Monday, November 11, 2024

There Must be Diginity Even for the Homeless


In an excellent commentary written by Harry Tan, Vanessa Lim, Belle Phang and Brian Monteiro titled 'Homeless Shelters That Feel Like Home Can Help Keep People Off The Streets In Singapore' published on 8 November, 2024 on CNA, they reminded us that there are homeless people in this city, and many still sleep rough. And many more will do so.

This article summarized the various help channels available to people who need temporary living spaces. We have seven transitional shelters in Singapore. 

Currently, homeless people here have access to two main shelter options: Safe Sound Sleeping Places (S3Ps), which are temporary or overnight shelters run by community or religious organisations, and the longer-term government-funded transitional shelters in one-room to three-room HDB flats or former public buildings.

I'm not exactly involved in MSF's PEERS (Partners Engaging and Empowering Rough Sleepers) network of agencies or shelters. But when rental flats get freed up (as one unit with co-tenants or otherwise) and can accommodate homeless folks, and if they're the elderly, then they will be trickled down to me and the team to sort out their day-to-day subsidies and such. 

I do sometimes reach out to rough sleepers, especially if I see them for more than a week in the usual spots I frequent. There're many occupying little corners along Roberston Quay and Mhd Sultan Road, as well as Little India and some quiet corners of Jalan Besar. 

Family resources, help and support can only go so far. Many will still slip through the social safety nets. I'm glad that the Ministry of Social and Family Development is doing regular and almost annual surveys of 'Street Count of Rough Sleepers'. Based on that count, we do have homeless people in Singapore. Not overwhelmingly so, but at a number we should not dismiss. The full report to 'Street Count of Rough Sleepers 2022' is linked here

530 rough sleepers were found, a significant decrease from the 921 rough sleepers sighted in a previous single-night count in 2019. This means that for every 100,000 persons in Singapore, about 9 are sleeping rough. While much work remains to be done, the incidence of rough sleeping is lower than global cities such as New York (40) and Hong Kong (21).

The CNA article also suggested that we should brighten up these transitional living spaces so that they feel more welcoming and feel less like a stigma and housing 'unwanted' people in marginalized venues. 

Physical spaces affect people’s moods and behaviour. So shelters can influence how residents see themselves and the world around them. A cramped shelter with no privacy, sterile corridors, and bare-walled rooms is hardly inviting to anyone and reinforces the stigma around homelessness. 

Incorporating warm lighting, plants and cozy colours into the shelter environment conveys the idea that "you deserve a place to call home". This mindset can help the residents progress towards attaining stability. 

In 2023, CNA reported on a prototype room for migrant workers that was designed to feel like a home, suggesting that this could be the future for dormitories. 

We extend the same idea to homeless shelters and suggest that designing innovative shelters that feel like home could help to keep people off the streets in Singapore.

I dunno man. We don't even treat our migrant workers and domestic helpers right. Government efforts to even improve the way we transport workers are half-hearted because the businesses don't want to incur higher costs and the government doesn't want to regulate it or force them to. 

Along this sort of reasoning, then broad questions will come in as to why should we make that distinction to 'help' the rest of us living on the fringes. It's sometimes very disheartening to hear people say, 'If we make it so nice, then people won't want to leave!' It's on the same logic as 'Why should people on handouts have a big television or the latest model of a phone?' 

Hello, this idea of aspirations! Can you fault someone for having aspirations? Austerity and minimalism might be something. But many prefer a warmer touch. People like decorating their office cubicles, studios and lockers, rooms, homes and everything else. 

Singaporeans have this problem with 'dignity', and providing welfare to the less fortunate. While many of us might not be racists, we are elitist and materialistic af. Pragmatic to the point of being apathetic. Perhaps we simply don't care because we're too wrapped up in our own problems and doing life. Nobody wants to be labelled as poor, or living on the poverty line. Many are proud and would like to be independent and find freedom in living our life the way we want, as far as the society permits. However, life does deal many of us a bad hand at various points in our lives. Few of us can weather these storms.

Extracted from MSF's full report titled 'Street Count of Rough Sleepers 2022'

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