# data[].attributes.body
The disadvantaged are usually discriminated against due to their disabilities.

# data[].attributes.body
The disadvantaged requires economic support.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
SINGAPORE - A record sum of $116 million in social assistance payments were made to the poor in the last financial year ending in March 2015.

This was a 10 per cent jump from the previous year and close to double the $61 million given out five years ago.

About half of the money came from interest generated by the Community Care (ComCare) Endowment Fund, set up by the Government in 2005 to help needy families get back on their feet. The rest came from the budget of the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF).

Overall, 91,093 individuals were helped last year, up from 54,041 five years ago.

ComCare provides three broad types of assistance: long-term help, largely for the elderly poor; interim as well as short-to-medium term help for those facing crises, such as illness or retrenchment; childcare, kindergarten and infant care subsidies for children.

The biggest jump last year was in short-term payouts, which rose from $55.7million in 2013 to $68.7 million last year, said the latest ComCare annual report.

A demographic breakdown of those receiving short-to-medium term assistance showed an increase in the proportion of those living in one to two-persons households.

Spending on long-term help grew slightly to $18.7 million last year, up from $17.3 million the year before. Data from the report showed that 65 per cent of recipients on long-term assistance are single elderly.

In a newly created blog, MSF Minister Tan Chuan-Jin said: "The increase (in ComCare financial assistance) is not too surprising because we have increased our efforts in the last few years to bring help closer to those in need."

He added: "We have built a network of Social Service Offices (SSOs) across the island - one in every major HDB town. This has made help more accessible than before. We have also adjusted some of our income criteria thresholds so that more can be assisted."

Given the backdrop of an ageing society, Mr Tan said, tackling financial challenges is just the tip of the iceberg.

"Apart from ensuring that the financial support is effective, we need to also strengthen our overall eco-system to look after the elderly. We are already exploring different initiatives and looking at how to better design the social and physical infrastructure. We will also be introducing the Vulnerable Adults Act, and make amendments to the Mental Capacity Act next year."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Record $116 million given out to help the needy in Singapore

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
SINGAPORE - A record sum of $116 million in social assistance payments were made to the poor in the last financial year ending in March 2015. This was a 10 per cent jump from the previous year and close to double the $61 million given out five years ago.

# data[].attributes.body
The disadvantaged are socially excluded.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
If I toss a piece of tissue paper on the ground and I am caught in the act, I could be fined S$300 as a first-time offender. Repeat offenders face increasingly hefty fines, up to a staggering S$5,000.

# data[].attributes.body
Some of the needs of the disadvantaged provided

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Persons with disabilities in S'pore have more options now: Tan Chuan-Jin

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
SINGAPORE - Today, persons with disabilities have more options in Singapore, be it in education, employment, transport or living arrangements within the community, said Minister for Social and Family Development (MSF) Tan Chuan-Jin. Singapore has "made progress on several

# data[].attributes.body
Government provides funding for the disadvantaged children

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
An initiative to give a leg-up to young children from disadvantaged families will be rolled out in five areas in the second half of this year.

The areas are Bukit Merah, Kreta Ayer, Boon Lay, Taman Jurong and Geylang Serai.

Some 1,000 children up to six years old will be "proactively identified" by the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) and organisations such as family service centres, hospitals and pre-schools, for the trial of the KidStart scheme.

They could include those who come from families with poor, young or unwed parents, or with parents who are in jail.

The Government has set aside more than $20 million for the three-year trial.

$2.5 billion

Total bill; up 11.8 per cent from last year.

125,000

Number of childcare places in Singapore today.

44,000

Children received childcare and kindergarten fee subsidies last year.

$500

Monthly cash allowance for one-person households under the Public Assistance scheme.

The scheme will coordinate the existing support services provided by different agencies for such children. In addition, it will extend support in areas such as health and learning, and will also monitor the children's progress.

For instance, the children may get basic immunisations and placement in pre-schools.

Their parents will also get help, such as through home visits or parent support groups, so that they can better support the children during their pre-school years and transition to primary school.

These details of the KidStart scheme, first announced by Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat in his Budget speech last month, were revealed by Minister for Social and Family Development Tan Chuan-Jin yesterday.

