Poverty Amidst Plenty: 
A Study of Disadvantage, Vulnerability and Social 
Exclusion in Singapore 
Thesis submitted in accordance with the requirements of the University of 
Liverpool for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Gillian Moffat Davidson. 
December 1999 
i 
ABSTRACT 
Title: Poverty amidst Plenty: A Study of Disadvantage, Vulnerability and Social 
Exclusion in Singapore 
Author: Gillian M. Davidson 
This thesis is concerned with the relationships between urban poverty and successful 
economic growth in a non-western economy. It does this in the context of global 
economic and social restructuring and aims to examine how some of these changes 
have impacted upon the experiences, understanding and responses to urban poverty 
for different groups and individuals. In order to do this, the study is located in the East 
Asian nation-state of Singapore, one of the most successful examples of economic 
transformation, and where discussions of poverty and difference have become 
marginalised. More specifically, the thesis aims to diagnose and understand poverty in 
this context and identify recent trends and groups being left behind, but also to explore 
and explicate the causes of poverty and their differential effects and to clarify 
strategies and responses to poverty, identifying which factors at the community, 
household and intra-household levels impact on the ability to negotiate and respond. 
Consequently, a critique is advanced of current approaches to poverty research in the 
region. The thesis argues instead for the use of participatory understandings and 
concepts of poverty which can highlight the multi-faceted and multi-dimensional 
nature of poverty and for the need to explore diversity and difference and identify 
inequalities between groups and individuals. In order to capture these multi- 
dimensional aspects, the thesis advances the use of the concepts of vulnerability and 
social exclusion in order to expose the dynamics of hidden lives and responses. 
Further, this study proposes that observations of poverty should be made from 
different levels, the macro, intermediate and micro, in order to highlight the different 
contexts, structures and experiences of poverty and to further allow the investigation 
of excluded spaces and realities. 
Specifically quantitative and qualitative evidence was derived from a flexible and 
multi-method research strategy at the organisation, household and individual level in 
Singapore. The study explores the different understandings of poverty and analyses 
the diversity of experiences and dimensions of poverty for different disadvantaged 
groups and the impacts of rapid but successful economic transformations. By 
concentrating on the relationships between different assets and the capabilities of 
households and individuals, the study explores a range of factors which impoverish 
and make vulnerable, and identifies which groups are more likely to be disadvantaged, 
vulnerable or excluded. The study concludes that poverty in Singapore relates to both 
a lack of income and non-monetary factors such as assets, access and social isolation 
and that these dimensions and the experiences and responses to poverty are impacted 
upon by a range of factors, and especially restrictions and barriers, from different 
levels including national policy and philosophy, household dynamics and intra- 
household inequalities. 
11 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
Abstract 
Table of Contents 
List of Tables 
List of Acronyms 
Acknowledgements 
Chapter I: Introduction 
1.1: Focus of the research 
1.2: The geography of urban poverty 
1.3: The geography of East and Southeast Asia 
1.4: The structure of the thesis 
Chapter 2: Conceptualising poverty: definitions and debates 
2.1: Introduction 
2.2: Conceptualising poverty 
2.3: Conceptualising the relationships between poverty and gender 
Chapter 3: Setting the scene: East Asia and Singapore 
3.1: Introduction 
3.2: Tiger feats: the making of the East Asian `miracle' 
3.3: Unmasking the miracle: uneven development in East Asia 
3.4: Introducing the case study: Singapore 
3.5: Defining the research themes 
Chapter 4: Designing a research methodology 
4.1: Introduction 
4.2: Establishing the context 
4.3: Carrying out the surveys 
1 
I1 
iv 
vi 
vii 
1 
1 
2 
8 
13 
16 
16 
18 
37 
54 
54 
57 
62 
79 
96 
99 
99 
104 
112 
111 
4.4: Analysis and dissemination of results 121 
4.5: Representing the `other': some issues in research 124 
Chapter 5: Who is poor among us? Identifying the poor in Singapore 132 
5.1: Introduction 132 
5.2: Defining poverty in Singapore 146 
Chapter 6: Building a profile of poverty in Singapore 156 
6.1: Introduction 156 
6.2: Dimensions of poverty in Singapore 157 
6.3: Summarising the experiences of poverty 199 
Chapter 7: `Many helping hands': responding to poverty in Singapore 206 
7.1: Introduction 206 
7.2: `The next lap': social welfare in Singapore 208 
7.3: `Many helping hands': the delivery of welfare 215 
7.4: Conclusion 240 
Chapter 8: The spaces of coping: women and poverty in Singapore 242 
8.1: Introduction 242 
8.2: The forms and faces of poverty: women's experiences in Singapore 246 
8.3: The spaces of coping: women's responses to poverty 251 
8.4: Conclusion 262 
Chapter 9: Conclusion 263 
9.1: Summary of the research 263 
9.2: Key findings 266 
9.3: `The East Asian crisis': implications for the future 273 
Bibliography 278 
Appendices 308 
iv 
LIST OF TABLES 
1.1: Regional poverty figures, 1985 and 1990 4 
1.2: Relevant regional definitions 10 
2.1: Relevant poverty definitions 19 
3.1: Regional performance indicators 58 
3.2: Regional social indicators 59 
3.3: Urbanisation trends 63 
3.4: Economic indicators, Singapore 1996 81 
3.5: Social and demographic indicators, Singapore 1996 82 
3.6: Selected socio-economic indicators by ethnic group, Singapore 1990 96 
3.7: Research themes and questions 98 
4.1: Poverty profile checklist 105 
4.2: Participating organisations, Singapore 1995-96 110 
4.3: Interviews with key informants, Singapore 1995-96 116 
5.1: Poverty trends in Singapore, 1972-90 135 
5.2: Income distribution and poverty in East Asia 135 
5.3: Official profile of 'normal' families and categories of 'disadvantaged' families 139 
5.4: Types of poor by income per month 141 
5.5: Foreign worker's levies and quotas by sector, 1995 152 
6.1: Relevant household definitions 158 
6.2: Household Characteristics, Singapore 1995-96 160 
6.3: Type of household head, Singapore 1995-96 162 
6.4: Ethnic composition of survey and Singapore, 1990 and 1995-96 162 
6.5: Ethnic composition of foreign workers, Singapore 1995-96 162 
6.6: Types of changes to household structure in the last 5 years, Singapore 1995-96 163 
6.7: Perceptions of poverty, Singapore, 1995-96 167 
6.8: Household income per month at the survey, community and national level, 
1990-96 168 
6.9: Household income per month by type of household, household head and ethnicity, 
Singapore 1995-96 168 
6.10: Individual income per month by gender, Singapore 1995-96 169 
6.11: Sources of income by head of household, Singapore 1995-96 169 
6.12: Sources of income by type of household, Singapore 1995-96 169 
6.13: Sources of income by monthly household income, Singapore 1995-96 170 
6.14: Economically active household members per household by head of household, 
Singapore 1995-96 176 
6.15: Occupation of all household members and head of household by gender, Singapore 
1995-96 177 
6.16: Job characteristics by type of household, Singapore 1995-96 177 
6.17: Perception of the labour market by head of household, Singapore, 1995-96 178 
6.18: CPF contributions of respondents by type of household and gender, Singapore 
1995-96 178 
6.19: Migration characteristics of foreign workers, Singapore 1995-96 178 
6.20: Occupation and income characteristics of foreign workers, Singapore 1995-96 179 
6.21: Average monthly household expenditure, Singapore 1995-96 184 
6.22: Household budgeting, Singapore 1995-96 184 
6.23: Financial problems by type of household, Singapore 1995-96 185 
6.24: Education level and qualification of respondents Singapore 1995-96 187 
6.25: Housing tenure and size, Singapore 1995-96 194 
V 
6.26: Housing tenure by head of household and household income of resident 
households, Singapore 1995-96 194 
6.27: Housing tenure by type of household, Singapore 1995-96 196 
6.28: Size of accommodation by head and type of household, Singapore 1995-96 195 
6.29: Financial difficulties with housing by head of household and type of household, 
Singapore 1995-96 195 
6.30: Ownership of consumer goods, Singapore 1995-96 195 
6.31: Sources of support and services used, Singapore 1995-96 199 
6.32: Community problems, Singapore 1995-96 199 
6.33: The experiences of poverty 201 
6.34: Examples of case studies 202 
7.1: Welfare and social security programmes in Singapore 217 
7.2: Public assistance rates, 1995 223 
7.3: Examples of voluntary welfare organisations and services 231 
7.4: Case studies of family service centres 236 
8.1: Summary characteristics of women in intact families 244 
8.2: Case studies of women in intact families 245 
8.3: Summary characteristics of women in single parent households 245 
8.4: Case studies of women in single parent households 246 
9.1: Summary of coping strategies 272 
LIST OF FIGURES 
1.1: Map of East Asia 11 
3.1: Map of Singapore 80 
9.1: Factors influencing poverty, vulnerability and social exclusion in Singapore 268 
V1 
LIST OF ACRONYMS 
ACFC Advisory Committee on Family and the Community 
AMWA Asian Women's Muslim Association 
ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations 
AUPE Amalgamated Union of Public Employees 
CA Compulsory acquisition 
CDAC Chinese Development Assistance Council 
CDF Committee on Destitute Families 
CFAC Centre-based Financial Assistance for Childcare 
CPF Central Provident Fund 
CPI Consumer Price Index 
EAS Eurasian Association of Singapore 
EC European Commission 
EOI Export-orientated industrialisation 
ESCAP Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific 
FSC Family Service Centre 
GDI Gender Development Index 
HDB Housing and Development Board 
HDI Human Development Index 
HELP Help Every Lone Parent 
HPAE High Performing Asian Economies 
HPI Human Poverty Index 
ILO International Labour Organisation 
IMC Inter-ministry committee 
IMF International Monetary Fund 
ISI Import-substitution industrialisation 
MCD Ministry of Community Development 
MHE Minimum household expenditure 
MoE Ministry of Education 
NC Nazareth Centre 
NCSS National Council of Social Services 
NIE Newly Industrialised Economy 
PAP People's Action Party 
PAS Public Assistance Scheme 
PSLE Primary School Leaving Exam 
PUB Public Utilities Board 
RUAS Rent and Utilities Assistance Scheme 
SAGE Singapore Action Group of Elders 
SAWC Singapore Anglican Welfare Council 
SFIS Small Families Improvement Scheme 
SINDA Singapore Indian Development Association 
SSC Social Service Centre 
UNDP United Nations Development Programme 
VWO Voluntary Welfare Organisation 
vii 
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 
The fact that I am writing this page and about to submit a thesis would not have been possible 
without the tremendous encouragement and support of the following people. This is my small 
way of saying a very big thank you. 
First of all I would like to thank my supervisor Professor David Smith for giving me this 
opportunity and for his continuous advice and supervision, but who so sadly died days before 
this thesis was submitted. I am also indebted to my other supervisor, Dr. Katie Willis, for her 
unfailing support, patience, guidance and eternal optimism. Thank you to the Departments of 
Geography at the Universities of Liverpool and Keele for their financial support and to all the 
support staff at Liverpool, especially Sandra Mather and Dot Lacey. Special thanks also to 
Prof. Allan Findlay and Dr. Cathy Mcllwaine for all their encouragement and advice. 
In addition I would like to express my sincere gratitude to everyone at the Departments of 
Geography at the Universities of Dundee and Glasgow for their friendship and support. At 
Dundee, I am particularly grateful to Dr. Hester Parr and Dr. Ben Brock for being there at an 
exceptionally difficult time in my life. Meanwhile I am indebted to the Glasgow department 
and Prof. Ronan Paddison for letting me `squat', and to Prof. Chris Philo for all his help. 
Thank you also to everyone at the Research and Policy Planning Unit of the Law Society, and 
especially Judith Sidaway and Carole Willis for fighting my corner. Sorry I couldn't do both. 
One of the enormous highlights of this research work was my time spent in Singapore and 
Southeast Asia. I am incredibly indebted to many people for their generosity and introducing 
me to new and wonderful experiences, but am especially grateful to Mr. and Mrs. King and 
Tracy-Ann, who took me into their home and their lives and made my time in Singapore quite 
exceptional. Thank you also to Rani and Leela for looking after me. I am also indebted to a 
special group of friends; Martin, Lorna, Nick, Justine, Danielle, Dave, and especially Andy, 
for making me laugh, buying jugs of Long Island ice tea and keeping me sane. This fieldwork 
stage, however, could not have been completed without the generosity and help of Janet Ang, 
Gerardine Nonis-Yap, Gerard Ee, Richard Lim, Peggy Teo and everyone at HELP, Bukit Ho 
Swee, Henderson's and the MCD who volunteered so much of their advice and time. The 
most special thank you must go to all my respondents, without whom none of this would have 
been possible, and who so kindly letting me into their lives and in so doing enriched my own. 
I wish them all the luck and happiness in the world. 
I have now had the pleasure of being part of four postgraduate/drinking communities. 
Particular thanks to Claire and Andrea (for looking for theory on the Roxby building stairs), 
Moya, Chris, Alison, Kuno and my big sis Sarah at Liverpool; Mike at Keele; Nicky, Alistair 
and Becky at Dundee, and Oliver, Mhairi, Richie, Ahmed, Pete, Keith and especially Sally 
(thanks for listening) at Glasgow. I owe you all a very large pint of beer. 
I would also like to thank all my friends and flatmates for putting up with me and whose 
friendship and support made doing my PhD that bit easier. Special mention go to Diane and 
Sam (although I'm still not laughing! ), Sarah, Jo, Jonny and Vicks for helping and supporting 
me with some big decisions and to Aoife and Greg. I am also grateful to Ian Young and 
everyone at CRUSE. 
I owe particular gratitude to a very exceptional group of friends who have always been full of 
encouragement, concern and love, and without whom I know this thesis would never have 
viii 
been finished. Thank you Jenny, Jackie, Sarah, Claire, Nicola and Scott (thanks for putting 
up with me). It is to your undoubting faith in me that I partly dedicate this thesis. 
There are two final people left to thank. One is my Dad. Thinking about this thesis and the 
people involved has been an extremely reflective experience and I have thought a lot about 
how I ended up here and with these concerns, interests and values. Although I have never 
realised it before, Dad, you have been my greatest inspiration. Thank you for making me 
aware of the important things in life. I am only sorry that I never got the chance to tell you. 
Finally, I reserve the most special thank you for a remarkable and exceptional woman, my 
Mum. Thank you for your unquestioning support and love and being the strongest role model 
I could ever have hoped to have. It is to you Mum that I dedicate this thesis. 
For Mum 
and 
In Loving Memory of Dad 
(1949-1997) 
1 
CHAPTER 1 
INTRODUCTION 
1.1: Introduction 
The statistics are there. Unfortunately they're not all that's there. For being 
poor is never merely statistical. It is specific and individual and sore... 
Mcllvanney (1983: 24) 
We must become insistently aware of how space can be made to hide 
consequences for us, how relations of power and discipline are inscribed into 
the apparently innocent spatiality of social life, how human geographies 
become filled with politics and ideology. 
Soja (1989: 6) 
Where a whole people suffer, poverty does not point the finger at the 
individual as poignantly and mercilessly as where poverty comes in the midst 
of affluence. 
McCloughry (1990: 2) 
This thesis is concerned with the relationships between urban poverty and economic 
success in a non-western context. It does this in the current climate of global 
economic and social transformations and aims to examine how some of these changes 
have impacted upon the experiences, understandings and responses to urban poverty 
by different groups and individuals. I do this in the East Asian nation-state of 
Singapore, one of the most successful examples of economic restructuring in the 
world, and proclaimed an `economic miracle'. More specifically, this research 
endeavours to tease out and make visible some of the complexities and realities of 
everyday lives by capturing the individual in poverty research and attempting to link 
prevalent national and regional level analyses with the particular. In order to do this, 
the thesis argues for the observation of poverty at different spatial levels to highlight 
the different histories, contexts and structures of poverty: at the macro-level to analyse 
2 
poverty in terms of economic and political processes in the national perspective; the 
intermediate level in order to examine different disadvantaged and vulnerable groups; 
and the micro-level in attempts to understand the meaning of poverty for the 
individual (Novak, 1996). As a result, investigations are made at the national level of 
Singapore, at the household level focusing on low-income families, and finally, with 
the individual by using women as a key analytical category. This thesis, therefore, is 
intended to be a contribution to a growing body of development literature which seeks 
to highlight the complexity and multi-faceted nature of poverty and to recent inquiries, 
particularly by feminist researchers, who endeavour to sensitise research and 
knowledge to diversity and difference. The route and the processes that led me to find 
these areas worthy of study requires further explanation. 
1.2: The geography of urban poverty 
Interest in `poverty' undergoes periodic phases of rediscovery which emerge at 
different times in different places (McCormick & Philo, 1995)1. Philo (forthcoming) 
writes that in the 1980s and 1990s research on poverty disappeared from the agendas 
of geographers, whilst Leyshon (1995) expressed concern over the absence of 
`poverty' from the third edition of the Dictionary of Human Geography. Oyen 
(1996: 4-5) argues that this disappearance is due to the conflicts and complexities 
within poverty research and the lack of a working infrastructure of concepts, methods 
and theories for conducting research. This, she reflects, results in the need for courage 
from the researcher to conduct poverty studies. 
However, there are signs that poverty has returned to research agendas across different 
disciplines and that geographers have not abandoned their commitment to poverty 
research (Philo, forthcoming)2. Since the late 1980s, poverty, and more specifically 
urban poverty, has experienced a significant resurgence of attention in most regions of 
1 They also argue that it is not actually poverty which disappears or reappears, but the attention we give 
to it. 
2 See Philo (forthcoming) for examples of geographical research on poverty. 
3 
the world from the industrialised countries of the West3 and the post-communist 
nations of Eastern Europe to the developing economies of Latin America, Africa and 
Asia. This importance was stressed by the World Development Report in 1990 which 
pointed to urban poverty as the most significant problem to be faced in the next 
century, whilst in 1997 the United Nations announced the beginning of the 
`International Decade for the Eradication of Poverty'. 
This interest in urban poverty has occurred primarily for two reasons. First, we live in 
an `urbanising world' (UN Habitat, 1996). Although it is unwise to rely on the 
inconsistent definitions, and therefore measurements of the urban populations, the 
indications are clear that this is an irreversible and an historic trend. For example, the 
pace of urbanisation in developing countries is proceeding so fast that by the year 
2000 almost half the world's population will live in urban areas and by 2005, for the 
first time in history, urban dwellers will outnumber those living in rural areas 
(Hesselberg, 1995; UN Habitat, 1996). By 2025 the world's urban population will 
have more than doubled in just 30 years to an estimated 5.5 billion people (Speth, 
1996: v). The majority of urban growth, therefore, especially in the Third World, has 
been far more rapid than population growth in rural areas, a feature which has been 
coupled with recent transformations in the international roles and functions of many 
global cities to create what Hardoy and Satterthwaite (1986: 308) envision to be "an 
ever more integrated and city-based world economy". 
Second, despite absolute poverty levels remaining higher in rural areas, poverty has 
followed this urbanward shift and continues to grow in almost every region of the 
world (Oxfam, 1995; UNDP, 1997). Rapid urbanisation has emphasised "the growing 
relevance of the urban dimension of poverty" (Menendez, 1991: 6) and research has 
found that numbers in urban poverty have increased in both poor and wealthy 
countries (Table 1.1). These figures however are still believed to be greatly 
underestimated. Satterthwaite (1995a: 4) argues that "if poverty means human needs 
3 Terms such as the `West', `East', `North', `South', `Third World' and `First World' are now widely 
recognised as problematic, artificial, political and over-simplistic (Bell, 1994; Johnson-Odim, 199 1; 
Madge, 1993; Mohanty, 1991 b). I use these terms with awareness of their problems, but no suitable 
alternative terminology is currently available (Mohanty, 1991b). Although quotation marks are not used 
throughout (as an indication of questioning their use), I use these terms critically. 
4 
that are not met, then most of the estimates for the scale of urban poverty in Africa, 
Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean are ridiculously low". For 1985, the World 
Bank (1990) estimated from poverty line statistics4 there to be 330 million poor 
people in urban areas, but calculation by Satterthwaite (1995a: 4) for 1990 estimated 
that at least 600 million urban dwellers are living in health-threatening conditions, 
whilst Tabatabai with Fouad (1993) suggest that more than half of the developing 
world's urban population are below the poverty line. Reasons for these 
underestimations vary but commentators have particularly highlighted the continued 
reliance on measurements using income-poverty lines and their failure to capture 
accurately resources and deprivation and to allow for the higher costs of living in 
urban areas (Satterthwaite, 1995a; UN Habitat, 1996). When these are accounted for, 
as in the estimations by Satterthwaite, the scale of urban poverty is greatly inflated. 
Moreover, recent research has also shown how many other different aspects of 
deprivation such as vulnerability and social exclusion have increasingly grown in 
urban areas (UN Habitat, 1996). 
Table 1.1: Regional Poverty Figures 
Number of poor 
Headcount index 
Poverty gap index 
millions 
(percent) 
(percent) 
Region 
1985 
1990 
1985 
1990 
1985 
1990 
Sub-Saharan Africa 
184 
216 
47.6 
47.8 
18.1 
19.1 
South Asia 
532 
562 
51.8 
49.0 
16.2 
13.7 
Latin America and the 
Caribbean 
87 
108 
22.4 
25.2 
8.7 
10.3 
Middle East and North 
Africa 
60 
73 
30.6 
33.1 
13.2 
14.3 
East Asia and the Pacific 
182 
169 
13.2 
11.3 
3.3 
2.8 
Eastern Europe 
5 
5 
7.1 
7.1 
2.4 
1.9 
Total 
1051 
1133 
30.5 
29.7 
9.9 
9.5 
Source: Baden with Millward (1995: 3) 
Explanations for this `urbanisation of poverty' have been primarily associated with the 
negative outcomes of global economic transformations and restructuring. Current 
° Poverty line statistics are based on notions of absolute poverty and income (or consumption) data. 
This will be discussed in more detail in Chapter 2. 
5 
trends associated with globalisation5 have led to economic reform in every region of 
the world characterised by the reorganisation of global production, the 
internationalisation of industry and fmance, increased international labour mobility 
and a shift from welfare to neo-liberal economic agendas (Oxfam, 1995): 
Proceeding at breakneck speed but without map or compass, globalisation has 
helped reduce poverty in some of the largest and strongest economies- China, 
India and some Asian tigers. But has also produced losers among and within 
countries. As trade and foreign investment have expanded, the developing 
world has seen a widening gap between winners and losers. Meanwhile, many 
industrial countries have watched unemployment soar to levels not recorded 
since the 1930s, and income inequality reach levels not recorded since the last 
century. 
UNDP (1997: 9) 
In the developing world, the connections between the current rediscovery and growth 
of urban poverty and the implementation of structural adjustment policies of the 
World Bank are now particularly well established (Moser et al., 1993; Cornia et al., 
1987; Chant, 1996b). Over seventy countries have received World Bank adjustment 
loans and accepted IMF conditions to reduce domestic demand and inflation and 
encourage private investment and exports in attempts to foster economic growth (UN 
Habitat, 1996). Research has convincingly shown, however, that the urban poor are 
bearing a disproportionate share of the burden of these changes through increased 
prices, deregulation and the reduction of subsidies, but especially because of changes 
in the labour market in response to these macro-economic policies (Chant, 1996a; 
Kanji, 1995; Moser et al., 1993; Moser, 1998). This has been linked to reduced job 
creation and opportunities, job loss, falling wages, increased job insecurity and the 
casualisation of labour which has acted to increase the number of urban households 
with inadequate and insecure wages and therefore falling into poverty. 
The negative effects of economic restructuring however are not confined to the 
developing world or poor nations. It is particularly interesting that poverty figures 
remain at levels over 10 per cent even in growing and wealthy economies such as the 
S Globalisation refers to a world in which societies, cultures, polities and economies have, in some 
sense, come closer together. Giddens (1990: 64) defines the concept as "the intensification of worldwide 
social relations which link distant localities in such a way that local happenings are shaped by events 
occuring many miles away and vice versa", or in Harvey's (1989: 240) words `time-space compression'. 
6 
USA and the UK (Philo, 1995). The nations of Western Europe and North America 
have also experienced forms of economic transformation and restructuring where neo- 
liberal economic changes have placed the emphasis firmly on the market, privatisation 
and the demise of the welfare system. These changes, coupled with economic 
recession, have witnessed the emergence of the `new urban poor' characterised by 
high rates of long-term unemployment, low pay, job insecurity, begging and 
homelessness (Minujin, 1995). In the industrialised world, an estimated 37 million are 
currently jobless (UNDP, 1997). Some of the greatest deterioration in the last decade 
however has been witnessed in Eastern Europe and the countries of the 
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), where the post-socialist and post- 
communist measures and implementation of structural adjustment programmes, have 
seen income poverty spread from a small proportion of the population to about one- 
third (UNDP, 1997: 2). What is clear, therefore, is that poverty is a continuous and 
dynamic process requiring adaptation and flexibility in our understandings and the 
ways we monitor changing trends. 
Importantly, however, increasing research has emphasised that within these broad 
groups some people suffer more than others (Chant, 1996a; Moser, 1995a; UNDP, 
1991). Evidence so far has especially highlighted women, children and the elderly as 
the losers, yet these groups remain peripheral in most studies of poverty despite 
reports that poverty increasingly has a woman's or a child's or an old person's face 
(UNDP, 1995). The failure of poverty research to fully engage with gender issues, 
however, is a problem which is now being increasingly recognised and receiving 
attention, especially from feminist researchers. Indeed, the UN has recognised the 
relationships between poverty and gender as "rapidly becoming one of the most urgent 
issues on the international agenda" (UN Habitat, 1996: xxi) and Amis (1995) stresses 
that women are still frighteningly over-represented in poverty figures. 
It has also been suggested, however, that this occurrence of poverty in contemporary 
cities and within certain population groups, in both the North and the South, is indeed 
a necessary and inevitable cost of these restructuring processes. Nevertheless, 
Wilheim (1996), correctly asserts that these experiences of transitional periods are not 
only dramatic but can be incredibly painful, especially for these groups. The challenge 
7 
of globalisation is to compete successfully in the open markets but inevitably this 
results in both winners and losers (Rigg, 1997). "With accelerated global integration 
of markets, communications and technology, more people are being pushed to the 
periphery- and the markets are not taking care of those who lose" (UNDP, 1995: 119). 
This discourse is firmly grounded in models of development from East and Southeast 
Asia yet we still know little or nothing about the losers within these successful 
economies. 
In these contexts of economic restructuring, urban poverty has not been conceived as a 
function of urbanisation and the growth of cities, but of the processes of global 
economic restructuring and in particular capitalism6 (Amis, 1995; Beall, 1995). 
"There is disquieting evidence that urban poverty is persistent and in many countries 
growing; and there are grounds for suspecting that this has more to do with the 
specific ways in which urban labour markets operate rather than changes in the 
countryside. In particular, global recession has adversely affected urban poverty 
through labour market mechanisms" (ILO, 1989, cited in Hesselberg, 1995: 154). 
Drawing on Castells' (1976) conceptualisation of the urban as a spatial, cultural or 
ideological term, Amis (1995) argues for the investigation of these changing labour 
markets through which the effects of globalisation and restructuring are mediated and 
not of the processes of urbanisation themselves. The labour market therefore presents 
us with an important in-road into investigating current economic changes (and will be 
discussed more fully later) but surely such changes are also mediated through the 
household and relations within the home and other community structures? 
What is indisputable in social research is the importance of current trends in global 
economic restructuring. This period in our history is regarded as "an historic and 
dramatic transformation... a transformation that has still to run its course" (UN Habitat, 
1996: 4). With the consequences of change becoming increasingly evident, urban 
poverty has been firmly placed back on the global agenda in both the North and South. 
As a result, national governments and international agencies and institutions are 
becoming increasingly concerned with the problems of poverty stimulating a clearly 
6 Some argue that current trends in globalisation are just new interpretations of capitalism (for example, 
McGee, 1997). 
8 
distinguishable and growing literature on its different facets. Despite this attention, 
however, research and interest in poverty is still considered inadequate and 
commentators continue to speak of a "poverty of poverty research" (Oyen, 1996: 4). 
Conceptually and empirically, poverty research is a huge area and enormous gaps 
remain with incomplete understandings of what are very complex issues across 
different social and political contexts. 
The purpose of this study, therefore, is to contribute to this small but rich and growing 
literature on concepts and understandings of urban poverty. Its importance lies with 
the need to ensure that the poor and their experiences remain visible and that decisions 
on the poor are based on as complete data and understandings as is possible. The aim 
is to create a space for a fuller discussion on one particularly under-represented and 
marginalised area in poverty research, that is, the impacts and costs of rapid but 
successful restructuring on the urban poor and their responses using the example of 
Singapore. Or in other words, this is a study of `poverty amidst plenty'. 
1.3: The geography of East and Southeast Asia 
The Newly Industrialised Economies (NIEs) of Southeast and East Asia are the 
apparent exceptions to the global trends in decline and painful restructuring (Figure 
1.1). As a region, East Asia has also been under the turbulent forces of economic 
change and adjustment 8 However, unlike the crisis and despair of change as 
experienced in other parts of the world, these nations have excelled to evolve into the 
economic `miracles' of neo-liberal restructuring. The economies of Japan and the four 
7 See Table 1.2 for the various regional definitions. I focus on these regions as the context within which 
to study Singapore. However, there are other defined regions and groups to which Singapore belongs 
and is integrated and which can influence our analysis. For example, Singapore is considered an Asian 
NIE along with Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan and reflects their successful and rapid economic 
development. Singapore can also be contextualised within the wider region of East Asia which contains, 
amongst other places, the NIEs and Japan, or the more specific regional of Southeast Asia (also known 
as the ASEAN countries) which does not include any of the other original NIEs. In terms of economic 
development, organisations such as the World Bank refer to the type of development associated with 
this area as an East Asian phenomenon. In this thesis I will use the regional definition which is `East 
Asia' since I wish to contextualise Singapore, not just with its immediate ASEAN neighbours, but also 
with the other NIE nations and Japan. However, I will at times refer to both East and Southeast Asia 
depending upon the context. For a fuller discussion on regional definitions, see Dixon and Drakakis- 
Smith (1995). 
3 Although this has been over a longer period since the 1960s, rather than the 1980s. 
9 
NIEs, and increasingly the ASEAN nations and China, are the modem day success 
stories of free market ideology, export-orientated industrialisation and human resource 
management. Images of tigers, dragons and Pacific centuries9 prevail in current 
development rhetoric discussing these 'miracle' states of Pacific Asia and this geo- 
economic shift has caused some commentators to declare boisterously that the region 
is "economically and industrially gearing up to dominate the planet in the twenty-first 
century" (Smith et al., 1985 in Forbes, 1993: 46). Such pictures of optimism, vigour 
and aggression are confirmed if we browse through any statistical accounts for the 
region which bear witness to the economic and social success with double digit 
growth rates, low inflation and per capita income the envy of the world. The biggest 
fall in poverty has also been experienced in East Asia (World Bank, 1993a) (see Table 
1.1) representing a unique demonstration of the transition from poverty to near 
affluence in just thirty years. As a result, the experiences of East Asia have forced a 
reconsideration of development theory and practice and resulted in the adoption of the 
East Asian experience into policy and models of development. Most notable is the 
World Bank's (I 993a) optimism in its publication 'The East Asian Miracle' and the 
importance the East Asian economic experience has played in the formulation of 
current structural adjustment programmes and in the 'New Poverty Agenda '10 (Lipton 
and Maxwell, 1992) with emphasis firmly placed on markets and labour-intensive 
growth. 
As a result of these successes, agencies such as the World Bank have little recent 
record in countries such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan (Perkins, 1994) and 
discussions on poverty have become absent and marginalised from studies of East 
Asia. This is now particularly a concern in light of the 1997 currency crisis in East 
Asia which impacted on levels of economic growth and poverty throughout the 
region. Whilst literature from the rest of the world, especially on structural adjustment 
and Western recession, is drawing increasing attention to economic change and urban 
poverty, studies from Pacific Asia are ignoring and obscuring experiences of 
economic transformation within the region, and particularly within states. 
9 These images, however, 'are not constant and have changed over time. For example the notion of old 
Orientalism and the exotic East (Said, 1978) is now being contested by new Orientalism, led by images 
of modernisation from Japan (Shurmer-Smith and Hannan, 1994). 
10 This is the World Bank's strategy to tackle poverty. For a fuller explanation see Chapter 2. 
10 
Table 1.2: Relevant regional definitions 
NIE 
HPAE 
ASEAN 
Southeast Asia 
East Asia 
Pacific Asia 
Pacific Rim 
Newly industrialised economies consist of Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea 
and Taiwan. They are also referred to as NICs (newly industrialised countries), 
the 4 Asian `tigers' or `dragons'. 
High performing Asian economies. A World Bank term used in `The East Asian 
Miracle' to describe the core group which was considered to be Japan, Hong 
Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. 
The Association of South East Asian Nations is an economic alliance of Brunei, 
Burma, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and 
Vietnam. 
The ASEAN nations. 
Asian countries east of Bangladesh and south of Mongolia, and including 
Melanesia. 
All Asian nations with a border on the Pacific Ocean coastline, 
All countries with a border on the Pacific Ocean coastline. 
Existing literature on the region focuses primarily on the average gains from economic 
transformation (see for example World Bank, 1993a); however, the recent wave of 
research and writing on urban poverty from other regions has made it increasingly 
clear that economic change, even in growing and dynamic economies, does not affect 
everyone in the same way (for example, Environment and Urbanization (1995) Vol. 
7(1,2), Habitat International (1995) Vol. 19 (4) and IDS Bulletin (1997)). Moser et al. 
(1994) argue that regardless of success, issues of poverty, inequality and deprivation 
should not be ignored. Economic success is still a dramatic, turbulent and `painful' 
form of change creating tensions and stresses within an urban system and the global 
city especially because of changes to urban labour markets. 
11 
Figure 1.1: Map of East Asia 
12 
Forbes' (1993) critique, however, goes further and questions the very authenticity of 
these exceptionally successful images pointing to the lack of balance and one- 
dimensionality of Asian portraits arguing instead for more complex accounts which do 
not neglect poverty, civil society and long-term sustainability (see also Schmidt, 
1997). Drakakis-Smith (1996) associates this problem with the persistence of 
investigations and examinations of Pacific Asia remaining at the aggregated regional 
level, therefore, failing to acknowledge or pay attention to the great variations which 
exist between and within the countries of such a diverse region 
L1 
Attention paid to Pacific Asia, therefore, may have been guided or blinded by the 
glossy images of modernity, consumerism and growth and entangled in myths of 
miracles, dragons and the Pacific age. Forbes (1993: 43) cautions of "inflated 
accounts" and stresses the need to reflect on the unevenness of development 12 , whilst 
da Cunha (1994: 5) commenting on the case of Singapore advises of "a culture of 
looks, [a] mere surface impression". What this suggests is the existence of hidden and 
invisible geographies, geographies of daily lives masked or obscured by the 
construction of aggressive symbols and virile images of success. Such images may not 
reflect all the realities and experiences of change yet few attempts have been made to 
go beyond the hype and aggregated statistics of the region to ask questions and seek 
answers at different spatial levels and to acknowledge variations in the experiences of 
economic change within nations, their cities, communities or households (for 
exceptions see Moser and McIlwaine, 1997b; Chant and McIlwaine, 1995 a, b; and 
Rigg, 1997). Analysis and investigation at the micro- and meso- levels are not central 
to the new focus on the Pacific Asian region, but as the geographers Massey and Allen 
(1995) found in a different context, 13 poverty and wealth can occur side by side in the 
same place, even when that place is a symbol of economic prosperity and success. 
11 This is particularly relevant in light of counter-veiling forces to globalisation and the increased 
assertion of identities and cultures at the local level. 
12 This was also the theme of a session at the EUROSEAS conference 1995, Leiden, Netherlands. See 
Dixon and Drakakis-Smith (1997). 
i3 Massey and Allen's (1995) study investigated poverty within hi-tech workplaces in the growth region 
of Southeast England highlighting the juxtaposition of poverty with wealth (cleaners with computer 
programmers) in the same buildings. 
13 
The dynamics and consequences of profound rapid and successful change are not fully 
understood in East Asia and current attempts to peel away some of the different layers 
have been marginalised by preoccupations with economic dynamism. There is a need 
to write specifically a geography of urban poverty to reveal hidden spaces and 
experiences and highlight the complexities at different spatial levels. In so doing we 
can perhaps begin to tease out the human geographies of everyday lives, not just for 
the visible and accountable but for everyone. 
1.4: The structure of the thesis 
This thesis begins in Chapters 2 and 3 by building on the preliminary introduction to 
the importance of urban poverty research and the geography of East Asia in order to 
give a comprehensive background of the theory and research underpinning the 
subsequent case studies and analysis of urban poverty in Singapore. In Chapter 2, the 
evolution of different theoretical approaches to poverty research are considered, 
providing a review of reductionist and participatory concepts and assessing their 
usefulness in this study. The importance of coping strategies in poverty research are 
also considered. The chapter ends with a discussion of the relationships between 
poverty and gender and the importance of space, and in so doing highlights the 
importance of capturing the diversity and difference of experiences and responses. 
Chapter 3 provides a review of the location of the research. It is impossible to discuss 
the case study of Singapore in isolation from its wider surrounding, therefore, the 
chapter opens by examining the regional level of East Asia and exploring its role in 
the global economy and development process. It is in this particular context that the 
case study of Singapore is introduced and situated. The chapter reviews the processes 
of economic and social development here as well as the role of the state in order to 
frame current understandings of poverty in the region and Singapore. Finally, the aims 
and themes of the thesis are presented. 
14 
Chapter 4 reviews the methodological considerations which underpin the research. 
The research process and methodological tools developed to approach the research 
questions are explained and justified. It is argued that a multi-method approach is best 
suited to study urban poverty in Singapore combining both quantitative and qualitative 
techniques. Finally consideration is given to issues such as representation and ethics 
which emerged during the research. 
Chapters 5 to 8 provide detailed evidence from case studies, interviews and secondary 
material analysing the characteristics, experiences and responses to poverty by 
different groups in Singapore. Chapter 5 begins by considering the different 
definitions and approaches to poverty in Singapore and who these identify as the poor. 
By doing this, a profile of poverty can begin to be built and allowed the selection of 
four different groups which became the focus of the research. In Chapter 6 this profile 
of poverty is elaborated using detailed survey evidence at the household level. 
Through analysis of this information, the characteristics, experiences and dimensions 
of poverty are discussed and highlighted, and serve to illustrate the complex and 
multi-dimensional nature of poverty as well as the importance of assets. 
The responses to poverty are considered in Chapters 7 and 8. Chapter 7 begins by 
exploring the responses to poverty by the state and policy and community-level 
organisations. In particular it examines the government welfare policy in Singapore in 
order to frame the options which are available to households and individuals. This 
chapter ends with an examination at the household level and the micro-level responses 
to poverty. Meanwhile, Chapter 8 examines responses made to poverty at the 
individual level using the detailed case study evidence of women in poor households 
in Singapore. The coping strategies and responses of these women are used to 
illustrate restrictions and barriers as well as the negotiations made by poor women to 
secure ways of coping with poverty. 
Finally, Chapter 9 draws together the arguments and findings made in this thesis. As 
well as offering a summary of this research, its contribution to poverty studies and 
15 
research on Singapore and the region of East Asia are considered. In a reflection of 
future research, this Chapter discusses the recent economic crisis in East Asia and its 
impacts concluding with an appeal for on-going research on poverty in this region. 
16 
CHAPTER 2 
CONCEPTUALISING URBAN POVERTY: DEFINITIONS AND DEBATES 
2.1: Introduction 
Poverty is not only about shortage of money. It is about rights and 
relationships; about how people are treated and how they regard themselves; 
about powerlessness, exclusion and loss of dignity. Yet the lack of an 
adequate income is at its heart. 
Archbishop of Canterbury's Commission on Urban Priority Areas (1995: 3) 
Measuring poverty is an exercise in demarcation. Lines have to be drawn 
where none may be visible and they have to be made bold. Where one draws 
the line is itself a battlefield. 
Desai (1986: 1) 
There is little or no consensus in poverty research as to how we should define, 
measure or understand poverty. What is clear, however, is that with increasing poverty 
figures and therefore increased interest and attention from governments, international 
agencies and the academy, we urgently need to continue attempts to develop a greater 
understanding and awareness of poverty, its consequences and the ways in which 
people respond to poverty. Poverty research is an area defined, redefined, classified 
and reclassified by conflict and debate, and increasing technical sophistication. There 
remain, however, few linkages between the various discourses and approaches, 
something which Oyen (1996: 4) attributes to the lack of a strong theoretical 
foundation and guiding fi-amework. As a result, she argues, poverty research is 
weighed down by this conflict producing frustration and academic loneliness. I agree 
with Oyen's reflective statement, but would also argue that conflict and debate have a 
particularly important role in questioning our assumptions about poverty and the poor 
and challenging any complacency which may occur, since it is our choice of discourse 
and data which will determine outcomes and influence policy. 
17 
Poverty research and study remains particularly compartmentalised, especially into the 
North and the South with few linkages or comparisons (Maxwell, 1997), a deficiency 
which Oyen (1996: 1-3) notes results in the application of "non-sensical poverty 
measures" which "lock researchers into unsuitable poverty paradigms", especially in 
the developing world. There is now a well established literature on the problems of 
transporting Western notions of poverty by Western researchers to the South (Booth, 
1993a; de Haan, 1997b; Maxwell, 1997). However, with economic restructuring 
evident in every region of the world this may be the very time to establish linkages 
and to share experiences, approaches and understandings. The example of East Asia 
presents a good testbed for the need to establish greater connections, since as a region 
it is home to some of the richest (Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore) nations in the 
world, as well as some of the poorest (Burma, Cambodia and Indonesia). Furthermore, 
it challenges the very compartments into which poverty research has divided since it is 
now difficult to label some nations, such as the 'tiger' economies, into either the 
North or the South. 
The lack of consensus and uncertainty in poverty research and "the absence of a 
focused theory" (Miller, 1996: 570) have resulted in the development of a 'science of 
poverty' (Townsend, 1993) obsessed with measurements to count the poor. The 
current situation remains one of a state of disagreement, and such a lack of accord 
presents the danger of poverty research becoming obsessed and overshadowed by 
technical innovation and revision at the expense of what poverty research is really 
about. Poverty is a reality which too often remains invisible. It may also be confused 
or misrepresented by academic thinking because any understanding is inherently 
linked to how we define and measure poverty as a reflection of our own values (the 
policy advisors, researchers, the author) and not of those of the poor (Chambers, 1995; 
Escobar, 1995). As researchers, therefore, we need to be aware and explicit about our 
own understanding and conceptualisations of poverty. To this end, the following 
discussion is a review of some of the rich and growing literature on the different facets 
of poverty; the choice of which is inevitably influenced by my own preferences and 
reflect my priorities. 
18 
2.2 Conceptualising Poverty 
Poverty is a name attributed to a variety of situations, but a starting point for 
definition is a general association with a lack or deficiency of basic human needs and 
resources (Wratten, 1995; Oyen, 1996; Yapa, 1996): "Poverty is a condition 
experienced by many people due to having a shortage of financial and other resources, 
and it means that they are likely to face difficulties in obtaining and maintaining 
sufficient nutrition, adequate accommodation and long-term good health7' (Philo, 
forthcoming). Discussion has divided discourses into two broad schools of thought, 
reductionist and participatory, ' but these are complicated by the fact that there is a 
ftirther, but helpful, classification between absolute (physiological needs) and relative 
(social needs) poverty. Reductionist approaches are based on the economistic 
measures of income and consumption. This is still the most popular and prevalent 
approach and most commonly characterised by an absolutist poverty line as used by 
the World Bank or a relative deprivation threshold as advocated by British sociologist 
Peter Townsend. Participatory approaches are broader, multi-dimensional definitions 
which were developed first in rural areas mainly by anthropologists and sociologists, 
examples of which are entitlements theory by Amartya Sen (1981,1983,1990,1992) 
and vulnerability thesis as in the work of Robert Chambers (1988,1998,1995ý. 
The following review crosses from North to South and urban to rural in an attempt to 
evaluate what these debates have to offer an investigation of urban poverty in a 
growing and dynamic economy. Although I present these debates as separate and 
coterminous, which reflects their treatment in current literature, a more helpful 
representation would probably be to visualise these debates along some form of 
continuum or as overlapping and moving spheres. 
1 Reductionist approaches have also been referred to as conventional, orthodox and classical, whilst 
participatory approaches have been labelled as alternative, unorthodox and multi-dimensional. 
