in New Nation brought up the same issue in 1972 and discussed the existence of urban poverty in Singapore ("Urban poverty", 1972). The author also expressed that urban poverty is a real social concern that the government needs to pay close attention to, to close the gap between the poor and the rich.

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Urban poverty

New Nation, 27 March 1972, Page 11

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ANOMALIES OF FOOD SITUATION AND DEAR LIVING. (1919, October 24). Malaya Tribune, p. 4. Retrieved March 8, 2021, from https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/maltribune19191024-1.2.11?ST=1&AT=advanced&DF=03%2f03%2f1840&DT=11%2f03%2f1977&NPT=&L=&CTA=&SortBy=Oldest&k=poor+poverty+singapore%26ka%3dpoor+poverty+singapore&P=10&Display=0&filterS=0&QT=poor,poverty,singapore&oref=article

DOUBLE RICKISHAS. (1912, October 28). The Straits Times, p. 8. Retrieved March 8, 2021, from https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19121028-1.2.24?ST=1&AT=search&SortBy=Oldest&k=population+poverty+poor+singapore&P=2&Display=0&filterS=0&QT=population,poverty,poor,singapore&oref=article

Lenore, M. (2002). Public Health and the Pathogenic City - Chapter 4. In Sickness and the state : Health and illness in colonial Malaya, 1870-1940 (1st pbk. ed. ed., pp. 96-126). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Local. (1851, January 24). The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser. Retrieved from https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/singfreepressa18510124-1.2.6?ST=1&AT=search&SortBy=Oldest&k=singapore+poor&P=28&Display=0&filterS=0&QT=singapore,poor&oref=article

RICKSHAS. (1916, April 5). Malaya Tribune, p. 8. Retrieved March 8, 2021, from https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/maltribune19160405-1.2.21?ST=1&AT=search&k=poverty%20poor%20coolies%20singapore&QT=poverty,poor,coolies,singapore&oref=article

Tan, B. (2005, January 25). Rickshaw. Retrieved March 8, 2021, from https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_947_2005-01-25.html

The Diseased andindigent of Singapore, their Miseries and the Means for their Relief. (1845, September 23). The Straits Times, p. 3. Retrieved March 8, 2021, from https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes18450923-1.2.11?ST=1&AT=advanced&K=poor%20poverty%20singapore&KA=poor%20poverty%20singapore&DF=03%2F03%2F1840&DT=11%2F03%2F1977&NPT=&L=&CTA=&SortBy=Oldest&filterS=0&Display=0&QT=poor,poverty,singapore&oref=article

UN. (n.d.). Poverty eradication | poverty eradication. Retrieved March 8, 2021, from https://www.un.org/development/desa/socialperspectiveondevelopment/issues/poverty-eradication.html

Urban poverty. (1972, March 27). New Nation. Retrieved March 8, 2021, from https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/newnation19720327-1.2.66.1?ST=1&AT=search&k=poor%20poverty%20singapore%20living&QT=poor,poverty,singapore,living&oref=article