Said Mr Tan during the debate on his ministry's budget: "Some children, possibly because of complex family circumstances, already lag behind developmentally even in their early years... In order to help (them), we have to go upstream and provide additional support."

MP Lily Neo (Jalan Besar GRC) asked Mr Tan if children older than six years can still be helped on a case-by-case basis.

Mr Tan said KidStart is but one programme and the older children could still be eligible for other aid schemes.

He said his ministry would look at the cases if Dr Neo flagged them.

The ECDA said starting small and being focused will allow it to refine how services are delivered before evaluating if, and how, the scheme can be offered in more areas.

Mr Tan said: "I want this model to work. I want to be able to ramp up and help more children."

While the cost of KidStart works out to an average of $20,000 per child, the ECDA said the actual cost per child will depend on the child's needs and the services required, so this could range "from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars each year".

It has set up a programme office to work with government agencies, social service offices, hospitals and community partners to implement KidStart.

Suitable families will be contacted and asked if they want to take part.

Ms Nur Zalina Ismail, executive principal at a My First Skool childcare centre, said it was important for organisations, such as pre-schools, to work with parents to help their children.

She said: "We should do whatever we can to make sure that no child gets left behind."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Disadvantaged kids to get help in $20m programme

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
An initiative to give a leg-up to young children from disadvantaged families will be rolled out in five areas in the second half of this year. The areas are Bukit Merah, Kreta Ayer, Boon Lay, Taman Jurong and Geylang Serai.

# data[].attributes.body
1. Members of the public
2. NGOs
3. The government

# data[].attributes.headline
When do the needs of the disadvantaged become the responsibility that others have to undertake? 

# data[].attributes.subject
When do the needs of the disadvantaged become the responsibility that others have to undertake? 

# data[].attributes.body
- when government intervention is proven not sufficient in supporting the needs of the disadvantaged.

# data[].attributes.headline
No, it is a shared responsibility to take care of the needs of the disadvantaged. Members of the public and NGOs also have a part to play. 

# data[].attributes.subject
No, it is a shared responsibility to take care of the needs of the disadvantaged. Members of the public and NGOs also have a part to play. 

# data[].attributes.body
Members of the public:
1. Paying it forward. Everyone has sure received some form of help previously, and it becomes a moral obligation to do the same for others who require help.
2. Acts of kindness and gratitude. Giving back to society; this can be done in the form of doing community service and volunteering, such as collecting cans of food and donating them to a food bank.

NGOs:
1. Organisations can better raise funds and build appropriate facilities for the disadvantaged as compared to a single member of the public. Additionally, these NGOs ease the government's burden of taking care of the needs of the disadvantaged. This is because the government also has to manage other aspects of the country's management and development such as sustaining the affordability of public good and ensuring the country;s economic growth.

# data[].attributes.headline
Yes, it is the government's responsibility to take care of the needs of the disadvantaged.

# data[].attributes.subject
Yes, it is the government's responsibility to take care of the needs of the disadvantaged.

# data[].attributes.body
1. It comes with the duty of managing a country, to look after the population's wellbeing and to help the disadvantaged in order to maintain a certain standard of living nationwide.
2. They are the ones capable to raise funds more easily through the use of taxes, as compared to voluntary donations, as seen from the news articles on the left.

# data[].attributes.body
- The government is able to take care and provide for the needs of the disadvantaged.

# data[].attributes.body
G: Public's moral obligation

# data[].attributes.body
G: Singapore Red Cross (NGO)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Imagine a world without care for the disabled. Where would the vulnerable turn to?

# data[].attributes.body
G: SAF (government organisation)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.entities[].name
Workers ' Party 's Press Conference on Punggol East SMC By-Election

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.entities[].name
Yam Ah Mee Announce Workers ' Party Victory on Punggol East SMC By-Election

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
SAF collected $1mil for disabled servicemen thru Care Fund - 25Jan2013

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
SINGAPORE: The Singapore Armed Forces has started a Care Fund for severely disabled servicemen. Members of the public can contribute to the fund to show their support. Through donations, the fund has amassed a million dollars in public contributions. Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen revealed this as he gave an update on injured servicemen Jason Chee in a Facebook post.

