Homelessness in Singapore is easy to miss. But according to Assistant Professor Ng Kok Hoe of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, "You will see it if you look." He says the island's homeless people tend to be quite vigilant and make an effort to avoid detection. In terms of appearance, they don't fit common stereotypes of vagrancy and destitution, so it's often difficult to distinguish a homeless person from any other member of the public.
And yet homelessness is a problem, but to what extent?
To find out, Dr Ng's team conducted a nationwide count of the number of street homeless people — defined as anyone who was asleep or going to sleep in public places — and interviewed some of them. The team consisted of 480 volunteers, including representatives from more than 20 NGOs and many individual members of the public. Catholic Welfare Services and Homeless Hearts of Singapore, two experienced homelessness outreach groups, were also partners in the study.
The first of its kind, the report Homeless in Singapore: Results from a Nationwide Street Count, which was launched on 8 November 2019, estimates there are between 921 and 1,050 street homeless people in Singapore. Most of whom are older Chinese men. It also found that homelessness is a chronic problem. One half of those interviewed said they had been sleeping outside for one to five years. A third said they had been homeless for six years or longer.
According to Minister for Social and Family Development Desmond Lee, however, only about 300 to 385 homeless people received help from the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) in recent years. Why is this number so low compared to the estimated total? Dr Ng’s research sheds some light on why this might be the case.
Why are people homeless?
The study identified three broad causes of homelessness in Singapore.
The first is insecure work and poverty. While 6 in 10 of the homeless people interviewed work — with some holding full-time jobs — they have irregular work and low wages. Common occupations cited included cleaning, odd jobs, security and retail, which are among the lowest-paying occupations in Singapore.
Low-wage work can also mean working during odd hours — when public transport is not available. Travelling at this time is expensive, so some opt to sleep near their workplace instead. All these factors expose low-wage workers in particular to the risks of homelessness.
The second cause is the loss of social resources or the breakdown of family support. The study found that nearly 40% of the interviewees had housing in their names, usually public rental housing or purchased flats. But because of family conflicts they were no longer able to live in their homes.
Barriers to accessing housing services make up the third cause. Inadequate housing standards within the public rental sector has been documented as a contributing factor towards homelessness in Singapore. Public rental flats are small and have no separate bedrooms, but must be shared by two single people (who are usually strangers). The flats are affordable, but the lack of privacy and difficulties in getting along with co-tenants are seen as deal breakers for some.
Outreach efforts and volunteerism
Some outreach groups, such as Catholic Welfare Services and Homeless Hearts of Singapore, have made an effort to make contact with homeless people. They walk the ground and befriend them, gathering information on where to find them and connecting them to housing services such as shelters and the welfare homes. Most shelter services require some level of commitment from their occupants: to stay a certain duration and to work on their problems.
What's lacking, says Dr Ng, "are emergency or overnight shelters with a low entry bar and immediate availability." The first such shelters were recently opened by Catholic Welfare Services.
Abraham Yeo, founder of Homeless Hearts of Singapore shares his insights on the homeless in Singapore in this interview.
The Destitute Persons Act: an official blind spot
Singapore is also missing an official definition of homelessness. The closest thing that applies is the Destitute Persons Act, which Dr Ng sees as having an ambivalent approach to mitigating homelessness. "It is a mix of wanting to provide care for homeless people, but also wanting to protect the public from them."
The 1965 Act, which was most recently revised in 2013, intends to "provide for the care and rehabilitation of destitute persons." However, it also defines a "destitute person" as someone whose begging causes, or is likely to cause "annoyance" or be a "nuisance" to the public, or any idle person who has "no visible means of subsistence or place of residence."
The Act also allows homeless people to be involuntarily admitted into a welfare home, and may require them to reside there long-term until if they are deemed ready for discharge. Interviews conducted by Dr Ng's team show that more than half of the homeless persons had been approached by the police and other public officers, often having their National Registration Identity Card (NRIC) checked and sometimes being asked to move along. "As a result, many of them are quite wary about making contact with members of the public."
Dr Ng's study suggests that there is a gap between the intention of the Destitute Persons Act and how its implementation is perceived by the homeless. They see the Act's mitigation measures as impositions on their freedom to live independently, and are discouraged by the limitations of the options available to them, such as public rental housing.
Dr Ng warns that homelessness, "may not fade away with time or even after the current cohort with older people." In fact, the changing nature of work and prospect of insecure work may be a risk even to younger generations. "I think we should continue to be very vigilant and try to do our best to understand homelessness and to improve the services that cater to this population."
What's next: Future research and policy insights
Homelessness in Singapore: Results from a Nationwide Street Count is the first study to measure the scale of homelessness in Singapore using a method of street counts that offers stable and consistent data. Hopefully, it won't be the last. Such street counts should be conducted every few years to ensure information is current. Future research would do well to expand on the scope of this study to include areas like the sheltered homeless population, inadequate housing, and the way demographic changes, economic conditions, housing policies, and service capacities affect homelessness over time.
The insights gleaned from Dr Ng's study can be used to guide the planning and design of social services aimed at mitigating homelessness. One of its main findings was that the constant instability in the life of the street homeless — in their low-wage and insecure work, for example — poses a significant challenge in their attempts to exit homelessness. Policies in these areas can be improved.
Homelessness also reflects the limitations of HDB's public rental housing scheme, which at present is not a viable option for some. Dr Ng's study proposes removing the scheme's joint tenancy requirement as a way of easing the exit path out of homelessness.
In the interim, shelter services whose design takes into account the complexity and chronic nature of homelessness in Singapore will be critical. Overnight shelters with a low entry bar and immediate availability, the study suggests, would provide the homeless with a chance at stability.
Since few homeless people attempt to seek help directly from shelters, Dr Ng's study suggests that outreach services could be expanded to connect homeless people to housing support. In this area, consultation with voluntary outreach groups that have been conducting outreach for years would be necessary.
Using defensive architecture as an example (such as installing dividers on benches to discourage rough sleeping), Dr Ng's study questions how communities determine who rightfully belongs, and whether communities should be defined narrowly based on property ownership, or more openly in terms of identity and connectedness. The study's collaborative approach, bringing together public and voluntary groups, can promote community ownership to achieve housing security for this vulnerable population.
(Photo credit: Jirka Matousek)