19 
Table 2.1: Relevant poverty definitions 
Poverty 
Deprivation 
Entitlement 
Assets 
Vulnerability 
Social 
exclusion 
Poverty is most commonly understood in terms of low income and inadequate 
purchasing power but also refers to the lack of physical necessities, assets and 
income. Income levels are the result of other factors, most notably assets. Poverty is 
generally believed to be precipitated by the loss of assets. 
This conceptually differs from poverty but is intrinsically interlinked (as is 
vulnerability). Deprivation encompasses more than poverty and refers to the lack of 
adequate material goods and services and incorporates powerlessness which 
weakens the capacity to bargain for improved services, incomes and rights. 
This is the control exercised over assets and resources and can differ within the 
household. 
Resources commanded by the individual, household or community. Assets can be 
tangible or intangible and are usually divided into investments (in housing, land, 
education), stores (food, savings, valuables) and claims (on other people, charities, 
government). 
This is a condition of insecurity, defencelessness and exposure to risk. This usually 
occurs when individuals or households are exposed to changing conditions such as 
the loss of income-earners and increase in prices, and is linked to the lack of assets. 
Social exclusion occurs when citizens suffer from disadvantage and are unable to 
secure their social rights. A multi-dimensional concept which refers both to 
individuals and society and to disadvantage, alienation and the lack of freedom. 
Sources: Drakakis-Smith (1996); European Commission (1992); Moser et al. (1994); Rakodi (1995); 
Townsend (1993); UN Habitat (1996); Wratten (1995). 
2.2.1: Reductionist approaches 
Despite the long history of poverty measurement and research and associated debates, 
reductionist definitions remain the most popular and prevalent approaches today. 
These are based on economistic definitions of subsistence and basic needs in terms of 
income and consumption to construct a poverty line between the poor and the non- 
poor in order to compare the extent and intensity of poverty. These approaches are 
perceived as Anglo-Saxon concepts in which economic development is conceived as 
the solution to poverty and where poverty is observed as an individual's problem 
(Lipton and Maxwell, 1992; Novak, 1996). The first studies to operationalise concepts 
of basic needs were those of Charles Booth and Seebohm Rowentree who determined 
2 Table 2.1 offers summary definitions of the key terms used. Poverty is used here as a generic term to 
represent `a lack of something' but most commonly refers to economic poverty. 
20 
a range of nutritional and biological indicators to measure poverty in London and 
York at the turn of the century (Holman, 1978). A person is in poverty according to 
this definition, if their "total earnings are insufficient to obtain the minimum 
necessaries for the maintenance of physical efficiency" (Atkinson, 1969: 15). 
Satisfying such basic physical needs and necessities could be achieved by 
commanding some minimum cash or equivalent flow, the amount of which could be 
converted into some objective yardstick or a poverty line facilitating the distinction 
between those who were poor and those who were not. For this reason income (or 
consumption) is the most popular proxy for welfare and is believed to be highly 
correlated with other factors of deprivation, such as food, health, education and 
shelter, and the ability to command resources to meet minimum needs (Kabeer, 1996; 
Wratten, 1995). 
The simplicity and apparent comparative qualities of this method has made the 
absolute poverty line approach especially influential and has been adapted by most 
governments and international organisations in the industrialised and developing 
worlds. For example, the World Bank advocates "simple and quantifiable definitions 
of poverty" (UN Habitat, 1996: 78) and has recently set its standard poverty line at 
US$I per day (or $370 per year) to enable more extensive international comparison. 
However, the World Bank have also recognised the need to establish more than one 
poverty-line and have set a lower threshold at $275 per year to identify the 'chronic' 
poor (World Bank, 1990). 
The definition of poverty in terms only of income (or consumption) and based only on 
physiological needs is, however, regarded by many as problematic. The very 
reductionist nature and simplification of measurement has been especially criticised 
since "What is measurable and what is measured then becomes what is real, 
standardising the diverse, and excluding the divergent and differenf' (UN Habitat, 
1996: 103). The greater the reduction and simplification then the greater the chance of 
inaccuracies and failure to capture poverty which is not visible or obvious and, as we 
have already seen from Satterthwaite's (1995ab) work, results in consistent 
underestimation. Much of this misrepresentation has been blamed on the use of 
income data to represent poverty since measurements of household income rarely take 
21 
account of intra-household power relations and inequalities or non-monetary resources 
obtained as self-produced goods and gifts or through self-employment and state 
provisions, all of which are often regarded as crucial for the survival of the poor 
(Kabeer, 1996). Moreover, UN Habitat (1996) points to the apparent ease with which 
these poverty lines, and therefore the data they produce, can be manipulated, for 
example by governments and policy-makers, to change the numbers of poor and non- 
poor in a society. 
The needs of the poor, which poverty lines attempt to capture, are also extremely 
difficult to define and income-poverty lines have been criticised for failing to account 
for variations in needs between and within countries, especially between urban and 
rural areas, and therefore for failing to acknowledge the role of cultural and individual 
preferences or habits (Amis and Rakodi, 1994). For example, living costs will vary 
considerably, especially between rural and urban areas, where costs are typically 
higher in the cities and where certain goods, such as water and fuel, have to be 
puichased unlike-,, in rural areas where they may be free or cheaper. Differences 
between costs of basics such as food, housing and water will also vary by factors such 
as household size where larger households will benefit from economies of scale, for 
example, by saving on sharing shelter and buying food in bulk (Wratten, 1995): 
However, needs also vary by other factors such as gender, ethnicity and age, needs 
which Kabeer (1994) notes are about more than physiological survival, but are 
socially and culturally constituted and should therefore be more broadly defined to 
encompass cultural definitions and less tangible aspects of deprivation such as 
powerlessness and isolation. 
Measurements using income also tell us very little about access and fail to account for 
the availability of goods and services which brings Dwyer and Bruce (1988) to 
conclude that it is an unsatisfactory indicator. The issue of access is a particularly 
important one in investigations of the experiences of the poor, all of which may be 
influenced by a range of non-monetary factors such as education, social rights, health 
problems, ethnicity and lack of information (Wratten, 1995). Acknowledging and 
understanding these types of barriers is essential to understanding why some 
households enter, escape or avoid poverty whilst others do not. In particular this has 
22 
been linked to the notion of assets, for example education and savings, and the role 
they have to play in coping with sudden change or shocks such as illness or the loss of 
a job. Labour, however, is universally regarded as the poor's principal asset (Amis, 
1995), especially in urban areas, and has resulted in increasing interest in labour 
productivity and the implementation of labour intensive strategies where needs are 
met through market mechanisms. Despite this, the existence of powerful norms and 
barriers which constrain the access of certain groups, especially women, and their lack 
of control over their own labour, has also been established (Kabeer, 1996). 
Income-based poverty lines, therefore, fail to tell us very much about the poor. We 
know nothing of the complexity of their needs, their experiences and the intensity of 
poverty or how they have become poor or moved in and out of poverty over time 
(Katz and Monk, 1993; Rakodi, 1995). It subsumes the experiences and the lives of 
the poor and excludes their differences. Chambers (1995), however, accounts for the 
prevalence of this measure arguing that it has simply always been the way, and more 
specifically, that it is economists who still dominate international organisations and 
governments, whilst Rakodi (1995) contends that poverty lines are necessary as a 
monitoring devise for comparison and trends. 
There have been moves to rectify some of these criticisms by broadening the 
definition of poverty to capture well-being using supplementary quality of life 
indicators (Wratten, 1995). By using indicators of well-being it was thought that the 
plurality of poverty and differences in experiences and inequalities could be captured. 
The benefits of such an approach include the focus on the individual, "the level at 
which poverty is experienced" (Kabeer, 1996: 13), and therefore allow for 
disaggregation by other factors such as gender and ethnicity, as well as placing less 
attention on the role of the market. ý[Iie most well known indicator is the UNDP's 
Human Development Index (HDI) (UNDP, 1990) which aggregates the weighted 
variables of income, literacy and life expectancy into a single score and composite 
indicator. In 1991 the UNDP extended their HDI measure to a gender disaggregated 
GDI, (see LTNDP, 1995 for review) which could highlight the difference between 
overall human development and women's human development to reveal the extent of 
women's disadvantage and capture aspects of gender inequality. So far results have 
23 
shown that in no society do women en oy the same opportunities as men3 (UNDP, 
1995: 76). This is also soon to be extended to disaggregate data by ethnicity. Most 
recently, the LJNDP (1997) has introduced the Human Poverty Index (UPI) which 
attempts to measure poverty by more than income alone by using indicators of the 
most basic dimensions of deprivation: a short life, lack of basic education and lack of 
access to public and private resources, such as health. Although these composite 
measures serve to highlight the weak relationship between income poverty and other 
deprivations (Chambers, 1995), they cannot account for relative differences and in 
essence they are still reductionist in nature and "aggregate what we should wish to 
disaggregate" (Streeten, 1994: 24). 
The inaccuracies with income-based poverty lines and their failure to acknowledge 
non-monetary aspects led to the development of a relative understanding of poverty 
and the introduction of a relative poverty line by many international agencies and 
governments. The advancement of relative deprivation was pioneered by British 
sociologist Peter Townsend (1979) in his study of poverty in the UK and offers some 
important contributions to the poverty debate. Townsend posited that poverty could 
only be understood and defined relationally which required a more flexible approach 
than the 'disembodied and abstract analysis' (1993: 35) of absolute methods. He 
defined people as relatively deprived "if they cannot obtain, at all or sufficiently, the 
conditions of life- that is, the diets, amenities, standards and services- which allow 
them to play the roles, participate in the relationships and follow the customary 
behaviour which is expected of them by virtue of their membership of societyA 
(1993: 36). This is a far more generous definition incorporating a larger set of 
indicators in order to reflect inequality and the dynamic nature of poverty over time 
and space and in relation to an average set of societal norms. In so doing Townsend 
(1986) hoped to acknowledge people, not as statistics but as social beings involved in 
complex relationships and social obligations and therefore highlight the social 
determination of needs. 
3 This is based on life expectancy, educational attainment and income (UNDP, 1995: 74). 
4 This idea of relativity is not completely new as Adam Smith in An inquiry into the Wealth of Nations 
in 1776, recognised that necessities are defined by customs. 
24 
Townsend's work is based on the premise that poverty occurs in both industrialised 
and developing countries, but has only really been applied in developed nations. It is 
this premise however which may prove helpful in an investigation of poverty in 
countries which are neither in the North or South, such as the successful economies of 
Pacific Asia, and therefore to explain paradoxes between affluence and poverty. As a 
concept it is also especially beneficial because it differentiates between material and 
social deprivation accounting for both income and non-monetary aspects of 
deprivation. Finally, relative deprivation recognises poverty and need, not just as an 
individual but as a collective concept, thus noting the powerftd effects of 
discrimination by. factors such as gender, race, age and disability (1993: 3 7-3 8). In this 
sense relative poverty reflects withdrawal or exclusion from society and the 
community and the social construction of roles for the poor. 
Poverty defined in relative terms, however, has been criticised because by definition it 
means that poverty will always exist in society and therefore can never be eradicated. 
Some critics, such as Sen (1983: 4), argue that this is fundamentally wrong since there 
is an "irreducible, absolutist core in the idea of poverty" and therefore it should not be 
defined relatively. Moreover, Townsend's work also sought to construct a particular 
threshold line of relative poverty, a task which Piachaud (1987) criticises as 
erroneous, but is also contradictory because the very diversity in living which 
Townsend sought to highlight with the concept of relative deprivation would deny the 
existence of any threshold between the poor and the rest of society. 
The main problem with the construction of any poverty line, whether absolute or 
relative, is the obsession to reduce, standardise and simplify, and as Piachaud 
(1987: 119) explains, "The reason for tackling poverty is not to create uniformity, but 
to push back the constraints and increase freedom and choices". The depiction of 
poverty and life by poverty lines has been criticised as misleading and wrong because 
it denies and obscures the realties, diversities, complexities and inequities of social 
life with average statistics by average calculations (Chambers, 1995; Wilheim, 1996). 
Furthermore, the very creation of a solid line to defte those who are the poor and 
non-poor, haves and have nots, is a political act and inherently exclusionary and tells 
us nothing about changes on either side of that line. This is turn reduces poverty "to 
25 
mean what is measured" (Chambers, 1995: 441) and treats the poor as a clearly 
identifiable group, neglecting the several worlds in which people live and the 
influence of a multitude of other factors, understandings and determinants of poverty 
which have been increasingly identified as important (Bryant, 1992). 
Finally, the invisibility of many different groups, such as women, the elderly and 
ethnic minority groups, in poverty research, has increasingly been linked to how 
poverty is defined and measured as it will reflect the values and judgements of the 
policy advisors, researchers or the author and not of the poor themselves (Chambers, 
1995). For example Kabeer (1996) argues that measurements and understandings are 
male-centred and as a result severely limit women's notio'ns and dimensions of 
poverty. These criticisms highlight the inadequacy of conventional measures and 
income alone to capture human well-being. This unhappiness with conventional lines 
and attempts to heighten the attention to real people and real places led to the 
development of more multi-dimensional and participatory approaches which reject the 
obsession with technical tasks and aim to highlight the political and ideological nature 
of poverty and that poverty has distinct meanings to different people (Baulch, 1996). 
2.2.2: Participatory approaches 
There has been a recent broadening of debates in poverty research, from the perceived 
insufficiencies of single indicators and narrow economistic definitions with mono- 
causal explanations, towards a growing and timely appreciation of the complexity and 
multi-dimensional nature of poverty and the importance of consumption and non- 
consumption, quantitative and qualitative components in poverty and everyday lives, 
which Chambers (1995: 175) conceives as 'local, complex, diverse and dynamic". 
Such approaches have stressed the importance of analysing whole systems and their 
multiple layers, of which income, is only one (Streeton, 1994). Instead, the importance 
of assets, "capabilities, fluctuations, vulnerability and coping strategies have all been 
stressed in attempts to give the poor a face and a voice which can be heard. Most of 
this work has come from rural research and anthropological studies, however, recently 
these concepts have been transferred to urban areas with apparent success (see for 
example, Moser et al. 1993; Moser and McIlwaine, 1997 ab; Moser and Holland, 
26 
1997). Despite there still being disagreement over these approaches to poverty and 
debates continue to question how the approaches are measured and therefore their 
usefulness (UN Habitat, 1996), they are also still considered extremely significant and 
relevant. In the developing world, one of the most influential concepts has been 
Amartya Sen's work on capabilities and entitlements. 
2.2.2.1: Entitlements and capabilities 
Through his classic study of poverty and famines in rural India, Sen (1981) showed 
that famine and hunger could, and did, occur where there was plenty of food available. 
His thesis argued that people did not starve because there was a lack of food, but 
because of a multiplicity of factors which prevented then from buying it. In so doing, 
Sen drew attention away from people's actual incomes and possessions to concentrate 
on "the complex ways in which individuals or households command resources" (Sen 
1981: 3). These resources, such as money, food, assets and property, were referred to 
as 'commodity bundles' (Sen, 1990) but poverty in these terms was not defined as a 
lack of resources but in terms of the ability to command these resources. Sen (1990) 
argued that this ability to command was determined by mechanisms called 
'entitlements' and 'claims'. These, he explained, are based on attributes such as 
income from work and the sale of assets, resources from own production, reduced 
consumption and social security claims from the state (Sen, 1981: 4) and the ability to 
utilise these entitlements and claims successfully would be determined by an 
individual's 'capabilities'. These capabilities represented the extent to which people 
were free and able to pursue resources or commodity bundles but also the absolute 
requirements for full membership of society (Watts and Bohne, 1993). Using this 
framework, the failure to secure food, for example, in times of hunger and famine, 
was not because the food was not available but because of failures in market and 
exchange mechanisms. This has the important effect of shifting the blame and cause 
of poverty from the individual to the external structures and functionings of the 
markets, and in his work Sen particularly cmphasised the importance of labour 
markets as important sources of entitlement and capability success or failure. 
The major influence of this approach for studies on urban poverty is evident from the 
increasing shift in attention away from a lack of resources and possessions towards the 
27 
command of goods and the ability and rights to use available opportunities to secure 
subsistence. By highlighting the different basis of claims and entitlements, we can 
begin to see how extremely complex is the distribution of resources and how 
"distribution of entitlements emerges out of institutional processes which effectively 
`disenfranchise' certain groups from participating in decisions about entitlements and 
hence from challenging their distribution7 (Kabeer, 1994: 140). This is therefore an 
extremely useful approach in attempts to disaggregate the notion of the 'mass' of poor 
and deprived as one group. Instead it allows the focus to highlight variations in 
responses over time and space and therefore to look at how poverty affects different 
individuals and groups within the same community and even household (Wratten, 
1995). Such a disaggregation is particularly helpful in researching minority groups, for 
example, in attempts to differentiate between the experiences of men and women, and 
also in the exploration of coping strategies and their implications for different 
community and household members (Wratten, 1995). 
Kabeer (1994), however, argues that such a gender dimension is not adequately 
considered in Sen's work, especially at the intra-househoId level, because the social 
relations of gender are not seen as being as significant as those of poverty and class in 
5 
generating entitlement inequities. The ability of women in particular to utilise 
entitlements or claims is curtailed by relations within the household whilst "Powerful 
beliefs and practices, sanctioned by the norms and of religion and community, 
produce a highly unequal division of social and economic space" (Kabeer, 1994: 14 1). 
Other criticisms of Sen's work include a complaint that his definitions still remain too 
narrow. Watts and Bohne (1993: 44), for example, believe that the notion of 
entitlements requires "radical extension7' both politically and structurally. Sen's 
current focus is especially on legalistic dimensions of entitlements but this 
underestimates the role of socially enforced rules and barriers which have been 
identified as crucial in experiences of poverty and especially in issues of access (Gore, 
1993). Watts and Bohne (1993: 44) therefore argue for a wider definition of rights 
which introduces the concept of empowerment and highlights the ways in which 
entitlements are "defined, fought over, contested and won and losf'. Finally, they 
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29 
Vulnerability refers to exposure to change, risk and stress and is therefore particularly 
relevant to work on current economic restructuring and recession (Moser et al., 1993). 
It also represents the dynamism as well as the multi-dimensional nature of deprivation 
as people move in and out of poverty (Lipton and Maxwell, 1992: 10), accounting for 
why some people rather than others become poor. Vulnerability represents the very 
process of becoming poor, whether temporary or permanent poverty, capturing "the 
negative outcomes of a changing environment on the well-being of individuals, 
households or communitiee' (Moser, 1995a: ii). These changes and contingencies may 
be economic, social or political and are particularly evident during times of economic 
change, both detrimental and successful, emerging in the form of shocks, risks and 
stress. 
There are a number of perspectives of the vulnerability approach which add rigour to 
the understanding of poverty and its analysis. One is the shift in analysis towards a 
people-centred paradigm which focuses on the priorities and realities of the poor 
themselves (Chambers, 1989,1995). Income (and consumption) approaches, 
Chambers (1995) argues, simplify and distort reality by neglecting other aspects and 
factors in deprivation, a solution to which he suggests is the introduction of 
participatory approaches so that the concepts and understanding of poverty become 
'theirs' and not 'ours'. Drawing on Jodha's (1988) much cited study in Rajasthan, 
India, which found changes in per capita incomes to be very poorly correlated with 
villager's own criterion of ill-being, he exposed the large gap between the researcher's 
reality and the reality of the poor. Chambers (1995: 200) therefore challenges the 
views of professionals arguing for a deepening of analysis and a new paradigm which 
is "people-centred, participatory, empowering and sustainable' and advocates the use 
of participatory rural appraisal (PRA), approaches which claim to give voice to the 
perceptions of local people by explicitly involving respondents as partners in the 
research process. It is only through this micro-level research that he believes we can 
begin to understand the complex and diverse realities of the poor and therefore 
confirm that poverty is not just about income. Chambers (1989) suggests that these 
priorities can be captured in terms of survival, security and self-respect and that the 
reverse of these is not wealth, but security. For example, Beck's (1989) study of 
30 
survival strategies exemplified this when one of his respondents explained that 
without self-respect food would not go into the stomach. Such an approach is crucial 
if the images of the poor as passive and victims are to be challenged and has led to 
attempts to understand the responses and coping mechanisms employed by the poor 
(Davidson, 1996; Moser and Mcllwaine, 1997 ab; Rakodi, 1995). 
Chambers' work, however, focuses primarily on aspects of economic security but 
Caroline Moser's (1995a) successful transfer of ideas on vulnerability from rural 
settings to restructuring urban economies has emphasised wider issues, especially for 
women, such as physical security and safety during times of economic stress. Other 
geographers have also customised the vulnerability discourse, such as Watts and 
Bohle's (1993: 46) research on famine in Africa where they introduced the dimension 
of spatial analysis. They define vulnerability as a "multi-layered and multi- 
dimensional social space defined by the determinate political, economic and 
institutional capabilities of people in specific places at specific times". Geographers 
have long argued for the equal consideration of both time and space disputing against 
the conventional notion of dynamic time and static space. In this particular context, an 
appeal to the spatial appears to amend some of the failures in Sen's work by being 
able to account for the locally and historically specific configurations of poverty. It is 
these very configurations that Watts and Bohle argue define 'spaces of vulnerability' 
and create very specific constraints and barriers on choices and decisions by the poor 
in response to change and contingencies7. 
Finally, Moser (as discussed by McIlwaine, 1997a) highlights the ability of a 
vulnerability approach to investigate the capacity to resist and withstand shocks and 
risks and to examine resistance strategies employed. This is closely linked to the role 
of assets, the investigation of which, Swift (1989) suggests, can be used to capture 
vulnerability and improve our understanding of the concept. Assets, he argues, act as a 
sort of 'buffer' since the more assets someone has the less vulnerable they will be, and 
so the greater the depletion of those assets, the greater the insecurity. Drawing on the 
work of Sen, he defmes assets as "a wide range of tangible and intangible stores of 
value or claims to assistance which can be mobilised in a crisis" (Swift, 1989: 11) and 
31 
sub-divides them into investments, stores and claims. Investments and stores are 
tangible assets and will generally be controlled by the household and include human 
investments such as education and health, productive investments such as housing and 
food, money or possession stores. Claims, however, are intangible and influenced by 
broader political and social structures and include claims on other households, on the 
government and the international community. The contingencies which cause 
vulnerability will impoverish people in different ways and therefore warrant different 
strategies and the diverse uses of assets. Chambers (1995) refers to these assets as 
livelihood activities and capabilities through which a living is sustained and upon 
which successful responses to crises and risk are dependent. Strategies 8 are therefore 
complex and diverse and involve permutations of intensification and diversification. 
As discussed previously, the ability to transform assets will be deeply influenced by a 
range of factors such as gender, age, race and position in the household but these are 
less well documented (for an exception on gender see Kabeer, 1994; Moser, 1995a9; 
Moser and Mcllwaine, 1997a, and on ethnicity, see McIlwaine, 1995). 
The main problem with vulnerability is seen in its attempts to capture the multiple and 
diverse realities of poverty which means that as a concept it lacks conventional 
definition, indicators or measurement, so making it unquantifiable, difficult to 
operationalise and unhelpful for comparison (Baulch, 1996; Swifý 1989). However, it 
is these very features which many analysts are seeking in attempts to make visible 
neglected experiences and realities such as in feminist discussions which aim to make 
heard the many silent voices of poor women. Some commentators, however, warn 
against a reliance on the particular PRA techniques, arguing that such methods do not 
necessarily produce complete truths (Kabeer, 1994) and still subsume differences and 
7 This will be discussed later in this chapter. 
" Chant (I 996a: 12) defines 'survival strategies' as "activities of individuals or households (usually the 
latter) for the purposes of daily reproduction7. These will discussed later in the chapter, however, it 
should be noted here that the term 'strategy' itself is problematic. Moser and McIlwaine (1997a: 18) 
write that it is difficult to differentiate between a pre-conceived strategy and an unavoidable necessity, 
although Rakodi (1995: 414) differentiates survival strategies as those being sought to protect biological 
reproduction. Whether called survival, household or coping strategies, Wolf (1990: 65), argues that it 
implies a 'militaristic reasoning' and may be 'a figment of researchers' rather active imaginations' 
45 
(ibid.: 46). The term 'coping strategies' is used in this research as a generic term to represent both 
unavoidable responses and reactions and pre-conceived actions. 
9 For example, Kabeer (1994) and Moser (I 995a) both point in particular to domestic violence and 
sexual harassment, a widespread but poorly documented problem, as a gendered form of poverty and 
vulnerability. 
32 
voices of the marginal, especially women, because of the exclusive language used 
(Baden with Milward, 1995), "For women who are excluded from dominant world 
views and male vocabularies it is not wise to assume they can, or will, simply express 
their priorities as PRA assumes" (Jackson, 1995: 12). 
2.2.2.3: Social exclusion 
The human landscape can be read as a landscape of exclusion. 
Sibley (1995: ix) 
This discussion has so far focused primarily on debates and studies from developing 
nations, but there have also been significant developments in poverty research in the 
North and Western economies. Most recently, the poverty debates of Western Europe 
have focused on holistic approaches and attempts to capture the relationship between 
the individual and society and encapsulate both tangible (e. g. income and education) 
and non-tangible (e. g. participation and isolation) factors. As a result, the phenomenon 
of 'social exclusion' has become a key concept in the political vocabulary of poverty 
alleviation progranimes and policies. Novak (1996: 56) writes that "poverty may be 
considered as an individual situation but it must be observed primarily as resulting 
from 'macro-level' processes in the economy, in politics and in society". She 
continues that it is through this concept of social exclusion "by which the incidence of 
poverty is related to civil fights on the one hand and 'macro' processes on the other" 
(ibid. ). 
Although the concept originates from France (Lenoir, 1974) it is now central to 
European debates and policies on poverty and deprivation (EC, 1993), but has 
increasingly gained popularity in international discussions, especially in preparation 
for the World Summit for Social Development in 199510, although this so far remains 
limited". The impetus for the development of a social exclusion discourse was the 
recognition that concepts and ideas on poverty had to be reconceptualised in the face 
10 This saw the application of social exclusion discourse outside Western Europe. For example, see 
Tchernina, 1995 on Russia; Hashen, 1995 on Yemen; Appasamy et al., 1995 on India and Rapoport et 
al., 1995 on Mexico (All in Rodgers et al., 1995) 
11 Despite this, Bhalla and Lapeyre (1997) argue that social exclusion has a global relevance and 
universal validity and call for a greater amount of attention from developing nations. 
33 
of major economic and social transformations (EC, 1993). There became a need to 
understand the negative social effects of cities competing in a world of economic 
restructuring, technological change and globalisation, which in Europe was 
particularly associated with increasing long-term unemployment (Gore, 1995a; Wolfe, 
1995). Most importantly, observers noted a socio-spatial shift away from disparities 
between those at the top and those at the bottom (up/down) to problems of poverty 
and marginalisation occurring between those at the comfortable core and those on the 
periphery (in/out) (EC, 1993). "It's not an underclass any more, it's an outer class" 
(President Clinton quoted in Silver, 1995: 59). 
Debates so far have centred on the questions of 'who is excluded' and 'from what'? 
Responses have been diverse reflecting the range and variety of things from which 
different people can be excluded, for example, Silver (1994) lists aspects such as 
livelihoods, secure and permanent employment, a minimum consumption level, 
education, earnings, property, housing, citizenship, democratic participation, family, 
public goods and respect. The main focus so far, however, has been on exclusion from 
the labour market and regular stable employment (Gore, 1995a). Paugan (1995), for 
example, highlights what he calls the 'spiral of precariousness' in which he 
emphasises how an unstable and precarious employment situation is related to marital 
instability, economic poverty, inadequate support networks and low levels of 
participation in social life. What this also begins to conceptualise is the cumulative 
nature of poverty and exclusion, which Swift (1989) had tried to do with Sen's work, 
stressing the inherently interlinking nature of disadvantage, but also the vulnerability 
of precarious situations created by economic restructuring. Emphasis, however, has 
increasingly been placed on exclusion from social and human rights and citizenship 
highlighting standards of social integration and opportunity in society (Room, 1992) 
through security, dignity and identity (Rodgers, 1995: 49). The issue of security, as has 
already been identified from work on vulnerability, is a particularly important one for 
women who continue to face risk from domestic, physical and mental violence. 
Social exclusion, then, is a multi-dimensional concept incorporating the economic, 
social, political and cultural spheres of life. It emphasises the extremely varied nature 
of real situations in a changing world which Silver (1995: 64) applies as "a metaphor 
34 
for the social polyphony of post-modem society". Life and poverty therefore are not 
about material factors alone but complex interlinkages between economic 
deprivations and social rights. This focus on multiplicity and diversity, as with 
vulnerability discourses, however, has been viewed by some as a problem with this 
approach, but Silver argues that it is this inherent inability to construct one definition 
which makes social exclusion so appealing since instead of reducing society into a 
series of factors; social exclusion reflects the complexity and reality of society. de 
Haan contends (1997b: 12) "This would be a reflection of the complexity of the 
problem and I cannot see a justification for reductionism". Social exclusion may also 
be used to represent a state but its real advantage is the ability to focus on the 
processes of social exclusion. This is important in understanding and distinguishing 
between permanent exclusion from which groups do not escape and more transient 
fluid exclusion where groups and individuals move from different states and situations 
(Rodgers, 1995). 
If we accept this diversity and the flaws which accompany it, we can begin to 
investigate the wide range of groups and individuals who experience exclusion. 
Exclusion by gender, race, caste and ethnicity have proved especially widespread 
(Gore, 1995b) but the excluded are not a homogenous group and can include the poor, 
the low-paid, the unemployed, the unskilled, the illiterate, the physically and mentally 
handicapped, single parents, foreigners, women, substance abusers and the abused 
(Silver, 1994). 
There exists no one definition of social exclusion since the term "is so evocative, 
ambiguous, multidimensional and expansive that it can be defined in many different 
ways" (Silver, 1995: 60). Silver (1994,1995), however, offers three paradigms from 
which different definitions originate and which attribute social exclusion to different 
causes. The understanding of social exclusion, she argues, depends on our 
understanding and definition of social integration: the solidarity paradigm, focuses on 
the 'rupture of social bonds' caused by cultural and social boundaries; the 
specialisation paradigm promotes social cohesion caused by the separation of different 
spheres and discrimination; whilst the monopoly paradigm defines social exclusion 
more broadly as, "the process through which individuals or groups are wholly or 
35 
partially excluded from full participation in the society within which they live" 
(European Foundation, 1995: 4) and attributes causes to the power of dominant 
groups. In essence, social exclusion is about social integration and inclusion and the 
"failure of systems of belonging" (Strobel, 1996: 179). Where poverty research is 
distributional, social exclusion is relational and rejects addressing the problems of 
poverty statistically (EC, 1993). As a concept therefore it attempts to relate to notions 
of solidarity and cohesion, stigmatism and power in a wider system of production, 
consumption, expectations and political and cultural norms (Room, 1995). 
Unlike other approaches, therefore, social exclusion crucially allows us to focus on 
the social actors and agents who include and exclude and especially to focus on social 
institutions and the role of the state in multiple sites of exclusion. Wolfe (1995: 83) 
summarises that social exclusion captures "the globalised system which generates 
exclusion through its logic as well as through its precariousness" a system which 
makes more and more people "permanently superfluous, irrelevant and hindrances to 
its functioning". 
These definitions, however, are not distinct and the boundaries between each is 
bluffed and overlapping. Furthermore, this notion of insertion and integration requires 
greater analysis and understanding, as Gaventa (1995) warns that there can be 'good' 
voluntary participation but also 'bad' coerced or forced integration imbued within 
power relations. In the case of some areas of Africa, Gore (1995b) notes that 
exclusion is not always a negative move but often deliberate in order to survive. 
Silver's (1995) attempts to come to terms with this multiplicity of definition led her to 
echo Robert Chambers (1995) when she argues that it is therefore essential for us to 
make clear and be aware of our own understandings and conceptualisations of social 
exclusion and poverty. Such an approach serves to reflect the background of the 
researcher and author and their/my understandings and experiences of poverty and 
disadvantage, and de Haan (I 997b: 4-5) warns, that we must treat these concepts only 
as "ways of looking at reality, not reality itself'. 
Faria (1995: 127) attributes the helpfulness of a social exclusion concept to its "way of 
integrating loosely connected notions such as poverty, lack of access to goods, 
36 
services and assets, precariousness of social rights, and of providing a general 
framework7' (Faria, 1995: 127). It is this feature which may allow social exclusion to 
be successfully applied outside the European context. The fact that the roots of the 
concept of social exclusion are in Europe does not necessarily represent a problem and 
recent studies have sought to offer interpretations for non-European and Western 
nations, especially in preparation for the World Summit for Social Development in 
1995 (see Rodgers et aL, 1995). Faria (1995) has also noted that the Latin American 
literature on marginalisation has many similarities to the social exclusion thesis 12 . 
Maxwell (1997) criticises what he sees as the often unhelpful compartmentalisation of 
the First and the Third World in poverty research, when many factors and experiences 
are shared, particularly the increase in poverty as a deep-seated problem. There is still, 
however, obvious scepticism about transferring theories and ideas from the North to 
the South, West to the East, and the relevance of social exclusion in this area is still to 
be established. However, Faria (1995) assesses the worth of a theory by its ability to 
shed new light on an issue and the integration of social exclusion as an analytical 
device into, for example, the African and Latin American literature has apparently 
offered some new interesting dimensions in different regions, both North and South, 
and therefore may offer the analytical fi-amework required for investigations in the 
middle ground of the East Asian tigers. 
Overall, all of these participatory techniques and concepts teach us that it is not 
enough simply to count or describe the poor. What they offer is the opportunity to go 
beyond the statistics and allow us to differentiate between experiences of not just 
poverty, but also vulnerability, deprivation and exclusion. We must make attempts to 
understand and monitor the processes and mechanisms of poverty, to identify the 
triggers of poverty and vulnerability, the experiences and responses. An aim of this 
thesis therefore is to capture the diversity and differing experiences of poverty. 
Furthermore, in attempting to do this, the research is interested in um-avelling the 
relationships between poverty and gender and to investigate whether men and women, 
and different groups of women, experience poverty and disadvantage differently. 
12 However, there is a well established literature which critiques the marginalisation thesis. 
37 
2.3: Conceptualising the relationships between gender and poverty 
Although women remain invisible in many studies of poverty and information remains 
limited, there is increasing evidence from data and research which does exist that 
women are over-represented amongst the poor (Amis, 1995). In 1995, for example, 
the UNDP's Human Development Report estimated that 70 per cent of those who are 
poor in the world to be women, whilst attempts to disaggregate the Human 
Development Index by gender revealed that in no society, whether rich or poor, did 
women experience the same opportunities as men (UNDP, 1995). As a result, gender 
inequality has recently been targeted by some international agencies and organisations 
such as the UN who now believe that addressing gender issues is a crucial strategy for 
the eradication of poverty. "If development is not engendered" the UNDP (1997: 6) 
write, "it is endangered". This shift in the attention towards the increase in-female 
poverty was also captured by Lipton and Maxwell (1992: 5) in their review of the 
World Bank's (1990) New Poverty Agenda. When comparing characteristics of the 
poor in the 1970s and then in the 1980s, they found that there had been important 
changes in the composition of the poor. Although the poor are still concentrated in 
rural areas, they are now more likely to be urban and female 13 ,a trend which the UN 
has recognised as "rapidly becoming one of the most urgent issues on the international 
agenda. 7 (UN Habitat, 1996: xxi). 
Poverty research, however, still fails to engage fiilly with gender issues which means 
that women continue to remain invisible in most studies of economic restructuring 
and poverty. The UN (199 1: 1) contend that this and the consequent absence of women 
from economic strategies and poverty alleviation programmes is because of the lack of 
numerical data on women's situations. 'Mey argue "words advocating the interests of 
women, however plausible and persuasive they may be, need numbers to influence 
policy ... numbers can thus give words power- the power to change". However, the very 
nature of conventional poverty concepts, methods and measurements mean that 
mainstream research is fundamentally based on aggregate statistics, averages and 
38 
fmancially defined data, very little of which are disaggregated by gender. 14 Such 
inconclusive information about women acts to conceal differences between groups 
and individuals and especially hide women's experiences of, and responses to, poverty 
(Kabeer, 1996; Kanji, 1995). 
There are two fundamental problems associated with current data and measurements 
and gender. First, is the continuation to construct poverty measurements on the basis 
of income (or consumption), which Moser (1993) regards as creating figures of 
poverty which are fundamentally wrong. There is now an extensive literature on the 
failure of national income (or consumption) to capture poverty and disadvantage 
appropriately and for the UNDP (1995: 3) to conclude that "Removing gender 
inequality has nothing to do with national income. Income is not a decisive factor". 
For example, if we compare GDI scores to reflect gender disparities with national 
income, Saudi Arabia ranks lower than China despite its real per capita income being 
a fifth higher and Thailand ranks higher than Spain despite its real per capita income 
being less than half that of Spain's (LTNDP, 1995: 3). This suggests that factors other 
than economic resources are important (Momsen & Townsend, 1987). 
Second, the focus on the collection of data on poverty at the household level has 
received widespread criticism most notably because it assumes the equal distribution 
of income and resources amongst all household members (Chant, 1996b; Dwyer and 
Bruce, 1988; Kabeer, 1994). Rakodi (1995) argues this 'black-box' approach ignores 
differential distribution of money, food, status, decision-making and access to services 
in the household" by either gender, age or status. There is now extensive evidence 
that men gain larger proportions of household income and more control over resources 
and assets than women. However due to current data this remains invisible and 
unaccounted for since raising household incomes and reducing the number of 
households in poverty as seen in East Asia, Kabeer (1996) argues, does not necessarily 
13 In their full analysis, Lipton and Maxwell (1992: 5) noted that as well as being more likely to be urban 
females, the poor were also more likely to be African, children, the elderly, urban, landless and refugees 
as compared to in the 1970s who were more likely to be Asian and Latin American, small farmers, 
rural, and settled. 
14 Neither is it disaggregated, for example, by age or ethnicity. 
'5 The household is defined as a group of people who normally live and eat in the same dwelling and 
consider themselves a unit in making plans and decisions about daily life (Moser et al., 1994). 
39 
affect women within those households; 16 "... within the household, there is much 
exploitation of women by men which goes unnoticed when we use poverty measures 
which simply treat households as units and ignore intra-household aspects of 
exploitation. When we measure poverty, for example, we need measures which 
illuminate unequal access to resources between men and women in the household" 
(Muthwa, 1993: 8, cited in Chant, 1996a: 15). The aggregation of data obscures and 
hides individual experiences of poverty, and therefore secondary poverty 17 so that 
women can be impoverished in two ways: as part of the deterioration of a poor 
household, or as an individual in any household (Chant, 1996a; Wratten, 1995). Thus 
Chant (I 996b: 11) qgues that targeting the household as one unit is an uneasy term of 
reference because this is the site of competing interests and acts as a "conduit for 
wider familial and gender ideologies" and is an important mediator of behaviour, 
status and resources. The household, therefore, is a major site of discrimination and 
oppression for women (Kabeer and Joekes, 1991: 1); it is where they lack decision 
making powers, control over resources, experience divisions of labour which value 
their contributions less, all of which restricts the ability of women to contest barriers 
and boundaries 18 . 
These data problems are clearly reflected in poverty alleviation strategies such as the 
New Poverty Agenda which has attempted to incorporate gender issues and rectify 
some of these concerns (World Bank, 1990). This is a strategy devised to tackle the 
continuing rise in absolute numbers of poor and is an important example of current 
development rhetoric which reflects prevailing economic and social policies as based 
on the experiences and results witnessed in East and Southeast Asia. It is essentially a 
two-pronged approach19 based on, first, labour-intensive strategies to promote labour 
as an asset, and second, investment in human resources such as education and health 
so the poor can make the most of opportunities (Baulch, 1996). The focus of these 
strategies, however, has received considerable criticism for its gender-neutrality and 
16 Commentators such as Beall (1995) note that age is also a discriminatory factor at the household 
level. 
17 Chant (I 994a: 209) defmes this as "when men misappropriate or divert household resources to other 
purposes". For a full discussion, see Chant (1995). 
" However, the household has also been viewed as a place of refuge, for example, from racism, and a 
place in some cultural contexts where women gain power. For example see hooks (198 1). 
40 
therefore gender-blindness. For instance, Jackson (1996) argues that it ignores the fact 
that women may already work long hours and have too much work to do from which 
they do not always receive remuneration or benefits. Moreover, labour markets and 
workplaces remain highly discriminatory resulting in women remaining in low paid 
and often insecure jobs (Heyzer and Sen, 1994; Moser, 1993). The redistribution of 
basic services also fails to acknowledge the different needs of men and women and 
persistent gender biases in the delivery of those services (Lockwood and Baden, 
1995). Finally, of particular interest in current poverty alleviation rhetoric including 
the World Bank's agenda, is the focus on East and Southeast Asia as a successful role 
model. Here labour intensive polices and provision of services have successfully 
reduced poverty figures over a short period of time. It is still crucially unclear, 
however, as to the impact these changes and successes have had on gender issues and 
women's experiences (ibid. ). 
2.3.1: The feminisation of poverty 
One response to the failures of gender-blind approaches has been the emergence of the 
'feminisation of poverty'20 thesis. This feminisation trend has been associated in 
particular with two processes: first, the increase in female-headed households2l, 
initially in the industrialised nations of the West but increasingly in developing and 
restructuring economies (Chant, 1997a), and second, women's unequal participation 
in the labour market, in particular associated with the negative effects of recent 
economic restructuring strategies (Baden with Milward, 1995; Gilbert, 1994). 
The special attention which has been given to female-headed households has resulted 
from the simultaneous increase in their numbers to an estimated one-third of all 
households (Moser, 1987: 14) and the tenet that "the poorer the family, the more likely 
it is to be headed by a woman" (World Bank 1989: iv). This perceived increase in the 
disadvantaged position of female heads is due to a range of reasons, some of which 
19 Although some accounts include a third prong, the provision of safety nets to protect the most 
vulnerable groups (Baulch, 1996). 
20 This term originates from debates in the US about single mothers and welfare (Baden with Milward, 
1995). 
21 Defted as a singular, nuclear or extended household headed by a woman (see Chant, 1997a, for a 
fall discussion and issues about defining headship). 
41 
can affect all women, such as lower average earnings, fewer assets, part-time and 
informal jobs and longer hours of domestic work (Baden with Milward, 1995), but 
also particular barriers and disadvantages associated with prejudice in society against 
female heads. Targeting female heads in policy therefore is viewed as essential. As 
Standing (1989: 1093) argues, "Across the world the story is the same: single mothers, 
widows, and n-ýigrant women dependent on their own resources are the most 
vulnerable of all, not only to poverty, but to exploitation and labour marginalisation". 
That there is an automatic relationship existing between poverty and female- 
headedness, however, is problematic and Valley (1996: 506) begins by questioning the 
validity of the apparently universalistic assumption that one-third of households are 
headed by women. Instead she submits from her own calculations that the figure is 
closer to one-fifth of households indicating that the majority of women do not live in 
female-headed households (Varley, 1992). Lockwood and Baden (1995: 2) agree that 
whilst the numbers of female heads appear to be rising, "systematic data to verify this 
trend is not available and evidence of its association with poverty is inconsistenf'. 
This assumption, that all female-headed households are poor, is also extremely 
precarious, as Fonesca (1991: 138) writes, "the mother-child unit is not an automatic 
outcome of poverty". Whilst income-poverty is a crucial issue, some studies show 
limited associations between poverty and female-headed households (see, for 
example, Appleton, 1996 on Uganda; Baden et aL, 1994 and Lloyd and Gage- 
Brandon, 1993, on Ghana) whilst it is also unclear as to whether male-headed 
households and the women within them are actually any better off (Varley, 1996). 
Chant's (1985) survey in Mexico, for example, revealed that the distribution of 
income within the household was in fact much more fair in female-headed households 
than it was in male-headed households, whilst Appleton (1996) showed that in 
Uganda, when using income-poverty definitions, not all female heads were poor. 