# data[].attributes.body
G: What the government has done

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The elderly and needy were not forgotten in this year's Budget, which struck a good balance between boosting the economy and strengthening social safety nets, Speaker of Parliament Halimah Yacob said yesterday.

"I was a little concerned that because there is a lot of concern about the economy, the Budget will just completely focus on the economy and there will be less for the needy," she said. "But I am glad there are also quite substantive provisions for the needy."

She highlighted especially schemes such as the Workfare Income Supplement for lower-income workers, and Silver Support for the most vulnerable seniors.

Speaking to reporters after a dialogue with Marsiling residents about the Budget, Madam Halimah, who is an MP for Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC, held up Silver Support as "a great departure" from the past practice of always tying support schemes to work.

The scheme will make its first payout in July, with some 140,000 Singaporeans aged 65 and above receiving between $300 and $750 every three months.

"For those who are elderly, who can't work for whatever reason, it will be really useful for them," she said, citing as examples the seniors in wheelchairs at the session.

But she said schemes tied to work, such as the Workfare Income Supplement, are just as important "because we need to continue to reward work, otherwise people will not be incentivised to work".

BOOSTING SOCIAL MOBILITY
There is both substance and spirit in the first Budget of Singapore's post-SG50 era, and (Finance Minister) Heng Swee Keat's first. It takes us further in developing the two things we need most for our future: Innovative enterprises and a stronger, more caring society. One really important aspect of our efforts: Helping the kids who start off with less to do well and move up. Few advanced societies have succeeded in this, which is why most of those born to parents with low incomes remain there throughout their own lives. We still have more mobility in Singapore than most places, but we have to work much harder at this in the years to come. The key is to intervene during the early years in life. Give the kids the confidence that they can achieve, give them the exposure they would not normally get, and help offset the disadvantages of having poor or unstable homes. We must do more, and we will.
MR THARMAN SHANMUGARATNAM, Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for Economic and Social Policies, in a Facebook post yesterday.

The scheme, which tops up the pay of the bottom 20 per cent of workers, will have higher payouts.

Asked if this may lead to some people choosing to work just enough so they can qualify for the scheme, Madam Halimah said she did not think so.

She said: "Work gives us the kind of satisfaction that we can never find from just getting assistance."

She added that it is important for the younger generation to see their parents "working, striving, making an effort".

At the same time, there were also many initiatives to help businesses in this year's Budget, said Madam Halimah.

Describing this dual focus on the economy and the needy as unique, she said it is a recognition that economic growth is needed to fund increases in social spending.

"So this year's Budget... does not forget that for us to be able to contribute, for the Government to be able to strengthen the social safety net, the economy must grow, there must be jobs," she said.

Analysts such as Singapore Management University law don Eugene Tan agreed. He said: "While this year's Budget is very economy-centric, the Government is showing that it is not going to let all the earlier investments on the social front cease."

For housewife Mastura Rasid, 29, the greater social support from the Government is welcome news.

Now pregnant with her third child, Ms Mastura said the quarterly Silver Support payments will help with her 65-year-old mother's expenses, while other schemes targeted at parents will help pay for the children's care. "I feel quite fortunate, as these schemes are going to help my family a lot," she said.

Parliament will sit for two weeks, starting next Monday, to debate the Budget as well as the plans and policies of various ministries and key government agencies for the year ahead.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Singapore Budget 2016: Substantive help for elderly, needy, says Halimah

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The elderly and needy were not forgotten in this year's Budget, which struck a good balance between boosting the economy and strengthening social safety nets, Speaker of Parliament Halimah Yacob said yesterday. "I was a little concerned that because there is a lot of concern about the economy, the Budget will just completely focus on the economy and there will be less for the needy," she said.

# data[].attributes.body
G: responsibility of the government? or the public? or Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs)?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Few may remember the first Budget speech delivered shortly after Singapore gained independence in 1965.

It was all about survival.

Then Finance Minister Lim Kim San focused on the competition we faced as a country and the constraints we had to deal with.

There was a very strong emphasis on self-reliance and only one sentence to do with social subsidies: The now-defunct Mount Emily Girls' Home was to get 40 more places to house a total of 85 girls. In those early decades, there was very little explicit support for the poor and a very limited array of social policies.

