Going Hungry In Singapore, A Cheap Food Paradise | Special Report Part 1/2 (with MSF clarifications)

in Singapore we are proud of our amazing food culture the plastic food is not hard to find but in this first wall food paradise not everyone gets the itami field yes even there are people but hunger in Singapore is not about having absolutely nothing to eat often it means being able to only afford instant noodles cream crackers canned food and sometimes two degrees all right for you senator please keep a lot of excessiveness so the worst case they thought it was fair right hotel sauna this is food insecurity food insecurity to me someone who don't really know when the next meal is coming one of the issues of food insecurity also is that it's associated with inability to choose the foods that you feel suit your needs in life the best the low-income elderly people larger families working poor people who even though they're working age have legitimate barriers not to work the people who are food insecure are really diverse when fee on fire first met Katie the euro left a deep impression each time when you finish with E I buy some extra food I home with me was every time and no matter there is always a focus the food if we find someone that really need to eat Fei Yan is the founder of keeping hope alive a volunteer group helping residents living in rental blocks across Singapore I was at this corridor and I discovered a little girl every chillness I've been taught that you know don't speak to strangers to nesic strangest food I'm quite surprised when I give it to her I said well oh stop okay she needs the frustration was he's a mother saw one up and that really caught my attention later that week Fiona and her volunteers came back to the house to help Katie and her grand aunt clean up the place [Music] nothing found inside the fish nothing to eat what she survived every day he's on this couch potato chips okay that's all gummy it's a main course there's nothing she can eat when I push open the door what I see inside is it I know that her living condition is not not super powerful her to get to the bottom of the family situation fian spoke to Katie's father the father is a is achiever willing as a real father to bed owners mostly DF but he has to work more than trust hours he really don't have much energy on the daughter Sam is a single father he works as a security officer and makes about 2,000 Singapore dollars a month the problem was for three years most of it went to paying his debts that time my job wasn't stable because I keep falling sick I wasn't able to really say concentrate because of the family issues katie is also hyperactive and some struggles to keep up I did not tell her that a clear very stress I just keep i n could be myself in 2016 Sam stopped working for a couple of months to pay for the household bills he resorted to borrowing from licensed moneylenders that's how he fell into the debt trap every month he had to borrow money just to pay back the previous loan this left him with less than 200 Singapore dollars to spend on food [Music] my Katy receives financial assistance from the Education Ministry and gets one free meal at school a day she don't result is Amman Jordan Godzilla now we are today getting help remains a challenge for Sam's family for households in financial need the concat file offers short to medium term assistance but to qualify applicants need to have a household income of 1900 Singapore dollars or below or a per capita household income from 650 Singapore dollars or below sam's income of 2000 Singapore dollars Falls just shy of the criteria when we think about targeting social welfare services we often have this idea in the back of our heads that we need to do some kinds of means testing objectively speaking there's nothing wrong of that concept because we don't want to waste volunteer time or taxpayer money on people who genuinely don't need the help the risk however is that there are going to be gaps they're going to be households for example who are not adequately outreach to buy that Fame a universal program here in Singapore you'll have for instance the dad is employed but just running from odd jobs odd job and so they are one paycheck away or one sickness away from being in trouble Shango knows all too well what this is like there was a KFC cleaner and the mum was saying many contract jobs are fundamentally new in 2009 his mom stopped working due to vascular disease in her legs a year later his father also lost his job when he was diagnosed with psychosis so when I got five years om Shiva image intended on 15 cents in for work so your life the Sabrina coin at the age of 12 Sanger then started working as a cleaner with his uncle to support the family Chili's yeah no II love could be collaborations are always full of biscuits we get our water from Connie versa then make something do matter so he just squirrel able sounds and used her outside the house life maybe masala parents the worst case their first it was rice hot-air solder chango's family applied for food rations and financial aid from their family service centre and the Singapore Indian Development Association the Community Development Council also helped with our utility bills but many is [Music] for many people on assistance the money is used to pay off bills first rather than on food hunger doesn't just affect those who live in rental flats some living in purchase plans but there's so many other issues they get embroiled in because of the the timing their age their family situation vahana is a mother of five living in a fall room flat she told us a story on the condition that she will not be filmed I found Bob a misty it's about how we struggle dearly shortly after we moved into the flat leaks and floor cracks developed to do renovations we had to borrow a few thousand dollars from licensed moneylenders my husband earns $1,900 a month as a technician and thus food delivery on the side after paying for our loans bills and school expenses when left with less than $50 for food a week kocha sisters is to provide for those that can immediately see her daily expenses regardless of her housing background look at my sources on revenue look at her savings they don't think of himself is currently looking into community come and I supposed to be working they also look at a family relationship and I stood together that could be kids they could be parents then they can use to support 55 year old aza has been unable to work due to health problems in 2014 he started to get cramps and tremors in his limbs doctors suspect he has Parkinson's disease I cannot want to my 79 for him dog broke my hand as I realize on financial assistance from Comcare and the Islamic religious counsel of Singapore almost each month he receives a total of 600 Singapore dollars every half a year he has to reapply for conquer systems which takes at least six weeks to be approved conch assistance is meant to be a short-term and medium-term assistance depending on the lender circumstance of her family there is flexibility to decide how long the assistance a city in the meantime other talks upon instant noodles and cereal when we met him he had been waiting for more than two months and he was running low on supplies [Applause] the Lisa Concord interim assistance we provide for our journey if you get cases yes it aza hasn't asked for interim help to survivor you know please this man you can mean Kenny the second man we can eat that much come to the same food esteemed Emily I like to work them in sting home no matter I enjoy your own income ICC if I take this medication can cure if can't cure I try my level by better a meal like this doesn't look too bad for one day but what happens if food looks like that every day every month for years to come so to find out we track the diet of serene for seven days and then we consult a dietitian on the long-term effects of her eating habits this is serene and she's 39 years old she is a mother of four teenagers and in your own now serene told me that she has about only 10 to 15 dollars a day to prepare one meal for a family of six so that means that she really has to stretch that budget alright let's take this day as an example now she only had one meal a day which was dinner and she cooked miso soup and potato wedges now serene also told me that usually should have very little of the sides because her children have huge appetites now in this particular day she only had one bowl of miso soup and two three pieces of the and a bowl of white rice and that was just her only meal for today on another day she had curry for dinner which again was the only meal for the day she had some chicken two to three pieces of carrots and also potatoes now you can tell from this two days alone that her mousse generally I'm missing or low in protein and fiber I also noticed that serene users frozen hash browns a lot her muse in general like variety due to considerations like cost convenience and her children's preferences so they rely a lot on frozen deep fried food which are high in saturated fat and can give her a high cholesterol according to the dietitian if serene continues to eat such food with little nutrition copper the fact that she skipped most of her meals she could develop chronic diseases like diabetes malnutrition or vitamin deficiencies but what about when conditions improve do all these problems with poor nutrition go away today Shango is in a better place a polytechnic student he brings home a thousand to her a Singapore dollars from his internship and part-time work the family it's much better now but the years of hunger have left a lasting impact gastro in disorder medicine yeah yeah gastrointestinal disorders our pain is unbearable that's not anybody I I need too much any 8 / 10 dB chuckling hey Doc yes yes okay according to one US study those who experience poverty have a much harder time regulating their food intake this could be due to the years of being conditioned to eat when they can instead of when they are hungry yes this really is what Shango can eat in one meal yeah I think the past impact me alone and now that I'm able to do what I want to do I just cannot let go I finally will get another illness I get a person eating too much can also cost effectively well don't know what thing or not but I thought doctor off life I don't care I want to I really I should but hunger also has a more insidious impact it takes away your ability to plan for the future for single mother nor iron making sure that her children are fed is a daily concern she was left to take care of five children on her own after her husband at the time was jailed as a part-time foot delivery rider she made 300 Singapore dollars a month on average things like having a savings plan or looking for a job with better prospects were far from her mind I have to take care of them like 24/7 make sure they go school make sure that I fetch them from issues to half-pound make sure you eat every day at one time I almost got depressed I cried every night I thinking about what will come tomorrow yeah every night people in poverty have what sociologists called reduced cognitive bandwidth which limits their ability to make better life choices solving the food problem gives them more attention to other things in their life you know upgrading themselves paying bills by an extra storybook you know for their king I think those are important in 2018 I approached the Social Service office for help the first thing they did was set out a plan for her find childcare expediter application for a home and finally help me for job search meeting these needs help to turn the family's life around ever since we have the house then convenient for them to go school just the next door then I have got my own job she is now working in retail as an operation specialist I got me royal and new powdered milk powder from a family service center and every 29 I really like thank thankful to the organization that really have mean like MSF my concealer from like that Lisa V Center indeed for those in need there's plenty of help on the ground from social service agencies volunteer and grassroots groups like this this one Southby has a welfare fund that helps residents type through tough times such as when they are waiting for concurrent systems normally I would do two things when I found that situation I will first ask as I saw see whether they can shorten the waiting time which most of the time they do and the other thing is also we give temporary help and we also work with our foot from the heart they give up bread every Wednesday and give up groceries once a mile for now Sam and Katie have found help in beyond and the volunteers from keeping hope alive they buy lunch regularly for Katie and a grand aunt and are helping to tutor Katie they are working towards helping the family become self-reliant again soon routines are you wanna wheeling around on a few considered Tito marketing Sedna oh yeah fatal doses are all thought up okay how the top of had the New Year's so when your party is when I send in television significantly long term now I have my job to keep the house moving Amir food should not be any problem we believe in mind hopping heads were actually many partners step forward to depart for our society it's very important to be a caring and inclusive society and therefore different players are to be able to contribute to this effort collectively but I think the reality is many households either don't know about the welfare scheme so they won't come forward or they may feel embarrassed at identifying themselves because of the stigma associated with seeking help and this is a real concern because again even though in Singapore we're unlikely to see such families starve they will have to make choices that compromise the longer-run nutrition and health and I think that's what we want to guard against [Music]

