In wealthy Singapore, about 1,000 people sleep rough every night
- In the city where part of the Crazy Rich Asians movie was filmed and where the home ownership rate stands at more than 90 per cent, a forgotten few sleep outside
- Many actually have homes but are pushed out by family conflict, co-tenant quarrels, or a simple need to be close to work
A landmark study on homelessness in Singapore has found that on any given night, between 921 and 1,050 people sleep in public spaces such as parks and unenclosed lobbies.
Most are older men who sleep rough because they cannot afford housing, want to be near their workplace or have issues with family members or housemates, among other reasons.
The study was led by assistant professor Ng Kok Hoe at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, with the help of 480 volunteers, social workers mobilised by the government, and NGOs conducting fieldwork over three months.
Of the roughly 1,000 people found sleeping rough, 191 were awake and 88 agreed to be interviewed. Six in 10 of those 88 were employed, most commonly in cleaning, odd jobs, security and retail. Those who were paid monthly earned between S$560 (US$412) and S$3,000, with the monthly median income being S$1,400 – about 60 per cent less than the $3,467 of employed Singapore residents.
The findings, presented on Friday at a public seminar, are a follow-up to a smaller survey done two years ago, when 180 people were found sleeping in public across 25 locations in Singapore, where the home ownership rate is above 90 per cent.
This year’s survey divided the country of 5.7 million people into 25 districts consisting of 298 zones. The volunteers first spent at least one night in each zone over a three-month period to count the number of people sleeping outdoors or who looked like they were about to go to bed. In all, they found 1,050 homeless people.