But in the last decade, Singapore has made a more decisive shift to ensure that it remains an inclusive society.

To mitigate inequality and support the low-income segment, the Budgets in the past few years have introduced a range of support measures.

These include higher Workfare Income Supplement payouts, the introduction of a mega $8 billion Pioneer Generation Package of healthcare subsidies and a lifelong universal health insurance, MediShield Life. Last year's Budget added another missing plank to the social safety net: a Silver Support allowance for the aged.

Community groups need data specific to the neighbourhoods they are based in for local solutions, as well as national data for larger initiatives. For instance, it is not known how much income an elderly person needs for his daily food, clothing, shelter and care needs. ST PHOTO: JAMIE KOH

At the 2013 National Day Rally, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong touched on this rebalancing or tipping point of social policy changes in Singapore when he spoke of the need to "shift the balance" from nation building that was premised on "tough love" to one where the community and Government "have to do more to support individuals".

But building a fair and inclusive society has to go beyond government redistributive schemes and social policy interventions, urban planning, and developing new skills and economic capabilities, noted Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam in a foreword of a recently published book, 50 Years Of Social Issues In Singapore.

About The Big Quiz

This primer is part of The Straits Times' initiative to discuss issues of national concern. Each Monday, the paper's journalists will address burning questions in the Opinion section, offering unique Singaporean perspectives on complex issues.

The primers, as well as five campus talks helmed by editors and correspondents, are part of this paper's outreach programme called The Straits Times-Ministry of Education National Current Affairs Quiz, nicknamed The Big Quiz.

The nationwide event, whose presenting sponsor is the Singapore Press Holdings Foundation, aims to promote the understanding of civics among pre-university students.

Yishun Junior College won the first round of the year, held at Innova Junior College on April 6.

The other talks by ST journalists and quiz rounds will be held on:

*April 20 at Victoria Junior College

*April 27 at Anglo-Chinese Junior College

*May 18 at River Valley High School

*July 20 at Raffles Institution

*For more information, visit www.straitstimes.com/tags/the-big-quiz

"It is at its heart about achieving a stronger social compact for the future, where personal and collective responsibilities reinforce each other," he wrote.

So 50 years on, how successful have community groups been in working with the Government to help those in need?
MANY HELPING HANDS
In considering how the balance between state intervention and the space for ground initiatives is struck in Singapore, it is key to review the "Many Helping Hands" approach adopted here.

Then Acting Minister for Community Development Abdullah Tarmugi said in 1995 that the approach develops "self-reliance in a society that is robust, yet compassionate and caring" through "partnerships with concerned citizens, corporations, community organisations, religious groups and family members".

The "Many Helping Hands" concept involves the state that set the legal, regulatory and financial parameters, the voluntary welfare organisations (VWOs) that directly serve beneficiaries, the volunteers, the donors and the larger community.

However, some observers have called the approach "Many Hired Hands" instead because of the dominant role of the Government in the social sector. Its dominance is in part due to the need of the charities to rely on heavy funding from the Government.

On average, governments elsewhere contribute about 35 per cent of the social sector's global revenue through grants and contracts to non-profit groups.

But our spending on the sector is much more generous. In 2013, government grants alone accounted for $6.4 billion, or nearly half of the $13.9 billion in receipts of the charity sector.

Government funding, given to family service centres, for example, is often offered for specific purposes and programmes that are aligned with the Government's direction or priorities.

The tension that may come about from too close an association between the regulatory authority and the funder was acknowledged when the National Council of Social Service gave up its regulatory role to the Charities Unit under the then Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports in 2010. Its then president Kwek Siew Jin said: "Wielding a stick on one hand and handing out sweets with the other is not an easy task and one that certainly does not breed confidence and trust."

However, though the Government is the major funder of the sector, it has taken pains to ensure that the charities and the public take ownership of social issues and causes through its evolving financing model.

In the early 1990s, the Government came up with a 50-50 funding formula where it provides half of the money needed for capital and recurrent costs, such as staff and programming costs. The agencies needed to raise the other half of the funds from the public for services such as residential homes, family services and day care centres for the elderly and disabled.