Moore (1994: 10) argues that this assumed connection between poverty and female- 
headship is dangerous for two reasons: "it leaves the causes and nature of poverty 
unexamined and because it rests on a prior assumption that children will be worse off 
in such households because they represent incomplete familiee'. As a result of these 
assumptions, but also because of the visibility of female heads in current definitions 
42 
and measurements of poverty which use the household head as an indicator of 
poverty, gender aspects of poverty research other than female-headship remain 
unacknowledged (Chant, 1991,1997a; Kabeer, 1996). Such an approach subsumes the 
experiences of poverty and disadvantage within other types of households, making 
invisible and marginalising those different experiences of women who are not female- 
heads (Varley 1992; 1996). Moreover, the focus on female heads as a homogeneous 
unit denies the diversity and heterogeneous nature of female-headship within that 
group. Current data, for example, do not reflect the range of reasons why a household 
is headed by a woman, and the difference this will make to the experiences of 
household headship. For example, household disintegration, divorce, reluctance to 
marry, teenage pregnancies, migration and choice, the last of which is particularly 
neglected by assumptions of a relationship with poverty (Chant, 1985; Baden with 
Milward, 1995). Chant (1985) has convincingly shown in Mexico how many women 
are in fact better off as a result household dissolution especially if they have escaped 
from violent situations and made a positive and deliberate choice, whilst Fonesca 
(199 1) and Safa (1995) protest that women may choose to be female heads to improve 
their lives. 
Experiences of female-headship also differ in space and over time, but there is little 
acknowledgement of the dramatic variations across different nations and regions of 
the world and the varying degrees of cultural acceptability (Chant, 1997a). For 
example, an IFAD study (cited in Jackson, 1996: 493) highlighted that nine per cent of 
households in Asia were headed by women as compared to 31 per cent in sub-Saharan 
Africa, whilst studies by Folbre (1991ab) have shown that female-headship is not a 
new phenomenon since high incidences were particularly evident in 18th and 19th 
century Latin America and the Caribbean. Furthermore, Lockwood and Baden (1995) 
note the particular disadvantages faced as a direct result of the status associated with 
different types of female-headship, for example societal prejudice is faced by widows 
in South Asia but by single mothers in Latin America. There is little understanding of 
this intolerance and barriers constructed by society and local communities which 
accompany female-headship for many women and their children, a form of 
discrimination which is often reflected in state law and planning to exclude female 
43 
heads from mainstream policy and its benefits (Chant, 1996a, on Mexico and 
Davidson, 1999, on Singapore). 
A second and more recent process which has been associated with the 'feminisation of 
poverty' thesis reflects the current changes in the labour market as a result of 
recession and adjustment. It is these adjustment policies which Meer (1994) especially 
views as holding women victim to poverty. Similarly, in their investigations of the 
gender impact of economic transformation in the context of rapid urban economic 
restructuring, the contributors to Aslanbeigui et al. (1994: 1) highlight the continuing 
discrimination against women and the contradictions they face in experiencing the 
processes of transformation, crisis and growth. In particular, much of this inequality 
has been associated with the changes in the labour market due to economic recession 
and restructuring but also at the same time, the increasing trend towards the 
ferninisation of the labour force, associated in particular with export-orientated 
industries and strategies and the shift in income generation upon the job loss of men 
(Standing, 1989). There is now considerable evidence that increased poverty as a 
result of recession or restructuring has led to increased female labour force 
participation (Chant, 1994b; Holland, 1995). However, such periods are also 
perceived as times of worsening conditions in the labour markets and therefore a 
move in this direction is viewed as a negative one which ftu-ther marginalises women 
and increases poverty (Afshar, 1991; Standing, 1989). In these conditions, real wages 
have decreased and structural change has damaged working conditions through 
deregulation, removal of minimum wages and controls over work hours, and 
restrictions on trade unions and workers rights (Gilbert, 1994), which have manifested 
in the form of occupational segregation, unequal status, barriers to access and lower 
pay for women (Amis, 1995; UNDP, 1995; UN Habitat, 1996). Powerful norms and 
barriers exist to constrain women's abilities in the labour market and poverty is 
increasingly being associated with the combination of women's entry into the labour 
market with their domestic roles in the household (Kabeer, 1996). There is extensive 
evidence showing that gender affects the translation of labour into income since on 
average women earn 75 per cent of men's wages' (UNDP, 1995). Labour-intensive 
strategies in poverty alleviation programmes such as the New Poverty Agenda and 
44 
economic development policies, whilst generating demand and increased returns to 
the poor, remains to make clear what gender-differentiated effects result. 
Such a negative view has been captured by the 'female marginalisation' thesis which 
argues that the movement of women into the labour force displaces and ignores their 
traditional contributions and roles (Boserup, 1970; Papps, 1992). Afshar (1991: 1), for 
example, states that economic development in the Third World "has, by and large, 
marginalised women and deprived them of their control over resources and authority 
within the household, without lightening the heavy burden of their 'traditional 
duties"'. This combination of women's entry into the labour force with the 
maintenance of their domestic roles in the household has often been associated with 
poverty amongst women (Kabeer, 1994) and in particular the exclusionary and 
discriminatory characteristic of the labour force. Such a move, however, has also been 
associated with increasing poverty and the need for women to enter the laboýr force as 
a form of household survival strategy, rather than in response to increased economic 
opportunities (Chant, 1991). 
This labour market approach has the advantage of focusing on the individual and not 
on the household, therefore, avoiding many of the problems of gender-blindness and 
female household-heads (Anker, 1993). However, there have been considerable 
doubts regarding the universal applicability of this approach. Gilbert (1994), for 
example, challenges the view that women's experiences of development and the 
labour market are all negative especially when many can obtain increased earnings, 
whilst MacEwen-Scott (1986) questions the clarity of the term itself and to the type of 
marginalisation to which it refers. The notion that entry into the labour force is as a 
coping strategy alone has also been questioned since it denies the actions and agency 
of women who choose to enter the work force for other reasons, or that women may 
indeed leave the workforce at times of increased disadvantage and poverty (Gilbert, 
1994). Furthermore, there are still definitional and statistical problems in labour 
market data. For instance, many definitions and crude categories may exclude or 
underestimate women's work, fail to acknowledge difficulties in female access to the 
labour market, and neglect the control or bargaining power of women over their own 
22 This refers to non-agricultural wages. 
45 
income or earnings. Although this individualist approach has many advantages it fails 
to account for relations within the household and its place as a major site of 
discrimination for women. Moreover, experiences of devaluation and exploitation are 
not simply financial or related to participation in the labour market but can also be 
physical and psychological (Moser and McIlwaine, 1999; UNDP, 1995). The case of 
domestic Violence is the most painful devaluation of women and is a global issue 
extensively reported in most nations regardless of religion, language, economic status 
or culture (Tomasevski, 1993) and has now been recognised as an unacceptable 
violation of women's human rights (Heise, 1995). 
2.3.2: Gender and poverty: diversity and difference 
There are clearly a number of problems with the 'feminisation of poverty' discourse 
and the focus on women as household heads or as workers in the labour market. 
Jackson (1996) argues that the main premise made by the feminisation thesis, that 
most of the poor are women, has the wrong effect as it results in gender issues being 
viewed as problems of poverty. This, she believes, "has led to a damaging erosion of 
the differences between gender disadvantage and poverty" (ibid.: 493) since the 
subordination and disadvantages of women, she argues, are not caused by poverty 
alone and cannot therefore be collapsed into one category (ibid.: 501). This in turn 
highlights the need for broader and more multi-dimensional notions of poverty. The 
existence of gender inequality and discrimination, she continues, should be viewed as 
a warning against solely using a poverty lens through which to view broader gender 
issues, a view echoed by Kabeer (1996) who argues that poverty for men and women 
cannot be viewed through the same conceptual lens. Such a focus, Jackson (1996: 501) 
concludes, "misses the range of interconnected gender issues across classes and socio- 
economic strata and obscures both the problems of gender bias by women towards 
other women as well as the possibilities for solidarity across social boundarieS,,. 23 in 
these terms, the 'feminisation of poverty' thesis needs to be redefined to focus on 
poverty as a gendered experience, but also to acknowledge that poverty itself is not a 
proxy for women's experiences of subordination, discrimination and inequality. 
46 
If we adopt this alternative view, then poverty and disadvantage are crucially 
gendered: women and men are impoverished and disadvantaged differently, their 
experiences and responses vary and their ways of escaping poverty diverge. Moreover, 
the feminisation discourse subsumes and ignores the multiple experiences and realities 
of discrimination and subordination by different groups of women, both poor and non- 
poor women, and ignores those who experience many and different forins of 
subordination such as limited opportunities, oppressive gender ideologies and 
domestic violence. Kabeer (1996: 20) notes that "not all women are poor and not all 
the poor are women, but all women suffer from discriminatiolf'. All of these aspects 
are neglected by the feminisation discourse and the continued focus on income- 
poverty rather than on a broader understanding of gender justice and denies the 
'otherness' of women. A corollary of this is that the emphasis on poverty alleviation 
policies such as the New Poverty Agenda may not be the solution to gender issues and 
concerns since we cannot approach these issues with the same research or policy 
instruments. Kabeer (1994) suggests we attempt to capture the human and household 
characteristics of poverty because women's lives are governed by these more complex 
realities and constraints and later (Kabeer, 1996: 16) highlighted the need also to make 
our analyses context-specific as culture has "profound material consequences" and 
local constructions of gender relations intervene between income and well-being. 
There is a call therefore to reconceptualise our thinking on issues of poverty and 
gender to include broader aspects, such as powerlessness, vulnerability and exclusion, 
but also to break down and start to acknowledge that not all women share the same 
realities or experiences. 
Some commentators, especially feminist writers from the Third World, have pointed 
to this failure to differentiate between different women as one reason why as a group 
they remain absent from poverty studies (Mohanty, 1991a; Ong, 1988). Parpart 
(1995: 254), notes how many theorists and practitioners continue to conceive of all 
women of the 'South' in one large classification and as an undifferentiated 'other'. 
Such categorisation, she continues, portrays women primarily as victims, 
overburdened and vulnerable, and as impediments to growth, unable or unwilling to 
23 See also Huang and Yeoh (1996b) on the relationship between female employers and domestic 
workers in Singapore. 
47 
modernise. Chowdhry's (1995: 27) analysis of neo-colonial discourses expands that 
such undifferentiated and polar images of women are an impediment to their 
development and act as "a powerful device used in various ways to create, reinforce, 
mystify, manipulate and control the 'other"'. She identifies three representations of 
Third World women: the confined housewife, the erotic siren and the helpless victim, 
all of which distance women from the processes, and therefore the benefits, of 
modernisation, empowerment and integration. "Third World women are discursively 
created, separate and distant from the historical, socio-political and lived material 
realities of their existence. They share the implicit assumption that Third World 
women are traditional and non-liberated and need to be 'civilised' and 'developed', 
i. e. more like Western women" (Chowdhry, 1995: 28). 
Increasingly feminist academic enquiries have challenged these images and perceived 
wisdoms and assumptions of powerless women in restructuring economies. Instead, 
there has been the presentation of representations of women as agents and actors in 
their own lives and in the processes of development (Bondi, 1993; Moser, 1993). For 
example, post-modem and post-structuralist challenges have been particularly useful 
for geographers and feminist writers in highlightIng the need to deconstruct 
development discourses, reject s implified representations and question the truths and 
assumptions upon which they are based. 24 Instead they focus on difference and 
identity and emphasise the multiplicity and complexity of real life, recognising 
multiple realities and multiple voices (Derrida, 1976, Parpart and Marchand, 1995). 
The power of this approach is in its reftisal to accept the concept of 'women' as a 
unitary force, instead highlighting the intersections of factors such as class, race, age, 
citizenship and the importance of the role of power relations (Mohanty 1991a; 
Ruddick, 1996), but also the acknowledgement of the limitations of Western dualisms 
and the inappropriateness of Western feminist theory to explain Third World women's 
issues. For example, Karim (1995a) notes that in the case of Southeast Asia, the use of 
western constructions of dualisms and dichotomies, especially between the public and 
private spheres, are particularly unhelpful to explain the complexity of women's lives 
in this region. Some observers, however, have warned that the deconstructing abilities 
24 See Nicholson (1990) and Parpart and Marchand (1995) for an overview of post-modernist discourse 
in feminist and development analysis. 
48 
of post-modernist and post-structuralist discourses should not destabilise all that 
women have sought on the grounds of gender rather than of class, race, religion and so 
on (Udaygiri, 1991). 
These questions about difference and identity, silence and participation have been 
critical in recent geographical work on the complex interactions of historical, cultural, 
environmental and political factors. The recovery of women's voices and the insertion 
of their stories into geographical work is increasingly apparent in recent studies 
submitting representations of women as agents and actors in their lives, and testing 
categories against the experiences of lived realities (Domosh, 1997; Harding, 1987; 
Huang and Yeoh, 1996a) and this has been done particularly successfully in 
discussions of economic restructuring in different places and at different times 
(Hanson and Pratt, 1995; Lawson, 1995; Massey, 1995); "The implications are that 
(working from women's lives' as a research strategy can call into question many 
assumptions about economic restructuring in different places" (Domosh, 1997: 82). 
Attempts to make women and their lives more visible have been made, first, by an 
exploration of the spatial, whether real, imaginary or symbolic (Keith and Pile, 
1993: 35; Rose, 1993), and second, by investigating the different responses and coping 
strategies used by low-income women (Chant, 1996b). 
2.3.3: The importance of space and strategies 
The relationship between women and space has now been recognised as an important 
issue in feminist inquiry and an increasing body of evidence has highlighted how 
women and meds conceptions, experiences and use of space differs (Spain, 1992). 
Drawing on spatial metaphors to illustrate the experiences of those marginalised, 
othered and distanced from the norm, geographers such as Bondi (1993) and 
McDowell (1993) have particularly located women at these margins. 
In particular, the integral importance of space in urban change has been extensively 
discussed in recent feminist literature (see, for example, Little et al., 1988) as periods 
of major economic and social change, which Massey (1995: 11) argues, are also 
periods of great spatial change. Such interconnections indicate how space is a 
49 
medium, as well as an outcome, of social action (Soja, 1985) and cannot be viewed as 
an empty container where things are merely recorded; "space cannot be dealt with as if 
it were merely a passive, abstract arena on which things happen" (Keith and Pile, 
1993: 2) but is the location through which our everyday experiences and identities are 
constituted and constructed. Instead of being taken for granted, therefore, it is believed 
that notions of space should be challenged by 'mapping' and 'charting' in order to 
demystify assumptions and oppositions which have become naturalised. Using these 
ideas, recent work has sought to challenge assumptions of powerless women in 
poverty and restructuring economies calling, not only for a recovery of women's 
voices (Harding, 1987), but also for a sensitivity to difference (Vaiou, 1992), allowing 
us to not only investigate the reality of economic change but to highlight all the 
realities. 
Attempts in spatial mapping to explain inequalities in women's lives have resulted in 
the categorisation of metaphorical and physical space into two opposing bipolar 
positions, the public and the private. Despite recent debates and the calls from Third 
World feminists, gender identities and relations continue to be constructed in this way, 
a situation which Bowlby (1990: 19) criticises as "an ambivalence between the ideal 
picture and real lives". Women are constructed in terms of the private sphere and its 
imagery of reproduction, the home and nature, and associated with activities which 
have been ascribed less value, whilst men are constructed through images of the 
public and 'valuable' productive sphere. Shurmer-Smith and Hannan (1994: 19) 
summarise, "Wherever differentiation takes place, a binary opposition is constructed, 
one side of which is seen as superior to the other which defers if'. The history of these 
bipolar paradigms is integral to Western logic and universalisms (Derrida, 1976) and 
in terms of the public and private, stems from an increasing separation of the city, 
both physically and metaphorically, as a result of the evolution of capitalist and 
industrial development (MacKenzie, 1986: 82). Spatial division is therefore also social 
division (Bowlby, 1990: 19), since it alters the norms and practices of everyday life, 
creating new outcomes and opening new possibilities whilst simultaneously imposing 
constraints and restrictions (MacKenzie, 1986; Feldman, 1992). The result has been a 
conflation. of women's multiple realities and the establishment and conservation of 
rigid boundaries which define women and men and naturalise their social relations. 
LIVERPOOL 
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50 
Such socio-spatial divisions have also created arenas of conflict which in turn shape 
and condition responses to economic crisis and the ways in which men and women 
experience poverty and disadvantage. In such discussions, space has become a 
battlefield. 
Despite increasing criticism of dualistic models, some feminist authors maintain their 
importance in contributing to an understanding of gender inequalities and the 
construction of space. For example, Massey (1994) suggests that a display of control 
is exemplified in the exercise of 'boundary-drawing', an act which is intrinsically 
socially and culturally contingent and potentially exclusionary, and which in turn will 
result in the experiences of isolation and confinement in space. In Massey's (1994: 3) 
words, what exists is not two clearly divided and bounded spaces but "a multiplicity 
of spaces, cross-cutting, intersecting, aligning with one another, or existing in 
relations of paradox or antagonism". She continues that regardless of how hardened 
lines of division may be, they are not absolute. Space and its boundaries are "fluid", 
"stretched out" and "inherently dynamic" (Massey, 1994), not "clear and compelling" 
(Vaiou, 1992: 247). By employing these spatial terms therefore we can begin to cut 
into the statistical data and categories of women and reflect the diversity of 
experiences in different social contexts and "permutations in the placing, permanence 
and permeability of spatial boundaries" (Huang and Yeoh, 1996a: 106). 
Spatial stories can therefore be perceived as narratives of confinement, accounts of "a 
geography of placemenf' highlighting the "stickiness of identity" (Pratt and Hanson, 
1994: 25). It is this inherently political nature which Keith and Pile (1993: 24) note, 
highlighting how space is neither innocent nor neutral, but rich, complex and loaded. 
They argue that "all spatialities are political because they are the (covert) medium and 
(disguised) expression of asymmetrical power" and it is the ability to fix and construct 
identities which causes women to experience space and poverty (and growth) 
disadvantageously. For women in poorer households, this ability to move, to map 
social divides, is crucial and determining since the position of boundaries and the 
degree of containment is a critical element in their daily realities. Keith and Pile 
(1993: 26) argue for the usefulness of the notion of containment in these cases, 
asserting that there are rich and poor spaces where "spaces of the poor .. are structured 
51 
by the security-paranoid gaze which fixes bodies in carceral compounds, pre-empting 
insurrections". This would imply that the poor experience greater confinement and 
boundedness in space due to their inability to contest it at a community or household 
level. Spatial narratives therefore can be used to emphasise the different ways in 
which space is encoded and policed for men and women and for different groups of 
women, and especially to highlight experiences of exclusion. The poverty and 
subordination of many women has been linked to their limited access to public space 
and the tacit understanding that a women's space is domestic and in the home (Meer, 
1994) and such restrictions constrain women's access to jobs, recreation, information, 
services, and politics. Importantly then, an analysis of the linkages between poverty 
and space allows us to focus on a range of different spatial scales from the national 
and the community levels to the labour market and the home25. 
Recent literature on development has particularly highlighted how crucial access to, and 
successful participation in the public, productive sphere is integral to survival and 
defending the household against poverty (Amis and Rakodi, 1994; Amis, 1995). This 
relationship between space and poverty is especially apparent in fully commercialised 
and monetised urban economies, such as Singapore, where the ability to rely on 
subsistence has diminished and the separation of the urban form resulted in fewer 
options (Amis, 1995). To this can be added a critical gender dimension due first to the 
unequal access and lower status experienced by women in the labour market and the 
workplace (see Pyle, 1994 and Wong and Leong, 1993, for the case of Singapore), and 
second, to the disproportionate cost of poverty with which they are burdened, increasing 
their hours and responsibilities whilst modifying their lives (England, 1991; Rakodi, 
1995). It is in the public arenas therefore that women in the urban economy can access 
resources which in turn act to alleviate poverty or vulnerability. 'Me ability to do so is 
determined by the movement within and negotiation of artificial oppositional spheres 
and the powers and meanings with which they are imbued. To this end, the investigation 
of coping strategies can be used to trouble these divides and examine how people 
actually experience different spaces. They can determine poverty and the ability to cope 
by defining the ways in which space is used, negotiated and contested but are themselves 
also conditioned by the spaces they use. 
25 The discussion on the relationship between poverty, gender and space is expanded in Chapter 8. 
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53 
There is a need in academic enquiry therefore to analyse the confmements and 
constraints of space but in so doing, it must remain positive and focus equally on the 
types of movement and negotiation processes displayed by many women. Attention 
therefore must be drawn to the points of intersection and convergence diverting analysis 
away from an obsession with the centre and periphery, the inside and outside. 
2.3.4: Summary 
Thus far poverty has been identified as multi-dimensional, gendercd and spatial. This 
means we need to look at differences and diversity as important and seek and listen to 
silenced or excluded voices and experiences. As a result, one of the aims in this thesis 
is to attempt to make certain groups of disadvantaged individuals and households 
more visible, and focus on those who are excluded by the virile images of success in 
East Asia and in particular Singapore. This is an investigation which attempts to go 
beyond the conflicting imagery which is obscuring geographies of poverty and 
discrimination to focus research on the multi-layered complexity of different 
experiences of poverty and of the dynamism of Pacific Asian economic growth. In the 
next chapter I investigate the region of East Asia and the nation-state of Singapore in 
more depth and assess what these reviewed debates have to offer our understandings 
of this dynamic and successfid region. 
54 
CHAPTER 3 
SETTING THE SCENE: EAST ASIA AND SINGAPORE 
3.1: Introduction 
It has been argued in Chapter I that poverty should be observed on three different 
spatial levels, the macro, intermediate and micro, in order to highlight the different 
histories, contexts and structures of poverty. McGee (1995: 194) makes a similar point 
for the wider field of development studies and calls for the insertion of a 'local-global 
dialectic', in order to investigate the issues which result from the relationships 
between international, national and local levels. Research based at the local level 
which engages with, and is based on, a knowledge of the national and global and 
which offers a set of ideas to critically analyse and challenge concepts and 
understandings. The global level, he asserts, is embedded in the local and the 
everyday, therefore, rendering the world too complex for categories, such as the local 
and global, developed and underdeveloped, North and South. Ultimately the 
boundaries drawn between these become obsolete as space-time compression occurs 
and territories are redefined and rescaled (Harvey, 1989; Maxwell, 1997). 
The example of East Asia presents a good testbed to study the interaction between 
these different levels and from which to research and challenge many of these 
compartments into which our understanding and representations are positioned. As a 
region East Asia has attracted international attention for a number of reasons. Most 
significantly the spotlight has focused on the processes of development which have 
been characterised by dynamic, rapid and successful growth which have made the 
region the new dynamic core of the world economy (Dixon and Drakakis-Smith, 
1995). East Asia has experienced rapid and fundamental change reflected in the 
shifting images from slums and poverty to hi-tech and high-rise urban landscapes 
representing a unique transformation from poverty to near affluence in just thirty 
years. This has been the result of a unique development process, a process which has 
55 
challenged and questioned the fixed categories and notions of economic growth 
(McGee, 1997). East Asia does not fit comfortably into any of these groupings, such 
as North and South, constructing and scripting its own geographies and histories and 
an alternative modernity (Bell, 1994; Sidaway, 1997). Whilst East Asia has been 
subject to the turbulent forces of economic change and adjustment experienced across 
the globe, unlike the crisis and despair found elsewhere, these nations have excelled 
during economic and urban transformations to evolve into the 'miracle' economies of 
neo-liberal restructuringi. 
As a result of this success, however, there is little recent consideration of poverty in 
the region as discussions have become absent and marginalised from studies of East 
and Southeast Asia. Existing literature on the region focuses overwhelmingly on the 
average gains from economic transformation and restructuring (see for example, 
World Bank, 1993a). As a region, East Asia is now fully immersed and linked into the 
global economy, the impacts of which are located in the local and micro-scales and 
are fundamental to all aspects of economic, political and social life. However, McGee 
(1997) argues that not everyone is part of this globalisation and modernisation 
programme as many find themselves isolated and excluded from the project and 
failing to share the benefits of restructuring and macro-economic change. This is a 
crucial issue and one which is increasingly neglected in research of East and Southeast 
Asia and their nations where virile and aggressive images of success and growth 
prevail. Dixon and Drakakis-Smith (1993) warn, however, that these factors and 
images of success can be subject to distortion and mystification, whilst Forbes 
(1993: 43) cautions of "inflated accounts" thus stressing the need to reflect on the 
unevenness of the development process. 
It is in response to this that McGee (1997) argues for the re-assertion of the local, of 
experiences and voices in the development process and as a core part of geographical 
research. Such a consideration, Routledge (1997) contends, will begin to reveal 
contested terrains and the constant states of negotiation at the local level in resistance 
to the impacts of the global. East and Southeast Asia have experienced enormous and 
1 East and Southeast Asia however are not as coherent as their labels might suggest and are extremely 
diverse regions where success is uneven (see Dixon and Drakakis-Smith, 1995). 
56 
profound macro-level changes in a short period of time which have impacted on 
economic and social opportunities, identities and spaces. Every nation in the region 
has advanced and improved to some extent, but the fact remains that the dynamics and 
consequences are still little understood. There remains a lack of knowledge about 
what has been happening and how concepts, definitions, experiences and responses 
have changed. This makes East Asia and its nations an exciting and dynamic research 
environment. 
I begin this chapter therefore by examining the regional level of East Asia and 
exploring its place in the global economy and the development process which has 
shaped and defined the countries of this region. It is in this global and regional 
context, and especially as a Newly Industrialised Economy (NIE), that I wish to 
introduce and situate the case study of Singapore, one of the most successful 
economies in the region. This is an important task as Singapore is consumed by 
images of East and Southeast Asia and is now referenced in this way. Understanding 
the ways in which the region and the nation-state of Singapore have been constructed 
is crucial as it also determines the ways in which they have been reported, researched 
and analysed and highlights its sensitivity to regional and global forces (Shurmer- 
Smith and Hannan, 1994). 
It should be noted here, however, that these images are fluid and changing over time. 
'Mis has been most evident after recent events in the region have brought it to the 
world's attention for very different reasons from its focus as a region of 'economic 
miracles'. The currency crisis which has crippled much of East and Southeast Asia 
since mid-1997 has begun to question the relevance and importance of the 'miracle' 
thesis2. This is obviously fundamental to any study in the region, however, I limit my 
analysis here to the recent history preceding the crisis, principally because this study 
was researched and contextualised at this time. I will, however, return to these issues 
and their implications in Chapter 9. 'Mis chapter begins therefore by examining and 
exploring the different views on development in East Asia before offering an 
2 'The East Asian crisis' started in 1997 as a currency crisis with the devaluation of the Thai currency 
but spread to the rest of the region and most other areas of the economy. This will be discussed more 
fully in Chapter 9. 
57 
overview of the case study of Singapore and concluding with an outline of the themes 
and aims of the research. 
3.2: `Tiger feats': the making of the East Asian `miracle' 
In only 50 years, the regions of East and Southeast Asia have witnessed some of the 
most spectacular changes to be experienced anywhere and at any time in history. In 
1968 when Gunnar Myrdal published his decade long study, Asian Drama, he 
described a region of struggle, chaos and poverty. By the 1980s, however, these 
images had been replaced and the performances of Japan, the NIEs and ASEAN 
countries were so successful that an 'economic miracle' had been proclaimed (Rigg, 
1997). Representations of East and Southeast Asia were to become dominated by the 
optimistic, aggressive and virile images of 'tigers' and 'dragons' bringing some 
writers to declare the advent of a 'Pacific century' and the reorientation of the global 
economy towards Southeast and East Asia (Dixon and Drakakis-Smith, 1995; Yeung, 
1993). For example, Smith et al. (quoted in Forbes, 1993: 46) announced that "the 
region is economically and industrially gearing up to dominate the planet in the 
twenty-first century", whilst Naisbutt and Aburdene (1990) identified the rise of the 
Pacific Rim as one of the ten most important trends of the 1990s. 
A look at any statistical account for the region, however, shows that such optimistic 
and enthusiastic language and the images upon which the region has been built are not 
without substance. Regional data collected by agencies such as the World Bank and 
the UNDP show that the only region to register significant economic growth 
throughout the difficult 1980s and into the 1990s was East Asia3. The differential 
impacts of globalisation became obvious by the 1990s when the economies of Africa 
and Latin America emerged from the 'lost decade' with living standards below those 
experienced in the 1960s and 1970s were juxtaposed against East Asia, the only 
region to derive benefits from economic restructuring and not experience an increase 
in poverty in income-level terms (Lipton and Maxwell, 1992; World Bank, 1990; 
Yeung, 1993). Table 3.1 shows how these economies have outperformed, often 
3 With the exception of the Philippines, Burma and Cambodia. 
58 
dramatically, any other developing regions over the last 30 years to secure the label of 
'miracle' economies. In addition to this success, statistical forecasts for East Asia 
have consistently predicted the region to maintain these higher growth rates and a 
leading economic positioný (World Bank, 1990). 
Table 3.1: Regional performance indicators 
Region 
GDP growth rates 
1965-80 1980-89 
GDP per capita growth rates 
1965-80 1980-89 
Industrial countries 
3.7 
3.0 
2.8 
2.5 
Developing countries 
5.9 
4.3 
3.4 
2.3 
East Asia 
7.3 
8.4 
4.8 
6.7 
South Asia 
3.6 
5.5 
1.2 
3.2 
Eastern Europe 
5.3 
1.4 
4.5 
0.8 
Middle East, N. Africa 
and other Europe 
6.3 
2.9 
3.9 
0.8 
Latin America and the 
Caribbean 
6.0 
1.6 
3.4 
-0.6 
Sub-Saharan Africa 
5.2 
1.0 
2.0 
-2.2 
Source: World Bank (1991) 
In tandem with this high and sustained economic growth, the East Asian economies 
also seem to have achieved significant advances in improving social indicators and 
reducing poverty (Tables 3.2 and 1.1). For example, on a variety of social indicators, 
some economies are now approaching or surpassing standards only previously seen in 
the developed world. For instance, the significant achievements in curtailing 
population growth whilst simultaneously improving life expectancy have resulted in 
ageing populations in a number of nations. In Hong Kong and Japan, for example, less 
that 20 per cent of the population is under 15 years old, whilst the equivalent figure 
for Singapore and South Korea is just over 20 per cent (UN Habitat, 1996: 75). 
Meanwhile, the World Bank (1990: 1) predicted that if the region met its projected 
growth rates of 5.1 per cent then poverty would almost be eliminated by the year 
20005. 
4 Ilese were all pre-crisis predictions although discussions from the region remain optimistic. See, for 
example, the Far Eastern Economic Review (18 June 1998,2 April 1998). 
Many nations within East Asia were meeting these target growth rates until 1997. 
59 
Table 3.2: Regional social indicators 
Region 
Life 
expectancy 
at birth 
(years) 
Infant 
Mortality 
Rate 
% of 
matnour- 
ished 
children 
% of popn. 
with access 
to safe 
water 
Adult 
literacy rate 
1960 
1992 
1960 
1992 
1975 
1990 
1975 
1988 
1970 
1992 
1 
/80 
/91 
East Asia 
47.5 
70.5 
146 
27 
26 
21 
- 
- 
67 
- 
South-East Asia 
45.3 
62.9 
126 
55 
46 
34 
15 
53 
- 
86 
South Asia 
43.8 
58.5 
164 
94 
69 
59 
- 
- 
33 
47 
Arab States 
46.7 
64.3 
165 
54 
25 
20 
71 
79 
30 
57 
Latin America and the 
Caribbean 
56.0 
67.7 
105 
47 
17 
10 
60 
79 
76 
86 
Sub-Saharan Africa 
40.0 
51.1 
165 
101 
31 
31 
25 
45 
28 
51 
Source: UN Habitat (1996: 100) 
It is not surprising, therefore, that the majority of research and debate on the region 
has been dominated by attempts to explain and understand the nature of this economic 
growth. The impressiveness of these statistics and records and the uniqueness of the 
development process in the region has led many observers to see in these experiences 
the vindication of a model of economic development for others to emulate (Bello, 
1992; Forbes, 1993). The East Asian economies were seen to have scripted their own 
alternative route to modernisation, which differed from previous models such as 
Rostowian linear development, modernisation paradigms and notions of core and 
periphery (Savage et al., 1993: 236), and which brought them to a stage where they no 
longer fitted into existing categories such as developed or developing, north or south. 
Furthermore, the geography of this shifting economic 'miracle' could be traced around 
the region diffusing from Japan in what has been coined the 'flying geese' formation 
with Japan leading the NIEs and ASEAN economies, and now a fourth generation of 
emerging economies such as Vietnam and Cambodia (Yamazawa, 1992). These 
shared and seemingly transferable experiences led to a rare study by the World Bank, 
which in 1993 published The East Asian Miracle. Although much has been written on 
the region6, this study was the most vocal and influential proponent of a model or 
miracle thesis which was seen to offer a recipe for economic success to others. The 
model was an attempt to explain the development in East Asia especially because of 
6 Earlier publications to discuss an East Asian model include Bello (1992), Berger and Hsio (1986) and 
Cline (1982). 
60 
the inability to fit the many experiences here into existing concepts from the 
developing or developed worlds. 
In particular, these achievements have been associated with a core group identified as 
the 'high performing Asian economies' (HPAE) by the World Bank (1993 a: 1). These 
eight nations alone- Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, 
Malaysia and Thailand- have, since 1960, grown more than twice as fast as the rest of 
East Asia, almost three times as fast as Latin America and South Asia and twenty-five 
times faster than Sub-Saharan Africa (ibid.: 2). Although the World Bank 
acknowledged that all these nations were diverse and different, they also identified 
certain characteristics which were most applauded as manifestations of economic 
dynamism. Fundamentally, the World Bank (1993a: 5) saw the route to achieving 
success was to "get the basics right". These basics were rooted in macro-economic 
reform and "prudent and flexible" development strategies (Forbes, 1993; World Bank, 
1990: 18). In particular, these policies needed to be outward-looking, export-orientated 
and 'market-friendly' with emphasis placed on the "superior accumulation of physical 
and human capital" (Bello, 1992; World Bank, 1993a: 5). The attraction of foreign 
investment therefore was critical and served to link the nations in this region to the 
world economy and processes of globalisation. In policy terms this meant creating an 
attractive environment for overseas investors by combining low wages with an 
educated workforce, technical skills, good infrastructure and communications and 
stable political environments in order to take advantage of rapidly-opening global 
markets (Dixon and Drakakis-Smith, 1993; Lipton and Maxwell, 1992). 
Following export-orientated strategies and attracting labour-intensive investment to 
the region was believed to result in the generation of employment opportunities and so 
raising labour productivity and in turn wages and living standards 7. Since labour is 
still considered to be the most crucial asset of the poor this increase was believed to 
advance the socio-economic status at all levels and in particular benefit the poor 
(Mills and Pernia, 1994: 46). On the basis of the experiences in East Asia, it was 
perceived that following such market-friendly approaches would in turn not only 
generate economic growth but also be the most important anti-poverty strategy. 
61 
Although the emphasis remains firmly on market-led growth, the role of the state in 
East and Southeast Asia was also acknowledged and supported. The implementation 
of sound development policies was viewed to be a function of the state in the region, 
in particular the intervention of government in social and economic policy to foster 
development and ensure stable political environments. It was perceived to be the role 
of these state institutions to ensure the principles of shared growth, business-friendly 
environments, the development of human and physical capital and an openness to 
foreign technology and export-led industries (World Bank, 1993a: 13). Much of the 
success in the region, therefore, has also been accredited to the development policies 
implemented within nations to attract foreign investment. These states have sought to 
create what Dixon and Drakakis-Smith (1997: 10) call "landscapes of production", 
spaces which the government successfully controls and reproduces in order to attract 
investors and foreign capital (McGee and Lin, 1993). 
In particular, it was the cities in the region which were to be the sites of development 
and investment and act as central points between local and global, traditional and 
modem forces (Won et aL, 1997: 4). Much attention has also been given to these 
processes as the region witnesses unprecedented levels of urbanisation resulting in 
"the dawn of the Pacific Age and the world's first urban century" (Douglass, 1989: 9: 
UN Habitat, 1996) (see Table 3.3). This is a unique position where both the urban and 
economic transitions are near completion (Mills and Pernia, 1994), each shaping and 
affecting the other and bringing about complex changes and patterns. It is these cities, 
such as Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taipei, Jakarta and Bangkok, which are the 
key nodes of global and regional flows of resources and integrating networks of trade, 
information and people, but also the principal sites where the most intense impacts of 
change will be witnessed. 
7 Although none of these are inevitable. 
62 
Table 3.3: Urbanisation trends 
Region 
Percentage of t tal population livin in urban areas 
1970 
2000 
2025 
World: 
more developed regions 
66.6 
74.8 
79.0 
less developed regions 
25.5 
39.5 
56.9 
Africa 
22.9 
41.3 
57.8 
Latin America 
57.3 
77.2 
84.8 
Asia 
23.9 
35.0 
53.0 
Source: Potter and Lloyd-Evans (1998: 19) 
The fact that an East Asian model has emerged based on the notion of 'miracle' 
economies is not surprising, especially given the state of crisis evident in many other 
regions. East Asia has not only proven its ability to adjust to shocks and continue to 
foster economic growth but has also emerged with a healthy balance of payments, 
strong trade performances and controlled fiscal spending (World Bank, 1990). The 
importance of the model, and the countries it is based on, is clear from those who 
promote and use it, most notably the World Bank who have developed their anti- 
poverty strategies and structural adjustment policies on the experiences of East Asia 
(Lipton and Maxwell, 1992; World Bank, 1990). However, the legacy of the 'miracle' 
thesis is far more extensive, fundamentally shaping development policies and 
economic growth and impacting on our understandings of social welfare and poverty 
alleviation, as well as the ways in which we view and research the region. This has led 
to closer examinations of the model and critiques of its use by international agencies 
and policy-makers, but also increasingly of the development process itself. 
3.3: Unmasking the miracle: uneven development in East Asia 
3.3.1: Critiquing the model 
No text has been more important or influential in promoting the concept and images 
of an East Asian 'miracle' than the World Bank (1993 a) document. As a result, most 
attention given to critiquing and questioning development in the region has largely 
remained focused on the model and its economic strategies but also its widespread use 
63 
by the World Bank in selling structural adjustment and market-led development. 
Forbes (1993: 47), for example, warns that institutions such as the World Bank are 
essentially in the "business of selling money" and Kwon (1994) argues that the World 
Bank study was as much a political as an economic model, written to reflect the 
ideology, policy and beliefs of the agency and its policy makers. Meanwhile, Jorno 
(1997: 2) writes that the study was a self-promotion exercise paid for by the Japanese 
government "to gain greater recognition and appreciation of the Japanese experience". 
Consequently, some commentators believe that this has resulted in a model Which is 
both flawed and misleading. Bello (1992: 12), for example, argues that to promote an 
East Asian model which is based on liberalisation and free markets is deceptive, 
whilst Dixon and Drakakis-Smith (1993: 13) view the idea of laissez-faire capitalism 
in East and Southeast Asia as a myth. Rigg (1997: 9) writes that this is because the 
model has been invented by the West since in reality growth in the region has been 
based, not just on ubiquitous market forces, but on highly-protected domestic markets, 
restrictive foreign investment codes, dispensable foreign labour and strongly 
interventionist states. Although the World Bank (1993a) document acknowledges the 
role of the state, Amsden (1994) argues that this has been severely underplayed and 
that to have emphasised the authoritarian role of the governments and interventionist 
economic policies would have undermined the entire market-friendly ethos, of the 
World Bank. What exists in reality (state-assisted East Asian capitalism) and in the 
model (free-market capitalism), therefore, are two fundamentally different strategies 
(Bello, 1995). As a result, there is no clear understanding of the processes in East 
Asian development and a lack of evidence as to what has been happening, especially 
at the local level (Perkins, 1994). 
Crucially, this model reflects a particular place and time, something which observers 
say can never be repeated again. Bello (1992: 25) contends that "ideas congeal into 
doctrine only when the circumstances in the real world that they reflect have 
disappeared ... the NIC model has become orthodoxy just at the very moment it has 
become obsolete". Since the mid-1990s and the regional currency crisis, it has become 
clearer that the East Asian model has been unravelled by unfavourable changes in 
external and internal conditions as markets begin to collapse and the liberal world 
64 
environment disappears. The internal costs of economic and market strategies in 
Southeast Asia appear now to be more obviously revealing themselves, apparently 
leaving the region in a precarious position between development and 
underdevelopment. 
The current economic crisis could now be perceived as giving weight to those 
critiques which have questioned the success of the model and development processes. 
Forbes (1993: 46-48) referred to statistics and reports from the region as 'inflated', 
"manufactured', 'unbalanced' and 'simplified', whilst Schmidt (1997) argued that a 
reliance on aggregated statistical and economic projections told us only part of the 
story of development in East Asia, one which failed to acknowledge cultural, social 
and political factors of growth. Debates, discussions, approaches and language in the 
region have been dominated by economics and the myopic and obscured visions based 
on narrow neo-classical Paradigms (Drakakis-Smith, 1995; McGee, 1995). Studies 
have not only relied on economic terms but, Schmidt (1997: 23) argues, have 
'fetishised' economic growth as the be-all and end-all of development. The visibility 
of the Southeast Asian region therefore has been set in an almost purely economic 
context focusing on issues such as production, trade and circulation (Savage et al., 
1993), which in turn, have concealed and omitted other accounts of economic growth 
and change from within the region. 
What has resulted, Watts (1997) writes, is the dismissal of the language of equality, 
poverty and human rights from the region which means little is known of the impacts 
(uneven, violent) and the implications (direct and subtle) of rapid growth in East Asia 
(Savage et al., 1993), or now of the economic crisis. There have now been calls to 
question and challenge the symbolic significance of the statistics and for more realistic 
and balanced accounts of the region (da Cunha, 1994; Forbes, 1993; Gore, 1995a). 
Initial steps in achieving this must be made to recognise the complexity and multi- 
dimensionality of the development processes and socio-economic changes within the 
different spatial levels ftorn the region to the household and the individual. These 
issues are beginning to gain attention from commentators and researchers in the region 
who believe that once the complex changes and their wider impacts begin to be 
investigated then truer and more balanced images and accounts can begin to be 
65 
presented, and voices other than those of business, money and economics can begin to 
be heard (Swift, 1995). 
3.3.2: `Modernisation without development' 
Development [means] processes of enrichment, empowerment and 
participation, which the technocratic project-orientated view of the world 
simply cannot accommodate. 
(Edwards, 1989: 120) 
In many ways the region of East Asia is something of a paradox (Schmidt, 1997). The 
region is of critical importance economically, socially, culturally and politically, yet, 
the focus has been devoted to economics at the expense of examining the wider 
processes of social change (Taylor and Turton, 1988). Mainstrewn research in the 
region has not only been dominated by economistic concepts and statistics but, 
Schmidt (1997: 21) writes, is "descriptive and non-analytical while social critique ... has 
been surprisingly underdeveloped". McVey (1995: 63) notes that research from within 
the region has changed little and in general failed to challenge or contest development 
or modernisation serving in the main part to fill gaps and support what has gone 
before. Such 'simple-minded' analysis has in turn neglected post-development 
considerations such as democracy and limits to growth and suppressed alternative 
ways of understanding (Escobar, 1995; Francis, 1995)8. 
Recently, however, a small but growing body of dissent and alternative thinking has 
emerged from the region. Studies and critiques are beginning to extend beyond the 
economic miracle to reflect on elements missing from current accounts. There is an 
increased awareness and concern about the unevenness of the development process 
and attempts are beginning to be made to understand 'what is happening on the 
ground' and questions asked about 'who has missed out? ' (Moser et al., 1993; Rigg, 
1997). Observers have started to note the lack of studies and understanding on an 
extensive range of issues, for example, uneven development, poverty, social injustice, 
gender inequality, class and ethnic cleavages, human rights, empowerment, welfare, 
8 The majority of literature on post-development considerations in the region has focused on the newly 
emerging middle classes. For ex=ple, see Robison and Goodman (1996). 
66 
collective action, the environment and social change (Bello, 1995; Davidson, 1996, 
1999; Dixon and Drakakis-Smith, 1995,1997; Forbes, 1993; McGee, 1997; Schmidt, 
1997; Rigg, 1997; Watts, 1997). Such a lack of concern, McGee (1995: 206) argues, is 
a reason why such little critical analysis exists. In particular, there is now an increased 
awareness and concern about the costs of development in the region, both human and 
environmental, and the increasing gaps between the winners and losers in the 
development process (see Dixon and Drakakis-Smith, 1997; Rigg, 1997; Yeung, 
1996). Whereas in other parts of the world analysis, thinking and investigations of 
these issues and questions have undergone on-going changes, debate and 
development, in East and Southeast Asian studies these perspectives have been 
downplayed (Schmidt, 1997). 
Some critics however have questioned the relevance of such research studies in a 
successftd and dynamic region9. However, it is for this very reason, and the fact that 
development, economic growth and poverty have all been measured and assessed 
primarily in economic terms, that research in these areas must be maintained and 
extended. Observers have now identified the principal challenge for research must be 
to start to reflect on all these aspects and elements of daily lives which are currently 
missing from accounts in order to acknowledge difference and stimulate debate and, 
therefore, to offer a more balanced picture of the experiences of East Asian 
development (Forbes, 1993). The statistical images offered so far are only part of the 
story and the focus on the supra-region and its achievements serves to obscure uneven 
experiences of development. By beginning to ask who has missed out on the 
economic miracle, the neglect of social, cultural and political issues in the region can 
begin to be considered. 