Channel: CNA Insider

Views: 1,646,884

Keywords: CNA Insider, Channel NewsAsia, People stories, Asian perspectives

Id: PQaVds_uFDY

Length: 20min 8sec (1208 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 15 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/Silverelfz]

A very apt video right now since there is a public consultation going on about the Good Samaritan Law. Google it if you want to participate.

[u/reallypurefruitjuice]

It's really sobering... and here I am buying a small bunch of cherries for $10!

[u/biskwy]

During my internship where I’m paid $600/month, I learnt it’s totally possible to survive nutritionally on quite little ($2/meal) by meal prepping in bulk quantities. Of course there’s not much options but cheap carbs are your friends.

Stick to cheaper options of whole meal bread like Topone, buy brown rice instead of white even though it’s more expensive, crackers are good options too. With these you need your greens, frozen vegetables are more expensive but they don’t go bad easily. This means you’re able to ration it better and put nutrition into your food.

Typically, peanut butter n jelly are a great way to get your carbs, fat and protein. Ingredients required are also incredibly cheap. Fried rice is a good alternative with brown rice, frozen vegetables, egg, and one source of protein (preferably chicken because it’s the cheapest).

Oatmeal n French toasts are also really good with some form of fruit toppings such as bananas/honey.

The meals above can be easily had for $2 or less.