The aim was to build a foundation of shared responsibility where the public, people and private sectors work together to provide social services so as to foster community involvement and active volunteerism.

Today, due to escalating infrastructural costs, the Government puts in at least 90 per cent of capital costs, but its portion of recurrent costs still largely remains the same.

Ms Ang Bee Lian, director of social welfare at the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF), said: "This partnership in social service provision allowed the Government to increase and build on social welfare through social agencies using its own brand of strong state-supported welfare without making Singapore into a traditional welfare state."

This principle of shared responsibility still informs social service provision today.

Last year, the Government pledged $500 million to match donations raised by the Community Chest and VWOs here dollar-for-dollar. Charities can use the extra money to build new centres or start new projects on top of the regular services.

The idea of the one-to-one matching is to get the charities and public involved in these efforts by raising awareness of various issues and, in the process, raising their own donations.
GROUND-UP INNOVATIONS
But more needs to be done because there are areas of social and community interventions that the Government is not able to take on.

For example, VWOs can respond more nimbly and with more immediacy when it comes to emerging needs or gaps because they work directly on the ground.

They can provide niche and customised solutions to meet the diverse and unique needs of their beneficiaries.

Mr Laurence Lien, former Nominated MP and ex-chief executive of National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre, said: "Where innovation and experimentation are needed, non-profit organisations are better placed at conducting and abandoning as needed."

So the Government can work with the community on this aspect by providing the resources and the coordination needed to scale up good ideas or feasible innovations.

An example would be an early detection and intervention programme - piloted by philanthropic group Lien Foundation, KK Women's and Children's Hospital and the PAP Community Foundation - in 2009 to help children with mild learning difficulties. The results were so encouraging that the Government came on board and scaled it up nationally years later.

Tsao Foundation has also spearheaded a $5 million initiative in Whampoa to enable older people to age in their own flats and familiar neighbourhoods, with the help of a coordinated community-wide system of health and social support programmes and services.

Such an experiment would not have taken off without the $4 million funding from the Tote Board - a statutory board of the Government - and the support of more than 20 government, healthcare and community agencies in the area.
LACK OF DATA
In order for community groups to come up with more innovative ideas to help those in need, one key obstacle that needs to be tackled is the lack of data.

Community groups need both localised data specific to the neighbourhoods they are based in to develop hyper-local solutions for that area, as well as national data to determine if such a problem is catching on elsewhere before rolling out initiatives on a larger scale. But there is a dearth of data on various social issues.

For instance, we do not know how much income an elderly person requires to meet his daily needs for food, clothing, shelter and care.

Neither do we know the geographic locations of Singapore's poorest households, or the proportion of working mothers.

ComCare - the Community Care Endowment Fund - was launched in 2005 as a key social safety net to support the needy in our midst.

But it was only a few months ago that the Government, for the first time, released a detailed breakdown of the profile of the households which received financial aid from the state.

If more data was collected and provided freely to community groups, all parties will stand to gain.

Community groups and the public also have a role in helping to aggregate this big data by reporting cases to the authorities.

MSF said it has been receiving more online alerts from the public in recent years that enabled it to locate people in need of assistance.

In an increasingly globalised and fast-paced world, social issues have become more complex and multifaceted. We need more than "many helping hands" to meet those challenges.

We need all hands on deck.
Have a burning question related to this week's primer topic?
E-mail us at askST@sph.com.sg

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
All hands on deck needed for social good

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Few may remember the first Budget speech delivered shortly after Singapore gained independence in 1965. It was all about survival. Then Finance Minister Lim Kim San focused on the competition we faced as a country and the constraints we had to deal with.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Two months ago, the Government for the first time released detailed figures on the breakdown of citizens who received financial aid from the state.

In the financial year ending March 2015, 91,093 Singaporeans - or about 2.7 per cent of the citizen population - received $116 million in some form of social assistance.

This was a sharp jump from the 54,041 who received $61 million in aid in 2010.

"The increase is not too surprising because we have increased our efforts in the last few years to bring help closer to those in need," Social and Family Development Minister Tan Chuan-Jin said last December.