Most observers have recently highlighted the unevenness of the development process 
in the region, but in his review of recent literature, Rigg (1997: 23-9) concludes that in 
their attempts to bring some balance to assessments, the essence of these critiques is 
in fact 'modernisation without development'. In particular he identifies six negative 
components of development in the region. He writes that this is development which; 
67 
is vulnerable, dependent and subordinate; 
infiinges on human rights and undermines human decency; 
is destructive of the natural environment and is environmentally non-sustainable; 
undermines local cultures and creates an ethic of consumerism; 
perpetuates poverty and poor working conditions; 
widens inequalities between people, between rural and urban areas, and between 
regions. 
Several authors have now written on the instability of economies in the region and 
questioned their dependency on external investment and export-driven economic 
growth (for example, see Chant and McIlwaine, 1995a, b on the Philippines; Rodan, 
1989 on Singapore and Schmidt, 1997 on the ASEAN-4). Such a vulnerable position 
is seen to stem from the lack of control which national governments and policy 
makers have over global markets and investment flows and the threat which 
protectionism poses in exports markets and the fear of foreign investors moving 
elsewhere, especially if labour costs or political instability increase. Others have 
questioned whether East Asian economies can sustain such high levels of growth as 
witnessed in the last three decades or mobilise enough resources to increase efficiency 
(Krugman, 1994). Unfortunately, with the region recently thrown into economic crisis, 
it appears that many of these doubts were not unfounded as the global markets 
impacted massively at the regional and local levels. This is one of the clearest 
indicators that impressive statistical records do not necessarily ensure the economic 
future or safety of a nation or region and that there is nothing inevitable about success 
or wealth. The future of East Asia is now uncertain as nations enter increasingly 
vulnerable positions. 
Others have highlighted and investigated the impact of a large consumerist middle 
class in the region which has emerged as a result of economic growth and success 
(Robison and Goodman, 1996). Laquin (1996: 45) for example, cautions of the erosion 
of local ethnic and cultural identities, whilst the World Bank (1990: 13 9-40) warns that 
the poor will increasingly become confined into those groups that are unable to benefit 
from growth and especially from employment opportunities and rising wages. Such a 
changing pattern of social class, poverty and vulnerability, Bello (1995) argues will 
9 This has been expressed to me personally by members of the academy. 
68 
continue to genemte and perpetuate social inequalities and poor living and working 
conditions for weaker groups in society. Amsden (1994: 632) focuses on this issue of 
labour arguing the nature of market-orientated development in the region really boils 
down to a 'not-so-friendly-to-labour' approach of cutting real wages. The initial 
attraction of investors to the region in search of cheap and docile labour (Heyzner, 
1986) has resulted in almost all national governments introducing policies to restrain 
wages, ýxtend the working day, reduce holidays, repress union power and infringe on 
labour and workers rights (Amsden, 1994; Luther, 1978; Schmidt, 1997). 'Mese 
infringements on human rights have increasingly gained attention in the region, 
e. specially from the media. Commentators are -increasingly warning that progress and 
economic growth do not necessarily secure nor ensure human rights, such as equality, 
inclusion and empowerment for all, whilst Heng, R. (1994) observes that human 
rights in the region are offered as a choice between liberty and wealth. As a result the 
human rights record here is generally poor with a weakly-organised civil society and 
repressed political activity and representation 10(0yen, 1996; UNDP; 1995). 
Finally, critics of the East Asian 'miracle' have increasingly observed that the benefits 
of growth have not been experienced or shared equally by all and that the costs of East 
Asian development fall disproportionately on weaker sections of society (ESCAP, 
1993d). This has been expressed on a number of levels: between countries, urban- 
rural divides, within cities and between different people, and expressed in a multitude 
of ways. Bello (1995) notes that development has both generated and perpetuated 
social inequalities, even as rapid growth has occurred, and the benefits of the 'miracle' 
have not reached the poor or minority groups. Whilst high growth rates have allowed 
absolute income levels to increase, for example, worsening income distribution has 
been observed in economies such as Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Thailand since the 
1980s. The result is a growing juxtaposition between wealth and poverty in East Asia: 
On a daily basis, living in Asia's cities means being part of global 
development, constantly exposed to global chains of mass consumerism, 
fmding easy access to technological gadgets, being fully informed of political 
10 However, others from within the region have defended their records, arguing that such notions of 
human rights are Western perceptions and that the East is scripting its own version which subordinates 
the individual for the collective (Devan and Heng, 1994). 
69 
and economic events around the world, earning a comfortable salary and 
living in decent living quarters .... [F]or a minority, life is the same as before, 
mired in poverty. 
(Yeung, 1996: 30) 
Social and economic change, whether successful or not, will be experienced in a 
multitude of ways at different scales and by different social groups. Commentators are 
now beginning to ask who is bearing the costs of these social changes in East and 
Southeast Asia (Schmidt, 1997; ESCAP, 1993c). In every country, policies will not 
reach, or be intended to reach, all and therefore marginalise certain groups who may 
or may not actively participate in economic development. As a result, growing social 
cleavages and polarisations exist along class, gender and ethnic lines as increased 
material expectations widen gaps and increase disparities (Schmidt, 1997; Yeung, 
1996). It is these minority groups and their experiences and relationships with policy, 
the state and the economy, therefore, which are the focus of this study. 
3.3.3: Understanding poverty in East Asia 
Where a whole people suffer, poverty does not point the finger at the 
individual as poignantly and mercilessly as where poverty comes in the midst 
of affluence. 
McCloughry (1990: 2) 
Rigg's (1997: 26-28) identification of a form of development in East and Southeast 
Asia which widens inequalities, infringes on human rights and perpetuates poverty 
questions the premise that poverty has all but disappeared in the region and the 
benefits of economic growth are shared by all (World Bank, 1991). Furthermore, 
Dixon and Drakakis-Smith (1997: 1) argue that the 'euphoria' which has accompanied 
economic development in the region has served to neglect the "extremely uneven 
pattern of development". Discussions of poverty, however, have become increasingly 
absent and marginalised from studies of East Asia. Whilst increased attention has 
been focused on poverty, inequality and the social effects of structural change in every 
other region of the world, studies from the Pacific region have been obscuring and 
ignoring experiences of economic transformation. Commentators in Southeast and 
East Asia speak of a 'dearth' and 'scarcity' of research (Choo et al., 1996: 86; 
70 
Valencia, 1996: 130) and a situation where "the term [poverty] is generally avoided 
and unwelcome" (Bryant-Tokalau, 1995: 109). 
A reason for this can be linked to official poverty statistics for the region which has 
generated considerable literature on the eradication of poverty (World Bank, 1991). 
When measurements based on poverty lines and headcount measures" have been 
applied, as in the vast majority of studies, East Asia is the only region in the world to 
register a decrease in poverty levels. 12 These statistics and indicators have not only 
directed research agendas in the region, but led to a level of confidence rendering 
issues of poverty and inequality no longer a concern (Forbes, 1993). However, the 
relationships observed between high economic growth rates in East Asia and the 
impressive reductions in poverty have led to the overwhelming conceptualisation of 
poverty in purely economic terms and defined by a narrow range of economistic 
frameworks (Booth, 1997; ESCAP, 1993b; Rigg, 1997). Poverty research therefore 
has been dominated by economists and international policy-makers and characterised 
by statistical frameworks and theoretical concepts which have focused on export- 
orientation, social investments and macro-economic prudence (Novak, 1996; ESCAP, 
1993b). 
Chapter 2 has already offered a critique of such economistic approaches and the 
problems which accompany them. Statistics are of course useful, but, as Wilheim, 
argues (1996: 10), only "if we are not misled by them, forgetting the realities of social 
life: the diversity, mobility, inequities, exclusions that are hidden under the average 
calculation7'. Importantly, statistics tend to be highly assumptive, generalised and 
aggregative and whilst quantifying the poor, tell us little or nothing about their 
characteristics or why they are in poverty. Such definitional and methodological 
assumptions, Booth (1997) notes also may not be valid. Indeed, much of Booth's 
(1993a, 1997) work in the region and especially Indonesia has shown the ambiguity 
and uncertainty in defining a headcount measure and applying poverty lines across the 
11 The headcount method is when an appropriate poverty line is estimated and applied to data derived 
from household income or expenditure surveys to determine the proportion of the population or 
households whose income/expenditure falls below the poverty line thresholdL 
12 The exception in the region has been the Philippines, although the same could probably be said of 
Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Burma, but data are unavailable. 
71 
region and even within the same country. Further, data on the region and its nations 
are seldom broken down spatially, for example, at different regional, district, 
community and household levels, or socially, for instance by ethnicity, age, gender or 
race. This is despite the many plural nations of the region such as Malaysia where 
Eyre (1 997: 124) notes that "any consideration of equity in terms'of space, gender or 
ethnicity was largely neglected". Differences between and within households and 
structures or ethnic and gender dimensions, therefore, have been little researched. 
The reliance and use almost exclusively of economic terms and measures, Oyen 
(1996: 38) contends, has resulted in many studies lacking any conceptual foundation, 
offering only descriptions and reports rather than tackling deeper issues and analysis 
to offer explanations and understanding. Valencia (1996: 130) agrees noting the use of 
only one poverty research tool as 'myopic' and that the lack of data and material 
allows only a "modicum of analysis". Despite these problems with economic 
approaches and headcount measures, they are still the most widely used in the region 
creating a research environment in which it is difficult to study more holistic aspects 
of poverty and to prove that conditions are deteriorating for some (Bryant-Tokalau, 
1995). Such non-availability of data and the limits of those which exist has led an 
increasing number of researchers to conclude that poverty in the region is not only 
underestimated, but is misunderstood (Bryant, 1993; Oyen, 1996). As a result, poverty 
based only on income and consumption and the isolation of analysis from wider social 
and political contexts has failed to capture the many manifestations and structural 
causes of poverty which exist in such a complex and dynamic region or to recognise 
the several worlds in which people live (Bryant-Tokalau, 1995). 
There is, however, an increasing awareness and concern about these gaps in research 
and the literature and in our understandings of the relationships between rapid growth 
and poverty in Southeast Asia. Rigg (1997: 69) writes that "many ... have become 
convinced that development creates 'losers' as well as 'winners' and that social justice 
is the victim of rapid growth". Increasingly, analysis has started to adopt different 
definitions and approaches to poverty research in the region and evidence indicates 
that despite the apparent links between economic growth and well-being, there exists 
no clear relationship between economic growth and equality or inclusion for all 
72 
(Heng, R., 1994). It should not be assumed therefore that because there are confident 
statistics that poverty no longer exists, has disappeared or is not experienced in the 
lives of those living in the region. As McCormick and Philo (1995) note in the case of 
the UK, poverty never really goes away, instead it is its acceptability and relevance 
which changes. Similarly, Edmundson (1994: 140) writes that there will always be a 
rich and a poor, but these are groups which are dynamic and fluid as the people 
constituting them appear to be continually changing and moving. Economic change, 
whether successful or not, is still always turbulent and painftil creating tension and 
stress in urban systems, and regardless of success, issues of poverty, inequality and 
exclusion should not be ignored (Moser et al., 1994). The landscape of East Asia is 
incredibly dynamic and constantly changing and redefining itself. This makes it even 
more important to continually address what is happening to poverty, inequality and 
exclusion at all levels within the region. Although East Asia has not been at the 
forefront of poverty research, it obviously has much to offer continuing debates and 
discussions and especially supporting theories that poverty is temporal, contextual and 
spatial in nature (Novak, 1996). 
Increasingly, therefore, a growing body of research has attempted to first, think about 
poverty per se, and second, to think differently about it and what it means in the 
region. Each nation in East Asia faces very different social problems and issues 
meaning poverty will manifest itself in a variety of ways, for example, as exclusion, 
marginalisation and discrimination (Massey and Allen, 1995; Minujin, 1995). As a 
result, other indicators and methods have been sought to supplement the inadequacies 
of income and consumption data, usually grounded in the understanding of poverty as 
multi-dimensional in nature and its expression in different conceptual terms in 
different countries, (ESCAP, 1993ab). Questions therefore are now beginning to be 
asked and investigated about what has actually been happening to poverty in the 
region? Who bears the costs of rapid economic growth and structural change? Who 
has benefited most and least? Who are the new poor? Who has missed out? (Dixon 
and Drakakis-Smith, 1995; Forbes, 1993; Minujin, 1995; Rigg, 1997). 
In order to think differently about the region and its experiences, McGee (1995: 206) 
has called for a 'geography of engagement' where increased critical analysis "flows 
73 
from concerns about issues such as gender inequality, social injustice, racism and 
poverty". Meanwhile Forbes (1993: 51) also stresses the need to challenge and reflect 
on images and accounts to construct more complex, but more realistic and balanced 
accounts. Research therefore has been developed primarily at the local level focusing 
on the different experiences of different groups and at different scales in order to add 
voices and responses and attend to lived experiences (Routledge, 1997; Shurmer- 
Smith and Hannan, 1994). The majority of these approaches have been local and 
people-orientated using participatory and multi-dimensional concepts and micro-level 
studies to tease out differences, complexities and processes (Chambers, 1995). By 
adopting different definitions and approaches to poverty, studies have begun to reveal 
pockets of poverty, inequality and a wide range of minority groups juxtaposed against 
the wealth of the region. 
Studies in the region investigating these questions have provided new and rich 
material and information on the concepts and experiences of poverty in different 
countries and studies are now using different concepts such as exclusion, participatory 
urban appraisal, marginalisation and vulnerability in an attempt to capture the wider 
and fuller picture of the different manifestations of poverty in the region. In so doing, 
they have highlighted a number of basic features of poverty in the region. For 
instance, poverty in East Asia is increasingly an urban phenomenon fuelled by the 
dual processes of urbanisation and migration as "capital and labour are swirling 
around the region in currents of ever increasing complexity" (ILO, 1992: 48). Such 
rapid urbanisation has been seen to propagate internal problems within nations, such 
as low wages, inequality, unemployment and access (Kim, 1994). This means issues 
relating to the labour markets, urban society, social services and the environment 
increase in importance and need to be paid closer attention (Wongsuphasawat, 1997). 
Due to the nature of economic development and the expanding monetised economy, 
poverty here is also integrally linked to the labour market. Poverty must, therefore, be 
contextualised within the processes upon which success in the region has been based, 
such as low and competitive wages, the institutionalisation and suppression of the 
unions, resistance to welfare and the maintenance of an investment friendly 
environment (Amsden, 1994; Kim, 1994). The creation of employment in particular 
74 
has been viewed by many agencies and observers as the key to poverty alleviation and 
influenced decisions not to implement redistributive policies. However, Moser and 
McIlwaine (1997ab) highlight the importance of looking more fully at the different 
experiences of the labour market, for example, in terms of access, vulnerability, 
assets, responses and strategies and uneven benefits whilst, others such as Rigg (1997) 
and Gore (1995a) investigate the reasons why certain groups, for example based on 
gender, occupation or ethnicity, are excluded from the labour market or certain 
sectors. 
Novak (1996) has also identified poverty in the region, and especially the NIEs, as 
'minority poverty'. Due to the prolonged periods of growth and the very spatial nature 
of poverty, then much of this poverty is not obvious and remains hidden and 
concealed. Particular vulnerable groups and pockets of people still exist but as a result 
of rapid and complex changes there also emerge groups of 'new poor' who find 
themselves for a variety of reasons, unable to participate or successfully reap the 
benefits of economic growth (Minujin, 1995). These groups for example are 
differentiated by age, gender, ethnicity, health, marital status, migration, family size, 
occupation and education (Gore, 1994; Moser and McIlwaine, 1997b; Rigg, 1997) and 
it is these weaker sections of society upon which the social costs of economic growth 
disproportionately fall. In such a successful environment, the socio-demographic 
characteristics between the new and the non-poor are often the same or similar 
meaning the poor are not obvious or identifiable groups in recognisable 
neighbourhoods or enclaves. Such a lack of differentiation and the generally hidden 
nature of much of the poverty here is a challenge to poverty research and makes it 
even more important, therefore, to get to know these groups at a local level and to 
understand the processes influencing their lives and experiences. 
The failure to recognise that socio-economic change in East Asia has been complex 
and multi-dimensional has resulted in narrowly defined research and so the omission 
of experiences and accounts of economic growth by minority groups in the region. 
What research from other parts of the world has taught us is that economic 
development impacts upon and is experienced differently by gender, ethnicity, age and 
so on, and East Asia is no different (Chant, 1996a; Karim, 1995b; Moser, 1998; Van 
75 
Esterik, 1995). Statistical and constructed images remain only part of the story in East 
Asia. As a result there is a need to start dissecting the costs and benefits and 
investigating the different sites of discrimination and subordination as well the need to 
understand the reasons why poverty manifests itself in different ways for different 
groups and the variety of ways households and individuals respond. 
3.3.4: The role of the state in East Asia 
The state never stops talking. (Corrigan and Sayer, 1985: 3) 
Overwhelmingly, the causes of urban poverty in East Asia are found to be rooted in 
the industrial and macro-economic policies implemented by governments (Baliscan, 
1994, Kim, 1994) and traced to policy failure and government neglect (Mills and 
Pernia, 1994). Rigg (1997: 84) argues that "it is the type of growth, and the policies 
which underpin that growth, which are critical in determining whether rapid economic 
expansion is accompanied by a widening or narrowing of income distributions" 
(original emphasis). Meanwhile, Schmidt (1997: 38) notes that the state in the region is 
as central to development, economics and society as it is to politics and argues that 
"social exclusion and marginalisation were the result of Southeast Asian leaders using 
economic success to boost their political legitimacy and justify authoritarian regimes". 
This causal relationship between state policies and urban poverty is crucial and is seen 
to have marginalised groups and widened divisions. There is an apparent need 
therefore to investigate not only the development process, but also state policy and the 
relationships between government, planning, poverty and minority groups. 
Recently, planning and policy in the region has focused on a new discourse of top- 
down control (Swift, 1995). It has been recognised that the state has become a major 
force and increasingly associated with paternalism, interventionist management and 
authoritarianism (Brown, 1994; Financial Times, 1995; Higgot et al., 1993). As a 
result, critics have argued that civil society is weakly organised and political activity 
and representation is repressed thus excluding the majority from participation and 
influence and from the ability to criticise the political elite who may in fact be the 
cause of problems (Forbes, 1993; McGee, 1995; Schmidt, 1997). Furthermore, 
76 
political freedoms and civil rights are viewed to be poorly correlated with economic 
success here with no obvious links between income and human development 
(Drakakis-Smith, 1993; Oyen, 1996; UNDP, 1995). Such political management, 
therefore, has led to the exclusion of the voices, values, concerns and experiences of 
many and denied the existence of a range of local worlds (Drakakis-Smith, 1996; 
Peters and Wolper, 1995). 
The focus of the state in East Asia has overwhelmingly been on the fragility of nations 
and their economic futures. A common charge therefore has been that ruling elites 
have pursued their own interests at the costs of their populations and their rights 
(Cassese, 1990) and in this case it is the pursuit of economic gains and success in the 
global marketplace through authoritarian government and detailed social and 
economic planning (Davidson, 1999). These paternalistic and often intrusive actions 
and development policies however are defended by East Asian leaders as a new form 
of democracy and political language evolving in Asia, usually against charges of 
human rights violations, and what has emerged is a new discourse of top-down control 
and policies which have most recently been based on a set of selective Asian values 
(Swift, 1995). These values vary across the region but are widely used to keep the 
population devoted to the nation and the goals of economic development and success. 
They are defined by a set of core ideas which subordinate the individualism associated 
with the West for the social obligations and morality of the collective promoting 
family, community and the nation above self (Devan and Heng, 1994). Integral to this 
are the values of filial piety, respect for authority, self discipline, hard work, thrift and 
religious and social harmony (Rigg, 1997: 60). Understanding the construction of these 
current ideas on Asian culture and values is crucial in any social study of East Asia. 
The importance of individual freedoms and rights therefore are challenged as Western 
rather than as universal rights and rejected in East Asia as a form of cultural 
imperialism. Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore argued that, "the 
fundamental difference between Western concepts of society and government and the 
East Asian concepts is that Eastern societies believe that the individual exists in the 
context of his family [sic. ]. He is not pristine and separate" (quoted in Ching, 
1994: 38). Meanwhile the Malaysian Prime Minister Mohammed Mahathir recently 
77 
suggested that the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights ought to be rewritten 
arguing that Western views of freedoms were not appropriate in Asia (The Guardian, 
2 August 1997). 
Buruma (1995: 67) views the creation of this Asian value system in ethnic terms 
arguing that "Asia as a cultural concept is an official invention to bridge vastly 
different populations". Priority has been placed throughout the region on creating 
stable and racially-tolerant societies in attempts to industrialise and foster economic 
growth and destabilise the effects of racial tension and violence. Others have viewed 
their creation as a way to legitimise authoritarian state policy and justify repressive 
governments (Rigg, 1997) 13 . For example in the case of Singapore, The Sunday Times 
(Bangkok)(21 January 1996) criticises the theory that Asian values are responsible for 
the high levels of individual savings: "We save forty per cent of our salary because the 
government says so. It has nothing to do with culture". Meanwhile others charge their 
inception as an attempt to fashion a cultural response to Western pressures on human 
rights and democracy (Far Eastern Economic Review, 10 February 1994). No matter 
the reason, critics have warned that the result has been "sterile cultural conformism 
and absolute obedience" (Swift, 1995: 8). 
The suppression of individual rights and the narrowing of political and democratic 
space has fundamental consequences in the daily lives of people and their ability to 
respond and react to policy and socio-economic change. Furthermore, these are 
promoted as a common set of Asian values for the region and been equated with the 
ideology of Confucianism which is Predominately associated with Chinese cultures 
(Quah, J. 1990; Shurmer-Smith and Hannan, 1994). Indeed, Chaudhuri (1990: 20) 
writes that the terms 'Asia' and 'the Orient' themselves are Western constructs and 
that "the term [Asia] is recognised as essentially western. There is not an equivalent 
word in any Asian language, no such concept in the domain of geographical 
knowledge". Both the legitimacy and the visibility of the region and its policies appear 
to have been constructed only in economic terms (Savage et al., 1993) and the set of 
Asian values which are being imposed are essentially an economic influenced value 
13 Most opposition to this view has come from commentators within the region itself, for example, see 
Perry et al. (1997). 
78 
system used to further policy and governments (Shurmer-Smith and Hannan, 1994)(cf 
footnote 11). 
The dynamics and consequences of profound and successful change and the impact 
this has had at the local level are not fully understood in East Asia and current 
attempts to peel away some of the different layers have been marginalised by 
preoccupations with economic dynamism. There is a need to write specifically a 
geography of urban poverty to reveal hidden spaces, experiences and lives and to 
highlight the complexities at different spatial levels. To this end, this research study, 
at the broadest level, is concerned with these relationships between urban poverty and 
economic success and does so in the current climate of global economic 
transformations. More specifically it focuses on the social impacts of rapid and 
successfid urban-based economic growth in these 'miracle' economies and attempts to 
examine how some of these changes have impacted on the experiences, 
understandings and responses to urban poverty by different groups and individuals at 
the local and micro levels. I attempt to do this by using the case study of Singapore 
(Fig. 3.1), unquestionably one of the most successful newly industrialised countries in 
the Pacific region and the world and upon which neo-liberal policies and economic 
models of development have been based. However, it is also a place where many of 
the forms and faces of economic change and poverty are hidden and obscured. 
Singapore offers one of the best examples within which to conduct research on rapid 
and dynamic economic and urban transformations and on the ever changing nature of 
urban poverty. In the remaining sections of this chapter, I offer a brief overview of 
Singapore as background to the case study before outlining the research study aims 
and questions. 
3.4: Introducing the case study: Singapore 
The smallest and most appallingly crowded of the world's post-colonial 
nations has, against all the odds, provided its citizens with rapid economic 
growth and its neighbouring countries with services they desperately need. 
The Economist (1979: 7) 
79 
Within the regions of East and Southeast Asia, Singapore is emblematic of a nation 
which has simultaneously risen to become one of the most successful newly- 
industrialised nations in the world and a favoured model for human investment 
strategy by both developing and industrialised nations (UNDP, 1995). It is now firmly 
established as an economic success story and portrayed aggressively as an Asian 
ceconomic miracle' and 'ASEAN Superachiever' with successful, rapid and dynamic 
economic development which has been labelled as 'legendary' and 'miraculous' 
(Booth, 1993b; Chua, 1995; Woronoff, 1992). Along with the economic performances 
of Japan and the other NIEs, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan, Singapore has 
launched itself into the ranks of the middle-income economies, and more recently 
promoted to the group of advanced industrial economies, 14 as a leading exporting and 
industrialising nation (IMF, 1997; World Bank, 1991). As the global economy 
increasingly centres around Southeast and East Asia, Singapore views itself at the 
heart of these world changes and new international economy as it strives to be a centre 
of excellence in the most dynamic region in the world (Cooke, 1995; Perry et al, 
1997). The economic and social goals have been made clear as the nation works 
towards becoming the 'Switzerland of Asia' offering a highly-skilled and high-paid 
labour force and developing into a producer of high technology goods, a centre of 
chemical and pharmaceutical industries and a world financial centre (Government of 
Singapore, 1984; Heineberg, 1988). 
14 In May 1997, Singapore was reclassified by the IMF, along with Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea 
and Israel, as an 'advanced economy'. 
80 
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81 
These claims and pictures of optimism are not without substance and are confkmed if 
we browse through any statistical accounts for the nation which bear witness to the 
social and economic achievements (Table 3.4). For example, between 1966 and 1990, 
the economy grew by an average of 8.5 per cent per annum (three times as fast as the 
US economy), GNP grew from S$2193 n-iillion'5 in 1960 to S$63 905 million in 1990, 
Whilst per capita income is second only to Japan's in the region as Singaporeans 
become the new rich in Asia (Booth, 1993b; Government of Singapore, 1991, Kong, 
1995; Robison and Goodman, 1996). A highly-skilled workforce with the support of 
good infi-astructure and a stable political environment has resulted in substantial 
inward investment so that Singapore - now has foreign exchange reserves over 
US$60billion and is considered a major world site for international business and trade 
(Department of Statistics, 1993c; Dicken 1987). 
Table 3.4: Economic indicators, Singapore 1996 16 
Gross Domestic Product 
Per capita GNP 
Real economic growth rate 
Productivity growth 
Inflation rate 
Manufacturing output 
Total external trade 
Visitor arrivals 
Official foreign reserves 
Labour force participation rate 
female participation rate 
Unemployment rate 
Source: Department of Statistics (1999). 
S$ 130.8 billion 
S$ 36,852 
6.9% 
0.6% 
1.4% 
S$ 120 billion 
S$ 361 billion 
7.3 million 
S$107,751 
64.6% 
51.5% 
2.2% 
Furthermore, the economic transformation has been accompanied by an equally 
impressive social transformation (Table 3.5) with a GNP per capita of US$24,800 in 
1995, unemployment rates under 3 per cent, literacy rates at 92 per cent (all in 1997) 
and the perceived successful eradication of the divisive tendencies of a multi-racial 
society (Department of Statistics, 1999). Success and development have seen to be 
shared by most, with impressive displays of democratic achievements which are 
15S$ is a Singapore dollar. At the thne of study, fl= S$2.5 and US$ 1= S$1.5. All dollar signs refer to 
Singapore dollars unless otherwise stated. 
16 1996 was chosen, rather than a more recent date, to reflect the situation in Singapore before the 
currency crisis in 1997 and when the fieldwork was being conducted. 
82 
believed to have united ethnic and class groups, men and women, for example state 
housing and education. For example, in education, the 1980s and 1990s saw a 
doubling of numbers with secondary or higher education qualifications whilst post- 
secondary education enrolments have increased three-fold since 1980 (Department of 
Statistics, 1993a). Meanwhile in housing, the role of subsidised government housing 
in the form of the massive Housing and Development Board estates and a compulsory 
savings scheme (Central Provident Fund) mean that home ownership stands at over 80 
per cent of the population. 17 Visually, Singapore is extremely impressive. Major 
infrastructure projects were embarked upon with the removal and relocation of large 
numbers-of urban residents to rapidly transform Singapore from a landscape of slums 
and squatters to one of high-rise housing blocks and skyscrapers. Investment in all of 
these areas are part of the wider economic development plan facilitating the creation 
of an attractive environment and workforce for international investors whilst meeting 
housing requirements and the basic social needs of the population (Perry et al., 1997). 
Table 3.5: Social and Demographic Indicators, 1996 
Total population 
Share of Chinese 
Share of Malay 
Share of Indians 
Population density 
Median age 
Life expectancy 
Divorce rate (per 1000 married females) 
3,612,000 
77.4% 
14.2% 
7.1% 
5,578 per sq Ian 
32 years 
76 years 
6.7 
Literacy rate 
Mean years of schooling 
Doctors (per 10,000 population) 
Crime rate (per 100,000 population) 
Population living in public flats 
Income distribution 
Lowest 40% of households, 1981-92 
Ratio of highest 20% to lowest 20%, 1981-92 
Public expenditure on 
Health as % of 1990 GNP 
Education as % of 1990 GNP 
Military expenditure as % of combined education 
and health expenditure 1990-1 
92% 
7.6 
13 
1,305 
86% 
15% 
9.6 
1.1% 
3.4% 
129% 
Sources: Department of Statistics (1999); UNDP (1995). 
17 The equivalent figure for home ownership in the USA and UK was 65 per cent in 1990 (Government 
83 
Furthermore, Rodan (1996: 19) writes that the processes of economic change and their 
success have brought about fundamental changes in the class structure and levels of 
affluence which in turn are "manifesting in new life styles, cultural patterns and 
political expectations". Poverty, slums and unemployment have all been reduced 
making way for the emergence of a substantial middle class. It is these changing 
lifestyles and aspirations which have recently received considerable attention in 
Singapore and the rest of the region as the new rich become "regarded as the 
economic dynamisers of the twenty-first century" (Robison and Goodman, 1996: 1) 
with increasing purchasing power and constituting a new consumer culture and market 
for products and services (Kong, 1995; Robison and Goodman, 1996; Rodan, 1996). 
In Singapore, this has been characterised by the development of a consumer culture 
and more ostentatious lifestyles captured by the fixation on material trappings which 
were known locally as the 'three Cs': condominium, credit card and car (Kong, 
1995: 455) but have now been expanded to become the 'five Us' and include a private 
club membership and cash (Straits Times, 9 August 1997). 
3.4.1: The economic development of Singapore 
The evolution of Singapore's success story, however, began upon independence in 
1965 in an unpromising fashion. After roles as a British trading post and in a failed 
federation with Malaysia, the new government inherited a rapidly-growing plural 
society of Chinese, Malay and Indian settlers characterised by widespread poverty, 
slums, unemployment, racial and industrial unrest and economic uncertainty 
(Buchanan, 1972; Hodder, 1992; Rigg, 1988). The turning point in Singapore's 
economic development came with a move from an import-substitution programme 
towards export-orientated industrialisation (EOI) in the late 1960's, prompted by the 
failed merger with Malaysia and lack of domestic markets's. Policies to encourage 
multi-national investment and pursue foreign capital were implemented in order to 
of Singapore, 1991: 80). 
18 Perry et al. (1997: 103) however note that the foundations to this growth had been laid during the 
colonial period as Singapore had grown as an entrep6t economy and a range of incentives were already 
in place to attract foreign investment. For a critique of this stage of growth, called import-substitution 
industrialisation (ISI), see Rigg (199 1). It could also be argued that the influx of Chinese migrants in 
the 1960s also brought money and skills as happened in Hong Kong. 
84 
create jobs and improve export earnings (Haas, 1989). These moves also coincided 
with favourable global trends in investment as foreign investors sought cheap, semi- 
skilled labour and expanding markets. Rapid early growth was based on the attraction 
of new manufacturing industries, oil refining, ship building and repair and tourism 
which served to incorporate Singapore into the processes of global trade and the 
international division of labour and begin its evolution into a world city (Grice and 
Drakakis-Smith, 1985; Heineberg, 1988) 
The results were overwhelming as foreign investment in manufacturing rose from 
US$157 million at the end of 1965 to US$600 million in 1969 and US$1575 million 
by 1971 (Rigg, 1991: 191). Over half of the workforce were employed by foreign- 
owned manufacturing industries by 1975 and accounted for 71 per cent of output. 
Between 1965-1979 annual GDP growth averaged 9 per cent whilst fall employment 
was achieved, real income increased and the balance of payments remained in surplus 
(Department of Statistics, 1993c). Although in the mid-1970s Singapore suffered with 
the rest of the world due to the oil crisis and global recession, attempts to diversify 
and upgrade the range of industries away from labour-intensive sectors to more 
capital- and skill-intensive enterprises such as transport, pharmaceuticals, aerospace 
and business and financial services meant that Singapore's economy remained 
successful and continued to grow into the late 1970's and 1980's. 
This economic restructuring and maturation of the economy was labelled the 'second 
industrial revolution'19. Although slow to begin, the restructuring programme has 
eventually achieved the Vision 1999 (Government of Singapore, 1984) goal of 
becoming the 'Switzerland of Asia' with high technology, high-value industries and a 
growing regional and global financial role (Grice, 1991). This was achieved by forcing 
wages up, restricting cheap immigrant labour whilst promoting skilled professional 
migrants, expanding training and skills development and promoting fertility amongst 
graduates and skilled workers (Drakakis-Smith et al., 1993; Rodan, 1989). In 1984-5 
the economy found itself in recession due to the effects of a global decline in the oil 
and shipbuilding sectors and Western protectionism. Despite this and the nation 
witnessing the profitability of manufacturing firms decline by 70 per cent, 90,000 
85 
workers losing their jobs, unemployment rising to 4 per cent and exports to the US 
dropping from 23 per cent to 3 per cent of total exports in the year 1984-5 (Rigg, 
1989: 346; Harris, 1986; Rigg 1991); recovery was quick. By the 1990s, Singapore 
was well established as a major hub for international trade and fmance, a favoured 
location for international headquarters and the centre of the regional division of labour 
(Ho and So, 1997; Parsonage 1992). 
As a continuing part of this diversification and restructuring, Singapore also launched 
a regionalisation programme for the economy at the start of the 1990s. This resulted in 
t4e emergence of the 'Growth Triangle' between Singapore, Johore in Malaysia and 
the Raiu Islands in Indonesia (Parsonage, 1992). As a result, Singapore's economic 
region extended over international boundaries through joint economic and tourist 
ventures. In its new up-graded and capital-intensive role, Singapore began to divert 
labour-intensive activities to Johore and Raiu whilst maintaining a financial, 
headquarters and infrastructure function for itself. More recently, a 'Go Regional' 
campaign has integrated Singapore more fully into other parts of the region as 
Singaporeans are encouraged to invest overseas and develop the external economy 
(Yeoh and Willis, 1997). Most notably this has been in China, Vietnam, India, 
Bangladesh and Burma, where Singapore is the biggest foreign investor. This is an 
important feature of Singapore's development plan. With an expansion particularly 
into its less developed Southeast Asian neighbours, Singapore is exploiting the 
uneveness of development in the region, but at the same time using this relationship to 
assist with economic competition against the other three NIEs, and increasingly 
China. 
After 30 years of rapid and dynamic growth, economic and social transformation has 
made Singapore one of the most successful nations in Southeast Asia and the world. 
The Singapore economy has not only succeeded in achieving high and sustained 
growth rates over the last three decades but has successfully restructured its role and 
combined these economic achievements with equally impressive social advances. 
Most of this growth has been financed by foreign investment but also by the state and 
has been almost totally dependent on Singapore's only real resource, its population 
19 The first industrial revolution was the shift from ISI to EOI in 1965. 
86 
Mrza, 1986). Given this drive for excellence and success and reliance upon human 
resources, management and detailed planning of all aspects of economic, social and 
political life have become extremely important to the government in Singapore, a fact 
which is extensively reflected in its policy making. 
3.4.2: Planning for success: the role of the state in Singapore 
That Ronald Reagan should have praised Singapore for its free enterprise 
system is not surprising, but that Milton Friedman should have also taken it 
for one when in fact the state employs nearly a quarter of people, houses 85 
per cent of them, and strictly controls everything from wages to the flushing of 
toilets, attests to how much ignorance there is about Singapore. 
Balakrishnan (Far Eastern Economic Review, 17 Aug 1989) 
Kong (1995: 449) has attributed many of these economic and social achievements to 
the "shrewdness of the People's Action Party (PAP), not only in economic strategies 
but also in social engineering, including its conscious attempts to shape values and 
political cultures". The PAP is central to any study of Singapore because of its pre- 
eminent role, not only in politics, but in all aspects of social, economic and cultural 
life. For almost all of the 30 years since independence, the principal concern of the 
PAP has been to sustain a high level of economic growth. In order to achieve this, 
attention was focused on attracting foreign investment by combining a free-market 
ideology and export-orientated industrialisation, together with controlled human 
resource management stressing the fragility of the state and the need for national unity 
(Drakakis-Smith et al., 1993; Rigg, 1991). This included the usual range of business 
incentives such as tax allowances and limited controls on investmentýo but also 
involved an extensive range of policies implemented to control the population and 
labour market conditions. Given the lack of physical and natural resources, the 
management of its population has become extremely important and dominated policy 
making. Davidson and Drakakis-Smith (1997: 75) write that the population in 
Singapore has tended to be viewed in two ways; either as the beneficiaries of 
development, or as the main resource the nation has to achieve this _development. 
Since taking power, although committed to the goal of improving quality of life, the 
government has appeared to give increasing attention to people as human resources 
87 
rather than as recipients of the gains from economic growth. The population, both men 
and women, has been utilised as a tool primarily for economic or political advantage 
and as a result, detailed attention has been focused on human management in order to 
create and maintain a reliable, attractive workforce and stable political environment 
for investors. 
Central to this are a number of strictly-enforced policies and programmes extending 
and intruding into all aspects of daily life, both public and private, from investment 
strategies and enforced savings to filial care and childbirth. The consequence has been 
an attention to management and planning which is extremely detailed and has been 
labelled 'intrusive' and 'authoritarian' by critics (Financial Times, 1995; Gook, 198 1; 
Rodan, 1993). From the late 1960s plans were put in place not only to curb the 
growing population rate but to control wages and labour and curtail the severe labour 
and ethnic unrest which characterised the region and Singapore at the time. These 
included a population control policy, strictly implemented to manage the size and 
quality of the population (Drakakis-Smith et al., 1993; Saw, 1990); a massive housing 
programme which promoted home ownership in order to give the population an 
established and monetary interest in maintaining the growth and stability of the nation 
(Chua., 1991; Van Grunsven, 1991); and a highly competitive and streamed education 
system, which separated children into 'hand' and 'brain' streams, so as to provide the 
correct balance of skills in the workforce. Simultaneously the urban environment was 
being shaped and controlled through urban renewal of traditional areas and spreading 
HDB estates, and the extension of government control over workers and the 
development of class linkages through the institutionalisation of trade unions (Brown, 
1994; Rodan, ' 1993). This resulted in a ban on strikes and labour unrest as well as the 
tightening of immigration controls for unskilled workers (Luther, 1978). 
The implementation of strict policies, initially to encourage economic growth and now 
for the sustainability of the level of maturation, have been fundamental to every aspect 
of economic, social and cultural life for Singaporeans, and hold massive implications 
for the way issues such as poverty, exclusion, inequality, gender relations and welfare 
are understood. As the population is actively drawn further into a monetised economy 
20 For a faller discussion of these incentives, see Perry et al. (1997), Chapter 5. 
88 
and the processes of globalisation and economic development, policies have 
simultaneously been working to exclude basic social insurance provision, 
implementing what Salaff (1990: 11) calls a 'family strategy', and to undermine class 
or ethnic linkages and conflicts. The government in Singapore treats state welfare as 
something to be avoided, stressing that instead "every citizen is responsible for the 
well-being of his [sic. ] country" (Lim et al., 1988: 143) and that the fundamental 
building block and principal institution is the family (Blake, 1992). Meanwhile 
barriers have been put in place to discourage the emergence of class or ethnic 
solidarity by focusing on racial and cultural pluralism and providing alternatives for 
group unity, especially at the national level (Brown, 1994). 
Such detailed attention to Planning extends further, and often towards the ridiculous, 
with various policies to monitor and penalise what is considered to be inappropriate 
behaviour, for example, littering, not flushing a public toilet and selling chewing gum, 
and although Drakakis-Smith et al. (1993: 154) point out that strong management is 
not unusual in the region, such "attention to the minutiae of life is not replicated 
elsewhere in Pacific Asia7. What has resulted is a strictly-controlled urban landscape 
of physical, social and metaphorical space. The main sources of control are through 
state established institutions such as schools, community centres, Citizen's 
Consultative Committees and perhaps most importantly through the state-managed 
housing programme (Beng, 1991; Chen, 1983). The physical and social landscape has 
been radically altered by the state controlled HDB estates which have facilitated en 
masse movement from traditional kampungs (villages) into high-rise complexes and 
the spatial concentration of the population and, therefore, workforce (Salaff, 1990). 
Pugh (1989) argues that this has created what is in effect an imposing devise of social 
control. 
These actions have been justified and defended by the PAP by referring to the 
rationale of pragmatism and realism in planning for a multi-racial community (Soin, 
1996). East and Southeast Asia has an ethnically-diverse and mobile population, 
placing the creation of a stable and racially-tolerant society high on the agenda of most 
nations in their attempts to industrialise and foster economic growth through foreign 
investment (Hettne, 1996). These forces are perceived as potentially destabilising to 
89 
the processes and goals of economic development by generating animosity, 
discrimination and conflict (Chiew, 1990). Despite Singapore's spectacular economic 
and social achievements, it is still believed that the nation is fragile and vulnerable to 
conflict and surrounding Islamic states (Financial Times, 1995). By building on the 
concepts of productivity, meritocracy and racial harmony and by appealing to the 
notions of communitarianism and national survival, detailed planning was seen to 
allow Singapore to successfully combat these divisive and disruptive tendencies and 
to successfully marry development with ethnic diversity (Teo and Ooi, 1996). 
Despite being a democratically-elected party (although there is no substantial or 
serious opposition in Singapore with only two members in a 81-seat parliament 
elected not from the PAP) and the successes achieved in Singapore, there remains a 
heavy sense of insecurity and constant fear of failure by the PAP. Paranoia against 
complacency, Islamic fundamentalism, the West, individualism and even flabbiness 
exists in an attempt to install enough incentive to make people work harder and with 
commitment. There is now even a Singaporean word for Us, Kiasuism, which is a 
Hokkien term for the fear to lose. As a result the government has actively sought to 
develop what has been labelled an 'administrative state' and to 'depoliticise' the 
population (Chan, 1975; 1989) rendering public participation, especially in decision 
making, virtually non-existent in Singapore and support for the state and its policies 
unquestioned. Such a corporatist ideology, where the state is promoted as neutral and 
society is harmonious, regulated and non-conflictual, allows the government to 
demand sacrifice when needed for economic gain (Brown, 1994). The state is seen to 
become unchallengable as it creates a myth of a consensual nation, with political 
loyalty being valued above all other interests which are castigated as inappropriate. 
Interestingly, it is also clear that when the government does not provide the economic 
gains which most of the population have come to expect, then it begins to loose this 
legitimation. During the 1985-86 recession, for example, Singapore witnessed its first 
labour strikes since the late 1960s and the government found itself consistently losing 
votes. These may appear minor but are important representations of discontent and 
opposition in a paternalistic state. 
90 
Working in conjunction with the paranoia, corporate ideology and state institutions 
are a set of newly-established national values. In the 1990s the PAP focused its 
planning on cultural values and, in particular, a national ideology for Singapore, 
reflecting fears of the erosion of Asian culture and the work ethic and, therefore, 
ethnic tolerance and economic dynamism. The government implemented an active 
programme to inculcate a series of values and a new Singaporean identity which were 
to be based on a core set of selective and traditional 'Asian values' and to which the 
main ethnic groups could be persuaded to direct their loyalties (Chun, 1996). In 1989, 
President Wee Kim Wee outlined the government's vision and this chosen set of core 
values; 
If we are not to lose our bearings, we should preserve the cultural heritage of 
each of our communities, and uphold certain common values which capture 
the essence of being Singaporean. These core values include placing society 
above self, upholding family as the basic building block of society, resolving 
major issues through consensus instead of contention, and stressing racial and 
religious tolerance and harmony. We need to enshrine these fundamental ideas 
in a National Ideology. Such a formal statement will bond us together as 
Singaporeans, with our own distinct identity and destiny. 
