Sunday 4 March 2012
Given its widely
recognized success, the Singapore public households could not afford to
buy their own flats or rent homes in the open market and occupied heavily
subsidized 1- and 2-room public rental flats under the Public Rental Scheme.
Through the HDB set up in 1960, housing is provided under the government’s
shelter for all policy. Over time, poor quality overcrowded housing and
temporary mass self-help housing in unimproved squatter settlements has been
progressively cleared and replaced by high-rise accommodations and improved
facilities in public housing estates and new towns. In the process, the public
housing sector has grown to become the predominant housing sector and stock of
affordable housing in Singapore. This has encouraged the formulation of
policies aimed at reducing the cost of housing and easing access to owner
occupation in public housing, even for the lower income residents.
As with Hong Kong,
there is no official poverty line in Singapore. There is little data on the
number in the ‘Left-Behind Class’. If going by the recent number of street
people picked up by the authorities, about 170-300 people in Singapore make the
streets their home every year. Many (50%) are old (60 and above years old) and
have no family, employment or skills. Others are abandoned by their own
families. In one report, the Singapore Department of Statistics has released a
figure of about 4 per cent of Singapore’s resident population (or 120,000)
living at or close to the poverty line in 1998 (The Straits Times, 31
May 2000). Income distribution as measured by the Gini coefficient was 0.481 in
2000. In the most recent population census (2000a), 12.6 per cent of households
(116,300 households) in Singapore earned less than S$1000 a month (average
household income was S$4943 per month). The lowest 10% of households excluding
those with no income earners had an average monthly income of S$459 in 2000
(average household size was 3.7) (Singapore Census of Population, 2001). The
unofficial national definition of poverty drawn from the income qualifying
criteria in various public assistance schemes seems to cover those surviving on
less than S$10 per person per day.
By contrast, there
are fewer homeless people in Singapore. The lowest income citizens are not
excluded from the housing system. Data from the public housing authority, the
Singapore Housing and Development Board (HDB), showed that as of Dec 2004,
37,823 households could not afford to buy their own flats or rent homes in the
open market and occupied heavily subsidized 1- and 2-room public rental flats
under the Public Rental Scheme. Through the HDB set up in 1960, housing is
provided under the government’s shelter for all policy. Over time, poor quality
overcrowded housing and temporary mass self-help housing in unimproved squatter
settlements has been progressively cleared and replaced by high-rise
accommodations and improved facilities in public housing estates and new towns.
In the process, the public housing sector has grown to become the predominant
housing sector and stock of affordable housing in Singapore. This has
encouraged the formulation of policies aimed at reducing the cost of housing
and easing access to owner occupation in public housing, even for the lower
income residents.
Singapore has the second highest income gap between the rich
and the poor, as indicated by the Gini coefficient, among the 38 countries with
very high human development, according to the 2009 United Nations Development
Report.
Singapore, according to the 2009 UN report, had a Gini
coefficient of 42.5, exceeded only by Hong Kong (43.4) among the countries with
very high human development.
As of March 2011,
World Bank have Singapore's
Gini Coefficient at
0.44 ~ that is very high for a developed economy.
http://www.pressrun.net/weblog/2010/07/gini-coefficient-income-gap-in-singapore-and-elsewhere.html
http://www.economist.com/blogs/banyan/2011/05/singapores_election
07isawesome @05:38
Thursday 1 March 2012
Today, we finally decided on how we are going to present our ideas. There are quite a few issues we had to take into consideration while deciding on how we are going to effectively bring our ideas across to our audience. Our main concerns were how we could effectively present our ideas without making the presentation seem boring and how we can capture the audience's attention. I think our idea of dressing up as a beggar would be a very good way to capture people's attention because we believe that no other group would be doing the same thing as us and hopefully our way of presentation will leave a strong impact on the audience and we can bring our point over to them efficiently.
07isawesome @05:58
07isawesome @05:58
Last week, 2 members of the WWF came to NJC to give us
a talk about environmental issues. The first part of the presentation was about
environmental issues on land such as deforestation and animal poaching. Pictures
of animals being stuck in traps set up by poachers and their fates after being
trapped caught our attention the most. It was extremely saddening to see such
things happening as these animals have not done anything to harm the human
population, yet they are being exploited for their body parts. It has also
angered many of us to know that animal poachers are doing such things even to
endangered animals. If steps are not taken to significantly reduce animal
poaching, there is no doubt that in future many of the endangered animals would
be extinct. Apparently, the marine life is facing similar problems. Yet there
are still many who choose to consume large amounts of seafood comprising of
endangered species like sharks, which are usually only wanted for their fins.
There was also a segment of the presentation used to raise awareness on Earth
Hour, an event conducted almost worldwide annually, and we were informed of what
we can do, on our part, to help Mother Earth, such as reusing paper or
effectively utilising paper by using both sides of it. All in all, we have
understood the importance of keeping our environment sustainable and will try
our best to make it so.
07isawesome @05:57
Last week, 2 members of the WWF came to NJC to give us
a talk about environmental issues. The first part of the presentation was about
environmental issues on land such as deforestation and animal poaching. Pictures
of animals being stuck in traps set up by poachers and their fates after being
trapped caught our attention the most. It was extremely saddening to see such
things happening as these animals have not done anything to harm the human
population, yet they are being exploited for their body parts. It has also
angered many of us to know that animal poachers are doing such things even to
endangered animals. If steps are not taken to significantly reduce animal
poaching, there is no doubt that in future many of the endangered animals would
be extinct. Apparently, the marine life is facing similar problems. Yet there
are still many who choose to consume large amounts of seafood comprising of
endangered species like sharks, which are usually only wanted for their fins.