The criteria to determine who can benefit from ComCare - the Community Care Endowment Fund - have been revised "so that more can be assisted", he explained.

ComCare was tweaked to benefit more families who require short- to medium-term assistance.

Among others, the household income cap was raised from $1,500 to $1,900, and the per capita income criterion was reviewed so that families with more dependants could qualify.

Some observers have described this as a government "shifting to the left". Yet it is worth noting that much of this aid is not just a handout, but also targeted at helping struggling families and individuals get back on their feet.

The Sunday Times looked at six cases of people receiving some form of social assistance from the state.

At the practical level, they all have a roof over their heads. Hearteningly, they look beyond that, too, expressing a desire for a better life for their children. And they show resilience and resourcefulness to not just rely on the financial assistance.

"I am upgrading (my skills) to provide more for the family," declared one of them, security guard Vengatalakshmi Velusamy, 34, a mother of two young children, who is training to be a healthcare assistant. She is the sole breadwinner as her husband is an Indian national who cannot currently work here.

When Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat announces the annual Budget next month and MPs debate government spending for the year ahead, some attention will turn to whether this pool of citizens continues to get adequate support.

Some perennial questions will likely also be asked. Among them: Who are these poor Singaporeans who are receiving financial help from the state? How did they land in dire straits, and how likely are they to be able to escape their plight?

Some answers came last year, when the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) released the demographic profile of those receiving ComCare help. ComCare provides three broad types of assistance: long-term help, largely for the elderly poor; interim and short- to medium-term help for those facing crises like illness or retrenchment; and kindergarten and student-care subsidies for children.

About half of the households receiving short- to medium-term help live in one- or two-room HDB flats. One in four households has the main breadwinner working; one in four households has the breadwinner looking for work.

The MSF did not elaborate on their racial backgrounds, or what led to their financial hardship.

But questions remain: Do these folk constitute what passes for "poverty" in affluent Singapore? Might there be others like them who need help but have not received it?

Singapore has no official national definition of poverty, unlike some countries such as the United States which have poverty thresholds based on household income and size.

Three years ago, then-Social and Family Development Minister Chan Chun Sing explained that the Government has "multiple lines of assistance across the entire spectrum rather than having one line".

The ministry's website points out that its help schemes typically cover the bottom 20th percentile of households, with the flexibility to go beyond if the family's circumstances merit consideration.

However, in the absence of an official definition of poverty, the 2.7 per cent of citizens receiving ComCare help could be seen as a proxy measure of the extent of poverty here.

As to what lands people in the poverty trap, a study by the Lien Centre for Social Innovation last year identified some root causes: Low-wage workers' wages are depressed due to the influx of cheap foreign labour, and workers are left out of economic growth.

Help for these affected workers has been stepped up. Those earning $1,900 or less a month receive Workfare income supplements in cash and top-ups to their Central Provident Fund accounts.

Some 372,245 workers received $422.8 million for working between January and September 2014, up from about 320,000 workers who received $343 million in 2009.

Thanks to these schemes, the incomes of the bottom fifth that stagnated between 2001 and 2010 have improved, growing by an average of 2.1 per cent a year from 2010 to 2015 after taking inflation into account.

Social workers note that there remains a group of core poor in Singapore - mostly the elderly and sick who cannot work. This group on long-term ComCare assistance has remained relatively stable - 4,134 in 2014, up from 3,479 in 2010.

Then there are those whose incomes have not caught up with rising costs. "Many people still live from hand to mouth because their income levels fail to catch up with the cost of living," says Mr Wee Lin, chairman of Sunlove Abode, which runs a network of seniors activity centres and clinics.

The number of those getting short- to medium-term ComCare help grew from 30,908 in 2010 to 67,926 in 2014.

Mr Seah Kian Peng, who chairs the Government Parliamentary Committee for Social and Family Development, said unemployment and medical or family issues could have driven more to seek help.

Some of these underlying causes and issues were found in the five families and one individual whom The Sunday Times spoke to.

Five of them are on ComCare and one family could have qualified for such aid, but did not seek help.

Their stories - the faces of the social transfers that have become a key part of today's Budgets - highlight the necessity of such financial help, as well as the role charities and others in society can play.