(quoted in Quah, J., 1990: 1-2) 
Primarily, these cultural values were those of sharing and community and were 
emphasised in order to unite the different groups being promoted through educational 
programmes and public campaigns. By advancing the social and psychological 
defence of the nation, Brown (1994) writes that the state created a 'garrison mentality' 
exemplified by the militaristic group spirit of campaign slogans such as 'Team 
Singapore', 'Total Defence' and 'One People, One Nation'. Secondly, national 
identity was grounded in the importance of the family and filial responsibility as the 
building block of society. What this facilitated was not just the preservation of 
perceived traditional Asian values but also allowed the state to transfer the increasing 
burden of welfare, and especially an ageing society, on to civil society and primarily 
the family. Both of these assumptions have massive implications for different 
members of the population, and especially for women (Davidson, 1999). 
91 
3.4.3: The inequalities of planning: the example of gender 
Women have been inextricably bound to these development agendas and planning 
processes (Wong, 1981) and in particular used to-strengthen state goals by actively 
defining and redefining gendered roles and relations according to these specific 
economic, political and cultural needs (Doran, 1996). This is most clearly demonstrated 
by the importance placed on women and the family as instruments of social change and 
by the development and promotion of women's various roles such as worker, mother 
and daughter at different stages in the development process. For example, in the early 
stages of Singapore's independent history in the 1960s. and 1970s, the pursuit of labour-. 
intensive export-industrialisation focused on increasing the numbers of women in the 
workplace whilst curbing the high fertility rates. However, by the 1980s attempts were 
made to upgrade the economy to capital-intensive and hi-tech industries to compete with 
economic rivals with a skilled, quality workforce. In contrast to other developing 
countries and against usual demographic trends, this also included the stimulation of 
higher fertility rates and a return to the emphasis on women's roles as mothers to meet 
expanding job vacancies. Increasingly, however, with a shift in policy, women are now 
also being promoted as carers in the family in attempts to cope primarily with a rapidly 
ageing population and assist in the shift of welfare from the state to the household. This 
has massive implications for women and their daily experiences. The focus on 
collectivity and sameness, for example, fails to recognise the difference and diversity of 
women's experiences and shows a disregard for the impact of planning on women 
(Tomasevski, 1993), whilst the focus of planning on the family fails to disaggregate 
households on the basis of gender (Moser, 1993) and inevitably affects women both 
directly and indirectly because they continue to find themselves "at the centre of family 
life, sustaining it, enriching it and maintaining it, sometimes against immense odds" 
(Singham, 1992: 1). 
It is this relationship, Singham. (1996: 2) continues, which is the most important for 
women in Singapore: "one of the strongest ties that binds women is that which binds 
them to their families". The family, however, has never been faced with so many 
dramatic changes as it has recently, all of which pose challenges to its stability and 
capacity to accommodate demands, pressures, distress and changing relationships 
92 
(ibid. ). Furthermore, there remain assumptions about the 'normal' family in Singapore, a 
family which the state assumes is 'healthy', fair and equal but is also headed by a male 
decision-maker whose income is central, if not the only economic resource for the 
family (Blake, 199 1; Singharn, 1996). 
Recent feminist and women's rights commentaries have criticised this type of 
inculcation of cultural norms in planning and the use of women to strengthen state goals. 
They argue that this allows both the state and private actors to justify inequalities, 
discrimination and abuse against women. Some of the issues identified as gender-based 
abuses include the inequalities of opportunity, for example, in education, housing and 
employment; domestic violence and reproductive rights and the devaluation of childcare 
and domestic labour (see Peters & Wolper 1995). Rao (1995: 169) asserts that as a 
consequence of these inequalities women are the world's largest excluded and minority 
group, regardless of ethnicity, race, class or culture (Karl, 1995). The importance of 
cultural definitions and premises is their appearance of naturalness and universalism and 
their ability to construct and institutionalise values and norms. This naturalness however 
has been questioned and rejected whilst cultural values implemented by the state or 
private actors have been identified as tools to justify and defend acts of inequality, 
discrimination and exclusion against women (Rao, 1995). By inculcating a distinct set of 
value systems and codes of behaviour, cultural definitions in turn determine gendered 
roles, relations and social and spatial practices in everyday life (Bunting, 1993; Kaufinan 
and Lindquist 1995). Meanwhile the focus on the family as the main unit serves to hide 
and exclude the experiences of its members, most notably women. 
In Singapore, identity and culture and the definitions of women as mothers, workers and 
citizens have been consistently (re)constructed in line with current economic and policy 
demands. Doran (1996: 153) asserts that "identity in Singapore is not a natural-given, nor 
has it been historically stable. Rather it has been discursively constructed and 
reconstructed within particular historical contexts". The experience of minority positions 
in the family, community and nation is, therefore, socially conditioned and integral to 
the hegemony of political power relations. When implemented as part of a planning 
agenda this invoking of culture becomes an inherently political act (Moser, 1993) where 
the ability to defme and construct culture is dependent upon position, status and power 
93 
relations in society. Rao (1995: 173) explains, "Culture is a series of constantly contested 
and negotiated social practices whose meanings are influenced by the power and status 
of their interpreters and participants". This is especially the situation when boundaries 
and margins are strongly framed and classified to create descriptive and discriminatory 
categories and spaces, such as the public and the private spheres, which in turn serve to 
conceal significant social inequalities and oppressions (Sibley, 1994). The ability to 
contest and negotiate these practices and spaces, and therefore power relations, is 
intrinsically bound to how culture and places assign categories and define the social 
construction of what it is to be a 'woman'. 
In the case of Singapore, the categorisation of dichotomous spaces and identities is 
particularly evident and gender norms are strict and obvious (Davidson, 1996). Here, as 
in most other places, women are constructed in terms of the private sphere and spaces 
associated with the home, family and reproduction as opposed to the masculine 
productive and public sphere. Wong (1981: 449) comments on how this social 
construction transcends all ethnic groups; 
The traditional religiocultural systems of Confucianism, Hinduism and 
Islam prescribed a subordinate status to women within the household. 
Whether born Chinese, Indian or Malay, a woman was socialised from a 
young age both to play the role of wife, mother and daughter-in-law, and 
to lead a secluded life. 
It becomes clear that despite the dramatic changes in Singaporean society and economic 
advances, "In an Asian society like Singapore, women are subjected to multiple 
demands at home. They are expected to be good mothers, filial daughters and obliging 
wives. These demands are compounded as more women go out to worle' (Cheung, 
1991: 85). This formulation highlights the contradictions in constructing and assigning 
different roles and spaces to women as they experience reinvention and remodelling for 
particular policies, but also demonstrates the failure of planning to be meritocratic and a 
truly shared experience, as it is presented by the state, which in turn will compromise the 
quality of rights and freedoms for women. 
Ihe basic objectives of development paradigms have consistently been defted in terms 
of "enlarging people's choicee' (UNDP, 1995: 1) as expressed through an individual's 
94 
ability to choose and participate in decision-making processes. In Singapore, it is this 
very diversity and choice which is denied by the powerful and restraining boundaries of 
social norms, spatial dichotomies and state planning as they attempt to normalise such 
institutions as the family, and women's roles within them, in line with the state's 
economic agenda. Without this recognition of their multiple realities, women become 
silenced and invisible and, therefore, further removed from the achievement of equal 
status and rights. 
It is the very selective nature of planning in Singapore and the assumptions of the family 
and cultural values which have had the impact of sustaining poverty and vulnerability by 
excluding groups of women such as those who do not attain the education levels 
expected by current criteria. Women and their roles as mothers, therefore, are not 
constructed neutrally or impartially, as planning is portrayed in Singapore, since some 
are prescribed more importance thm other, for example, graduate and educated mothers 
at the core of planning and single parents on the margins. 21 
3.4.4: Summary 
What this begins to reveal is that despite the emphasis on meritocracy, egalitarianism 
and the uniformity of society, not everyone will have experienced economic and social 
change in the same way, or equally. Although economic growth has brought down 
levels of poverty almost everywhere in the region, the distribution of benefits remain 
distorted (Booth, 1997; Schmidt, 1997). For example, there remains discernible 
differences between the major ethnic groups (Table 3.6). Occupational characteristics 
reveal that more than twice as many Chinese are in better-paid jobs compared to 
Malays and not surprisingly this is reflected in income differentials, with the average 
Malay monthly wage in 1990 being only 70 per cent of that of the Chinese. Such 
income inequalities translate into social terms even in Singapore, so that, for example, 
Indian and Chinese families are much more likely to be living in private 
accommodation than Malays (Ooi et aL, 1993). However, it must be remembered that 
not all the poor are Malay and not all Malays are poor. For many years, unevenness 
21 For a discussion of these exwnples, see Davidson (1999) and Chapter Ts discussion of single 
parents. 
95 
within the development process has been viewed primarily in ethnic rather than in 
other terms such as class or gender. It is evident, however, that development within 
East Asia and Singapore has brought other types of unevenness, both social and 
spatial. It is easy to assume that where success exists, then everyone will be doing well 
and benefiting. In Singapore, any poverty which might exist is going to be easily 
missed as almost everyone appears to share the same basic services, live alongside one 
another, travel to work together on the same buses and eat in the same food centres 
(Goh, 1989). The emergence of 'underclasses' in an affluent society is a very real 
issue which demands attention. In the dash for success, wealth and the increase in 
living standards may not be the only trends occurring as some fail to keep up with the 
rapid pace of change and as a result are left behind, lacking the capacity to respond to 
structural change (Cheah, 1977). 
Multiple questions remain therefore as to what has actually been happening to 
poverty, vulnerability and exclusion in SingapoFe and to the experiences of different 
groups and individuals. Who is being left behind? To what extent have the benefits of 
growth been distributed throughout society? How do different groups and people 
respond? Although the government has stated a concern over equality between the 
races in order to ensure harmonious development, there remains the need to 
investigate the many other facets of social inequality in Singapore. 
96 
Table 3.6: Selected socio-economic indicators by ethnic group, 1990. 
Chinese 
Malay 
Indian 
Household income per month 
Average (S$) 
;D 
3213 
2246 
2895 
%below S$ 1500 
28.5 
35.7 
31.1 
% above S$ 5000 
17.3 
5.6 
12.7 
Employment in (%): 
Professional/technical 
17.6 
10.0 
12.0 
Admin/managerial 
9.6 
0.9 
5.5 
Clerical/sales 
28.0 
29.8 
25.1 
Production 
38.4 
56.0 
51.3 
Other 
6.4 
3.3 
6.1 
Average household size 
4.2 
4.7 
4.2 
University graduates (%) 
5.0 
0.6 
4.1 
Private accommodation (%) 
12.3 
1.6 
10.6 
Source: Department of Statistics (1993ad); Teo and Ooi (1996). 
3.5: Thinking differently about Singapore: defining the research themes 
Discussions in the preceding chapters have revealed that Whilst recent interests in 
urban poverty research and policy reform has expanded markedly in almost all parts of 
the world, the dynamics and consequences of profound and rapid economic and social 
change in East Asia is still little understood. Integral to this is the concern that the 
majority of approaches to poverty research in the region and much of what is 
understood continues to be based on regional and national statistics which reduce 
poverty, people and the dynamics of everyday lives to numbers and statistics. It is a 
principal theme therefore to appreciate the complexity and multi-dimensional nature 
of urban poverty, which recent literature indicates requires the movement away from 
income-based, reductionist measures to broader, more participatory approaches which 
are able to analyse whole systems and multiple layers. In turn, these concepts serve to 
sensitise social research to difference and diversity and call for the documentation of 
voices which have been 'silenced' and lives which have been 'hidden'. Such an 
approach allows us to begin to construct a geography of urban poverty in an attempt to 
97 
reveal hidden and excluded lives, experiences and spaces and to tease out the human 
geographies of everyday lives. 
Despite the recent preoccupation with urban poverty research and increased 
sophistication of research methods and techniques, a multitude of questions and issues 
remain unaddressed and unanswered. In the region of East Asia, the understanding of 
these issues has never been so unclear or unknown. Moser (1998) argues that the 
importance of determining which groups in society are poor or vulnerable or excluded 
is without debate. Regardless of economic success or failure, documentation and an 
understanding of trends within existing and vulnerable poor groups and communities 
within society is important. There is a need, therefore, to look behind the images and 
statistics of the region to more in-depth levels to provide a more detailed and balanced 
interpretation of the dynamic processes in states in East Asia. Singapore has 
undergone the most dramatic, dynamic and rapid change in the region yet little focus 
has been given to recent experiences, responses and choices and their differences. 
Styles and patterns of economic development here have not given priority to the poor 
or disadvantaged. Who is actually better off as a result of change? There is a need 
therefore to reflect on uneven development, the persistence and changing 
manifestations of poverty and to investigate more realistic and balanced images and 
experiences. 
In designing the research aims, a multitude of important questions emerged from a 
reading of recent literature and commentary which served to inforin and frame this 
research process. The research themes which this study is designed to investigate can 
be summarised into the following broad research questions whilst a detailed outline of 
these themes and questions is offered in Table 3.7. 
" What is urban poverty in Singapore? 
" Who are the poor? 
" Where are the urban poor located spatially and socially.? 
Why have they been left behind? 
How do they respond? 
98 
Table 3.7: Research themes and questions 
Conceptualisation/ 
Documentation 
What is urban poverty in 
Singapore? 
Discovery 
Patterns 
Processes 
Responses 
Who is poor and who is not? 
Where are the urban poor? 
Why have they been left 
behind? 
How do they respond? 
How do we conceptualise urban poverty in the 
context of rapid and successful economic 
growth? Explore definitions of poverty and 
how it is understood in policy and by different 
people; Document the nature and extent of 
urban poverty in Singapore; Diagnose poverty 
trends during this particular time; Identify 
characteristics and features and range of 
impacts. 
Which groups, households and individuals are 
experiencing urban poverty and being excluded 
from the success and opportunities of 
economic growth? What groups are vulnerable 
to being left behind and excluded? Who bears 
the burden of economic change? Construct a 
typology of urban low-income households 
Where are the poor located both socially and 
spatially? Construct a geography of urban 
poverty in order to locate and identify groups; 
Investigate hidden spaces and boundaries. 
What are the causes of poverty, vulnerability 
and social exclusion? What are the different 
experiences and realities of poverty and how do 
these differ between groups and individuals? 
How are different groups and individuals 
affected by macro-economic changes in the 
labour market, social services and social 
policy? What risks and shocks affect poverty 
and vulnerability? 
How do different groups and individuals 
respond to changes at the micro- and macro- 
level? Who responds? What are the 
consequences? Clarify the strategies adopted by 
different groups and household members? Are 
responses sufficient and effective? What factors 
diminish or increase the capacity to respond? 
How are lives of men and women modified? 
What is the role of the state, policy, society and 
culture in support networks? What choices are 
available to different people? 
99 
CHAPTER 4 
DESIGNING A RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 
4.1: Introduction 
A crucial component of any research process is deciding upon the methodology and 
research methods to employ in order to gather data and investigate the research 
questions the study was devised to explore'. If the basic purpose of social research is 
"to uncover the nature of the social world through an understanding of how people act 
in, and give meaning to, their own lives" (Eyles and Smith, 1988: 350) then the 
methodology is crucial because, as Murdoch and Pratt (1994: 85) write, it is "the 
means by which the social scientist gains access to th(is) world". While volumes of 
texts and manuals have been written on methodologies and techniques, including the 
growing focus on alternative methods and 'the poetics and politics of writing 
research', there has been far less public discussion or literature offered on the actual 
processes of the 'doing' and 'making' of research (Cook and Crang, 1995: 4; England, 
1994: 82). 
Increasingly from within geography and other social sciences, and especially from 
feminist and post-modem commentators, there has been a call for researchers to; a) 
write more about how our methods 'worked' in the field, and b) to acknowledge our 
own understanding of that methodology and the ways in which we as researchers 
impact on the research process (for example, England, 1994; Eyles, 1988; McDowell, 
1992; Pile 1991). In particular, geographers have been influenced by debates between 
the Third, Second and First Worlds; feminisms; black and white women and men; and 
work on the ethics of overseas fieldwork (Funk, 1993; Madge, 1993; Radcliffe, 1994; 
Robinson, 1994; Sidaway, 1992) and recently given some attention to issues concemed 
1 Although both 'methodology' and 'methods' refer to the act of doing research a distinction can be 
drawn between the two. The 'methodology' may be equated with research design, encompassing the 
many processes involved in conducting, analysing, interpreting and reporting research, whilst a 
0 
'method' is a particular way or technique for gaining information. 
100 
with representation, interpretation, power relations and field tactics. This, in turn, has 
served to highlight the need to think openly and truthfully about all aspects of the 
research process and as a result, geographical research has embarked on a new self- 
consciousness and disclosure of fieldwork processes. 
In my attempt to study a group of marginalised households and women in Singapore 
these questions are vital. I have been criticised elsewhere (Huang and Yeoh, 
1996a: 1 10) 2, of not directly addressing these issues yet claiming to some extent to 
access and represent women's voices. I have been challenged to make more explicit 
and scrutinise my place in the research process and to evaluate my representation and 
acknowledge my 'otherness'. The aim of this chapter, therefore, is to offer as holistic 
an interpretation of the research process as possible. In doing so, I hope to not only 
elucidate on the actual methods and techniques adopted but also to elaborate on the 
personal and political aspects of the research process. 
We come to our research methods and techniques in a number of ways, most 
importantly though the research questions being asked (Strauss and Corbin, 1990). 1 
begin this chapter, therefore, by discussing the background to the research project and 
re-capping on the research themes and questions. An explanation is then given of the 
research approach and choice of case studies before elaborating on the methods and 
techniques developed to approach the research questions. A brief discussion of the 
analysis and results stages is then offered before the chapter concludes with a 
reflexive critique of some of the issues raised throughout the research process. 
4.1.1: Defining the research aims 
The shape and form of the research process in this study and the way it has been 
conducted was largely underpinned by the theoretical framework and research 
questions being asked (Sayer, 1992). This research study, however, does not have a 
neat set of questions to be answered. To re-cap from the previous chapter, at the 
broadest level this study is concerned with the relationships between urban poverty 
2 In their discussion of the papers in a special issue of the Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography, 
Huang and Yeoh (I 996a), commented on the lack of information by all contributors on their claims to 
inside knowledge and representation. 
101 
and economic success. It does this in the current climate of global economic 
transformations and focuses on the social impacts of rapid and successful urban-based 
economic growth in the 'miracle' economy of Singapore. More specifically, it aims to 
examine how some of these changes have impacted on the experiences, 
understandings and responses to urban poverty by different groups and individuals by 
using women in these groups as a key analytical category. These themes can be 
summarised into five broad research questions (see Table 3.7 in Chapter 3 for a fuller 
outline of the research themes); 
what is urban poverty in. Singapore, what are the changing trends during 
successful economic adjustment? 
who are the poor, who is being left behind or excluded from the processes of 
economic success? 
where are the urban poor located in society, both socially and spatially.? 
why have they been left behind and excluded? 
how do they respond to changing conditions and what factors impact on this 
capacity? 
These research aims and the desire to contribute to our understanding and increase our 
knowledge on contemporary urban poverty in Southeast Asia were the principal 
influences on the research agenda. However, decisions relating to the study and 
research tools were also shaped in a number of other ways such as my own interests 
and background, practical considerations and the political context in which I was 
working (Nast, 1994; Strauss and Corbin, 1990). Initially, this research study was 
intended to be part of a larger regional project which aimed to compare the social 
consequences of rapid economic growth on urban sustainability in a range of Pacific 
Asian urban centres. Although this brief was the initial impetus, the development of 
the research study stemmed from my own interests and concerns in 'poverty', urban 
areas, and the 'Third World' and the decision to focus on women as a case study. As 
the research process progressed it also became clear that women were often invisible 
and a very excluded group in Singapore which influenced the decision to find a space 
for research, not just on the urban poor, but also to recover women in that research 
process. 
102 
4.13: 'Horses for courses' 3: designing a research approach 
Although at the beginning of the research process I did try to compose a tight and neat 
set of research questions, it soon became evident that this was not the best approach. 
What was integral to investigating these issues was that aggregated and universal 
definitions were avoided and that the people had to have the opportunity to 'speak for 
themselves' and the research methods employed had to pen-nit this. Whilst I wanted to 
be able to locate, identify and count, I also wanted to gain access to the opinions and 
voices of the subjects themselves. The research framework, therefore, draws heavily 
on participatory concepts and understandings of urban poverty. In order to supplement 
consumption-based definitions, there needed to be more multi-dimensional, dynamic 
and structural concepts and definitions offered by the poor themselves. The challenge 
to the methodology therefore was to complement and work within this frame, 
facilitating the study of trends and occurrences; perceptions and insights but also to 
acknowledge the role and influence of the researcher. 
Parr (1998: 28) comments that in the study of people's lives, the nature of research is 
often 'chaotic'. What became clear very quickly in this study was that the lives of the 
men and women being researched were often fractured, transient and chaotic and that 
this was reflected in the research process which often became messy and fuzzy. 4 
Although initially viewed as a problem, since it did not conform with textbook 
instructions, the recognition of this, and using it in an almost deliberate fashion, 
allowed the research process to reflect the complex lives of the people I was 
researching and the social world in which we live and research much more 
realistically (Cook and Crang, 1995; Parr, 1998). The complexities and intricacies 
which surface in the research process, and which we too often fear or subvert, are in 
fact mirroring the real and true lives and experiences which we aim to capture and 
understand. Thinking about research in this way highlights not only the constant 
negotiations which take place in the processes of research but also the importance of 
flexibility and adaptability in our techniques and methodologies. 
3 From Cloke et aL (1991: 203) 
4 This has been discussed in more detail in Davidson (1997). 
103 
Methodological flexibility is important in ensuring a comprehensive information base, 
but is also essential when working sensitively with people who have particular and 
often distressing life experiences (see for example Parr, 1998, on mental health). 
Given this, it seemed to me that using multi-methods, i. e. combining both quantitative 
and qualitative techniques, was the most appropriate way to progress. The use of both 
qualitative and quantitative methods, although often seen as reflecting different 
epistemological positions (Cloke et al., 199 1), recognises that if carefully designed the 
two can be applied in a complementary manner. McKendrick, (1996: 3) argues that 
multi-method research can accommodate a range of aims, concepts and 
epistemologies which "do not privilege one particular way of looking at the world". 
What the use of multi-method research implies is the use of a number of different and 
complementary methods which can be used to address different facets of the research 
or address the same question from different perspectives and angles (Philip, 1998). 
Therefore by utilising different methods, it allows the collection of a wider range of 
data and the flexibility to ask and investigate different research questions. Further, 
where the information or data collected overlaps, this allows checks to be made on the 
consistency and validity of the research and improve the reliability of the findings. 
Each method has its own strengths but we must acknowledge their different 
capacities, skills and resources. Whilst quantitative research can describe and analyse 
patterns and trends, qualitative approaches allow for the complexities and differences 
to be explored. Although this research draws more heavily on ethnographic 
techniques, quantitative methods are valued because they allow the identification of 
broad areas of difference and people and places for in-depth study and situate 
qualitative research in a wider context (Philip, 1998). Kong (1998) has also noted that 
in policy research, governments, organisations and decision-makers often 
misunderstand the role of non-positivistic approaches, which they are inclined to 
reject in favour of statistics and positivist research. 
After consideration of the research themes and questions, a four-stage research 
schedule was constructed and completed over the course of nine months in Singapore. 
The field visit was divided into two visits, the first between August 1994 and February 
104 
1995 and the second between January and March 1996. The four stages were as 
follows: 5 
a) Collection of secondary data 
b) A questionnaire survey of low-income households 
c) In-depth interviews with women in low-income households 
d) Interviews with key informants 
The research process itself consisted of three phases, 1) establishing the context, 2) 
carrying out the surveys, and 3) analysis and the dissemination of results. I begin in 
the next section by examining the context of the research through the collection of 
secondary data and locating the case studies and sample. 
4.2: Establishing the context 
4.2.1: Background documents 
Research is composed of a number of written, visual and spoken texts, each of which 
forms a different and valid data source for social research. In establishing the context 
of research, there are a number of important reasons for the collection of background 
documents and secondary data. First, these provide a range of different perspectives, 
interpretations and positions, produced by different actors, for a range of audiences. 
Second, such texts offer valuable documentary evidence of attitudes, opinions and 
strategies in places at specific points in time. They can reveal ongoing processes 
which redefine social relations and reconstitute social identities, knowledge and 
ideology (Fairclough, 1995). Finally, these documents are the means by which the 
researcher can attain sufficient background and understanding of issues and identify 
key concepts important to the research process. This in turn informs the selection of 
target communities, defines variables and terms of reference and frames the research 
questions. 
Initially, my aim was to locate any relevant data or similar studies in order to gain 
background information, establish a longitudinal profile and to extract core variables 
IN 
3 These stages are not presented in any definite chronological order since some stages overlapped or 
were on-going throughout the fieldwork stage, e. g. collection of secondary data. 
105 
for analysis. It was intended that these texts would inform the construction of a 
poverty profile as suggested by Moser et al. (1994) which would then provide a useful 
checklist and overview of urban poverty at the national level, and aid in the selection 
of case studies and the establishment of criteria for sampling (see Table 4.1). This 
information was sought through a number of texts on economic and social policy to 
provide data on important changes in the economy, employment, wages, the provision 
of services, infrastructure and current policy directives which would impact on urban 
poverty and low-income households. 
Information on economic conditions and census material was readily available in the 
form of statistical releases and reports, census monograp hs and occasional papers. 
Individual government departments such as the Ministry of Labour and Department of 
Statistics also produced their own materials on topics such as the labour force, wages 
and household expenditure and specialised reports on contemporary issues such as the 
aged and juvenile delinquency. Information and data were also gained from annual 
reports produced by government bodies such as the Housing and Development Board 
(HDB) and Central Provident Fund (CPF) and commissioned work by private 
consultants and academics. 
Table 4.1: Poverty Profile Checklist 
Po%ierty Profile'Ch6ckliýt 
" What is the poverty line? 
" How many people are defmed as poor? 
" What is the poverty gap? 
" What is the distribution of living standards among the poor? 
" Has there recently been migration to the area? 
" How is poverty correlated with gender, age and ethnicity? 
" What are the main sources of income for the poor? 
" What is the unemployment rate? 
" What is the education and health status of the poor? 
" What are the fertility characteristics of the poor? 
" What public services do the poor have and do not have access to? 
" What assets do the poor own? (Housing, land, fmancial) 
How variable are the poor's incomes? 
What risks do they face? 
Source: Moser et al. (1994), World Bank (1992) 
106 
Access to government-produced texts and data did not always prove easy or 
straightforward. On my first visit in 1994-5 1 found it particularly difficult to access 
certain information and an unwillingness of officials to help. For example, attempts to 
obtain basic information on the location of rental units from the HDB proved 
unfruitful until a mistake resulted in a fax being sent to me with some of the requested 
information. A second fax then arrived stating that this information should not have 
been released. However, by 1996 and my second visit, the introduction of an openness 
and 'courtesy campaign' within government and wider society resulted in increased 
co-operation. Indeed, I became the guest of the Ministry of Community Development 
for two days with interviews arranged with key advisors and visits to government 
programmes and projects. Despite this, documents and information, especially on 
what was perceived to be sensitive social issues were withheld from the public 
domain. I know of one document, in particular, reporting on poverty which has been 
withheld from release raising questions about its content and the perceived need for 
secrecy. 
Other valuable sources however were available and relied upon heavily, especially for 
collecting material on social issues. The majority of these came from Voluntary 
Welfare Organisations (VWO), which are the main providers of welfare and support 
in Singapore6, in the form of annual reports or internal studies and were usually made 
available upon request. These offered an interesting insight into the differences 
between government reports and VWOs and served to highlight the impact of changes 
in policy, position and ideology by the Singapore government. Another significant 
source was the printed and broadcasted media, such as the main Singapore daily 
newspaper, The Straits Times. This would become the source for much of the 
information on social issues although the absence of a fully free press has resulted in 
limited critical journalism or debate of domestic issues in the public domain7. Other 
media sources, such as the Financial Times, Far Eastern Economic Review and the 
Economist often proved useful for external review and assessment. 
6 These will be discussed in detail in Chapter 7. 
7 Social commentators on Singapore have often been penalised for their views, for example, prosecuted 
or expelled from the country. One of the most publicised cases was that of American academic 
Christopher Lingle who was fined and deported after a discussion in the International Herald Tribune 
on Asianjudicial systems. 
107 
4.2.2: The case studies 
A second element in establishing the context of a research study is the selection of 
case studies. The importance of case studies in the research process is that they are the 
means by which the concepts and research questions developed can be put into 
practice and operationalised. I chose Singapore as a research site because of its 
geographical location in the dynamic region of Southeast Asia. It is one of the best 
examples of successful econonjdc development in the region with a distinctive 
experience of growth which has led to its adoption as a role model for much of the 
restructuring world. However, as we have seen from Chapter 2, there is also little 
known about urban social changes amongst the low-income groups, making Singapore 
an excellent testbed to examine contemporary changes and relationships between 
wealth and poverty. Finally, the choice of Singapore as the research area was 
influenced by practical considerations, such as previously established academic links 
at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the fact that a large proportion of 
the population spoke English. 
Studies of urban poverty have most commonly selected case studies which are known 
'traditional', 'low- income', 'working class' or 'poor' urban communities. Due to the 
diversity of urban areas and populations, statistics and averages of economic and 
social indicators, such as income and expenditure at the national and city level, often 
serve to hide different communities and are of limited value in reporting the 
conditions of either rich or poor (Moser et aL, 1994). As the previous chapter argued, 
differences between the 'poor' themselves are highly variable emphasising the 
importance of variables such as gender, age and ethnicity and the role of micro-level 
studies in poverty and feminist research. Approaching at this level is crucial as it helps 
to recapture the individual in the research process and humanise statistics, allowing 
the research to begin to tease out the differences between different lives and 
investigate hidden lives and spaces (Chambers, 1989; McCormick and Philo, 1995). 
By making use of the background material and talking to a range of people in the 
voluntary sector, academia and government departments, I began to search for areas 
which were known to be 'marginal', 'low-income' or 'working class' and for any 
108 
previous community-level studies. However, unlike in many other cities, housing and 
land use are strictly regulated in Singapore and much is done to prevent the creation or 
development of communities based on social class or ethnicity8 (Van Grunsven, 
1991). The result is that there is no one obvious area or community in Singapore 
which falls into this description. Instead there exist pockets of 'low-income' 
households within larger estates which are most commonly the older estates and 
traditional city areas characterised by rental units with one or two rooms, for example, 
Rocher, Queenstown and Bukit Ho Swee, although they are not confined to these 
areas and vulnerable or poor households have been identified in communities which 
are not necessarily considered marginal. 
Since a community study was not feasible it was decided to select specific groups and 
to study them in their own right in order to make the research task more manageable 
and to tackle the aim of recapturing real and everyday lives. From the secondary data 
and documentary texts, and from talking to a range of people across the island, a 
number of sub-population groups, viz. disadvantaged 'intact' families, the elderly, 
single parents and low-skilled foreign workers9. 
4.23: Sampling 
Establishing a representative cross-section for the surveys proved extremely difficult 
for all the groups except foreign workers. First, household data from government 
departments and surveys was not publicly available and access was denied, and 
resources were not available in the form of time or finances to map households 
personally over such an extensive area. Second, securing the participation and interest 
of a sample proved an extraordinarily difficult task in Singapore where the population 
are generally unfamiliar to taking part or participating in public or community forums. 
Kong (1998) has also discussed this in relation to her research using focus groups in 
Singapore. She asks: "how can recruitment and sustained participation be expected 
and coaxed from people for whom public participation is not part of their culture, 
where civil society is not strong, and where Confucian rather than Socratic tradition of 
3 Van Grunsven (199 1) argues that housing market regulatory mechanisms are used to prevent the 
solidarity of groups which could be politically subversive, e. g. Malays and the low-income. 
9 These are discussed in Chapter 3. 
109 
learning has, by and large, produced a people deferential to authority, and accustomed 
to receiving wisdom, rather than participating through questioning? " (Kong, 1998: 79). 
As a result, for the non-foreign worker groups, random or systematic door-to-door 
approaches could only be used to a very limited degree in very specific areas and 
alternatives were sought. Instead it was decided to seek the advice and co-operation of 
as many relevant organisations, interest groups and representative bodies as possible 
to gain access to a suitable survey sample. After contacting almost all relevant 
voluntary and government organisations in Singaporelo who had some form of contact 
with the target groups, it soon became. clear that difficulties were also emerging when 
trying to enlist their support and collaboration. A small number however indicated that 
they were willing to participate, which along with secondary data and background 
information, would shape the survey sample and determine access to the three 
Singaporean groups. 
Table 4.2 provides information on the groups and organisations who were involved in 
some way in this study. Their participation varied from offering information to 
contacting respondents and providing a location to interview. Their role also varied 
according to which survey was being conducted. For the questionnaire survey, 
participation primarily involved providing information on the location of relevant 
households, families and areas to allow a limited amount of door-to-door sampling. 
Introductions were also made to specific households and individuals to begin the 
survey whereafter snowballing techniques were employed. This is when pre-existing 
networks of friendship, kinship and community are used to guide choice, bringing to 
the attention of this study respondents and households independent of the participating 
organisations (Bernard, 1988). In contrast, the interviewing stage was much more 
participatory and collaborative as I actively sought the involvement of the 
organisations, principally, Bukit Ho Swee Social Service Centre, HELP Family 
Service Centre, Kallang Care Centre and Henderson's Home for the Elderly, with 
whom I spent time in the role of observer and participant and with whom I had 
meetings about my research, the interview schedule and how this could benefit the 
10 This information could be found from social services directories. 
110 
organisation. The majority of the interview sample were chosen through these 
organisations and the majority of the interviews conducted on their premises. 
Table 4.2: Participating Organisations, Singapore 1995-6 
Org: dfijiation 
Pescripýtion 
Bukit Ho Swee Social Service Centre 
Family support centre for pre-school children, youth, 
families and the elderly. 
HELP Family Service Centre 
Support centre running programmes for single parents and 
children from single parent homes 
Henderson's Senior Citizens Home 
Residential and day care centre for the elderly funded by the 
Chinese Women's Association 
Kallang Care Centre 
Residential centre for homeless families in crisis run by the 
Singapore Anglican Welfare Council 
Woody Lodge 
Government residential home for male destitute 
Woodlands Home for the Aged 
Government residential home for male and female destitutes, 
especially the aged 
Breadline Group 
Community service organisation providing food and money 
for the poor 
Singapore Action Group for the Elderly 
Day centre and lobby group representing the elderly 
Ministry of Community Development 
Government ministry overseeing welfare and social issues 
In the case of the foreign workers, access was much easier because they were a very 
visible group and physically located in specific areas such as construction sites. Most 
contact, however, was made away from the workplace and in public areas which are 
used as social congregation points to meet friends, family and other workers on their 
day off, almost exclusively a Sunday. This is a distinctive feature in countries such as 
Singapore and Hong Kong where there exists large numbers of foreign workers (Li et 
aL, 1995; Huang and Yeoh, 1996b). Foreign workers tended to congregate at very 
specific locations according to nationality, ethnicity or occupation, for example, 
Filipina domestic workers could be found around the Lucky Plaza shopping centre, 
Malays at the Rocher Centre and Sri Lankan and Indians at KK market in Little India. 
Using these sites as entry points was crucial since access at the workplace proved far 
more difficult although was tried on a number of occasions, for example visiting 
construction sites. Blocks of HDB flats allocated to foreign workers were also visited 
111 
and door-to-door techniques adopted. The selection of the sample amongst the foreign 
worker group favoured English speakers although a large number, especially of 
domestic servants, did speak English. 
The sample was stratified using the four different groups and participants selected to 
represent different types of households and capture specific areas of interests using 
criteria based on income levels, spatial area, housing type and tenure, age, 
employment and female-headed households. An income level of S$1000 per month 
per household was set as a guide but not as an exclusive requirement. On a more 
practical level, in the interview survey respondents were also sought who were willing 
to participate and would be able to talk about problems and difficult areas of their 
lives. Such purposive sampling aimed to improve the representativeness of the 
sample, but also to reflect diversity and difference and a fuller range of views and 
experiences. It was not the actual number or typicality of the people involved which 
mattered, but the quality and positionality of the information they could offer 
(McCracken, 1988). 
A criticism of such an approach would be the threat of biased sampling. Indeed, by 
using these particular types of voluntary organisations, respondents would primarily 
be selected from a group of people who have recognised certain problems or needs 
and sought help. However, this was not viewed as a serious problem and by using the 
snowballing technique, it was hoped that a more diverse sample would be secured. 
Furthermore, the sample, because it was small and divided into four groups, was not 
expected to be statistically representative and withstand the rigorous tests for 
statistical significance. All efforts were made where possible to cross-check 
information with that from other sources and not to assume generalisations or 
universalise the conditions and experiences. 
4.3: Carrying out the surveys 
Once the target groups and areas were selected, the field research for this study was 
conducted using three survey instruments: a questionnaire survey of households, 
112 
interviews with key informants and officials from VWOs and government 
departments and a semi-structured, in-depth interview survey with women. 
4.3.1: The questionnaire survey 
The administration of a questionnaire survey can serve a number of purposes in a 
research study. Cook and Crang (1995: 29) observe that such a survey can, a) act as a 
means of introduction for the researcher and the project into the relevant communities, 
b) generate descriptive statistics, c) be used to identify key groups and networks and, 
d) serve as useful background information for the community itself. Most often 
questionnaires are formal and iightly-structured with pre-defined sets of questions and 
coded answers and are used to provide quantifiable data which can be translated into 
numeric form and allow for statistical comparison and analysis (Philip, 1998). 
In this study, a questionnaire survey was viewed to be the most effective means of 
obtaining socio-economic data and identifying basic characteristics at the household 
and intra-household level. There is much controversy over the use of the household as 
a unit of analysis and its definition (see Chant, 1996b), and indeed this study seeks to 
look beyond aggregated data in its analysis of differential impacts on individuals. 
However, it is accepted here that the household is significant as a collective unit of 
productive and reproductive activity which has direct bearing on people's lives and 
decision-making processes. Kabeer and Joekes (1991: 2) wam that "Viewing the 
household as a convenient conduit for data collection rather than a conceptual 
construct runs the danger of leaving important questions unanswered". It is still 
important, therefore, to look closely at the functioning of a household in order to 
understand and assess the impacts of social and economic change on the different 
individuals within it. The definition adopted here was drawn from Moser et aL 
(1994: 25) which defines a household as "a group of people who usually live and eat 
together in the same dwelling and who generally consider themselves to be the unit for 
which plans and decisions about daily life will be made". For the group of foreign 
workers in the study, information was sought on both their households in their home 
country and their living arrangements in Singapore. 
113 
The questionnaire was the main research tool for diagnosing poverty trends and 
investigating household income, expenditure and needs. However, it was also possible 
to use the survey to look within the household at inter-relationships and inter- 
dependencies, for example, observing different household types, the relationships 
between low-income and life events and access to services and patterns of debt and 
borrowing (Moser and McIlwaine, 1997a). Questions, therefore, were constructed 
pertaining to both the household and the individual. The questionnaire was divided 
into the following six sections, (for a full copy of the questionnaire, see Appendix 1); 
a) Personal and household details: background information on the respondent e. g. 
age, marital status, education; profile of the household and recent changes, e. g. 
members, language spoken, economic activity. 
b) Background history: details on birthplace and nationality; migration details of 
foreign workers. 
C) Accommodation details: information on type, tenure and size of housing, recent 
moves and changes; ownership of consumer goods and land. 
d) Occupation, income and expenditure: details of household members' 
occupations; sources of income, household income; household expenditure, 
contributions and decision making. 
e) Support networks and services: information on financial problems and their 
impacts; support networks and social services used; opinions on services. 
f) Attitudes and opinions: opinions on definition of 'low-income' households, and 
range of issues including the economy and changes in society, government 
policies, support services and the family and expectations for the future. 
In total 160 questionnaires were completed but only 154 considered relevant and 
sufficiently complete". Most questionnaires were completed by disadvantaged 'intact' 
families (43), followed by single-parents (40) and foreign workers (40) and then the 
elderly (31). The questionnaire was piloted on six households which allowed the 
survey format and content to be checked and any problems with definitions, wording, 
understanding, coding, and length to be tackled. Piloting also served as an 
introduction to the study and questionnaire for the two interviewers I employed to 
assist with the data collection. Foo Yung and Patricia were both female students who 
could speak a range of Chinese dialects, Malay and English. These language skills 
were the principal reason for their participation in the project. Since Singapore has 
four official languages, English, Malay, Mandarin and Sinhalese, as well as the 
prominence of numerous dialects such as Hokkien, Cantonese and Teochew and a 
" These unused questionnaires were usually incomplete. 
114 
range of other Asian languages, it would be impossible for me to learn to speak to all 
the respondents personally. There are obvious concerns regarding inaccuracies when 
surveys are conducted in different languages, or not by yourself, but attempts to 
minimise these were made by keeping questions clear and straightforward and 
debriefing after being in the field (Howard, 1994). 
After the initial difficulties of finding a sample to participate in the survey, the other 
main concern with the questionnaire survey was inaccuracies in the data provided. 
This is not an uncommon problem when collecting data on household incomes and 
expenditures and people anywhere are generally reluctant to discuss financial issues, 
or often exaggerate income and earnings. In such a competitive environment as 
Singapore, where appearances and success are important in people's lives, this was 
certainly an issue. I did find that Singaporeans were often very interested in how much 
money other people earned and I was often asked by strangers, such as taxi drivers, 
how much I earned and the cost of my accommodation, and they would usually 
exchange the same information without being asked. However, estimates were often 
exaggerated and in anticipation of this, questions relating to surrogate indicators such 
as housing type and consumer goods were included in the questionnaire. Another 
related issue in this survey was when respondents could genuinely not provide 
information on household income or data on its individual members. This was most 
commonly the case with female or elderly respondents and served to highlight 
important issues regarding responsibility and power relations within the household. 
Data quality can be influenced by any number of factors and care was taken to situate 
the survey in as knowledgeable a context as possible and to be aware that answers and 
responses cannot always be taken at face value. Awareness of some of these 
inaccuracies and inconsistencies meant that it would not be meaningful for me to 
subject the survey data to the rigours of sophisticated statistical analysis. However, 
this was not considered a problem as it was not a principal aim of the survey. The 
questionnaire survey still provided valuable and adequate background information on 
low-income households and consultation with other sources seemed to confirm my 
own findings. 
115 
4.3.2: Interviews with key informants 
Interviews were also conducted throughout the visit to Singapore with officials and 
representatives from a variety of organisations. These interviews served to provide 
background information and eventually aid access to the sample group. Interviews 
were conducted with a wide range of individuals, government departments, Voluntary 
Welfare Organisations, government welfare services and external commentators. 
Access to these people varied. Whilst members of VWOs were generally co-operative, 
govermnent departments and academics proved extremely difficult to contact and 
secure interviews with. There was a change however within government departments 
over time and with the new 'courtesy and good service campaign' as explained earlier. 
All interviews took place in offices or centres and lasted approximately one hour. 
Once again, permission was sought to use a tape recorder but this was refused on a 
number of occasions, most notably with government employees. In these cases 
extensive notes were taken. Table 4.3 outlines the people with whom I held key 
interviews and the visits I made. 
116 
Table 4.3: Interviews with Key Informants, Singapore 1995-6. 