There was also a segment of the presentation used to raise awareness on Earth
Hour, an event conducted almost worldwide annually, and we were informed of what
we can do, on our part, to help Mother Earth, such as reusing paper or
effectively utilising paper by using both sides of it. All in all, we have
understood the importance of keeping our environment sustainable and will try
our best to make it so.
- The Presentation Team
07isawesome @05:47
They say that when people of many different characters work together, complications will always arise. Conflicting ideas and differing points of view will always clash as we try to reach a consensus.
07isawesome @05:43
What was mentioned above, is absolutely true. As we tried to work together, we found ourselves reaching many points of contention, coming to disagreements, struggling to make ourselves heard. With a group of 22 students, all from a wide spectrum of backgrounds, working seamlessly together proved a huge problem.
But still, we managed to pull through together. The very fact that this blog post is up here is evident that we have managed to continually overcome all our differences to work together. Sure, there are still those moments of debate, but they are more of the intellectual arguments rather than displays of violence.
Our group was given the topic of "Urban Poverty". As we set out upon the task, we first had to question the definition of "Urban Poverty". Which aspect of Urban Poverty were we going to focus on? What was our main topic question? We had to discuss all these and as a result, we discovered how each of us perceived the world differently.
Eventually, our group decided to settle on a topic of Urban Poverty in Singapore, and how we can help to alleviate it. But already from the start, our choice was plagued with multiple problems. As discussions progressed, we realized how much we lacked in details we had to carry on. How do we define Urban Poverty? Does Singapore have Urban Poverty? Addressing these questions became a priority in this week's meeting.
As the day drew to a close, we stopped to look back at our efforts for the day. All in all, as a group, we managed to overcome our differences to work together effectively. A greater understanding between each member has been forged, which would allow us to work better in subsequent meetings. Our research has also finally managed to take a definite form and clear direction, allowing us to streamline our methods when undertaking future research.
07isawesome @05:43
Last week we listened to the environmental talks by World Wide Fund (WWF).
The talk was highly emotive and inspirational because it aroused our desire to save the environment. The speakers from WWF did that through vivid, explicit photos and concrete evidence in the form of data and statistics. For example, we watched a video on a dying tiger who was caught in a snare set up by poachers. We saw baby turtles and sharks getting caught in fishing nets, even though they were not the intended catch of fishermen. These innocent lives were lost, just like that.
It was a really harsh reminder to us who are constantly using natural resources without consideration for mother earth. It was completely mind-blowing how we witnessed the complete eradication of entire forestlands over the short span of 50 over years. It just shocked us how Borneo Island rapidly changed from a lush, green, bountiful forest into a barren plain, the result of the relentless march of industrialization (as revealed on the map they showed us). However, the zenith of our enlightenment came from the fact that humanity has the been the relentless gluttons that has been devouring our world's resources. From the animals that we kill unnecessarily, to the vast numbers of trees and vegetation that we discard just because they hold no commercial value.
This then made us realize just how much we literally hold the fate of the world in our hands. Our every action- from the way we dispose our trash to how much water we squander everyday to the paper that we waste while doing our homework- though seemingly insignificant blips of activities in our lives, will all add up to pose a serious threat to the fragile world around us.
To hit it home. How many of us live in the safe knowledge that Singapore's ecosystems will probably "never" be affected by such issues. We all think that Singapore is environmentally-friendly. We do not have policies of shaving off trees just for supplies. After all, does the government not advocate re-planting of trees? However, this "safe" knowledge is merely complacency. If we observe carefully, we will realize that Singapore is by right a land-scarce state but we focus heavily on urbanization. What does this mean? we will forever need to create land to construct new industrial buildings; and where do you think these pieces of land come from?
Our fragile home. Think about it.
07isawesome @04:50
The talk was highly emotive and inspirational because it aroused our desire to save the environment. The speakers from WWF did that through vivid, explicit photos and concrete evidence in the form of data and statistics. For example, we watched a video on a dying tiger who was caught in a snare set up by poachers. We saw baby turtles and sharks getting caught in fishing nets, even though they were not the intended catch of fishermen. These innocent lives were lost, just like that.
It was a really harsh reminder to us who are constantly using natural resources without consideration for mother earth. It was completely mind-blowing how we witnessed the complete eradication of entire forestlands over the short span of 50 over years. It just shocked us how Borneo Island rapidly changed from a lush, green, bountiful forest into a barren plain, the result of the relentless march of industrialization (as revealed on the map they showed us). However, the zenith of our enlightenment came from the fact that humanity has the been the relentless gluttons that has been devouring our world's resources. From the animals that we kill unnecessarily, to the vast numbers of trees and vegetation that we discard just because they hold no commercial value.This then made us realize just how much we literally hold the fate of the world in our hands. Our every action- from the way we dispose our trash to how much water we squander everyday to the paper that we waste while doing our homework- though seemingly insignificant blips of activities in our lives, will all add up to pose a serious threat to the fragile world around us.
To hit it home. How many of us live in the safe knowledge that Singapore's ecosystems will probably "never" be affected by such issues. We all think that Singapore is environmentally-friendly. We do not have policies of shaving off trees just for supplies. After all, does the government not advocate re-planting of trees? However, this "safe" knowledge is merely complacency. If we observe carefully, we will realize that Singapore is by right a land-scarce state but we focus heavily on urbanization. What does this mean? we will forever need to create land to construct new industrial buildings; and where do you think these pieces of land come from?
Our fragile home. Think about it.
07isawesome @04:50
Saturday 25 February 2012
Welcome. Welcome. Welcome.
You know what to do.
Let's get cracking.
Hobey-ho, let's go
07isawesome @01:44
You know what to do.
Let's get cracking.
Hobey-ho, let's go
07isawesome @01:44
