SINGAPORE: Questions were raised about whether things like fragrances, jewelry, and overseas vacations are necessary for some segments of the population who are receiving economic aid from the government during a discussion on defining what is an important need for families that took place in Parliament on Wednesday( Oct 4 ).
A recent study on household expenses at a time of rising living prices was at the center, with Mr. Eric Chua, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Social and Family Development, telling the House that the study’s results went beyond reflecting the fundamental requirements of lower-income homes.
In response to the same study, three government agencies in charge of social and family development, & nbsp, finance, and men made this point last month.
Dr. Ng Kok Hoe, director of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, and Associate Professor Teo You Yenn, provost chair in sociology at Nanyang Technological University, co-authored the Minimum Income Standard ( MIS ) 2023 Report, which was published last andnbsp.
Mr. Chua emphasized how the MIS report had stated that it considered” what it takes to help a sense of belonging, value, protection( and) independence” in addition to” basic needs like housing, food, and clothes.”
Even the MIS report itself has defined what( researchers ) have discovered to be beyond basic needs, which is quite clear. Therefore, Mr. Chua claimed that what they were describing was actually about what is ambitious and what probably individuals would like to have.
However, as I stated in my principal response, ComCare, along with our grants and financial aid programs,” satisfies basic wants.”
Lower-income households with basic living expenses like cash and help with energy bills are supported by the Ministry of Social and Family Development’s( MSF ) ComCare financial assistance program.
In light of the report’s conclusions, Mr. Ang Wei Neng, a member of parliament for the West Coast Group Representation Constituency ( GRC ), asked the legislature if MSF would think about changing the financial aid it provided to low-income families.
Mr. Ang also questioned whether the government would think about conducting its own research andnbsp, using data from the government that is not publicly accessible, to ascertain the minimum wage needed to support a basic standard of living.
The ministry & nbsp” regularly reviews” its assistance coverage, Mr. Chua said in response to Mr Ang’s inquiries, and the MSF & sb’references data and information from various sources during these reviews.
These options include MSF-commissioned scientific studies and research, as well as cost information from the Department of Statistics, opinions from site authorities, and community partners.
Associate Professor Jamus Lim, Workers’ Party MP for Sengkang GRC, more questioned what constitutes a fundamental need or ambitious good like smell. He said:” Of course, some Singaporeans will know as well that in our hot and humid climate, being attractive and smelling standard would be something that many jobseekers may need in order to have some dignity when they go for job interviews or go to work.”
He continued by expressing his” somewhat perplexed” at ComCare’s apparent expansion of its definition of needs to include” relative needs such as mobile phone plans and the like.”
Mr. Chua responded by saying that the government periodically evaluates its” basket of goods and services that are needed in a standard deal for our ComCare people.” & nbsp,
” And we have included mobile information plans because that enables electronic connection, which in turn supports individual link— a fundamental need we assessed, and that’s consistent with what I said now.”
In order to better persuade Singaporeans, Mr. Ang after posed a secondary question asking if MSF may contemplate producing its own report if it disagree with the findings of the MIS report,” which is abroad conducted in many countries.”
Mr. Chua did not directly respond to this, other than to make the point that ambitious things are desirable but not necessary.
Instead, he took the time to clarify some aspects of the document, including the” assumption” that lower-income families received the same level of financial assistance as their peers with median incomes.
” This is obviously incorrect. People with lower incomes are more eligible for financial assistance than middle households. This is not something that the MIS investigation has acknowledged.
In accordance with the” many helping hands approach” to provide for families with less, Mr. Chua added that it was crucial to” look at the entirety” of what is provided to the families as well. This includes not only the financial assistance provided by the government but also what other community and corporate stakeholders are doing.
Mr. Chua also recalled how two residents who lived in rental apartments had told him that things like jewelry, perfume, and vacations abroad were” good to have, lah ,” and that they would” work hard for these things, lor.”
Let’s not undervalue the agency, strength, and dignity of our lower-income families, as well as their capacity to turn things around and end the cycle of poverty — with them obviously in the loop and clearly holding on to the levers of their own lives— was what I took away from these two conversations.
This article was first released today in & nbsp.