Name 
'Position and Omanisation 
Ms. Harinder Grewal 
Research Branch, Ministry of Community Development (MCD) 
Mr. Chew Sin Poon 
Deputy Director, Senior Citizens and Social Services Branch, MCD 
Mrs. Ismail Ellias 
Director, Childcare Branch, MCD 
Mrs. Belen Tan 
Assistant Director, Family Welfare, MCD 
Mrs. Winnie Tang 
Deputy Director, Voluntary Development & Co-ordination Branch, 
MCD 
Ms. Jackie Choo 
Deputy Director, Policy Branch, MCD 
Mr. Yeo Lee Hock 
Superintendent, Woodlands Home for the Aged (Government home 
for aged and destitute) 
Mr. Balakrishnan 
Superintendentý Woody Lodge (Government home for male destitutes) 
Mrs. Gerardine Nonis-Yap 
Senior Social Worker, HELP Every Lone Parent Family Service 
Centre (FSC) 
Mrs. Esther Azizah 
Social Worker, East Coast Social Service Centre and HELP FSC 
Committee Member 
Mrs. Juliana Chan 
Senior Director, Counselling and Care Centre and HELP FSC 
Committee Member 
Mr. Gerard Ee 
Centre Co-ordinator, Bukit Ho Swee FSC 
Mrs. Evelyn Chong 
Director, MacPherson Moral FSC 
Mrs. Tan Pek Lian 
Supervisor, Henderson Senior Citizens Home 
Mrs. Sally Thio 
Executive Director, Singapore Anglican Welfare Council 
Mr. Fong Chan Yoon 
Vice-president, Singapore Action Group of Elders 
Mr. Richard Lim 
Vice-Chairman, The Breadline Group 
The aim of these 'corporate interviews' was to gain background information but also 
to understand processes, policies and behaviour of the organisation and their impacts 
on external relationships and the wider context (McDowell, 1992; Schoenberger, 
199 1). These interviews were conducted in a more formal manner with a set agenda of 
issues to be covered in the interview. The presence of a pre-defined structure based on 
background reading was more important in this series of interviews because the 
respondents could often only offer a very short period of their time. According to 
Schoenberger (1991) this background preparation is essential if we are to make the 
117 
most of this limited time and to convey to the respondent that we have an 
understanding of the key issues and terms. In the case of Singapore, I also found this 
crucial to be able to ask specific questions and probe answers which glossed over 
issues or adopted the organisation or government line. McDowell (1992: 405) also 
comments that knowledge and professionalism can serve to address the imbalance of 
power in the interview since the interviewee will be "accustomed to being in control 
and exerting power on others". 
43.3: The Interview survey 
In contrast to the questionnaire survey, the interviewing stage of the research process 
was developed in order to focus on women in low-income households in Singapore. 
The aim was to explore more fully household and individual histories, processes, 
priorities, attitudes, values and perceptions. More specifically, the interview schedule 
needed to be able to explore the distribution of income, resources and responsibilities 
within the household, and to capture the capacity of women and their households to 
respond to internal and external changes in the labour market, economy, infrastructure 
and services and focus on the conflicting responsibilities of production, reproduction 
and welfare. 
In order to discuss these issues and to represent the voices, decisions and desires of 
these women, the survey needed to develop techniques which would be capable of; a) 
providing more detailed background information on households and the women 
within them, b) offering the opportunity to explore certain themes in depth without the 
constraints of a formal questionnaire, c) elucidating details of experiences and 
capturing realities, experiences, attitudes, and differences, d) allowing the importance 
of multiple voices, opinions and ideas, and e) reducing barriers between the 
researched and researcher and acknowledging the position the researcher in the 
process. Discussions on ethnographic methods and from within feminist geography 
proved extremely influential in shaping Us stage of the study because they endeavour 
to challenge assumptions about categories, concepts, knowledge and definitions and 
stress the non-neutrality of the researcher and the power relations involved in the 
research process (Hammersley and Atkinson, 1996; WGSG, 1997). 
118 
Such an investigation pointed towards the application of qualitative, interpretative 
techniques which are consistent with such goals. Philip (1998: 267) describes these as 
"typically small-scale intensive pieces of research in which everyday life experienced 
by all sorts of people and communities at different times and in different places is 
explored, and the position of the researchers, their perceptions, experiences, 
expectations and prejudices are viewed as important" (emphasis added). Such studies 
allow the complexity and diversity of the worlds and lives being researched to be 
explored and represented providing data on relationships, processes, decision-making, 
and information on "the way(s) in which 'ordinary' people leading 'ordinary' lives 
encounter, perceive and perhaps reflect upon the spaces, places and environments 
around them" (Cloke et al., 1991: 59). Such methods deprivilege the 'position' of the 
researcher making him or her "less authorial, authoritative and authoritarian" 
(Pile, 1991: 458). 
For this research study, I decided that a semi-structured interview schedule would be 
the most effective means of collecting richer and more in-depth information on the 
research themes. The interviews took the form of 'guided conversations' (Lofland, 
197 1) with a series of women in the four groups of low-income households previously 
identified in the questionnaire survey. The interview schedule was semi-structured or 
focused consisting of a pre-defined list of important subject areas and topics which I 
wished the respondents to discuss. However, within each of the focused themes, it was 
viewed as important to allow the conversation to be as unstructured as possible so that 
the respondents felt they could talk freely and so that the interview would provide 
detailed information. The interview schedule endeavoured to cover the following 
issues (for a full version of the interview schedule, see Appendix 2); 
a) Socio-economic profile of the household: personal details of respondent; in- 
depth information on the household structure, type and changes over the past 5 
years, and reasons why; information on intra-household decision making. 
b) Employment: employment history of respondent and details of current job; 
restrictions and pressures; impact of working on relationships and household; roles 
and responsibilities; employment profile of other household members. 
119 
C) Income and Expenditure: information on household income, transfers, sources 
of credit, debts, and budgets; breakdown of household expenditure, contributions 
by different members. 
d) Work patterns and division of labour: data on respondents and husbands 
activities in a typical day; division of labour in household; childcare and caring. 
e) Problems and Coping: information on main problems (financial, personal, 
family, illness etc. ) faced by household in last 2 years; impact on different 
members; how were problems resolved and by whom; how do they manage, 
cutbacks made; restrictions and barriers to coping; sources of help and extra 
income. 
f) Social Services and Participation: use of, and participation in, social services, 
networks and community activities; access to services and ability to pay. 
g) Perceptions and Aspirations: opinions on household structure, intra-household 
relationships and conflict; perceptions on welfare and role of government, 
community and family; aspirations for the future. 
Within this frame, and with the task of giving voice to previously silenced or 
marginalised groups particularly in mind, the respondents were also encouraged to 
discuss their life histories and biographies as fully as possible. Many qualitative 
techniques, especially methods such as personal narratives and oral history, strive to 
be poly-vocal (Crang, 1992) and to make a space for 'other' voices. This offers the 
opportunity to go beyond statistics and allow research to differentiate between the 
experiences of different groups (Crang, 1992). Life history methods, Miles and Crush 
(1993: 85) argue, are particularly appropriate methods to help the researcher to achieve 
a degree of depth, flexibility and richness and to uncover not only what people did, 
but what they wanted to do, what they believed they were doing and what they now 
think. Furthermore, documenting the personal histories and struggles can illuminate 
both the individual's courses of action (or inaction) and the effects of constraints and 
barriers which evolve over the life-course at different times and in different places., 
In total, 43 interviews with women were completed. It was intended that 40 interviews 
would be completed with 10 women from each group but more interviews with 
women in multi-problem families were secured whilst interviews with foreign 
workers proved more difficult to finalise. This was often because foreign workers had 
only one day off, did not feel comfortable meeting at their home or mine and often did 
not possess the language skills to complete an in-depth interview in English. 
However, my closest contact was also with this group since I lived in a household 
which employed two domestic maids. In the end, fifteen interviews were with multi- 
120 
problem families, ten with single parents, ten with elderly and eight with foreign 
workers. In addition there was one interview conducted with a male single parent at 
the request of HELP FSC. 
In contrast to the questionnaire survey, the interviewing stage was much more 
collaborative as I actively sought the involvement of local VWOs. In particular, HELP 
FSC, who met the needs of single parents from across Singapore, asked if they could 
use the survey as a vehicle to ask questions on several issues important to their 
organisation. These included questions on the participation in, and success of, 
different programmes provided by the centre and the effects of transgenerational 
relationships and views on different aspects of the lives of single parents which were 
inserted into the interview schedule for this group of respondents. 
The interviews were conducted in either the respondent's home or at one of the 
Family Service Centres. The choice was offered to the respondents to make the 
interview location as convenient and comfortable as possible for them. The average 
length of an interview was approximately Ihour and 15 minutes but varied between 35 
minutes to over 3 hours. The non-English language interviews were conducted by 
myself and an assistant, Janet Ang, whose translation I trusted. Although many subtle 
meanings will still have been lost in translation (Dixon and Leach, 1984: 37), 1 am still 
confident that useful and rich data was generated from which analysis could be made. 
All the interviews were recorded after permission from the respondents was sought 
and given. The value of taping interviews is now well documented in terms of 
accuracy and completeness (McCraken, 1988). Assurances were made that 
confidentiality was secured and that I would be happy to switch off the recorder at any 
point during the interview. I was never asked to switch off the recorder but made the 
decision myself to do so on a number of occasions when respondents were getting 
particularly upset and emotional. I felt extremely uncomfortable recording someone 
upset and crying and always asked if they wished to terminate the interview, which 
only one women did. 
Finally, I offered small cash and food gifts to the respondents after interviewing them. 
I do not feel this prejudiced my results in any way and instead feel it was the correct 
121 
thing to do, especially when visiting a respondent's home. Here, meals and snacks 
were always offered and often made or bought specially for my visit. Gift giving is 
often an important part of social life (Howard, 1995) and was particularly true around 
the time of my visit to Singapore which coincided with the celebration of Chinese 
New Y; ear and Hari Raya. For example, I learned that bringing oranges or mandarins 
to Chinese respondents was viewed as good luck for them. However, I would always 
end up leaving with others in return as they also wished to offer me good luck! I also 
tried to answer any questions posed to me about my own life or the research and Janet 
kindly did the same. I also took pictures of some respondents with their families or of 
their children and sent these back with letters of thanks. 
By using interviews as a method, it is hoped that the data offers depth and detail, yet it 
represents only the perceptions of a limited and very particular group of respondents. 
Although the use of these methods raises a number of issues relating to bias and as a 
result reliability, it is also evident that in relation to experiences and behaviour of 
individuals, there is no alternative means of elucidating this information and without 
their use such a rich source of data would otherwise be unobtainable (Hammersley 
and Atkinson, 1996). In order to ensure the validity of my results I sought to compare 
the data from the research study with other documentary and background data sources. 
The national newspapers and VWO reports especially provided information of current 
topics and mirrored attitudes identified in the survey and confirmed many of the 
research findings. 
4.4: Analysis and dissemination of results 
4.4.1: Analysis 
Analysis, Moser et aL (1994) write, is the most rewarding, yet the most difficult stage 
in the research process. This has much to do with the substantial range of research 
materials eventually obtained in the field and the attempt to order and develop a frame 
within which to work, summarise and synthesise data and interpret and abstract 
findings. The aim of the analysis stage of this study was to find associations, provide 
explanations and develop and identify strategies and ideas. 
122 
The tools of analysis in this study included SPSS for the questionnaire survey, which 
presented findings as basic descriptive statistics, and qualitative data analysis for the 
interview surveys where data were primarily presented in the form of representative 
quotations. The questionnaire survey was much more manageable since codes had 
already been established and responses entered directly into SPSS to produce 
descriptive statistics for background information and frequencies and percentages. 
Analysis of the qualitative data was based on a number of tools. In the first instance 
however, all the interviews were transcribed in full and replayed on different 
occasions in order to recapture the emotions and Interpersonal situation of the 
interviews and to think through the different research questions and issues (Cook and 
Crang, 1995: 73). The aim of these tools was to begin to provide depth, detail and 
context to the study and to detect vital trends, connections, associations and processes. 
Outputs expected, therefore, from analysis included conceptual definitions; the forms 
and nature of phenomena such as processes, systems, attitudes, decisions, judgements 
and responses; the creation of typologies; and to provide explanations and develop 
strategies, ideas and theories. Overall, the data collected were largely unordered and 
unwieldy reflecting the complexity of the social world in which the research was 
conducted. The analysis process, therefore, had to be able to deal with this and the 
large quantities of snapshots and small bites of information illustrating experiences, 
histories, diversity, struggles and responses. 
In the mainstay I used a technique called Framework, first developed by a research 
consultancy, Social and Community Research Planning (SCPR), to analyse data for 
policy-orientated research. This proved an extremely systematic and comprehensive 
approach which involved the construction of charts and matrices. Each respondent is 
inserted into this chart and analysis made of each case made under a series of headings 
which have been developed from emergent themes and topic guide. Cases can then be 
grouped around shared themes and features and contextualised around emergent 
interpretative themes, allowing for analysis across themes and within cases. This 
approach was supplemented by more mainstream case-based and theme-based 
123 
approaches which involve the coding of material and the identification of linkages and 
relationships through manual cutting and pasting techniques. 
4.4.2: Dissemination of results 
At the end of the research process it is important to consider the purpose of the 
research, the output it will produce and the audience to whom it will be directed. In 
the case of a PhD this is perhaps more obvious than for other research studies. At the 
end of the day, this piece of work was for my own personal use in an attempt to gain a 
doctoral degree, the output is a large leather-bound thesis and the audience, my 
examiners. Whilst this may have been my principal means of disseminating the 
research findings, I also sought to promote the research more extensively and to share 
the results with a wider range of audiences. 
Most importantly, I felt that the research and results should be made available to the 
communities within which I was working. As a result I wrote individual reports for 
HELP FSC, Bukit Ho Swee FSC and the Policy Division of the Ministry of 
Community Development. I was happy to provide information to all the organisations 
who had helped me but they were not interested in a final written product but often 
sought information or comment whilst I was conducting the fieldwork on topics in 
which they had an interest. Further, I sought to publish and present this research to 
academic audiences by presenting papers at conferences and publishing texts in edited 
volumes and journal papers (for example, Davidson, 1996,1997,1999; Davidson and 
Drakakis-Smith, 1997; Findlay et al., 1998). There is also much scope for future 
publications focusing on the different groups, especially the foreign workers and 
elderly, as well as a fuller dissemination of the results from interviews with women in 
poor households. 
124 
4.5: Representing the 'other': some issues in research 
All research is a compromise between what. is desirable and what is possible. 
(Dixon and Leach, 1984: 3 5) 
WI-tilst reflecting on the research process, Moss (1995: 82) identifies what she calls a 
'gap'. She encountered two things; a) the social-political distance between the 
researcher and the researched, and b) the difference between what is expected and 
what actually happens in the research process. -Recent debates have challenged 
researchers to consider the power relations involved in all forms of research and 
writing on other cultures and especially those that claim to represent the voices and 
experiences of the 'other' (Clifford and Marcus, 1986). Research raises many 
questions for the new researcher; issues which are practical, strategic, political and 
ethical and challenges which are personal and psychological in nature. Ely et al. 
(199 1) write that we are the primary research tool. We are the eyes, ears and mouths 
through which the research is conducted, analysed and reported and should endeavour 
to stop ourselves from slipping out of discussions on fieldwork and research. Khare 
(1992: 7) suggests that the researcher cannot be bracketed off from the 'other's' 
dialogue and so some attempt should be made to recognise and explain the 
significance of personality and positionality on the research outcomes. 
This research study raises particular issues linked to using research methods in 
cultures and locations and with people who could be termed as 'minority' in relation 
to my own background. The data collected and results presented in this thesis are 
impacted upon in different ways because places are simply different, and incorporate 
different individuals, structures and histories, but also because as a researcher I 
responded in different ways. As such, many commentators have argued that 
researchers need to conceptualise themselves, and their respondents, as "variously 
positioned, (by intersections of class, gender, sexual, ethnic, (dis)abled, generational, 
national, local or other identities), interconnected and capable of changing, as well as 
being changed by, the societies in which they/we live" (Cook and Crang, 1995: 7). The 
researcher and the researched therefore exist along multiple axes, living in multiple 
125 
contexts with multiple identities which are, amongst other things, gendered, coloured 
and classed. This research process threw up challenges to my own role and identity 
and highlighted the need to think through these positions. These challenges often took 
the form of negotiations between my own shifting identities, between outsider-insider, 
stranger-friend, observer-participant, tourist-researcher and translated into practical 
fieldwork considerations including language, translation, locations and power 
relations. 
Sidaway (1992: 403) notes that when 'First World' researchers travel to 'Third World' 
locations, we also move to the top Of new social hierarchies. In Singapore, however, I 
found myself situated in two very different contexts, and instantly felt a stranger and 
observer in both. In my research community, amongst the low-income households I 
was studying, I found myself positioned as middle class and rising up the social 
ladder, the most obvious markers of my otherness being my skin colour and ethnicity 
and language differences. For my living arrangements, however, I had located myself 
in the ex-patriate community where I found myself at the bottom of any social 
hierarchy and my otherness marked by my class and accent. These living 
arrangements were for practical reasons as it was the cheapest option to stay with an 
expatriate family. I did not feel comfortable in either location however, and if 
anything, related more to my research area, Q grew up on a council estate on the 
outskirts of Glasgow), than with the houses, cars, private clubs and maids of the ex- 
patriate community. 
There were obvious tensions between the two of these, especially when respondents 
asked where I was staying and I found myself embarrassed and trying to explain that 
this was not my normal lifestyle. There is an inherent discomfort in ethnographic 
research and the difficulty in adjusting to roles and shifting identities can be draining 
and reduce confidence. It seemed, however, that the respondents and others needed to 
be able to place and categorise and assign an identity to me as either their 'wee 
Scottish academic friend' or the 'big white lady from the university'. However, this 
process also worked in reverse as I sought to label my respondents. Throughout the 
fieldwork stage these identities were to be constantly negotiated as I became more 
familiar with both locations and met and interviewed different groups and people. By 
126 
the end of the research I was still obviously an outsider but had constructed more of an 
identity as a student-researcher who was a stranger amongst friends 
I interviewed a wide range of women in Singapore from different backgrounds, ethnic 
and age groups. Although some feminists (for example, see Oakley, 1981) write that 
women interviewing women appeals to our commonality, Stacheli and Lawson 
(1994: 98) warn of the "pitfalls of essentialising women as 'sisters"' and the failure to 
pay attention to other hierarchical positions and characteristics. It is difficult to gauge 
how much of a 'rapport' I established with the female respondents in the survey 
because I was a woman -or how this affected the type of information' (but also 
childless, single). I interviewed only one man and there appeared to be no obvious 
differences in the responses or in the conduct of the interview. From a personal point 
of view, however, I felt extremely uncomfortable being alone with a man in his home 
and would therefore agree that a woman-to-woman interview may be viewed as less 
threatening for both the respondent and interviewer. 
I also interviewed women from across a broad range of ethnic groups and 
nationalities. The majority were Chinese but also Malay, Indian, Eurasian, Filipino, 
Thai and Sri Lankan. There existed a broad difference between the different groups in 
the interview process but this was also intersected by other characteristics and the 
personalities of the different women. In general, amongst the Singaporeans, the Indian 
women were much more reserved and unwilling to talk than the Chinese or Malay 
women. This was also more of a problem with the foreign workers where it was 
obvious that my position as a 'First World' researcher was far more of an issue, 
although amongst this group there were also differences and again it was the Indian 
and Sri Lankan women who were less participatory. 
Sidaway (1992: 406) suggests that we must attempt not to make any false promises 
when it is assumed we may be in a position of power or privilege in relation the 
respondents. This issue arose on a few occasions because of the perceptions some 
respondents held of me and my position. For example, one woman who was trying to 
set up her own business wanted me to get her contacts in the UK to whom she could 
127 
export, and could not understand why I did not know anyone in the export business. 
As a result I bought S$50 worth of her goods. 
Further, Sidaway advises that we try to be aware of the consequences and impacts of 
our actions. I think this is very important if we are not to indulge in the process of 
'mining' for information. I attempted to limit any negative consequences from my 
presence in the field although this was sometimes difficult. For -example, when 
initially approaching foreign workers at the various meeting areas around the city I 
became involved in a heated debate between the Tamil and Sinhalese Sri Lankans 
which started because of my questions. Consequently a fight broke out and the police 
and some employers were called. I do not know what action, if any, was taken against 
the men or whether this incident would still have happened without my input, but it 
was a clear indication of the impact my position could make and that sometimes we 
are unaware of the results of the actions we take. Although, on a positive note, some 
consequences did come about because of the research process which were welcome, 
for example, one women learned that she was eligible for help with her children's 
education costs. 
The most difficult interviews, however, were with the older respondents but little has 
been written about age as an influence on the research process and in interviewing. 
Cotterill (1992) however writes that she also found this as some of the most difficult 
interviewing and that boundaries were set by the respondents which were difficult and 
rigid. In attempts to break down some of these boundaries I spent more time with the 
elderly group by participating in activities with them such as Tai Chi and Chinese 
New Year celebrations. 
In interviewing and research, there will always exist hierarchies and power relations 
whether along the lines of class, gender, ethnic or age, or more than one of these. 
However, it is also increasingly recognised that power relations do not always go in 
the one direction towards the researcher. Cotterill (1992: 603) notes that there exist 
varying degrees of vulnerability and that participants are not all powerless. Indeed we 
as researchers can also find ourselves in positions of vulnerability or powerlessness, 
for example when I interviewed the male single parent. Schoenberger (1991) also 
128 
highlights the role of 'gatekeepers' and their power to control a research agenda. For 
example, in this research, it was obvious in some situations that I was being directed 
towards certain respondents whom the organisations wanted to check up on or know 
more about. This was difficult to negotiate but I tried to strike a balance with the 
parties involved. 
In thinking through these issues on positionality and power relations, textual and self- 
reflexive strategies have been developed to destabilise the authority of the researcher, 
for example through 'poly-vocality' or 'polyphony' which attempt to make spaces for 
'other voices' (Crang, 1992). This thesis does attempt a limited poly-vocalism by 
using interviews and life histories. However, I acknowledge that my authorial voice is 
still dominant and my editorial power apparent. The power relations in data collection 
can never be removed completely since my voice as the researcher can always be 
heard asking questions, analysing answers and editing texts. This is especially the case 
with research conducted in a foreign language. 
There are obvious difficulties with foreign language research as much can be lost in 
translation and the depth of the original text lost, reducing and distorting 
representation. Smith, F. (1996: 161) however asserts that this is true for both 'foreign' 
and 'home' language research and can be turned into 'positive engagement' between 
the researcher and researched and used to challenge our understanding of definitions 
and concepts. Smith, F. (1996: 165) advocates the use of 'hybrid strategies', creating a 
space between the culture of the researched and the researcher in order to give rise to 
in-between forms of understanding. This idea however is not new and not only been 
applied to language issues in research (for example, see Bhabha, 1990; Katz, 1992; 
Routledge, 1996). England (1994: 87) identifies these 'spaces of betweeness' as 
ground which belongs to no-one but which represents a world between our own and 
the researched. In this way, no-one is an 'insider' or 'outsider' and boundaries and 
relations between these categories can begin to be broken down. In this research study, 
I attempted to break down boundaries and power relations between myself and the 
respondents in two ways by using, first, Family Service Centres as in-between spaces 
and second, a local research assistant as a link between my outsider position and the 
insider location of the respondents. 
129 
The majority of the interviews conducted for the study were located in one of the 
Family Service Centres (FSC), although the interviewees were given the choice as to 
where they wished to meet. In the FSCs this would usually be a counselling room or 
communal area. For practical reasons this was the preferred site for interviewing but it 
was also clear that it was favoured by many of the women as it represented an area 
where they could speak freely about their concerns. It was not within the confines of 
their home, family, work or community and was often regarded as a 'safe' place where 
the women would come to talk, receive rations, ask for help or send their children. 
Many of the interviews were conducted with women whilst their children were at 
various groups or activities so that husbands did not need to be informed. These 
locations offered an 'in-between space' where the women were distanced from the 
issues of the home, yet were still in a comfortable and familiar environment12. Often, 
respondents who used the centres received counselling and found it a more relaxed 
location to discuss sensitive and difficult issues. They also appeared to gain 
confidence knowing the centres were involved and therefore trusted that the study was 
not a government instrument or that information would be used against them. 
Some interviews were also conducted in the home which raised a different set of 
issues. This location was often extremely illuminating not only in respect to material 
belongings and living conditions but also because it allowed the observation of 
relationships and interactions between different household members. These 
relationships would often impact on the interview process, for example; Kong 
(1998: 81) comments on the effects the presence of husbands have on research in 
Singapore. She observes that wives tended to use their husbands as their voices or that 
when women do speak it is in mumbled and muffled tones. Although this raises 
concerns over the validity of the data it also provides extremely valuable information 
on roles, identities and relationships between men and women. In this study, the 
women would often defer to the men, but more interestingly, some women even when 
interviewed alone were often very unconfident and unfamiliar with expressing their 
own opinions and feelings. 
130 
'Me use of these centres proved an effective way of breaking down some of the 
barriers between myself and the respondents. Another, less expected means, however, 
was the presence of my research assistant Janet Ang. Janet was employed primarily to 
assist in interviewing respondents who did not speak English. Her role, however, 
proved much greater than this, since her personality and personal characteristics did 
much to breakdown age, race and class obstacles and towards the end Janet took over 
much of the interviewing even when in English. Janet herself lived in Kallang Care 
Centre with her family and could add great richness and insight into the interviewing 
schedule. The other women appeared to trust her and the interviews became more like 
conversations between friends sharing experiences, knowledge and advice. As the 
schedule proceeded Janet learned much about the different services and provisions 
available which she shared with the women and when I left Singapore, she had 
volunteered herself to help at one of the centres where we had been interviewing. This 
blend of 'insider' and 'outsider' and different experiences complemented one another 
in the research process. Whilst my presence as a naive observer made the women 
explain in more depth, the insider role of Janet meant the conversations would tend to 
go beyond the basics of the interview schedule to provide richer material. 
The foreign worker interviews, however, were all conducted by myself and in English. 
These were often conducted in the home where the respondent worked since they were 
all domestic maids. There were very different issues raised doing these. First, the 
women did not always speak fluent English so it was often difficult for them to 
understand me in full or to express themselves as fully as they may have wished. Janet 
could not assist at this stage since the women all spoke different Asian languages such 
as Tagalog and Thai. Second, interviewing the women in their place of employment 
was not perhaps the most comfortable place to interview. Even if their employers were 
not present in the house, I would be taking up valuable time in which they should be 
working. 
Thinking through some of these issues and positions is helpful to illuminate our own 
sense of identity but more usefully, it enables reflection on the significance of 
personality and positionality on the research outcomes. In this chapter I have 
12 This is discussed in Chapter 8 
131 
attempted to discuss as fully as possible the methodology and techniques and the 
mechanisms locked into the research process. Whatever, the methods we use they are 
never going to be innocent, and the gathering of information is never an 
unproblematic exercise. 
132 
CHAPTER 5 
WHO IS POOR AMONG US? IDENTIFYING THE POOR IN SINGAPORE 
5.1: Introduction 
Poverty is sometimes obvious- whether it is the poverty of beggars in the street, 
young homeless people bedded down for the night under the arches, or people 
rummaging in rubbish bins. At other times it is hidden inside homes, 
workplaces and institutions. 
Oppenheim and Harker (1996: 1) 
In a nation regarded as an economic 'mira I cle' it is tempting to believe that everyone is 
benefiting from continued growth and that poverty has been eradicated in the 'tiger' 
economy. However, not all citizens are part of that expanding wealth, and despite 
economic and social gains which have accrued to the majority in Singapore, a 
minority remains which is not yet able to benefit from opportunities, affluence and 
growth (Blake, 1991; Yap, 1991). The characteristics and symptoms of poverty in 
Singapore though are very different from the pictures found in other developing areas, 
and must be contextualised in times of extremely rapid economic, social and urban 
change and restructuring which will in turn significantly impact on our understandings 
and the forms of poverty. Data and evidence about the poor in Singapore are 
fragmentary and discontinuous and, therefore, fail to tell us about what is going on 
within the. poorest and vulnerable households (Pugh, 1989). The principal aim of this 
project has been to research, document and analyse poverty in Singapore; to humanise 
economic and social statistics and in turn offer a space for different stories, lives and 
voices which are normally hidden and obscured. Such a task, however, was much 
more complex than I had first perceived, especially due to the hidden nature of 
poverty. 
133 
Drawing on Novak's (1996: 60) approach to poverty as a three-level phenomenon, I 
begin by investigating the national and then intermediate levels in an attempt to build 
a profile of the poor. I do this by firstly focusing on how poverty is defined and 
understood in Singapore and identifying who is poor before going on in Chapter 6 to 
examine what it means to be disadvantaged in such a successful economy. 
5.2: Defining poverty in Singapore 
Oyen (1996: 12) writes that poverty is at the same time both universal and culture- 
bound. Whilst definitions of poverty are most commonly understood in terms of a lack 
of income which is not adequate to meet material and non-material needs (Ravallion, 
1992), understandings of what this means vary between countries, communities and 
households, as well as over time. Definitions of what constitutes the 'poor', therefore, 
have been documented so that new groups and experiences of poverty will often be 
'discovered' as wider processes evolve over space and time (McCormick and Philo, 
1995; Minujin, 1995). It is now widely recognised that poverty cannot only be 
considered in isolation or as an individual situation, but must be observed and 
understood in light of the household, the community and these more general economic 
and societal processes (Moser, 1995b: 166; Novak, 1996: 56; Oyen, 1996)1. Heng, C. 
(1994) suggests, therefore, that poverty should be understood as a set of ongoing 
negotiated meanings which are politically constructed and, therefore, operate within a 
hierarchical system. What this implies for poverty research is that certain 
understandings and defmitions of who is poor will be awarded more validity and 
legitimacy than others, the state and government notably being the most powerful 
agents in naming the poor. 
In Singapore, the negotiation of poverty and the poor can be addressed from a variety 
of levels and studied through a range of mediums, for example, the state and polity, 
the discipline of social work acting as experts on the poor, volunteers as those who 
provide services and the poor themselves as defined either by their relationship to 
these services or by themselves. However, the predominant definition and way of 
1 For a full discussion on poverty see Chapter 2. 
134 
understanding poverty in Singapore has been dominated by the state and government 
policy. Although some studies have been produced by the academic community or 
voluntary welfare sector which have served to widen and supplement the debate here, 
they still remain few in number, are often not available publicly and tend to continue 
to work within the framework of the state discourse (Heng, C. 1994). This has not 
gone undocumented, however, with a recent report on social services and the 
disadvantaged by the National Council of Social Services (NCSS)2 calling for an 
"increase in the knowledge base on disadvantaged families through documentary 
research at the agency level as well as academic researclf' (quoted in Yong, 1991: 76). 
The prominent role of the state and its policies here is a crucial one and one which has 
far reaching consequences on the concepts of poverty, welfare, social exclusion, 
individual and household needs and resources. 
Povei-ty in Singapore is no longer the widespread problem associated with its past or 
some regional neighbours (Tables 5.1 and 5.2), however, indicators from various 
studies show that some groups have not been able to benefit from the developments 
which have raised the standards of living of the majority. Furthermore, a much larger 
percentage were finding themselves increasingly in positions of vulnerability resulting 
in the marginalisation of a minority group in the urban landscape. Recent government 
concern has acknowledged this and the fact that poverty continues to haunt the lives of 
many people in the form of real problems and experiences no matter how successful 
the economy (IMC on Dysfunctional Families, Juvenile Delinquency and Drug Abuse, 
1995; IMC on an Ageing Population, 1999). In recognition of this, the Advisory 
Council on Family and Community (ACFC) in Singapore set up a Committee on 
Destitute Families (CDF) in 1989 which sought to quantify this problem and to make 
policy recommendations. What follows in the next section is an investigation of the 
ways in which poverty and the poor have been defined and measured by this 
committee and other official organisations before considering some alternative 
approaches. 
2 This was formerly known as the Singapore Council of Social Services and is the umbrella body to 
which all voluntary welfare organisations must be affiliated. This is discussed in Chapter 7. 
135 
Table 5.1: Poverty Trends in Singapore 1972-1990 
Percentage of households in absolute poverty' 
1972M 1977f78 1982/83 2 1989/903 
All households' 
30.8 
14.8 
7.4 
5.9 
All Persons 
31.9 
15.1 
7.2 
6.0 
Sources: Lim et al. (1988); Yap (1991) 
1 Defted as those existing below a minimum household expenditure (MHE) poverty line (see next 
section). 
2 Amalgamated Union of Public Employees (AUPE) poverty lines derived from MHE. 
3 Based on Population Planning Unit figures derived from MIHE. 
a Excludes single person households 
Table 5.2 Income Distribution and Poverty in East Asia 
Country 
Income Share 
lowest 40% 
Ratio highest 
20% to lowest 
20% 
Gini 
Coefficient 
Population living below the 
poverty line (%) 
Total 
Rural 
Japan 
22.2 
4.3 
n. a. 
n. a. 
n. a. 
Hong Kong 
16.2 
8.7 
0.45 
na. 
n. a. 
Korea 
17.0 
n. a. 
0.36 
16 
11 
Singapore 
15.0 
9.6 
0.42 
na. 
n. a. 
Taiwan 
20.0 
8.0 
n. a. 
n. a. 
n. a. 
Indonesia 
21.2 
4.7 
0.31 
39 
44 
Malaysia 
13.9 
11.1 
0.48 
27 
38 
Philippines 
15.2 
8.7 
0.45 
58 
64 
Thailand 
15.0 
n. a. 
0.47 
30 
34 
China 
n. a. 
na. 
n. a. 
n. a. 
10 
Burma 
n. a. 
na. 
n. a. 
40 
40 
Source- UNDP (1991) 
136 
5.2.1: Identifying the poor: The official definition 
Estimates of poverty in Singapore are primarily defined in absolute terms and based 
on a poverty line set by the Governmene. The official absolute poverty line is 
established from the minimum household expenditure (MHE)4 Which is calculated by 
the Department of Statistics. Households who earn below the MHE, which in 1990 
was set at S$510.65 per month for a 4-person household living in a I-room flat, are 
considered to be 'destitute'. This term describes families "who because of physical 
and /or socio-psychological dysfunctions, face hardship in meeting the minimum 
household requirements for daily living" and is used by the CDF in their study to 
describe the state of poverty (Committee on Destitute Families, 1989: 4). Based on this 
definition the report estimated that around 1,300 families 5, or 0.3 per cent of the total 
population, were destitute in 1988, a drop from 12 per cent in 1978 (Tay, 1991: xix). 
The Committee on Destitute Families Report (1989: 5), also identified a second group 
of disadvantaged families which they described as 'low income families vulnerable to 
destitution'. These were seen to comprise some 22,000 families, which was 3.5 per 
cent of the population or I in 30 families (Government of Singapore, 1991: 117; Tay, 
1991: xix). 
These figures, however, were revised in 1990 by the Population Planning Unit of the 
Ministry of Health6 which estimated that a much higher figure of 38,000 families, or 6 
per cent of the total population, lived on household incomes below the MHE level 
(Thung, 1991: 3). Based on an average household size of 4.1 persons, an estimated 
155,800 individuals were considered to be suffering from inadequate income (Goh, 
1991: 62). This figure has been considered by most to be far more realistic and been 
3 For a history of how these poverty lines have been developed over time, see Lim et al. (1988) 
4 This is based on the consumption patterns of households for basic items as determined from the 
household expenditure survey and conducted at 5 year intervals (Department of Statistics, 1995; Goh, 
1991: 75). 
5 The term 'family' is used where 'household' would more commonly be used . This is to reflects 
current government rhetoric and terminology. Families in government publications and propoganda 
may be nuclear or extended but are almost exclusively based on the contract of marriage. 
" It is not clear why these figures were recalculated although there appeared widespread dissatisfaction 
from social services and social workers with the Department of Statistics figure (Yap, 199 1). 
137 
adopted by Government departments and the National Council of Social Services 
(NCS S) in place of the earlier estimate (see Yap, 199 1). 
Although providing an official yardstick from which it is possible to identify a group 
in poverty, this is still a confused picture which has resulted in a number of estimated 
figures as well as the existence of the usual caveats associated with the use of poverty 
lines. For example, commentators have highlighted the arbitrary nature of this 
measurement and argued that such indicators tell us very little about poverty and 
noted the inability of poverty lines to account for social or cultural needs or to 
recognise that people frequently live much more complex lives in several interlinking 
worlds (Bryant, 1992; Holman, 1978; Streeton, 1995; Wratten, 1995)7 . There is also 
the problem that establishing a line which demarcates between two groups conceals 
the range of experiences and the multitude of different sub-groups, some moving 
between groups and fazzing the boundaries. 
In the case of Singapore, Blake (1991: 88) writes that such complexities make it very 
difficult to locate precisely a cut-off point of poverty. By creating and using a poverty 
line, two things happen. First, the government makes a series of assumptions about 
poverty and the poor, but also the non-poor; and second, the disadvantaged are treated 
as a clearly identifiable group existing below a specific cut-off mark. 
The assumption of a 'normal' family profile is now evident in most areas of 
Singapore's policy-making from house-buying and education to national identity and 
family values. Blake (1991) identifies three particular assumptions upon which the 
'normal' family in Singapore and, therefore policies, are based. These are: 
regular employment 
a certain level of literacy 
a 'complete family' in which the division of labour between the male head of 
household and his wife is complementary 
As a result, both the poor and the non-poor are identified by a series of categories 
which places them above or below the poverty line. A profile of the 'normal' family is 
See Chapter 2 for a fuller discussion. 
138 
given in Table 4.3 along with the groups which the CDF identified as being destitute 
and in poverty. The members of the 'normal' family were seen to be part of a family 
unit which may be nuclear or extended but based on the union of marriage, consisting 
of two parents and children with elderly relatives living with them or close-by. It is 
presurn ed that members are healthy, literate, skilled, upwardly-mobile with aspirations 
for home-ownership and affluence and a main income-earner in secure employment 
which pays Compulsory Provident Fund (CPF)8 contributions. 9 Meanwhile, evidence 
from the CDF report (1989) indicated that families living in poverty shared similar 
characteristics and fall into one of the categories in Table 5.3. These were households 
with low incomes, usually single parents, the elderly or where the main incQme-earner 
could not work. Blake (1991: 8 8) argues that these poor or 'underprivileged' do not fit 
the 'norm' which then results in a 'lack-of-fit' between low-income households and 
the assumptions of employment, literacy and intra-household equality and, therefore, 
poverty. 
The tendency to treat the poor and non-poor as clearly identifiable groups fails to 
capture the more complex and fuzzy nature of poverty and to recognise the greater 
number in Singapore who struggle to keep pace with economic growth and rising 
costs yet who live above the poverty cut-off line (Davidson and Drakakis-Smith, 
1997; Pugh, 1989). Although in recognition of this the Deputy Prime Minister has 
talked of an 'underclass' in reference to this group of people slightly above the MHE 
which he estimated to be 10-15 percent of the population (Straits Times, 6 February 
1990). Similarly, Tan (1991) draws attention to what he identified as an unrecognised 
disadvantaged group which he estimated at closer to 20 per cent of the population. 
These are the households who earn too much to qualify for government subsidies, yet 
too little to effectively compete for housing, healthcare, cars and other limited 
resources. This concept of vulnerability is important and serves to capture more 
complex and dynamic aspects as people move in and out of poverty as well as 
consider more subjectively what it means to be poor (Glewwe and Hall, 1995; Lipton 
and Maxwell, 1992: 10) There has increasingly been a call to study and pay more 
a This is the scheme to which employees and employers contribute to build savings for retirement and 
house-purchasing. 
9 Such a description does in fact represent the majority of the population and non-poor households in 
Singapore. 
139 
attention to these vulnerable, marginal and at risk families (who may or may not be 
poor), as well as the poor, in Singapore due to the lack of knowledge about their 
situations (Cheung, 1991). Attempts to do this have primarily come from within the 
voluntary welfare sector. 
Table 5.3: Official proirde of 'normal' families and categories of 'disadvantaged' families 
'Normal' Families 
Disadvantaged Families 
" 
Two-generation nuclear family (with older 
0 
Income below the subsistence level 
generation living near-by who are in close 
0 
Head of household has dependent children 
contact) 
and no means of support 
" 
Physically and mentally fit 
0 
Single parents with dependent children 
" 
Upwardly mobile 
(especially when the parent is a mother) 
" 
Husband as main wage-earner in regular 
0 
Principal wage-earner is deceased or 
employment and with substantial CPF savings 
suffering from chronic disease, physical, 
and a bank account 
mental or intellectual disability and faces 
" 
Wife employed outside the home but 
hardship 
considered secondary wage earner and 
0 
Elderly individuals or couples living on their 
assumed to be available for the care of 
own or with no means of support 
children and other dependants; e. g. elderly, 
0 
Adult and especially principal wage-earner 
disabled, frail 
imprisoned or with drug or alcohol problem 
" 
Own their HDB flat 
" 
At least one member is literate 
" 
Substantial CPF savings 
Sources: Blake (1991), Committee on Destitute Families (1989), Government of Singapore, (1991). 
5.2.2: Voluntary welfare organisations 
Voluntary Welfare Organisations (VWO) provide the vast majority of services 
available to the poor in Singapore, and as a result are the bodies which have the 
greatest amount of information and connection with the poor and disadvantaged' 0. 
Their goal, Yap (1991: viii) writes, "is to improve the quality of life of the 
disadvantaged and to enable them to participate in mainstream society and share in the 
nation's progress". Such a position in the provision of welfare means that VWOs play 
an important role in defining and identifying the poor. In 1992,187 VWOs were 
affiliated to the National Council of Social Services (NCSS), the umbrella 
10 Despite this, it is estimated that VWOs serve only around 20 per cent of the community's needs, 
(pers. comm. Thung Syn Neo, January 1995). 
140 
organisation for the voluntary welfare sector, 75 of which provided direct services and 
the remainder supporting welfare objectives through fund-raising activities, 
professional contributions or ad-hoc welfare-orientated projects (Thung, 1991: 2). The 
NCSS is considered a non-governmental organisation but works closely with the 
goverm nent and Ministry of Community Development (MCD) to legitimate the state's 
discourse on poverty (Heng, C. 1994). Ilese organisations are partially supported by 
the Community Chest" which is the fund-raising division of the NCSS12. Apart from 
the Committee on Destitute Families study in 1989 there have been few other studies 
on poverty in Singapore outside of this sector 13 making it a crucial source of 
information and understanding. 
Definitions and understandings of disadvantaged families have, in general, been 
expanded in this sector to encompass, not only the financially, but also the socially 
and emotionally disadvantaged and, therefore, accommodate non-economistic 
indicators (Kaw, 1991). This has led to three features; a) the inclusion of households 
on incomes more than the MHE, b) attempts to identify different types of poor 
families, and c) the inclusion of other, non-economistic, indicators. 
For most organisations the priority criterion, and therefore main tools of identification, 
are still based on the income of a household. However, the cut-off point is generally 
much higher than that established by the MHE and attempts are made to differentiate 
between different groups in poverty. The bipolar categorisation of mainstream and 
disadvantaged families created by a poverty line approach has been considered too 
broad and therefore unhelpful in terms of understanding the needs of these families. 
For example, Cheung (1991: 82) writes that "the 38,000 households [below the MHE] 
are based on broad, macro data. We need to differentiate this group into specific types 
of disadvantaged families and work out different approaches to each type". Further, he 
argues, families below the poverty line or the majority above are not alike as families 
become poor for different reasons and each sub-group which emerges will give rise to 
11 The Community Chest was set up by the government in 1984 in order to raise fimds for affiliated 
charity organisations and allocate funds to these charities (ibid. ). 
12 For examples of VWOs see Table 7.2 in Chapter 7. 
13 A main exception to this is Salaff s (1988) field study, however it was based on research conducted in 
the early 1980s. 
141 
different understandings, responses and strategies. As a result, definitions used by 
many VWOs to identify low-income households and determine service provision have 
often been more detailed in order to distinguish between different types of low-income 
families. For example, in comparison to the MHE figure, one VW014 defined the low- 
income as follows: 
where household income per person was not more than S$300 per month, or 
where high risk groups with household income per person was not more than 
S$400 per month. 
The low-income were then also divided into three further categories (see Table 5.4) 
and instructions given to consider income criteria in conjunction with other socio- 
economic indicators. Finally, priority was to be given to families living in rental flats 
or, if flats had been purchased, they should not be bigger than three-rooms. 
As a result of this extension in the criteria used to identify the poor, a more detailed 
picture of who the poor are and their characteristics can begin to be built. Findings 
from voluntary welfare organisations do concur with those of the CDF but they 
especially identify the following groups as their main clients 15 , a) multi-problem 
families, b) single parents, c) the elderly, and d) Malays. 
Table 5.4: Types of poor by income per month 
Extreme Poor 
Poor 
Average Poor 
S$ 125 and below per person 
S$126- S$300 per person 
S$3 01- S$400 per person 
These definitions begin to take into account that poverty in Singapore is more 
complex and multi-dimensional than a single poverty line would suggest. Besides 
having inadequate incomes, disadvantaged individuals and families have been 
14 The VWO who provided this information requested that they remained anonymous with regards to 
this information. Information on VWO criteria for services was very difficult to obtain and generally 
considered confidential to the organisation. 
15 It should be noted that not all VWO clients are poor as services, especially childcare, are offered to 
the whole community. This trend is increasing as the government promotes the use of VWOs for 
everyone in an attempt to remove the stigma of them as a resource for the poor (Government press 
release, 13 September 1999). 
