Did you go to Speaker’s Corner to take up your issue against TOC? It is clear you didn’t and you don’t know what human rights is. No one protested at Speaker’s Corner against TOC during the event itself, including you. If you genuinely felt you had a strong case, you would already be at Speaker’s Corner already.

“Won’t we be doing the job of the govenment then? What happens to the govt’s responsibility to its people?. Now, I’m not saying we, the citizens, cannot do our part. What I am saying is that the larger part of this responsibility belongs to the govt. How then can we get the govt to play the part is has to play?.”

I fully agree with gemami that we can and should play our parts in helping poorer people that we come across. However, we must be mindful not to take too much of social responsibility. A main function of any government is to provide social stability and look after the welfares of the weaker and poorer citizens.

patriot

Your scaremongering tactics won’t work in cyberspace especially with the younger generation. Please come up with something new la.

Agree with you in general, but you might want to elaborate further on what you mean when you say “….and refer them to proper authorities for more long term help. Who are the authorities you are suggesting?

The same authorities that these same people had shun in the first place or a newly set up independent decision making body affiliated to the prescribed shelter that has nothing to do with the government?

Won’t we be doing the job of the govenment then? What happens to the govt’s responsibility to its people?. Now, I’m not saying we, the citizens, cannot do our part. What I am saying is that the larger part of this responsibility belongs to the govt. How then can we get the govt to play the part is has to play?.

Other than this, I think you have some wonderful ideas worth exploring further.

At these centres, these people can be organised properly to pick the cans in a systematic manner such as given proper uniforms, tools etc or be given other types of jobs etc. Such centres can then access the needs of each stayer and refer them to proper authorities for more long term help.

Yes..i would rather the govt identify 10 locations to house these people and help them systematically than 10 locations to house the ever growing numbers of ah nehs..after all the accomodation of foreign workers should be the problem of the contractors who brought them in…if you want to use them, please take care of their accomodation too.

I think Spore is going full steam ahead and developing at such a break neck speed that everything nowadays is evaluated in terms of cost and benefit…dollars and cents…sad.

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No time for being online macho/partisan/battle of words, I’m going down this Saturday. :) These are exciting times.

the “Declaration of Human Rights” if anyone bothered to know what it is all about.

Human rights or Individual rights, they all boil down to one common denominator – RESPECT.

One thing I just cannot comprehend enough, why we have so many commentators jumping in to TOC, shout their arrogant and brainless thingies, and when shouted back at, they all go crying foul and blame the rest for having planks in their eyes when they know for certain that they have that little splinter in theirs to take care of first before they go tell the whole world about their splintered vision of it.

Take off the splinter first and there will be no planks flying toward you. Your ‘splinter/plank’ quote of the Bible is meant for one who does not know that he has a splinter in his eye; and not for one who knows he has it there, but does nothing about it and still try to be smart to others, telling them to take off their planks. By doing so, your splinter becomes a plankfull, enough to build a bridge across a river.

Now, let’s return to our sanity.

However, I felt that the “poor” and “homeless” are often exploited to push for other agendas. Of those so-called “poor” and “homeless” featured in the video, do you know how many of them rejected help from welfare organisations?

No denying that both your statements hold some truths in them. But then again, ask yourself why there is this ‘exploitation’? Because, for every one ‘exploited’, there are a hundred more who are in dire need of assistance. To me, the need to exploit is seen more as a need to educate, to bring awareness to the existence of such people in such plights. While we continue to argue whether each is a genuine case or not, we will be missing out on those who truly are. Are their rights of these genuine cases being compromised while we argue?

As for the poor rejecting help from welfare organisations; did you for one moment stop to think why these poor folks are rejecting such avenue of assistance? Do you understand the Asian mentality at all. A person can be dying of hunger, yet claim not to need any help because he feels he need to have his dignity intact, o,r save face. Do we leave them be and say it is their fault then? Have we tried harder to find ways to help him by adopting a different approach? Most of these people are waiting just for that.

I recently caught a glimpse of something on tv (I usually do not watch the telly at all) and there was this man who, when prompted by the show host to sell off one of his unused luggage bag for $50 so that he could use the money to support his family; his reply was, he did not want $50 for it. He only wanted to sell it for $20. When questioned why, he said he has his dignity and that taking $50 is akin to selling off his dignity for the additional $30.

What I am saying is very simply this; that these welfare organisations look beyond just providing monetary assistance and look to see if other areas like housing and providing for these poor folks in a dignified and humane way, unlike the bureaucratic ways is now adopts, where one seeking help has to first face-off with strangers who ask all sorts of probing questions that strips one off his dignity and lacking in basic humanity.

Soemthing else for you to think about. Why are we doing so much for the FW as opposed to our used-and-now-deemed-useless generation of senior citizens?

I think the government should consider additional facilities suitable as temp dorms for foreign workers to also consider them for use as shelters for the homeless and the destitute. They can be provided food donated by citizens (given how much Singaporeans donate to the NKF, wouldn’t even a fraction help provide food to these people?). If some of the elderly are fiercely proud of their independence, they can “earn their keep”, doing artwork for sale or even continuing to collect cardboard boxes and other recycling materials that the shelters would pay them for.

