Is there poverty in Singapore?

Singapore is a prosperous, wealthy state-city. It seems to be the city with the most millionaires in the world. So they say.......

Does this mean there is no proverty here? No, I think there IS still some poverty going on. Not very visible, maybe not much, percentagewise, and maybe not to the point of starvation, but there IS ....

Some weeks ago there was e.g. this article in the Straits Times:

Although the headlines say they are 'choosing' to sleep on the streets, there situation does not sound very nice:-(.

Revealing is this short video on poverty in singapore. The busker (streetperformer) in the beginning, twirling around the heavy bead chains I watched doing his act on Orchard myself.

On the internet I read this article about poverty in Singapore. Shocking info!!!!

And last year I read the following in the newspaper:

In the Geylang-area in Singapore is a neighbourhood called McPherson. It is a poor neighbourhood with a lot of elderly, sick, unemployed and otherwise weak and poor people.

This area is less clean than average, less well maintained, there is more crime like drugs, burglary and murder. There is more not collected garbage, urine in elevators, mosquitos. There are more people then average living on welfare 1:268 versus 1:1102 in the whole country) and more people living in small rental HDBflats (versus owned propertyHDB's as usual here).

This explains that if you are not in certain areas, you will not encounter poverty that easily....

Via Linda, a tangofriend, I came across one of many volunteer-projects: the Soup Kitchen. I have participated twice so far, one time wrapping and delivering the food, last time preparing the food.

The delivery was quite a shocking experience. Living my life in the glam Marina Bay area, seeing the homes of these people sure is something else!

In Little India, in a small shophouse, is an alternative bar/resto: Food#03. They are closed on mondays and then the volunteerproject the Soup Kitchen uses this place to prepare about 80 meals for the poor and handdeliver them afterwards.

There are some fun and even some beautiful murals on and around the shophouse.

The two adjacent shophouses were once the Postmuseum.

Wrapping and folding the foodpackages.

Dividing the food.

Volunteers
(This picture and the previous two are not taken by me, but borrowed from Facebook)

All the veggies have been cleaned and cut and brought towards the kitchen. Only one bowl with eggplant left to be brought there as well....

In Food#03 you can buy this book about the poor and elderly, living in the eldest HDB's; the one room flats. The Soup Kitchen brings its meals to the residents of one of those HDB's.

A very special and beautiful mural on one of the walls of Food#03.

So once again this shows that there is more to Singapore than meets the eye. Look further, deeper, wider and you'll see and get to know more.....