142 
identified and characterised by a wide range of factors and usually encounter, not the 
singular problem of low income, but face chronic multiple problems, such as, poor 
health, school drop-outs, marital problems, debt and drug or alcohol abuse (pers. 
comm. Gerrard Ee, February 1996). Meanwhile Goh (1991) writes that even amongst 
those families in receipt of a welfare subsidy, many are still unable to meet the basic 
needs for food and shelter. By drawing on official information and the experiences of 
VWOs and social workers it is possible to begin to build a more holistic and hopefully 
realistic profile of the poor and disadvantaged in Singapore. 
Vqluntary welfare organisations then are obviously an important source for 
information on the poor, however, Heng, C. (1994: 6), argues that social services in 
Singapore are still "agencies of social control" and must be viewed in reference to 
their location within a network of government bodies. Such a web of organisations, he 
contends, serve as a mode of control over poverty and legitimates the state's discourse 
on poverty. The role of the government and the voluntary sector is extremely 
important since they have the power to name and make visible the 'poor'. He 
continues (1994: 7) that "The Community Chest supports crucial social services which 
has enabled the Prime Minister, Goh Chok Tong to say that the 'Government looks 
after the poor' whilst allocating insufficient ftinds for the pooeq. 16 
5.2.3: Alternative definitions 
A number of other definitions and income cut-off points have also emerged from other 
sources such as academic studies and newspaper reports. The majority of these do not 
use the MHE poverty line, prefening to adopt their own higher cut-off level. For 
example, Teo and Ooi (1996) and Brown (1994) define low-income households as 
those earning below $S1500 Whilst numerous newspaper reports use either this or 
S$1000 per month as a marker. As a result, Teo and Ooi (1996) identify 30 per cent of 
the population earning below S$1500 per month whilst the Straits Times (2 April 
1995) estimates that 82,986 households earned below S$1000 per month. These 
figures are obviously substantially higher than those offered by official organisations 
and highlights the need to investigate those who are above the MHE. 
16 This will be retumed to later. 
143 
Two final sources which can be used to define the poor are the general community in 
Singapore and the poor themselves; however, these have been little used in studies of 
poverty in Singapore. In a nation which has built itself on the culture of meritocracy 
and social mobility, there has resulted an atmosphere where the individual is seen to 
be to blame for failure or lack of success. As a result, Goh (1991: 67) writes that there 
is still very little understanding or knowledge amongst 'normal' or 'mainstream' 
families of the poor, some choosing to believe that they are 'lazy' or 'inferior'. Heng, 
C. (1994: 34) writes that respondents in his study perceived that the poor 'indulged 
themselves', "join gangs' and 'get pregnant'. However, none of these activities are 
obviously exclusive or unique to poor or disadvantaged households but offer an 
interesting insight into the framing of these as social problems. 
Finally, there have been very few studies in Singapore which have asked sections of 
the population, including the poor, to define themselves (for exceptions, see Quah et 
aL, 1991; Heng, 1994; Salaff, 1988). However, in the majority of these investigations, 
my own included, the respondents studied have been identified through a welfare 
agency or social services as poor. They have, therefore, already been labelled, either 
by themselves or by a social worker. Despite this, a great deal of understanding about 
the experiences of the poor and the relationships they have with different agencies and 
the state can still be gained. In Heng's, C. (1994: 26-32) study, the majority discussed 
their poverty in far different terms from those of the state or VWOs. They still pointed 
to a lack of money as the most important condition which shaped and determined their 
lives but also talked of poverty in terms of social and physical isolation, social 
immobility, despair and tong kor (painful bitter) 17 . These interpretations and 
definitions gain the least validity in poverty research yet offer unique understandings 
and perceptions of the experiences of poverty. 
5.2.4: Inequality 
Discussions of poverty cannot ignore questions of inequalities and what gaps exist 
between different groups in society. Some commentators argue that what matters, 
17 This is a Hokkien term which is used to convey hardship. 
144 
especially in Singapore, is inequality and distribution and not income (Lim et aL, 
1988; Rodan, 1996; Teo and Ooi, 1996). To gauge the success of development 
policies and meritocratic, market-orientated approaches, it is seen as important to 
review the filter processes of distribution (Quah et aL, 1987). Pang (1975) argues that 
this is because visible differences in consumption patterns and lifestyles have deeper 
implications for social conflict and generate greater resentment among the 
disadvantaged as they watch the fruits of growth accrue to the more highly skilled 
whilst the low-income bear the costs of policy changes. Lim et al. (1988) argue 
therefore that inequality is placed high on the political agenda here since it represents 
fertile ground for social and political instability. Consequently, questions have been 
asked about what has been happening to inequality and whether or not Singapore's 
advanced economic development is associated with an acceleration in inequities 
between income and wealth (Rodan, 1996). 
The most common summary index of inequality and indicator of distribution is the 
Gini coefficient's which experienced an early decline in Singapore's economic 
development due to the massive increase in low skill jobs in the labour-intensive 
industries attracted by EOI policies (Findlay et al., 1990) and investment in state 
housing and the education programme (Pang, 1975; Tyabji, 1987). In the 1980s 
however inequality was seen to worsen when restructuring towards high paid, high 
skilled and professional jobs was encouraged with capitaI-intensive industries. This 
was set against the large construction sector which was absorbing low paid and poorly 
educated workers. Today, however, the Gini coefficient remains low at 0.432 with 
slight fluctuations (Department of Statistics, 1993c). 
Despite this, and the World Bank (1993a) announcing that Singapore, along with the 
other HPAEs, had successfully married growth with equity, these issues have received 
increased attention and public focus, most notably with the publication of the 
Committee on Destitute Families Report (1989). There are disputed reports regarding 
the gaps between the various income groups in Singaporean society. Official 
government data indicate that there has been no decrease in equality because of 
18 This is an index of income inequality and takes a high value of one (only one household receiving 
practically all the income) and a low value of zero (all households getting equal income). 
145 
increased social mobility (Cheung, 1991; Lim et al. 1988), but other studies believe 
the increase in wealth and affluence has led to a widening of income gaps and to the 
creation of new class inequalities because the issue of distribution has not been 
addressed (Financial Times, 1995; Pang, 1975; Quah et al., 1987; Teo and Ooi, 
1996)19. Of particular significance though is that the Gini index is a very general 
statistic which facilitates no discussion of other forms of inequities so hiding many 
other differences, for example, by ethnicity, race, gender, household size or age 
(Brown, 1994; Findlay et al., 1990; Teo and Ooi, 1996). Although socio-economic 
conditions have improved for the majority of the population and meritocracy and 
natural state are a policy priority, certain patterns of inequalities still exist, the most 
reported of which is between different ethnic groups (Teo and Ooi, 1996). 
Closely linked to this is the cost of living which has been increasing at a steady rate 
for almost all sectors (Woon, 1994), especially housing and transport. For example, in 
1992 an average four room HDB flat cost S$103,387 and a basic Toyota Corolla 1.3 
car cost S$80,680 (Straits Times, 30 September 1993). Relative to the rest of the 
region, Singapore has a very high average income2o, however, not all groups are 
necessarily increasing their incomes at the same rate. Rigg (1997) argues that it is 
crucial to look at who is benefiting most because if it is the wealthy then inequality 
will only increase. Between 1972 and 1988 in Singapore, whereas the bottom 20 per 
cent of the workforce improved incomes by 3.7 per cent, this contrasted with 4.1 per 
cent for the middle 60 per cent and 4.2 per cent for the top 20 per cent of the 
population (Ibrahim, 1991). Further, Brown (1994) reported that 55 per cent of the 
population still fell into the two lowest income groups and according to a Financial 
Times (1995) investigation, over half of those surveyed reported no improvement in 
their living standards over the last five years. The move towards capital-intensive 
industries has been seen to hinder distribution because only a few can satisfy the new 
demand for skills and keep up with the newly emerging lifestyles and standards of 
living (Lim et al., 1988). As the well-off become richer in Singapore, unevenness and 
inequality is predicted to increase with a wealthy elite living alongside a lower class 
" income inequality is allegedly reported to be on the increase, the bottom 20 per cent commanding 5 
per cent of the nation's income) although official documents have not been released (pers. comm. 
Peggy Teo, National University of Singapore, March 1996). 
20 In 1993 the average monthly income was calculated as SS4,300 (Department of Statistics, 1995). 
146 
which finds the cost of everyday living even harder and who find it impossible to 
share in the benefits of growth, such as cars and houses, which are out of reach 
(Financial Times, 1995) 
5.3: Defining poverty in this study 
The concept and understanding of poverty in this thesis has been informed by the 
broadening of debates in recent literature which has convincingly argued for a move 
away from the simplification of economistic definitions towards more diffuse 
discussions of deprivation and well-being of which income poverty is only one aspect 
(See Environment and Urbanization, Vol. 7, Nos. 1 and 2,1995). Statistical bases 
constructed around household income figures have been criticised for their restrictive 
nature and perceptions of people experiencing poverty as passive, therefore, failing to 
capture the fluidity and complexity of poverty and real lives (Amis, 1995; Rakodi, 
1995). This has led to more pluralistic approaches which can highlight more 
successfully social divisions such as gender, age and race, whilst simultaneously 
addressing issues of vulnerability, deprivation and powerlessness 21 . These concepts of 
poverty allow for more flexibility, attempting to capture the dynamism and 
complexity of poverty as well as the multiplicity of real lives. 
Poverty in this thesis adopts definitions which focus on both conventional low-income 
criteria (a household poverty line of $1000 per month was used as a guide but not 
considered an exclusive requirement) which cannot be ignored in a fully urbanised, 
cash economy as well as these broader understandings to include aspects of 
deprivation and vulnerability and the importance of assets and entitlements. These are 
more dynamic and multi-dimensional understandings which embrace notions of 
security, well-being and self-respect (Chambers, 1989) and which emphasise the 
importance of coping strategies. In turn, it is hoped this will allow the investigation to 
go beyond resource allocation to include notions of social identity, power relations 
and agency and the mechanisms of exclusion (Bhalla and Lapeyre, 1997). 
21 See Chapter 2. 
147 
This study, therefore, was not designed nor intended to be statistically representative 
of the urban poor at the national level in Singapore and was undertaken to investigate 
specific sub-groups and individuals who could be identified from previous research 
and earlier fieldwork to be important. A first step therefore, was simply to identify 
different groups and households who were poor and disadvantaged and begin to 
highlight some of the diversities and multi-dimensionality of poverty. From the 
evidence above, social divisions emerged along four particular lines; class, age, 
ethnicity and gender. In order to capture some of these divisions, therefore, the 
research process focused on the following four groups; disadvantaged families, the 
elderly, single parents and unskilled foreign workers. 22 
5.3.1: Disadvantaged groups in Singapore 
53.1.1: Disadvantaged intact families 
The first group, multi-problem, intact and disadvantaged families, 23 were seen to 
represent 'traditional' low-income households and be particularly affected by the 
newly-emerging class divisions. The previous section has highlighted the fact that 
there exist disputed reports regarding the emergence of increasing gaps between 
different income groups in Singapore. However, commentators are increasingly 
reporting on the widening gaps between wealth and poverty and the creation of new 
class inequalities in Singapore (Financial Times, 1995; Heng, R, 1994; Liew, 1994; 
Quah et al., 1987 and Teo and Ooi, 1996). These have particularly concerned the 
government due to increasing trends in juvenile delinquency, dysfunctional families 
and drug abuse (IMC on Dysfunctional Families, Juvenile Delinquency and Drug 
Abuse, 1995). 
22 Although there are a variety of other groups which could also have been studied given the time and 
resources, for example, the disabled, mentally ill, destitute and children in poor families. 
23 Although the term 'disadvantaged family' could apply to any of the groups it is meant here to 
represent low-income 'intact' families usually consisting of a married couple, children and sometimes 
grandparents. This is how this group were referred to by organisations who worked with them. 
Although the respondents tended to refer to themselves as 'poor', 'low-income' or 'working class', it 
was decided that these terms were too broad to adopt since they overlapped with some of the 
perceptions of the other groups. They were referred to as 'intact' to distinguish them from single-parent 
households. 
148 
The official view in Singapore is that it is a meritocratic state and therefore does not 
lend itself to failure or helplessness. In a meritocracy, it is the failings of an individual 
which are to blame and their inability to make the most of opportunities, usually 
through education and training. This is considered the situation in Singapore where 
the recent upgrading policies have created an increasingly upmarket, capital intensive, 
technology orientated labour market which is out of reach for many, a process which 
has been accentuated by the export of many labour intensive industries, especially to 
the Growth Triangle 24 . Disadvantaged families therefore are seen to struggle to keep 
pace with the rising costs (Woon, 1994) and competitiveness in Singapore and are 
vulnerable to a multiplicity of risks and shocks. 
In particular, pressures are considered to stem from the government home ownership 
campaign which Pugh (1989) argues has created for some families a condition of 
housing poverty where people struggle to meet mortgage, rent and utility costs. 
However, this is also a situation which is conveniently hidden behind the doors of 
HDB estate (ibid.; Blake, 1991). As a result, this covers a much larger vulnerable 
group than the 6 per cent identified by the MHE poverty line. Furthermore, the 
education system in Singapore is causing increased concern, especially amongst the 
Malay community, over the numbers of school-children who drop out under the 
pressure of high costs for books and tuition and of the examination orientated, elitist 
education system which recognises only the most able (Kuo, 1988). This has been 
identified as a key factor for poor families and their children, where a lack of 
emotional, parental but especially financial support can inhibit performance and 
success. For those who do stay on at school the pressure is immense from a very 
young age when they are streamed and tested so often lose out on opportunities before 
they even reach high school (da Cunha, 1994; Gopinathan, 1987). 
This group have recently received attention from the government due to the perceived 
increase in 'dysfunctional' families and their relationship with the increase in 
behavioural problems amongst young people (Straits Times, 9 January 1989; IMC on 
Dysfunctional Families, Juvenile Delinquency and Drug Abuse, 1995) especially in 
24 For example, two large companies have recently retrenched over 3000 workers in order to move to 
Malaysia in order to cut costs (Straits Times, 14 August 1999). 
149 
serious crime, drug abuse and delinquency: in 1990 1,520 young people (aged 10-24) 
were charged with crimes, 1,783 admitted to drug rehabilitation centres and 1,800 had 
teenage abortions (Tan, 1991: 117). These problems have been attributed to the break 
down in the family as parents spend less time with their children and phenomenon 
such as 'latch-key kids' increase (Tan, 199 1; Yong, 199 1). 
5.3.1.2: The elderly 
One of the most pressing concerns expressed by the government recently, however, 
relates to the elderly and in particular their growing numbers. The proportion of 
elderly people, in the population is projected to rise from 7.2 per cent in 1988. to 26.0 
per cent by 2030 (Ministry of Social Affairs, 1983). Such an age profile, with its 
diminished active workforce and tax resource base, has narrowed the dependency ratio 
from 1: 8.2 in 1988 to an expected 1: 2.2 by 2030, and is causing major concerns for 
future care and support. At present the largest number of those who are poor are the 
Chinese single immigrants who arrived in the 1950s and 1960s with no family and 
have remained that way, notably Sam Sui women (female labourers from the Sam Sui 
region of China), coolies (male labourers) and amahs (domestic servants) (Teo, 1994). 
The problems here has been the lack of a care or support network as they have no 
fan-dly in a society which relies heavily on family obligation as a source of welfare 
(Lim et al., 1988; Salaff, 1988). At present, 98 per cent of the elderly live with 
relatives and by the year 2030, due to increasing numbers and therefore dependency 
ratios, every household is expected to have at least one elderly resident (National 
Advisory Council for the Elderly, 199 1). 
In Singapore, the Central Provident Fund (CPF), a compulsory savings scheme, exists 
to ensure an income for those of pensionable age (over 60 years). However, there is a 
growing number of pensioners without adequate provision for the CPF, or none at all, 
whilst it is also becoming clear that the CPF fund alone may not be enough to provide 
an adequate income as prices continue to increase (Ramesh, 1992). Again, a further 
problem is associated with the government's drive for home ownership and use of 
CPF funds to allow this. Consequently households use their CPF funds to pay for their 
mortgages resulting in a growing number of elderly couples who have insufficient 
funds remaining in their accounts. 
150 
53.1.3: Ethnic minorities 
Another disparity which has received increasing attention in Singapore has been the 
differences between ethnic groups and especially between the Malays and the rest of 
society (see Chapter 3). For example, Malays earn only 70 per cent of the average 
Chinese income and have proved slow to improve their economic condition and 
respond to Singapore's success (Teo and Ooi, 1996) and recent concern has 
particularly highlighted that children in Muslim schools do less well than those in 
other schools (Straits Times, 3 August 1999). 
However, in addition to the Malays is a little considered group which has few rights 
and influence in Singapore. Constituting the most visible group, these are the foreign 
workers. 25 Reliable time series statistics concerning the scale of labour migration to 
Singapore are not available for the 1980s and 1990s (Low, 1994; Pang, 1992) with 
official estimates for 1996 at more than 350,00026 which increased to an estimated 
450,000 in 1999 (Government press release, 3 October 1999). These will be minimum 
estimates since they exclude illegal migrants, and considerable numbers of workers 
from Malaysia who are allowed to cross into Singapore on a daily basis (Hugo, 1996). 
Soon-Beng and Chew (1995) identify five different types of migrant in Singapore, two 
of which are relevant here 27: temporary work permit holders on low incomes and 
illegal migrants. Under current policy work permit holders will be repatriated after 
four years of arrival and this category is overwhelmingly construction workers and 
domestic maids. Despite Singapore's strict immigration policing, clandestine migrants 
make up a significant but unknown proportion of the state's workforce (11,800 
persons responded to the last amnesty on illegal migrants in 1989, Findlay et aL, 
1998: 654). 
The majority of these foreign workers are employed in low skill, dangerous or 
unpleasant jobs, especially in construction, labour intensive manufacturing and 
domestic services. Their nations of origin vary but the government has implemented 
an active policy of employing from nations which are considered ethnically similar, 
23 When discussing foreign workers in this thesis, I refer to low-skilled or unskilled workers. 
26 Personal communication with the Ministry of Labour, March 1997. 
27 The others are professional pass holders, permanent residents and students. 
151 
such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and India (Wilkinson and Legget, 
1985). Some migrant labourers are very obvious in Singapore, living mainly in 
wooden or attap huts or shipping containers on work sites. The HDB has also given 
over 7,500 flats for companies to rent for their workers (Straits Times, 29 January 
1994); these are entire blocks in the most unwanted areas where companies house 5- 
10 men per room. Under the Employment Workers' Act, foreign workers are not 
allowed to earn more than S$1500 per month, but in reality they earn much less, from 
S$150 per month as a care assistant in a nursing home (pers. comm. ). 
Despite the desperate need for labour, the government makes it very difficult for 
unskilled workers because it does not wish to become dependent upon them. This is 
reflected in two main policies used as instruments of control. One is the dependency 
ceiling for companies, whereby they are allowed to employ a designated proportion of 
foreign workers to Singaporean, and the other is the levy system, effectively an 
employment tax, which was recently increased for unskilled workers in an attempt to 
reduce dependency on this source of labour (Table 5.5). 
Table 5.5: Foreign workers' levies and quotas by sector, 1995. 
Sector 
Levy (S$ per month) 
Quota 
Manufacturing 
$330 for first 35% and 
50% of total workforce 
$450 for next 10% 
Service 
$330 
25% of total workforce 
Domestic 
$330 
None 
Construction 
Unskilled 
$440 
20% of workforce, except if HDB where 
increased to 80% per $I million. 
Skilled 
$200 
25% of total workforce. 
Marine 
Unskilled 
$385 
Quota introduced in 1992 and raised in 
1994 
Skilled 
$200 
75% of total workforce 
Source: King (1995); Ministry of Labour (1993); Straits Times (various, 1995). 
152 
There is also concern about cultural and social problems associated with an influx of 
foreign workers28 and social unrest and dissatisfaction with, and amongst, foreign 
workers have been growing. During 1995, for example, within this group the number 
of murders tripled and robberies doubled, leading to a series of police raids on work 
sites (Straits Times, 24 November 1995). A further problem has included increasing 
strains on international relations, notably with the Philippines and Thailand after 
mystery deaths, abuse and complaints about living conditions29. 
By 1991 the government had hoped to completely phase out foreign workers and 
redirect labour intensive industries and jobs to the Growth, Triangle countries of 
Malaysia and Indonesia. However, as the economy continued to expand, the 
dependency on foreign labour has increased due to new construction progranimes, 
especially the upgrading of HDB flats, the continued investment in manufacturing, the 
increase in demand from retailing, hotels, care institutions 30 and domestic help 31 and, 
finally, to the unwillingness of Singaporeans to do these jobs thernselveS32 . The 
number of foreign workers is unlikely to decrease, especially when such a high 
percentage gain entry illegally and easily finding employment through the ever- 
increasing demand for their skills and cheap labour. 
5.3.1.4: Gender and single parents 
A fmal social division is between men and women in Singapore. This, however, is a 
little researched and discussed areas of inequality and disparity. However, several 
commentators have highlighted the strains of market mechanisms and economic and 
social change on women as mothers, wives, daughters and workers. Pressures on 
women in Singapore have emerged particularly through economic policies which 
encourage women to enter and remain in the workforce and population programmes 
2 
3 Although Findlay et al. (1998) have noted that Chinese migrants are given preference, for example, 
after the hand-over of Hong Kong to China. 
29 The most publicised case was between Singapore and the Philippines over the hanging of a domestic 
worker, Flor Contemplacion, whereby the Philippine government froze diplomatic relations and 
prevented workers going to Singapore. 
30 This is an area which is likely to grow over the coming years as the greying of the population 
intensifies and people continue to live longer. 
31 Huang and Yeoh (1996b) write that this demand is due to the movement of women into the labour 
force. 
32 Although Singaporeans could not compete with the wages paid to foreign workers. 
153 
which at the same time promote the reproductive role of women as mothcrS33 . Female 
labour force participation rates have increased dramatically since the 1960s due to the 
interacting processes of industrialisation, urbanisation, changing social attitudes and 
government incentives. The sexual division of labour, however, is still little altered as 
women are still occupationally and sectorally restricted and tend to occupy low-skilled 
categories (Wong and Leong, 1993). Furthermore, men still earn more than women 
for similar work since women's wages are still considered supplementary in this 
patriarchal society (Soin, 1996). 
In addition, there are now additional pressures to care for elderly parents and other 
dependants, to keep the family together and to contribute to the community and labour 
market needS34. When the family is the main provider of care, as is the case in 
Singapore, it is women who experience most of the burden (Teo, 1994). Pressures are 
immense and so it is no surprise that the incidence of divorce, the number of single 
parents and age at marriage are all on the increase. All of these will have influential 
impacts on women, especially those in low-income households. 
It is this group of single parents which are of most interest here. Drawing on the 
experiences and perceived 'social ills' of the West, and in particular the USA and 
Britain, Prime Minister Goh made it clear that he will not accept the proliferation of 
single parents, criticising the "misguided government compassion towards single parents 
[which] had led to disastrous welfare policies in the US" (Straits Times, 3 September 
1994). Numbers of single parents in Singapore, however, remain small. There are an 
estimated 18,000 one-parent households in total and in comparison to the US, only one 
out of a hundred babies are born illegitimate in Singapore as compared to one in three in 
the US (Straits Times, 29 August 1994). It is now well recorded that the vast majority of 
the heads of single-parent households are women and that their numbers are increasing 
(UNDP, 1995). Furthermore, evidence world-wide reveals that most experience 
economic hardship, contributing to the advancement of the ferninisation of poverty in 
gender planning as characterised by low income and wages, poor access to the labour 
33 These are discussed in more detail in Chapter S. 
34 Like Chant's (1996a) analysis this indicates that Moser's (1993) notion of the triple burden 
(domestic, productive and community roles) was an underestimate. 
154 
market and insecurity and vulnerability (Chant, 1997a; Kodras & Jones 1991; UNDP 
1995; Varley 1996). In 1989, the Advisory Council on Family and Community Life in 
Singapore identified female-headed households as one of the main groups risking 
destitution. One report estimated that nearly half of single mothers have incomes below 
S$1000 per month (Straits Times, 29 August 1994) whilst over 30 percent are 
experiencing problems with rent arrears (Quek, 1992). Success at improving conditions, 
however, are limited due to the emergence and installation of barriers preventing the full 
and equal participation of single mothers in the workplace and marginalising them in 
planning and society. 
In turn-this focus excludes and exempts'single parents from several schemes since they 
are perceived to represent the deterioration of the family and therefore undermine 
national values and morals. Jackie Choo of the Policy Unit, MCD (pers. comm. 
February, 1996) explained; "There is a lack of policy on single parents because they go 
against the grain of healthy family creation. Singapore is very frightened when it sees 
what has happened in the USA so implement hindrance rather than aid-type policiee' 
whilst, Esther Goh (HELP FSQ explained that "Schemes like the SFIS [small families 
improvement scheme] are very policy driven with the removal of personal freedoms, 
especially for single parents". 
Obstacles and barriers for single parents, however, are often not explicit but subtle and 
implicitly exclusionary. For example, in relation to workforce entry, single parents face 
obstacles such as the lack of provision of affordable childcare places, a necessity if the 
mother is to gain access to the workplace; only 200 low cost childcare places are 
available for an estimated 5850 children (not including the children of intact 
disadvantaged families who compete for the same places) (Quek, 1992). Furthermore, as 
in the population policies, eligibility for childcare subsidies insists that the mother must 
be working, discriminating against poorer households. Such restrictions on access and 
participation in the labour market can in turn lead to longer term problems because non- 
workers and low-eamers are unable to contribute to the compulsory savings scheme, the 
Central Provident Fund (CPF) which is the only form of security for old age or source of 
payment to purchase a house in Singapore. 
155 
This exclusion of single parents from mainstream planning and policy-making has been 
justified by Prime Minister Goh on the grounds that "we must have t1iis condition to 
prevent the proliferation of single mother families" (Straits Times, 19 March 1993). 
Granting access to single parents would represent a display of acceptance and therefore 
condone the breakdown of Asian values and morals. What this exemplifies is Brown's 
(1994) 'garrison mentality' inculcated through the fear of economic failure and the 
desire to succeed. By implementing stringent criteria for eligibility to the benefits of 
economic growth, the government has successfully implemented preventative action and 
kept the numbers of single parents low. 
Highlighting these different groups is a first step in beginning to illustrate the variety 
of experiences and the need to make an analysis of poverty and disadvantage sensitive 
to diversity and difference. In the chapters which follow, I attempt to capture some of 
the different characteristics, experiences and responses to poverty of these groups, 
their households and individuals. 
156 
CHAPTER 6 
BUILDING A PROFILE OF POVERTY IN SINGAPORE 
6.1 Introduction 
Poverty in Singapore is certainly not the crushing poverty of some cities, where 
masses of homeless sleep in the streets or beg for food. Poverty here may be 
invisible by the fact that most of us share similar basic resources. Living in the 
same estates, travelling in the same buses, eating at the same hawker centre. 
This will easily mask the differences in resource availability and make poverty 
so conveniently ignorable. 
Clammer(1988: 10) 
Oyen (1996: 4) writes that most poverty research is 'frustrating' and a 'struggle'. In 
Chapter 51 wrote that investigating poverty in Singapore had been a more complex 
and difficult task than I had first perceived or expected, central to which was the 
failure of an increasingly affluent society to acknowledge or recognise the variety of 
disadvantaged, vulnerable or excluded groups who were generally invisible and 
hidden, and therefore "so conveniently ignorable" (Clammer, 1988: 10). The official 
rhetoric on poverty in Singapore is that it has been eradicated except for a marginal 
group who cannot adequately participate in the growing economy, usually through no 
fault of their own, for example the disabled or elderly with no family. McCormick and 
Philo (1995), however, argue that as long as claims and arguments about the poor are 
locked in privileged spaces of government and the state then the truth about poverty 
will remain fundamentally flawed. As a consequence there is a lack of information 
and knowledge in Singapore which impacts on the ability to monitor poverty and 
vulnerability over time. To this end, it was a very basic aim of this thesis to give 
heightened attention to real people and places and tease out something of this poverty 
by reporting on the range of characteristics, experiences and dimensions and 
highlighting the complexity and multi-dimensionality of poverty. 
157 
The survey work for this study produced a wealth of data and material from which a 
socio-economic profile of the poor and low income in Singapore could be built. In this 
and the following two chapters I will attempt to present and analyse the experiences, 
realities and responses of the poor and how these differ between groups and 
individuals as well as exploring the relationships between the macro, intermediate and 
individual levels. I begin in this chapter by presenting profiles of poverty based 
primarily on the questionnaire survey but supplemented with information from 
interviews with key actors and the sub-sample survey of women in these householdsi. 
I begin at the household level as the unit of analysis since it is an extremely important 
and influential medium through which actions, responses, resources and interactions, 
both externally and internally, are often determined (Chant, 1996b). 2 
6.2: Dimensions of poverty in Singapore 
Despite there being little data or information on poverty, from the documentary 
evidence in Chapter 5, discussions in the field, and a pilot study it was still possible to 
highlight particular groups who are more or less likely to be disadvantaged. From this 
information, it was possible to identify a number of indicators and assets to use in the 
study in order to explore the experiences and characteristics associated with poverty. 
The areas used in this chapter are listed below and were used to guide the analysis 
which follows: 
Income 
Labour and employment 
Expenditure 
Housing and living conditions 
Education 
Health 
Social networks and relationships 
1 The statistics offered here are used for descriptive purposes since the sample was considered to be too 
small and too purposive to sensibly derive statistical arguments. As a result comparisons are made 
where possible and different types of data offered to support arguments and evaluate the extent to which 
findings capture disadvantaged households in Singapore. (For a fuller discussion on these issues see 
Moser et al., 1994). 
7'However, parts of the data presented here relate to individual members within those households. 
158 
6.2.1: Background 
This first section offers some background and introductory information on the 
different types and structures of households in the study. The household is used here 
as one of the main units of analysis because it influences the way poverty is 
understood, experienced and responded to, as well as shaping the lives of individuals 
living within them. Table 6.1 below defines some key terms in relation to the 
household and how it was understood in this study. 
Table: 6.1: Relevant Household Derinitions 
Household: a group of people who normally live and eat in the same dwelling and consider themselves 
a unit in making plans and decisions about daily life. 
Resident 3 Household: a household where the members are Singaporean citizens or permanent 
residents. 
Migrant worker household: a household in the home country to which a migrant worker belongs. 
Institutional household: a group of generally unrelated persons who live together in an institution. In 
this case it refers to persons living in welfare homes in either dormitories or private rooms. 
Head of household: The main breadwinner or key decision-maker in a household, or the person 
defined as such by the household's members. According to the Singapore census of population, this is 
normally the oldest member, the main income earner or the person who manages affairs of the 
household. 
Dependency Ratio: Defmed here as the ratio of the total number of family members to the total 
number of members in paid employment. 
Source: Department of Statistics (1993a); Moser et al., (1994); Moser and McIlwaine (1997a). 
During the data collection stage of the survey, a typology of poor households was used 
to guide the study and facilitate more in-depth understanding of certain disadvantaged 
groups in Singapore. Chapter 5 has already discussed the selection of these groups, 
viz. disadvantaged families, the elderly, single parents and foreign workers. In the 
analysis of these sub-groups, the group of foreign workers did not always sit 
comfortably with the other three groups who were all members of the resident 
population. This is important since many of the areas of concern here are not relevant 
to foreign workers, for example, HDB housing and CPF payments. As a result they are 
3A permanent resident is a non-citizen who has been granted permanent resident in Singapore 
(Department of Statistics, 1993a). 
159 
often not included in the following analysis but are included unless otherwise stated. 
This point also serves to highlight the difficulty in generalising about poor households 
which will be influenced not only by type of household but also by factors such as 
gender, age and ethnicity (Chant, 1996b). 
In the study, the average household size was 4.1 members which mirrors the national 
figure of 4.2 members, however, if we look only at resident households this number 
drops to 3.6 members (see Table 6.2). Although the sample will be influenced by the 
generally small size of elderly households, it is still interesting that the households in 
Singapore do not necessarily. cooorm to the perceived relationship between large 
household size and poverty4. Within households, however, there were fewer 
differences in regards to the mean number of children, elderly5 and economically 
active members. In general, the average number of children was 1.7 and elderly, 0.6. 
Of particular significance, the number of members who earned and contributed an 
income was lower than for the national average (1.4 and 2.0 respectively). This in turn 
produced an average dependency ratio which was higher for poor households and 
implies that in poorer households there tended to be fewer income earners but more 
dependants, a feature which will impact significantly on the use of income and 
resources in a household. 
The majority of households were headed by men although over one-third (36 per cent) 
were headed by women, a figure much higher than the national average of 16 per 
cent6. This is strongly influenced by the group of single parents who were 
overwhelmingly female (Table 6.3). Although it is not clear just from these figures 
whether female-headed households are more likely to be economically poor or a 
feature here as a result of sampling in the survey, evidence from other sources, 
particularly VWOs indicates that they are an over-represented group amongst the 
disadvantaged. 
4 Some government programmes are based on this fact and discourage low-income households from 
having more than two children. For example, see the discussion on the Small Families Improvement 
Scheme (SFIS) in Chapter 7. 
' Children are defined as under 15 years and the elderly as over 60 years old. 
6 However, a problem with the national figure is that it will not capture hidden female heads and the 
stigma attached to female single parents in Singapore may influence accurate reporting of headship 
status. 
160 
Table 6.2: Household Characteristics, Singapore 1995-6 
All Survey 
Households 
Resident 
Households 
(survey) 
Census of 
Population 
(1990) 
Household Size (average) 
4.1 
3.6 
4.2 
No. of workers per household (average) 
1.4 
1.2 
2.0 
No. of children per household (average) 
1.7 
1.6 
n/a 
No. of elderly per household 
0.6 
0.6 
n/a 
(average) 
Dependency Ratio" 
3.0 
3.1 
2.1 
Headship: (%) 
Male-headed 
64 
57 
84 
Female-headed 
36 
43 
16 
No. of generations 
One 
13 
18 
8 
Two 
59 
62 
81 
Three 
28 
19 
11 
Total no. of households 
154 
114 
661,700, 
I The dependency ratio is defined as the ratio of the number of household members to the number of 
working members 
n/a = not available 
The predominant household type also consisted of two generations (59 per cent), most 
notably a couple or single parent living with their children. However, extended 
households with three-generations were important accounting for over one quarter of 
households (28 per cent) as compared to one in ten households at the national level. 
Household size therefore may not have been larger but it was more likely that poorer 
households would be extended. 
Ethnicity is an important and influential factor in Singapore due to the multi-ethnic 
nature of the population, but especially so in this case because research has 
consistently reported that ethnic minorities, and Malays in particular, do not do as well 
as Chinese households. The sample here was skewed because of the deliberate focus 
on foreign workers which increased the percentage found in the 'other' category. 
However, when they were removed it shows, first, that general trends in the study 
161 
reflect those at the national level with a greater percentage of Chinese than Malays 
and Indians,, but second, that the actual proportion of Malays in the study is higher 
(Table 6.4). This is consistent with information from documentary evidence and 
interviews with key informants who also highlighted the over-representation of Malay 
families amongst the poor. Amongst the foreign worker group (Table 6.5), the 
majority were Filipino followed by Sri Lankan, Indian/Bangladeshi and Thai. The 
majority of Filipinos were female whilst Indians and Bangladeshis were male which 
may reflect the concentration of Filipinos in domestic service and Indians in 
labouring. 
Around a half (51 per cent) of all respondents were married, followed by over one- 
third (34 per cent) being divorced or widowed. This is in contrast to 7 per cent at the 
national level and again reflects the purposive sampling of single parents for the study 
and their over-representation amongst low-income households. 
As well as the characteristics of households, internal change and restructuring are 
significant determinants of poverty and vulnerability within a household (Evans, 
1989). Households will change throughout the lifecycle or in response to wider 
external factors, acting to either increase or decrease levels of poverty or vulnerability 
depending on the nature of restructuring. In this survey the majority of households had 
experienced some form of household change five years previously (Table 6.6). The 
most common changes were factors relating to the household core, for example, birth, 
death and marriage which were recorded by almost half of all households (47 per 
cent). Around a fifth of households had become single-headed in the last five years 
whilst 14 per cent had become extended, often caused by the elderly or single parents 
joining an existing household. This and evidence from the sub-sample interviews 
indicated that such changes would particularly impact on women in the household 
who tend to fulfil the role as carer7. Finally, the change to household structure due to 
members working abroad was only recorded by the foreign workers in the survey. 
7 This is the focus of Chapter 8. 
162 
Table 6.3: Type of household by household head 
Type of Household 
Total 
Male-head 
Female-head 
n 
% 
n 
% 
n 
% 
Disadvatitaged Family 
43 
28 
39 
40 
4 
7 
Elderly 
31 
20 
21 
21 
10 
18 
Single Parent 
40 
26 
5 
5 
35 
63 
Foreign Worker 
40 
26 
33 
34 
7 
13 
Total 
154 
100 
98 
100 
56 
100 
Table 6.4: Ethnic composition of survey and Singapore 
Ethnicity 
Survey 
Resident Population Only 
(survey) 
Census of 
Population 
(1990) 
n 
% 
n 
% 
% 
Chinese 
79 
51 
77 
68 
78 
Malay 
25 
16 
25 
22 
14 
Indian 
15 
10 
7 
6 
7 
Other 
35 
35 
5 
4 
1 
Table 6.5: Ethnic composition of foreign workers 
Ethnicity 
Total 
Male 
Female 
n 
% 
n 
% 
n 
% 
Filipino 
12 
30 
1 
6 
11 
50 
Thai 
8 
20 
5 
28 
3 
14 
Indian/Bangladeshi 
8 
20 
8 
44 
- 
- 
SriLankan 
8 
20 
1 
7 
7 
32 
Indonesian 
3 
8 
3 
17 
- 
- 
Chinese 
1 
3 
- 
- 
1 
5 
Total 
40 
100 
is 
I 
100 
I 
22 
I 
100 
II 
163 
Table 6.6: Types of changes to household structure in the last 5 years 
Household Change 
No. of Households 
Percent 
Change in household core 
Birth* 
35 
23 
Death 
27 
18 
Marriage 
10 
6 
Became a single-headed household 
29 
19 
Became an extended household 
22 
14 
Members work abroad 
34 
22 
Note: Households may fall into more than one category 
6.2.2: Income 
Although we know that the disadvantaged and poor are those who manifest a deficit in 
any qualities comprising a 'norm', this is still most commonly determined by the 
availability of income. The ability to meet material necessitiess in particular is directly 
linked to income-generating opportunities and activities in an urban environment 
(ILO, 1989; Pang, 1980). What is important about earnings is that other financial 
problems stem from an inadequate income, creating material and social hardship. In 
reality, living on low earnings translates into wider concerns such as shortages, tight 
budgeting, isolation and the inability to meet needs (Nair, 1990; Oppenheim and 
Harker, 1996). 
In the case of Singapore, previous studies and discussions with social workers and 
welfare volunteers have highlighted the crucial role that income and earnings play in 
this society and confirmed that income was perceived to be the most pressing issue for 
families, even where there were a number of other problems (Nair, 1990; Yap, 1991). 
As Gerard Ee of Bukit Ho Swee FSC explained; "Financial lack is one of the main 
risk factors here. Money is always the first thing and everything else is downplayed 
and only eventually do they [clients] begin to realise their other needs. " At Bukit Ho 
164 
Swee, financial issues were the most frequently presented problem with around three- 
quarters (76 per cent) of all Bukit Ho Swee clients reporting financial difficulties as 
their highest ranking problem. From the sub-sample, it was also clear that income and 
money were central to the lives of the respondents in this study. For example Mrs. 
Chua, a single parent, explained; "If I have no money then I don't eat, my children 
don't go to school, I can't afford their bus or books. You got to have money in 
Singapore. If I had more money I could buy nice clothes and eat nice food you knoV'. 
Meanwhile, in terms of social class, Quah et al. 's (199 1) research also highlighted the 
importance of income to Singaporeans. When asked what factors they would use to 
assign a class identity, all respondents in the study chose money, wealth and income 
ahead of all other factors and the most important indicator. Interestingly, the group as 
a whole ranked vales and beliefs as the second most important factor and occupation. 
Third, however, when broken down by income, those in low-income households 
choose occupation and then education as the second and third most important factors 
in determining class. This is consistent with findings in this study. 
In the survey, respondents were asked about their own perceptions of poverty and to 
think about, first, what they considered to be a low monthly household income and 
second, the social class of their own household. Over half of respondents (58 per cent) 
thought a low income would be under $ 1000 per month whilst 29 per cent perceived a 
low income to be less than $500 per month and 12 per cent to be less than the higher 
band of $1500 (Table 6-7). The majority of households, therefore, perceived a poverty 
cut-off point to be much higher than the national MHE figure. In terms of social class, 
approximately three-quarters indicated that their household would be considered as 
lower class and a fifth as lower middle. Single parents and foreign workers were 
slightly more likely to think of their households as lower class than the elderly or 
disadvantaged families, as were Malay households. 
The importance the role of income plays and the monetised nature of the economy in 
Singapore was reflected in the selection criteria for this study. The focus here was to 
3 As opposed to non-material necessities such as inclusion, participation and rights. These will be 
discussed in Chapters 7 and S. 
165 
be on low-income households and a poverty line of S$1000 per month for household 
income was used as a guide for selection, although this was not a strict rule and a 
number of households with incomes between S$1000-$SI500 were included in order 
to capture households more in a position of vulnerability9. Income was reported in 
bands rather than actual figures as it was difficult to gain information on specific 
figures in the field and it was also hoped that this would curb any over-estimations 
and exaggerationlo. These bands were divided into the following: 
Very poor: S$0-499 
Poor: S$500-999 
Vulnerable: S$ 1000-1500 
In the study, households were asked to indicate which category best represented their 
household income, the results of which are presented in Tables 6.8 and 6.9. The first 
table shows that the majority of households reported a total income of less than $500 
per month (53 per cent) whilst 41 per cent indicated earnings between $500-999 and 6 
per cent answered monthly earnings were more than this. 
Although all the households were considered low-income, there were slight 
differences between types of households as the influence of different social divisions 
impacted on income. Table 6.9 shows that the poorer the household, the more likely it 
was to contain the elderly, a foreign worker, be Chinese and headed by a woman. 
Evidence from the sub-sample confirms that household income is related to 
opportunities in the labour market which are more limited for the elderly and female- 
heads Whilst the total household incomes for foreign workers will be influenced by 
lower wages in their home country. Household income is obviously related to the 
number of economically active members in a household as well as the types of 
employment. These relationships will be returned to later. 
Data on income were also collected at the individual level (Table 6.10). At this level, 
respondents were asked to provide information on their own personal monthly 
9 See the discussion in Chapter 2. 
10 Although this means that there are no average household income figures for the survey. 
166 
income. This revealed that most earned between S$250-499 per month, and, in 
general, female respondents earned less than males. 
Further to the actual amounts of income generated by a household, it is important to 
monitor the different sources of income and how they vary between different 
households. The main source of household income in any urban economy is usually 
derived from employment, and Singapore is no different (Department of Labour, 
1994). " This was similarly the case in the survey with more than nine out of ten 
households receiving some or all of their income from some form of work, whether 
regular, full-time and official, -or not. For most households, however, income was 
received from more than one source (Tables 6.11,6.12 and 6.13). 
Whilst the Household Expenditure Survey (Department of Statistics, 1995) for 
Singapore states that the next most important sources of income are (in order) from 
business, rental and investment and transfers, for the low-income households, income 
was only derived from employment or transfers, whether informally or formally, legal 
or illegal. In total, 44 per cent of households received some form of income from 
family, friends or other social networks whilst five per cent had approached 
loansharks 12 and three single parents reported income from alimony payments. Only 
seven per cent of the survey's households received income from government sources 
such as Public Assistance (PA) and the Rent and Utilities Assistance Scheme (RUAS) 
but almost a quarter (23 per cent) received money from voluntary welfare or religious 
organisations. Certain households however were more likely to receive transfers than 
others. Whilst male heads, households earning more than $500 per month, 
disadvantaged families and foreign workers were more likely to rely on employment 
for income; households earning less than $500 per month or headed by women relied 
more heavily on income transfers from VWOs. This pattern, and especially the 
different sources of income for men and women, is an important one for welfare and 
service provision and will be discussed in the following chapter. 
11 Indeed, Ramesh (1992) claims that all income in Singapore is derived from work. 
12 Loans had not been obtained from other sources, such as banks. Respondents indicated that this was 
due to restrictions and eligibility and the difficulty in making regular payments. 