Social activists can then be invited to help these people get their lives together again at such shelters.

Have you guys tried contacting Dr Lily Neo to get her to show up as well? It seemed (barring the possibility of political posturing) this is a matter close to her heart.

As for partisan’s (#6) comments – have you considered what the police would do for these people when they “deal with it”? Frankly I do not know. Our police is an efficient law-enforcement force … I do not know how much social work capabilities or connections they possess.

I would hardly consider this a “political issue”. This is a social issue and I believe TOC is doing the right thing by bringing this into the public light so Singaporeans can be made aware of it and try to do right by it. I was blissfully unaware of the problem while living in Hougang and even when I started observing these scenes in Chinatown where my girlfriend lives. For a long time I truly believed the government line that poverty had been eradicated and that we were a nation of middle-class citizens.

I think all of us here want to do something for our country abeit in a very different way.

We are all make differently, have different asipirations and environment and so see things very differently from one another.

There is no need to actually attack one another here. It will only make us feel hurt and empty inside. As if the world right now is not chaotic enough.

Many wars were started by a small spark and the consequences were devastating.

I have all along advocate a forbearing spirit here despite our differences.

For this site tb e great and solid, it needs to continuously attract views from different sources. We agree to disagree but let’s do it civilly and with respect.

What is so great about this site if we only attract anti-establishment netizens? The site is only great if we can attract pro-establishment people and listen to their views with respect instead of shooting them down.

My dream is for all partisan or non-partisan netizens to have a good argument here with mutual respect and courtesy for all mankind without attacking each other personally.

Only if we can rise above our own views and yet able to love all others that we can truly be called great men of our land.

Everybody’s havin a piece of you Partisan..feelin the heat eh?
Started to be frustrated or maybe motivated to lambast back..It could be a ploy to gain some popularity..

Anyway, Just because the poor doesnt want help, that doesn’t mean they don’t need help. My friend’s aunt lived alone and she gets by sellin crackers and sardine puffs at MRT stations. She’s got gout and whole history of hypertension and diabetes. A very proud woman still and refused to be help watsoever. But I gues we can all do our part to flag these people to the correct ministry for help bcos the authorities will continue to ignore and turn the blind eye.
Now she gets some form of financial relief thanks to my friend who encouraged her and more importantly, stayed relevant to her life with visits and company.

God bless us all.

u wrote : “Anyway, most people are often armchair critics who just want to have a go at PAP’s but still belong to the 66% who will voted for them. Talk only no action.”

your 66% will be even more meaningful if in this tiny little country everyone voted and then your argument would be even more bombastic and convincing, not that it is not bombastic and unconvincing.

“Why do you focus on the splinter which is in your brother’s eye, and fail to notice the plank which is in your own eye?” (Mat 7: 1-6) Do not be so hasty in passing judgment. I am not against being vocal about human rights nor freedom of speech.

However, I felt that the “poor” and “homeless” are often exploited to push for other agendas. Of those so-called “poor” and “homeless” featured in the video, do you know how many of them rejected help from welfare organisations? Go ask the old lady picking up the cans from the rubbish dump or the old man stacking old cardboards to sell, it would be interesting to hear their reply.

This is the rationale for me stating that this video is politicising the poor and homeless: It seemed to me that the video is showing that the Government doesn’t care or don’t bother. On the contrary, some of them featured also rejected help. To be fair to the Government, they do provide welfare and help to the needy, why is it not featured in the video? This video is one-sided, designed to draw sympathy.

Anyway, most people are often armchair critics who just want to have a go at PAP’s but still belong to the 66% who will voted for them. Talk only no action.

Thanks for your reminder.

I felt a great need to question and send a strong reminder to those who are lacking in general compassion and emotional quotient, a result of society’s declining values and in fact, a reflection of our government’s attitude.

It was a strong message meant to draw a reply from PARTISAN. Lets hear from him/her.

Hi I think that was a very strongly worded post. Though we can agree to disagree, lets do it with courtesy.

We want a civil exchange of ideas and views but certainly within reason, mutual respect and love.

Thanks all.

I have been to the airport on few occasions in the middle of the night to sned people away and found alot of people sleeping at Changi T1/2/3. It pained my heart to see our people having no where to due perhaps due to personal reason.

I knew some divorcees slept underneath the Benjamin Bridge also when they divorced and have no where to go as their flat was repossessed by HDB. Some make it to neighbouring countries such as Batam, JB and Tg Pinang where the standard of living is lower.

When I worked in a family service centre, there are grown men who told me they have no shether due to various reasons. When I checked whether any available resources were available then, I was shocked to find out that there was a lack of such welfare services. There are shelters for battered women and their kids but not for men.

In US and Australia, there are welfare sheters for all gender if they are street people. Of course, some prefer to stay out on their own due to various reasons.

Nevertheless, a properly run shelter for the poor and homeless needs to be in place at least for the interim period before people find appropriate housing.

All of us have to help publicize this Saturday’s event to make it an EVENT. The momentum must be kept up if we hope to see changes along the way because apathy is well ingrained in most Singaporeans.

Be there, be seen and together, be a locomotive for much needed positive changes.