Stories of hardship, resilience and hope

It was conceived around the simple idea of letting those struggling with their finances tell their stories.

The reporters would craft their life stories to give The Sunday Times readers a broad, unvarnished ground-up picture of what living in financial hardship is like.
READ MORE HERE
Teen hopes to break long cycle of struggle

Since birth, he has been raised by his 74-year-old grandmother, Madam Pon Md Nor, and his 85-year-old grandfather, Mr Ahmad Taman.

Until this month, Mr Ahmad was the main breadwinner, earning around $1,500 a month as a security guard. But he has just been diagnosed with lung cancer, after he had a fall at work and was taken to hospital.
READ MORE HERE
Mum's burden with husband on visit pass

This is because her husband, a 34-year-old Indian national, is not able to work here. He and their son, also an Indian national, are on visitor passes which they need to renew every month. The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) has also rejected Mr Betthi's application for a long-term visit pass, and also for a student pass for the couple's son, Balakrisha.

It falls on Ms Vengatalakshmi to provide for the family - which has also expanded, as the couple had a daughter, Lineysha, born in Singapore in 2014. The 34-year-old mum works as a relief security guard for about $70 a day, earning about $1,600 a month.
READ MORE HERE
Family of 7 live on $1,300 a month

But Mr Ong, 49, is literally sandwiched between his wife and three daughters on two beds joined together in a room every night. His family of five would squeeze in a room because the other room in their three-room flat is occupied by his parents.

Though he promised his wife when they got married 13 years ago that they would get a place of their own, it has yet to materialise because finances are tight.
READ MORE HERE
From own 5-room flat to 2-room rental

The 52-year-old owned a van and ran a one-man courier company, and wife Geraldine Chen had a small gift-and-flower stall in Clementi. They lived in a five-room Housing Board flat in Pasir Ris with their three children. They could even afford a maid.

Today, the couple and six of their now seven children live in a two-room HDB rental flat in Clementi about the size of four parking spaces. Mr Leck is unable to work because of a heart problem and high blood pressure, and his wife stays home to look after the children. Their only income is $1,200 a month from ComCare.
READ MORE HERE
'No money for food at end of the month'

"I haven't eaten all day because there is no money for food towards the end of the month," says Sasha, who is in her 40s and a single mother of four children. She has been married three times.

"Usually, I just drink water and let the children have instant noodle or $2 packets of food," she adds, breaking into a hacking cough.
READ MORE HERE
78 and nearly blind, but 'very resilient'

Confidently hobbling along his route, Mr Lee barely breaks into a sweat as he navigates across roads, up bridges and even against the flow of traffic - even though, on a sunny Saturday afternoon, all he can see are hazy outlines of trees and buildings amid shadows. He makes out the flashing green man at pedestrian crossings by squinting.

"I have been using this route for the last 30 years and I know it by heart," says Mr Lee in Hokkien as he guides this reporter along the familiar circuit - from his one-room rental flat in Redhill to the blocks of flats in Telok Blangah - that he makes three or four times a week.
READ MORE HERE

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Two months ago, the Government for the first time released detailed figures on the breakdown of citizens who received financial aid from the state. In the financial year ending March 2015, 91,093 Singaporeans - or about 2.7 per cent of the citizen population - received $116 million in some form of social assistance.

# data[].attributes.body
Your society = Singapore

- Heavy reliance on the government for funding for the disadvantaged
- Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) shows that the government has taken up some responsibility to look after the needs of the disadvantaged

# data[].attributes.body
'needs':
- For the poor: education, proper sanitation, housing, basic necessities, financial support
- For the physically disabled: amenities in public spaces/transport, emotional support
- For children with learning-disabilities: teachers trained in special needs or relevant school personnel, emotional support

'responsibility': moral obligation/duty

# data[].attributes.body
Examples: the poor, people with special needs such as the physically disabled and children with learning-disabilities

# data[].attributes.headline
ESSAY QUESTION: Taking care of the needs of the disadvantaged should be the responsibility of the government. How far do you agree with regard to your society?

# data[].attributes.subject
ESSAY QUESTION: Taking care of the needs of the disadvantaged should be the responsibility of the government. How far do you agree with regard to your society?