167 
A lack of money is probably the most important indicator of poverty in Singapore and 
is a good starting point in this investigation. Yet income is silent to the different 
experiences which stem from inadequate income. Income is affected and influenced 
by a range of other processes and complex relationships such as skills, resources, price 
changes and, most notably, labour. It is not a surprise therefore that the labour market 
has been identified here as closely inter-related to securing income and, therefore, the 
survival of poor households, and for the majority in Singapore, is the only source of 
income. 
Table 6.7: Perceptions of poverty 
Perception 
All households 
n 
% 
Social Class 
Lower 
117 
76 
Lower middle 
30 
20 
Middle 
6 
4 
Upper middle 
I 
I 
Low Income 
* $500 
45 
29 
* $1000 
90 
58 
* $1500 
19 
12 
Total 
154 
100 
168 
Table 6.8: Household Income per month at the survey, community and national level 
Income Group 
Survey Sample 
Bukit Ho Swee 
FSC (1995) 
Census of 
Population 
(1990) 
n 
% 
% 
% 
No income' 
- 
- 
11 
4 
Below $5003 
81 
52.9 
28 
- 
$500-999 
63 
41.2 
28 
12 
$1000-1499 
9 
5.9 
16 
14 
$1500-1999 
0 
0 
8 
14 
$2000+ 
0 
0 
9 
56 
Average 
n/a 
- 
$841 
$4,300* 
No. of 
153' 
100 
348 
661,730 
households 
I FSC's do not only serve low-income households although these are their main target. 
2 In the survey, all households reported some form of income, although not necessarily from work 
3 The Census of Population does not differentiate household incomes under $ 1000 per month 
a One respondent did not know the household income 
* 1993 figure (Department of Statistics, 1995) 
Table 6.9: Household income per month by type of household, household 
head and ethnicity 
Characteristic 
$0499 
$500-999 
$10 
00+ 
n 
% 
n 
% 
n 
% 
Disadvantaged families 
16 
37 
24 
54 
3 
7 
Elderly 
20 
65 
10 
33 
1 
3 
Single parents 
21 
53 
17 
43 
2 
5 
Foreign workers 
23 
60 
14 
35 
3 
8 
Male-headed 
47 
48 
45 
46 
6 
6 
Female-headed 
33 
59 
20 
36 
5 
5 
Malay 
12 
15 
13 
52 
- 
Chinese 
38 
48 
34 
43 
7 
9 
Indian 
9 
11 
6 
40 
- 
Other 
21 
26 
12 
34 
2 
6 
Note: These are row percentages 
169 
Table: 6.10: Individual income per month by gender 
Income (S$) 
Male 
Female 
Total 
n 
% 
n 
% 
n 
% 
None 
9 
15.5 
14 
15.1 
23 
15.2 
1-249 
4 
6.9 
16 
17.2 
20 
13.2 
250499 
28 
48.3 
44 
47.3 
72 
47.7 
500-749 
12 
20.7 
11 
11.8 
23 
15.2 
750-999 
4 
6.9 
6 
6.5 
10 
6.6 
1000+ 
1 
1.7 
2 
2.2 
3 
2.0 
Total 
58 
100 
93 
100 
151 
100 
Table 6.11: Sources of income by head of household 
Sources 
Male-head 
Female-head 
Total 
n 
% 
n 
% 
% 
Employment 
89 
94.6 
51 
83.9 
90.9 
Family/Friends 
38 
38.8 
32 
57.2 
45.5 
Government 
6 
6.1 
4 
7.1 
6.5 
VW0 
10 
10.2 
25 
44.7 
22.7 
Loan 
4 
4.1 
5 
8.9 
5.8 
Alimony 
0 
0 
3 
5.4 
1.9 
Note- households may be in more than one category 
Table 6.12: Sources of income by type of household 
Sources 
Disadvantaged 
Elderly 
Single parent 
Foreig worker 
n 
% 
n 
% 
n 
% 
n 
% 
Employment 
42 
97.7 
23 
74.1 
35 
87.5 
40 
100 
Family/Friends 
26 
60.4 
16 
51.6 
22 
55.0 
6 
15.0 
Government 
2 
4.6 
4 
12.9 
4 
10.0 
1 
2.5 
VW0 
6 
14.0 
7 
22.6 
21 
52.5 
0 
0 
Loan 
4 
9.3 
0 
0 
5 
12.5 
0 
0 
Alimony 
0 
0 
0 
0 
3 
7.5 
0 
0 
170 
Table 6.13: Sources of income by monthly household income 
Source 
$0-499 
$500-999 
$1000+ 
n 
% 
n 
% 
n 
% 
Employment 
66 
82.5 
65 
100 
9 
100 
Family/Friends 
37 
46.8 
32 
49.2 
1 
11.1 
Govemment 
8 
10.1 
1 
1.5 
1 
11.1 
vwO 
26 
32.9 
7 
10.8 
1 
11.1 
Loan 
3 
3.8 
3 
4.6 
2 
22.2 
Alimony 
2 
2.5 
1 
1.5 
0 
0 
6.2.3: Employment 
In Chapter 1, we saw that commentators argued that the most valuable asset for the 
urban poor is their labour (Amis, 1995; Amis and Rakodi, 1995; Moser and Holland, 
1997). "Employment or the lack of it, is the single most important determinant of 
urban poverty" (Amis, 1995: 150). In the case of Singapore, the examination of labour 
as an asset and source of income is especially important, first, due to the lack of 
alternatives in this urban and monetised economy 13 , and second, because income from 
formal labour is the source of input for the Central Provident Fund (CPF). This is the 
compulsory government savings scheme which provides savings to be used for 
purchasing housing and income during retirement. 
However, employment itself does not guarantee escape from poverty. Income 
generated from work is also determined by other factors such as education, skills and 
resources (Cheah, 1977) so, despite being in employment, if that job is irregular, 
insecure or unskilled, it is also more likely to be low paying. For those who are 
unemployed, however, there is obviously a much greater risk of falling into poverty as 
savings, resources and support systems are exhausted. This problem will usually 
intensify if there are dependants in the household. 
Labour policies have played an important role in the national development of 
Singapore. Policies and directives have been shaped to meet the needs of the 
171 
Singaporean economy and to foster continued growth, the most notable change being 
the move from labour-intensive to capital and skill-intensive industries and jobs. Early 
declines in poverty levels were seen to be a result of opportunities in the newly 
expanding labour market but the shift towards more skill and capital intensive, high- 
tech industries are believed to have brought about increasing inequality stretching the 
gaps between the skilled and unskilled (Findlay et al., 1990; Quah et al., 1987). This 
has massive implications for the employment of those with low education, skills and 
literacy levels as labour-intensive jobs begin to disappear or are replaced. It is the 
changing nature of the labour market which Moser and McIlwaine (I 997a) assert is an 
enormous source of vulnerability for the poor. This arguably makes the labour market 
the moýt important detennm6ant of urban poverty (de Haan, 1997b: 4) 
The vast ma ority of the households in this study had at least one economically active 
member (91 per cent) although almost one-quarter (23 per cent) of all household 
members of economically active age (over 15 years) were not in work. In total, 55 per 
cent of households had only one income earner whilst 29 per cent had two earning 
members and only 7 per cent of households had three or more (Table 6.14). As the 
number of earners increased, in general, so too did the household income. Finally, the 
gender of the head of household was also an influence with a higher proportion of 
female-headed households with no (16 per cent) or only one (66 per cent) income- 
earner as compared to male-hcaded households (5 per cent and 48 per cent 
respectively). 
The remaining 9 per cent of households who had no members earning from work were 
most likely to be elderly or a single parent household. Evidence from other sources 
suggests that these groups in particular face difficulties when trying to compete in the 
labour market due to age, inexperience, access, childcare and so on. Furthermore, 
wages may be so low that a job may not be considered worthwhile. For example, 
Richard Lim of the Breadline Group explained that "If you are in a low paying job you 
must weigh up the returns. Say you do all this work and you only get $ 100 at the end. 
You got to go for the best quality of life and working isn't always so viable". 
13 For example, there is no hinterland in Singapore to expand or grow produce e. g. vegetables or keep 
animals e. g. chickens. 
172 
At the same time, what is perhaps more interesting is that the number of households 
without any economically active members was not much higher. For example, the 
majority of elderly households had at least one member in work as did single parents 
despite associated problems with childcare for example. This reflects the extremely 
important nature of the labour market in securing income and the lack of (especially 
provided by the state) welfare alternatives. 14 
The spread of occupations for all households is given in Table 6.15. The majority of 
working household members were concentrated. in two areas of employment. The 
largest single occupation group for all household members was cleaners and labourers 
which accounted for over one in four of all jobs and was followed by services (24 per 
cent). An investigation of heads of households shows that male heads were also most 
likely to be found in these two sectors, most of which were labourers (46 per cent) and 
then in services (23 per cent). Meanwhile, female heads, although again most likely to 
be in these occupations, this was less concentrated and were found to be more widely 
spread across a number of sectors, most notably, plant and machine operations and 
doing oddJobs, usually home-based. Female heads were also twice as likely as male 
heads to be unemployed. Finally, foreign workers were overwhelmingly employed as 
domestic servants or labourers (90 per cent). Massey and Allen (1995) identify the 
existence of different worlds of work in their research of high-tech industries in the 
UK. They identify the new working poor as the cleaners and security guards working 
in these new modem industries, yet they are rarely seen, working unsociable hours and 
shifts. 
Not unexpectedly, the higher a household's monthly income, the more likely the 
household head was to be in a more skilled occupation. The fact that so many 
households had members in employment yet were still in low-income households 
confirms that access to the labour market does not necessarily relieve poverty. 
Information on numbers working tells us nothing about the type and nature of 
employment which will also directly influence wage levels as low income is often 
linked with the irregularity of earnings and informal, contract or temporary labour. 
173 
Just over a quarter of households had at least one member who worked in informal, 
insecure jobs (Table 6.16), despite the tight regulations on this sector and the very 
limited opportunities for it to grow. 
Whilst sporadic earnings and work is often due to the intermittent availability of work 
and contract nature of many low-skilled jobs, Blake (1991: 92) argues that for others it 
is also a rational choice in an attempt to maximise earnings in Singapore. For 
example, regular jobs were often very low paying for those with few skills and once 
compulsory CPF deductions were made, little was left to take home. As a result, many 
of those in poor households sought work on a daily basis to secure higher wages and 
avoid CPF payments. Finally, irregular work also allows the option of 'increasing 
income at short notice, for example, if a bill needs paid, which a monthly wage does 
not. For example, Mrs. Bey, who has home-based jobs such as fixing components or 
folding paper bags, explained "At the moment I stop work because my husband has a 
contract at the port. I don't have regular job but as and when I need it. I do it in my 
own time, work and then stop and then work again. If we need more money I get some 
work which is good because I cannot go outside to work because of the children. " 
Further, in order to supplement household income, the study showed strategies 
included taking extra work or working longer or more irregular hours and shifts. The 
survey also showed that the respondents tended to work long or irregular hours and 
shifts'5. For example, a quarter of households had at least one member who held more 
than one job which were often a variety of oddJobs. The majority of these were 
women, especially single parents. Meanwhile, almost one-third (31 per cent) of 
households had at least one member who worked a combination of shifts and the vast 
majority (69 per cent) worked more than a 40 hour week. The group which worked the 
longest hours tended to be the foreign workers, despite their low wage levels. The 
sub-sample also revealed that children were often drawn into the labour market to help 
supplement the household income. These are usually home-based or part-time jobs 
such as cleaning, hawking, baby-sitting and washing plastic chemical containers. 
14 This is discussed in Chapter 7. 
., hours was also reflected at the national level (Department of 
15 Although the increase in weekly working 
Statistics, 1993a). 
174 
From these data and interview material, a profile of employment amongst the low- 
income in Singapore shows a number of important patterns. In general, very few were 
unemployed but tended be working in low skilled and low paid or in irregular or 
contract jobs which, although may be well paying, were only available occasionally, 
for example, when a ship comes in to port or at Chinese New Year. Work was 
dominated by jobs in cleaning, labouring and services but features such as illegal 
hawking, contract labour, informal odd jobs, two-shift factory work, permanent 
nightshift shift, or night shift followed by morning shift, part-time work and home- 
based work were also found to be important. 
Access to work would normally be found through more informal channels such as 
friends and family rather then agencies or newspapers. In relation to this, gaining 
access to information about jobs through, for example, newspapers is influenced 
strongly by low literacy levels which aggravate access problems. This in turn gives 
potential employees access to information not only about jobs but also about the job 
market and current wage levels. Indeed, during discussions with the sub-swnple and 
key informants it became clear that that illiteracy was not uncommon, especially 
amongst women. This will be discussed ftu-ther in the section on education which 
shows that low literacy levels are a problem amongst the poor. 
A further barrier to securing a job expressed by a number of women in the sub-sample 
was childcare and the lack of affordable facilities. This has also been reported 
elsewhere, for example by Moser (1995b: 166-7) who writes that "a household can 
have food on the table, a new fridge, and children in school. However, if there is no 
adequate childcare provisions, households ... often cannot release women for income 
generating work". If there are young children in the house, many women can only 
work if support is offered from family or friends. Even in organisations who do not 
operate to make a profit, a place for childcare can cost up to S$200 per child per 
month meaning day care for two children could use up the majority of a woman's 
wage from a factory job. As a result, many women said they worked different shifts, 
especially early morning or nightshift, sometimes even leaving children alone over 
175 
night. This was particularly an issue for single parent households and will be 
discussed in Chapter 8. 
Chapter 5 showed that Singapore considers itself a meritocratic society where the 
same opportunities are available to everyone. However, in the survey, there were 
mixed feelings as to whether it was easy to get a job in Singapore with a quarter of 
respondents disagreeing and 14 per cent strongly disagreeing whilst 27 per cent and II 
per cent agreed or strongly disagreed (Table 6.17). 
Integrally linked to the issue of labour for the resident Population in Singapore is the 
compulsory contributions which are made from regular and formal employment into 
the CPF scheme. These payments are essential if a household is to buy a house or 
receive a pension at retirement. However, contributions which accrue from low paying 
jobs will be very small whilst most contract, irregular, oddJob and home-based work 
would rarely include CPF contributions since payment by employers is often avoided 
illegally, especially if it is a small scale business, in order to keep labour costs down. 
The need for cash in hand or immediate work means the poor often have no choice but 
to collude with CPF evasions. The CPF is also a way of making the elderly less 
dependent on others, including the government, however Salaff (1988) argues that it 
actually reinforces class divisions in old age. This implies that those who are currently 
excluded from CPF payments will in turn become the poor pensioners of tomorrow. 
Around a half of the resident respondents (52 per cent) in the survey had no CPF 
contributions whilst only 44 per cent were currently contributing on a regular basis 
(Table 6.18). Not surprisingly, households on lower incomes were less likely to be 
contributing as were female heads or the elderly. 
Tables 6.19 and 6.20 offer summary characteristics of the foreign workers in this 
study. Migrant workers overwhelmingly came to Singapore to work. Slightly more 
foreign workers were female than male with 90 per cent working as cleaners or 
labourers. This usually meant that female foreign workers were domestic servants in 
private households but increasingly employed in homes for the elderly, whilst male 
176 
workers were almost exclusively in the construction industry, although some were 
plant and machine operators. The majority of this group held work permits although 
18 per cent admitted they were illegal residents 16 . Foreign workers came from a range 
of other Asian countries such as India, Bangladesh, Thailand, the Philippines, Sri 
Lanka and Indonesia. Most workers had been in Singapore for less than five years and 
expected to depart within the next five years. When asked if they would return again, 
most responded that they did not know yet (53 per cent) Whilst a quarter said they 
definitely would return. Migrant workers were then asked to explain how they had got 
their job in Singapore with the majority (70 per cent) paying an agency in their home 
country and the rest gaining access through family or friends by word of mouth. 
Table 6.14: Economically active household members per 
household by head of household 
All Households 
Male-head 
Female-head 
No. 
% 
No. 
% 
No. 
% 
None 
14 
9 
5 
5 
9 
16 
One 
84 
55 
47 
48 
37 
66 
TWO 
45 
29 
37 
38 
8 
14 
Three 
10 
7 
8 
8 
2 
4 
Five 
I 
I 
I 
I 
- 
- 
Total 
154 
100 
I 
98 
I 
100 
I 
56 
I 
100 
II 
16 There is no way of knowing if this is an under-estimate or not. 
177 
Table 6.15: Occupation of all survey household members and head of household by 
gender' 
Occupation 
All household 
Head of household 
members 
Male- head 
Female-head 
n 
% 
n 
% 
n 
% 
Professional 
2 
0.7 
1 
1.2 
Technicians and associated 
2 
0.7 
1 
1.2 
- 
- 
Clerical 
11 
3.6 
1 
1.2 
4 
8.3 
Services and shops 
72 
23.8 
19 
22.6 
12 
25.0 
Production crafts 
16 
5.3 
8 
9.5 
- 
- 
Plant and machine operators 
35 
11.6 
7 
8.3 
7 
14.6 
Cleaners and labourers 
131 
43.4 
39 
46.4 
15 
31.3 
National service 
2 
0.7 
- 
- 
- 
- 
Odd-jobs 
26 
8.6 
7 
8.3 
7 
14.6 
Prison, Drug rehabilitation 
5 
1.7 
1 
1.2 
- 
- 
Total working 
302 
100 
84 
100 
48 
100 
Not working 
92 
23.4 
9 
9.7 
10 
18.2 
I Respondents were asked to give employment information for all household members. 
Table 6.16: Job characteristics of by type of household 
Total 
Disadvantaged 
Elderly 
Single parents 
Foreign 
workers 
% 
No. 
% 
No. 
% 
No. 
% 
No. 
% 
Households 
with a member 
with more than 
24.7 
12 
27.9 
6 
19.4 
12 
30.0 
8 
20.0 
onejob, 
Households 
with a member 
26.0 
17 
39.5 
8 
25.8 
8 
20.0 
7 
17.5 
with an 
informaljob 
178 
6.17: Perception of the labour market by head of household 
Easy to flnd a job? 
Total 
Male-heads 
Female-heads 
% 
n 
% 
n 
% 
Agee Strongly 
11.7 
15 
15.3 
3 
5.4 
Agree 
27.3 
28 
28.6 
14 
25.0 
Neither 
20.1 
16 
16.3 
15 
26.8 
Disagree 
26.6 
25 
25.5 
16 
28.6 
Disagree strongly 
11 
14.3 
1 
14 
1 
14.3 
1 
8 
14.3 
6.18: CPF contributions of respondents by type of househoId and gender' 
Disadvantaged 
Eld rly 
Single parent 
Male 
Female 
No. 
No. 
% 
No. 
% 
No. 
% 
No. 
% 
Respondents 
with no CPF 
24 
55.8 
17 
54.8 
18 
45.0 
19 
45.2 
40 
55.6 
savings 
Respondents 
who 
currently 
contribute: 
CPF 
14 
32.6 
11 
35.5 
14 
35.0 
19 
45.2 
20 
27.8 
Other2 
1 
2.3 
2 
6.5 
6 
15.0 
1 
2.4 
8 
11.1 
Sometimes 
5 
11.6 
0 
0 
0 
0 
4 
42.9 
1 
1.4 
None 
23 
53.5 
18 
58.1 
20 
50.0 
is 
9.5 
43 
59.7 
I Foreign workers excluded since they are not eligible for CPF payments. 
2 For example, Medisave and Edusave. 
Table 6.19: Migration characteristics of foreign workers 
Number 
Percent 
When arrived 
Less than a year 
10 
25.0 
1-5 years 
24 
60.0 
5+ years 
6 
15.0 
When depart 
Less than a year 
11 
27.5 
1-5 years 
22 
55.0 
Don't know 
7 
17.5 
Will you return 
Yes 
8 
20.0 
No 
10 
25.0 
Don't know 
22 
58.0 
179 
TabIe 6.20: Occupation and income characteristics of foreign workers 
Number 
Percent 
Occupation 
Cleaner or labourer 
36 
90.0 
Plant and machine operator 
4 
10.0 
Individual income (S$) 
1-249 
8 
20.0 
250499 
26 
65.0 
500-749 
5 
12.5 
750-999 
1 
2.5 
Household income (S$) 
0499 
24 
60.0 
500-999 
13 
32.5 
1000+ 
3 
7.5 
Total 
40 
100 
6.2.4: Expenditure and spending patterns 
On the ground, living on a low income translates into the experiences of surviving on 
a very tight budget for extended periods of time. It means going short, cutting back on 
essentials, the inability to pay bills or meet the needs of different household members, 
as well as living with stress and isolation (Oppenheirn and Harker, 1996). Changes in 
expenditure and consumption patterns and assigning priority to necessities tend to be 
common amongst the poor (Moser and McIlwaine, 1997a). In Singapore, however, 
mass consumerism has increasingly become part of the new culture of cars, 
condominiums and credit cards, and as average incomes continue to increase so too 
does the affordability to consume goods and services and to enhance a household's 
asset base (Department of Statistics, 1995). This is a very dynamic area of poverty 
research as households do not remain passive in responding to changing patterns. In 
turn, this is integrally linked to coping and strategising to make the most of a 
household income 17 . 
17 This wifl be discussed in depth in Chapter 8. 
180 
The Consumer Price Index (CPI)18, which offers a measure of price changes for goods 
and services, shows that prices have increased in all sectors in Singapore, especially 
for housing and transport (Department of Statistics, 1994). This in turn has fuelled 
higher expenditure levels and therefore intensifies poverty with higher and extra costs. 
Over the period 1988 to 1993, the proportion of households spending less than $2000 
per month declined substantially in Singapore, whilst - those with a monthly 
expenditure of at least $2000 increased. Although outdated, the average expenditure 
figure of $1548 per household and $351 per person in 1988 highlights the gaps 
between the poor and the non-poor in their expenditure habits, since even in 1995-6 
total household incomes rarely exceeded $1000 per month (Department of Statistics, 
1990). 
Parallel to these expenditure increases is a change in consumption patterns most 
notably a decrease in spending on food and increase on housing and transport. Using 
housing size as an indicator of financial means, the Department of Statistics (1995)19 
calculated the consumption pattern for different households revealing that the 
expenditure on food constituted a higher proportion of spending than for those in the 
smallest housing and on accommodation for those in the largest (Table 6.21). In total, 
13 per cent of households in 1-3 room HDB flats spent less than $1000 per month 
whilst, in total, two-thirds spent less than $2000 per month. 
Details on household expenditure were sought in the survey and respondents were 
asked to indicate first, what percentage of their household monthly income was spent 
on a variety of goods and services, and then second, what level of priority was 
assigned to each. Expenditure obviously varied depending on the structure and needs 
of a household and its individuals, for example, where households had children a high 
percentage of income was spent on education, whilst households with a member who 
suffered ill-health had large outgoing expenditures on health. 
18'Me CPI measures price chang 0 
., es relating to households who spend between $500-$5000 per month. 
It does not capture changes to other households because the expenditure patterns are very different 
from those of the majority. 
19 Data in this study were only for households where the head of household is aged 40-59 years. This 
accounted for 50 per cent of households in 1993. 
181 
Differences occurred, however, in the level of expenditure on each good or service. 
Most importantly, a much higher proportion of income was assigned to purchasing 
food (39 per cent compared to 26 per cent at the national level). The only other 
significant differences were spending on transport and communications and other 
goods which were lower for the low-income households. Other differences were only 
slight, although this in itself is interesting since low-income households assigned the 
same proportion of expenditure to education, health and recreation, if not slightly 
more, despite experiencing difficulties in securing basic necessities. This offers an 
initial indication as to the importance placed on services such as education and health 
whilst evidence from interviews revealed that participating in religious festivals was 
still seen to be important and a way in which to be included in 'normal' society, 
although some respondents talked of stress and pressure to participate at these times. 
However, it often resulted in over-spending, for example at Chinese New Year and 
Hari Raya. Salaff (1988) reported similar findings noting that special occasion and 
festivals were still participated in, however, when invited to a wedding only one 
spouse would attend so that a less money could be given in the 'red packet 20 Which is 
related to the number of guests. 
Expenditure on recreation may also reflect spending on 'escape' behaviour. Rakodi 
(1995) has drawn attention to the problem of non-reporting of expenditure on illegal 
activities or unreliable data on goods such as alcohol, gambling and drugs, whilst 
Chant (1996a) has highlighted the problem of secondary poverty. In Singapore, Blake 
and Nair (1996) highlight from their study the differences between men and women 
and their abilities to respond. 'Mey argue that behaviour by husbands suggests 
indulgence and the "[in]ability to tolerate stress and an urgent need to find quick fixes 
such as drugs or other women ... [or] alcohol" (ibid.: 114). From the sub-sample it 
became more clear that these were potentially enormous drains on resources with high 
percentages of household income often being spent on such 'escape' or 'luxury' items. 
The least amount of income was assigned to savings. The strategic role of savings 
which are generated through a surplus of income, however, is now well reported. For 
low-income households, this surplus cash simply did not exist and the lack of a 
20 TbiS is a cash gift expected at Chinese weddings, New Year, birthdays etc. 
182 
margin of savings put these households in very precarious positions, vulnerable to any 
shocks or changes. 
When asked to designate a level of priority to goods and services, not surprisingly, 
highest priority was given to basic needs such as food, housing and utilities. At the 
same time, education was also viewed to be extremely important, a fact which will be 
discussed in another section. Again, savings and recreation were given the lowest 
priority. Most respondents, reported few leisure or recreational activities, due to lack 
of money or time. Leisure time tended to focus on television watching with very few 
outings. 
The spending patterns of foreign workers differed from that of the resident population 
since rent and bills did not usually have to be paid. The vast majority of earnings (80- 
95 per cent) were used for remittances and sent home to families and households who 
would use the income to pay for goods and services, such as housing and education, in 
the home country. In Singapore, the remaining income was used overwhelmingly for 
food and transport, usually on a worker's day off when they congregated with friends 
and other foreign workers. It is on these days off, usually a Sunday, that foreign 
workers are particularly visual, congregating in specific areas according to nationality, 
for example, Filipinos on Orchard Road, Malays at Rocher market and Indians at KK 
market in Little India. 
Expenditure patterns, however, are extremely dynamic and will vary according to 
internal influences such as the needs and demands of the household as well as external 
factors, such as price changes and demands for payment. Expenditure, therefore, is 
also integrally linked to budgeting skills. In the case of Singapore, Thung (1990) has 
discussed the way in which such skills require knowledge and experiences which the 
poor may not possess thus aggravating poverty. However, Goh (1990) notes that the 
problem is not always one of mismanagement or a lack of ability but is one of a lack 
of income since successful budgeting can only be achieved if there is an increase in 
income in order to match expenditure. Table 6.22 shows that over half (57 per cent) of 
the households indicated that they budgeted from day to day rather than in advance 
and that female-headed households were slightly more likely to budget on a daily 
183 
basis. This figure also increased to 71 per cent for households earning less than $500 
per month. Respondents discussed the ways in which they juggle bills and costs in 
order to cope with immediate needs taking priority. The alternate payment of bills was 
common, shifting different demands and debts around, for example, if utilities are 
about to be disconnected the bill would be paid and others such as rent or school fees 
would be left unpaid until demands were received. Expenditure and budgeting 
therefore are connected to the issue of debt and arrears, as households who fall into 
arrears then borrow money and fall into debt. Without changes to the household such 
as support from a non-resident member, an additional wage eamer or external welfare, 
there will be little change in these cycles. 
In order to capture some aspects of debt and arrears, respondents were asked to think 
about what financial difficulties their households had faced in the last five years 
(Table 6.23). The most common financial difficulty reported by households was with 
utilities (55 per cent) followed by rent or mortgage payments (47 per cent) and 
education (42 per cent). Over a quarter (27 per cent) experienced difficulties providing 
food and over a fifth paying for medical and health costs (22 per cent). Difficulties 
were also expressed in supporting an additional member of the family, usually an 
older relative who had come to live within the household (14 per cent), and with 
childcare costs (8 per cent). In the study, the highest incidence of financial difficulties 
was recorded amongst the group of single parents, especially with utilities and 
housing costs, whilst the elderly were more likely to experience difficulties with 
health and medical costs. Not surprisingly, the lower the monthly income of a 
household, the more likely they were to experience financial difficulties, especially in 
housing and providing meals. 
184 
TabIe 6.21: Average monthIy expenditure 
Goods and services 
Resident 
households 
All households (%) 
(HES, 1993) 
1-3 room flats 
Food 
39 
26 
34 
Housing*and utilities 
22 
22 
19 
Transport & Communications 
12 
20 
16 
Education 
8 
7 
7 
Health 
4 
2 
2 
Savings 
I 
n/a 
n/a, 
Recreation 
5 
3 
4 
Other 
9 
19 
19 
Total 
100 
100 
100 
Source: Departaient of Statistics 1995 
Note: Does not include foreign workers 
Table 6.22: Household budgeting 
Total 
Male-heads 
Female- 
heads 
0499 
500-999 
No 
% 
No. 
% 
No. 
% 
No. 
% 
No. 
% 
In advance 
62 
40 
43 
44 
19 
34 
20 
25 
35 
54 
Day to day 
87 
57 
52 
53 
35 
63 
56 
71 
29 
45 
Don't know 
5 
3 
3 
3 
2 
4 
3 
4 
1 
2 
Table 6.23: Financial problems by type of household 
Difficulty 
All 
households 
Disadvantag 
ed families 
Elderly 
Single 
par nts 
Foreign 
workers 
n 
% 
n 
% 
n 
n 
% 
n 
% 
Paying Utilities 
85 
55.2 
30 
69.8 
19 
61.3 
35 
87.5 
1 
2.5 
Paying 
72 
46.8 
24 
60.0 
11 
35.5 
28 
70.0 
9 
22.5 
rent/mortgage 
65 
42.2 
27 
62.8 
3 
9.7 
20 
50.0 
15 
37.5 
Education 
41 
26.6 
13 
30.2 
7 
22.6 
11 
27.5 
10 
25.0 
Paying for food 
34 
22.1 
3 
7.0 
19 
61.3 
4 
10.0 
8 
20.0 
Medical costs 
22 
14.3 
5 
11.6 
- 
- 
6 
15.0 
11 
27.5 
Supporting a 
household member 
12 
7.8 
7 
16.3 
- 
5 
12.5 
- 
- 
Childcare 
10 
6.5 
3 
7.0 
- 
- 
4 
10.0 
3 
7.5 
Other 
Total no. of 
154 
43 
31 
40 
40 
households 
Note: Households may have more than one problem 
185 
6.2.5: Education 
No public activity is more important to Singaporeans than education. 
(Adonis, 1995a: 4) 
The provision of- social infrastructure, such as education, housing and health, are 
considered vital to the economic productivity of the poor by maintaining good health 
and improving skill levels which in turn increase the flexibility and efficiency of their 
responses to economic change (Moser and Holland, 1997). Education in Singapore 
plays an extremely significant role in the development of individuals but also as an 
instrument of national development and can be used to gauge the mobility of 
individuals because of its link to employment and occupation (Teo and Ooi, 1996). 
Stress has been given to the importance of education and training to meet the evolving 
and competitive needs of the economy and labour market, and the system has been 
designed according to these national needs and policies. Education is framed as the 
key to a better life in Singapore and is the means by which the most important asset, 
the population, receive investment (Government of Singapore, 1991: 33): 
An education and material wealth are considered the two most important 
symbols of success in life, and that working hard and getting an education are 
the two most important ways of achieving success in local society. 
Wong (1981: 446) 
Education in Singapore is dominated by examinations from a young age and 
competitiveness is encouraged (Gopinathan, 1990). As a result the education process, 
although not officially, begins for many children in kindergartens and pre-schools 
which includes a preparatory year programme before primary school to emphasise the 
learning of the mother language and English as well as the inculcation of values 
(Govenunent of Singapore, 1991: 34). This latter area is seen as important throughout 
school years in order to "keep alive our Asian values and traditions. Schools must, 
hand in glove with the home, produce morally upright, diligent and compassionate 
citizens" (Government of Singapore, 1991: 41). However, it is also used to give a head 
start over other children and a large number of children have private tutors by age six 
186 
(Adonis, 1995a; Milne and Mauzy, 1990). At the end of primary school, age 10- 11 
years, students sit the Primary School Leaving Exam (PSLE) which is an instrument 
used to stream children and determine the type of secondary school they will attend2l. 
Streaming here is based on the belief that individuals are all born with different 
intellectual abilities and capacities and therefore must be streamed into the appropriate 
education and training, for example, 'hand' and 'brain' groups, monolingual and 
bilingUa122 (Milne and Mauzy, 1990). 
These education, training and skill levels have been found to be significantly 
associated with occupation and income levels (Quah et al., 1991: 30). The amount of 
education received, for example, is affected by social background, whilst education is 
considered a predictor of type of job which in turn will influence an individual's 
income. This strong inter-relationship and the importance of education as an indicator 
of socio-economic status was stressed by Quah et al. (1991) in their study of social 
class. They found that individuals with higher levels of education were more likely to 
work in more professional and technical occupations whilst those with little or no 
schooling were concentrated in unskilled labour and service occupations. The study 
here reinforces that pattern since the sample is concentrated into these later 
occupational sectors. 
Further, education is posi#vely associated with income so that the greater the 
educational attainments the higher the wages which are commanded (Quah et aL, 
1991: 32-34). The importance of education as an asset, therefore, is critical since it 
directly influences both labour and income, two of the most important assets and 
determinants of Poverty. Not surprisingly therefore, it is members of poorer families 
who tend to have lower levels of education, skills and literacy. In Singapore, academic 
under-achieving has also been significantly associated with ethnic minority groups, 
and especially the Malays, who are seen to be falling behind (Milne and Mauzy, 1990; 
Teo and Ooi, 1996). Although statistics show that this is the case, Ishak (1994) draws 
21 Primary school runs from PI to P6 when students sit the PSLE. This determines progression on to 
secondary school or not. Attending school is not compulsory. 
22 There is now an enormous amount of literature which discredits such an argument and which would 
emphasise sociological conditions over biological. 
187 
attention to the fact that all races, and not just the MalaYS23, are underachieving and 
that poor academic ability is primarily linked to class and not ethnicity. 
In the survey, around a fifth (21 per cent) of the respondents had received no formal 
education at all whilst more respondents (29 per cent) had not completed primary 
school than any other level of education (Table 6.24). The majority with no education 
or a lack of primary schooling were more likely to be elderly or foreign workers. In 
total, 23 per cent answered that they had finished primary school passing the Primary 
School Leaving Exam (PSLE) Whilst 18 per cent had started but not completed 
secondary school. Only 6 per cent reported they had completed this level Whilst 4 per 
cent had gone in to tertiary education. Interestingly, these more highly qualified 
respondents were all foreign workers who would often have diplomas and degrees but 
were still able to earn more money by migrating as a labourer or domestic servant to 
Singapore than they would in their professions, for example, as teachers, nurses and 
technicians, in their home country. This seemed to be particularly the case for Thai 
and Filipina women. 
Ishak (1994) sees the problem of low education attainment, however, as one of low 
self-esteem, poor English language skills and limited parental supervision, rather than 
a biological destiny. Social workers and volunteers who were interviewed agreed with 
this position. For example, Esther Azizah of HELP FSC, commented that the 
education system in Singapore is "inappropriate... it is not flexible or viable 
enouglf'. 24 
23 A higher proportion of the Malay community are under-achieving but the greatest numbers, due to 
their numbers in the population, are Chinese. 
24 There have been many debates about the nature of the education system in Singapore, for example, 
questions about the lack of creativity. For a recent example see the Far Eastern Economic Review (10 
July 1999). 
iss 
Table 6.24: Education level and qualification of respondents 
Education 
Total 
n 
% 
None 
33 
21.4 
Incomplete primary 
45 
29.2 
Complete primary 
36 
23.4 
Incomplete secondary 
28 
18.2 
Complete secondary 
9 
5.8 
Tertiary 
5 
3.5 
Looking firstly at language, this interacts closely with education in Singapore and the 
English language, in particular, is linked to achievements in school and the workforce. 
For example, children with better exam results are taught in bilingual schools where 
English is the first language. Gopinathan (1990) writes that most poor performers 
come from dialect-speaking homes which was confirmed in this stud Y15 . Almost a 
quarter of households (23 per cent) in this study had no English speaking members at 
all whilst a fifth had one and 28 per cent had two. The most common language spoken 
in the home was a Chinese dialect, Malay or Tamil whilst English was spoken alone 
or in combination with another language by only 18 per cent of households. This in 
turn will impact on income levels and a study by The Straits Times (I May 1993) 
found that the majority of households earning less than $999 per month were dialect 
speakers. 
The information on expenditures showed that education was a very high priority for 
all households with children of school age, and was viewed as the route through which 
children and households could increase their incomes and gain social mobility. 
However, almost a quarter (24 per cent) of households with children had at least one 
child who had left school prematurely. The most common reason for this was 
financial difficulties since parents could not afford the demands of school fees, books, 
food, tuition, uniforms, stationery and transport. Other reasons for dropping out of 
school were lack of interest. and the need to work in order to support the family. 
Information on financial difficulty showed that around a half of households with 
schoolchildren reported financial difficulty with education costs. Meanwhile, only 8 
25 Dialects include, for example, Hokkien, Teochew, Hakka, Javanese, Bugis, Malayee, Hindi and 
Punjabi. 
189 
per cent of households indicated that they used educational services such as tutoring 
which is extremely common in Singapore. In many cases where tutoring is provided, 
children are often enrolled in large groups which are low in cost but less effective. 
Further, when asked to indicate which services they considered to be expensive, 
around a quarter of respondents (26 per cent) replied yes to educational services whilst 
a fifth indicated that they thought pressure in the education system was a problem. 
Education subsidies, however, do exist in Singapore and primary education is free, but 
many of the families here were not aware that subsidies were available to them from 
the school or welfare organisations, or were too embarrassed to ask and feared their 
children would be stigmatised. A study by Ang Mo Kio FSC (Straits Times, 4 April 
1989) and discussions with key informants also revealed that even where children are 
in school there is an inability of parents to monitor progress, because of their own 
education and literacy levels, whilst children may not tell their parents of the 
expenditure needed on books because they know they cannot be afforded and will 
cause worry. 
Premature departure from schooling has become a moral and policy issue in Singapore 
and one of the main concerns of a new government task-force which was set up to 
report on issues of juvenile delinquency, dysfunctional families and drug abuse (IMC 
on Dysfunctional Families, Juvenile Delinquency and Drug Abuse, 1995)26 . They 
identified the multiple problems of exam pressure, a demanding environment, costs, 
failure and lack of home support as the causes of school drop-out which in turn was 
linked to truancy amongst youths. They estimated that 30,000 pupils per year dropped- 
out whilst the number of youths (aged 7-16 years) who had committed a crime 
doubled between 1980 and 1990. The IMC also reported that the majority of these 
young offenders were male, aged 14-15 years, school drop-outs or poor performers 
and from 'distressed families' or households with a monthly income of $1,500 or less. 
Many of the recommendations made by the committee therefore focused on 
strengthening the role of the family in discipline and imparting values to children. 
26 More recently, reports have highlighted the higher drop-out rates in Muslim schools as compared to 
other schools. The government has now set up a committee to investigate this (Straits Times 14 August 
1999). 
190 
6.2.6: Housing and living conditions 
Chambers (1989) has highlighted the importance of housing, along with employment 
and human capital, as an important asset for the poor in protecting against poverty and 
vulnerability and impacting on the ability to cope. In the case of Singapore, Pugh 
(1989: 846) agrees, writing that housing "should be conceived as a continuous creation 
of assets of enormous value". Housing in Singapore is almost unique in that the state 
provides housing for 90 per cent of the population and 87 per cent of these dwellings 
were owner occupied (both 1990). The drive for home ownership has become integral 
to t4e symbols of success and nationhood in Singapore. Whereas in other countries 
state housing is viewed as an indicator of poverty and low income, in Singapore it is 
the opposite and a marker of social success and class (Milne and Mauzy, 1990: 31; 
Quah et aL, 1991: 25 1)27 . The resulting visual impact of near universal provision is 
both modem and impressive and created a very distinctive urban environment of high- 
rise, high-density estates and new towns whilst the political and social impacts are 
also significant given the centralised HDB has a monopoly on housing (Chua, 1991; 
Pugh, 1989). 
For most Singaporeans, an HDB flat will be their biggest asset which consumes much 
of their earnings and CPF. The availability of housing in Singapore therefore means 
that there is in place an extensive safety net against extreme poverty and 
homelessnesS28 . Although this eliminates the issues associated with the availability of 
housing, problems in relation to access and vulnerability are not. 
Reflecting the national picture, the resident households in the survey lived in multi- 
storey housing blocks in large estates whilst foreign workers would either be living in 
private households (as domestic workers) or in labour lines or quarters such as 
outhouses or sheds and containers on construction and work sites. It is these later 
forms of accommodation which make the male foreign workers so particularly visible, 
living in overcrowded and sub-standard conditions. For the resident households, 
27 Although private condominiums are the most highly regarded symbols, these constitute an extremely 
small and exclusive area of housing. 
191 
almost all lived in HDB state housing, two thirds of which were renting and almost 
one-third (32 per cent) owning their property (Table 6.25). In total, only five per cent 
of the sample replied that they lived in 'other' types of accommodation which in these 
cases were welfare homes run by VWOs for the poor or elderl Y29. 
Despite the uniformity of the housing sector in Singapore, accommodation 
characteristics can be used in this context as useful indicators of poverty, vulnerability 
and exclusion and a household's financial means (Department of Statistics, 1995; 
Pugh, 1989). There are three indicators which can be used here; a) type of housing, b) 
rent and/or utility arrears and, c) downgrading to smaller accommodation. 
To begin with, an investigation of housing size and tenure can offer an indication of a 
household's financial means (See Tables 6.26,6.27 and 6.28). In the study, a greater 
number of households rented their accommodation (57 per cent). Rental 
accommodation in Singapore is almost overwhelmingly in one or two iooMS30. It Was 
more common for those renting to live in a two-room flat (57 per cent), although one 
in four households lived in one-room flats. Looking firstly at rental units, a greater 
number of elderly and single parents could be found in this sector as compared to 
disadvantaged families. It was also the case that the lower the household income, the 
more likely that accommodation would not be owned. Three-quarters of households 
earning under $500 per month were in rental units compared to 42 per cent for those 
earning between $500 and $999. This could be linked to the availability of CPF funds 
which aids house purchasing. A look at accommodation information by head of 
household revealed few differences by gender in ownership. However, female-headed 
households were more than twice as likely as male-headed households to be in one- 
room accommodation. 
For owner occupiers, monthly payments are debited directly from CPF savings and 
where these are insufficient, households must make monthly cash payments. 
28 Homelessness, however, is still an issue in Singapore. It is illegal here and if found, the homeless are 
taken by the Beggar Control Unit to one of the state welfare homes. 
29 The two Government welfare homes were visited during the study but interviewing was not permitted 
with any of the residents. This was not the case for VWO homes however where interviews were 
conducted with residents. 
192 
Similarly, those in rented accommodation must also make regular cash payments. 
Such an assumption requires a household to have at least one member with a regular, 
secure job which pays CPF to allow monthly loan instalments to be deducted (Blake et 
al., 1990). However, we have already seen from the previous section that the majority 
of household members work in low-paying, service or manual jobs without security or 
CPF. As a result a high proportion of low-income households have experienced 
arrears. 
There are two types of arrears problems here; one pertaining to owner occupiers who 
fall behind with mortgage payments, and the other when households in rented 
accommodation miss monthly payments. Table 6.23 has already shown that almost 
half of all resident households (47 per cent) indicated that they had experienced 
difficulties in rent or mortgagee payments, which increased to 62 per cent when 
experiencing difficulties buying a house were included, whilst 55 per cent of 
households noted difficulties paying utility and conservancy bills. Of all the groups, 
single parents were more likely to be experiencing difficulties with both 
accommodation and utility bills. Table 6.29 shows how single parent households were 
more likely to experience debts and arrears problems in both housing and utilities than 
other households. If payment of housing bills falters for three consecutive months, 
then action is taken by the HDB which in the worst cases results in 'compulsory 
acquisition' (CA) and eviction. 
Downgrading3l and eviction are extremely traumatic events for any household, 
especially in a society where status and class are so integrally linked to housing and 
talk is constantly of upgrading. Since the HDB have a monopoly on housing in 
Singapore and since homelessness is illegal, if CA occurs the HDB have an obligation 
to offer a one-room rental unit. For those already in these flats, Anna Bee of Bukit Ho 
Swee SSC explained that there is little the HDB can do, although some households 
'do runners' about which there is very little information (Blake et al., 1990). In this 
study only one household had run from the authorities finding themselves homeless 
30 A two room flat is usually the same size as a one room flat but with a partition to create two rooms. 
31 This can include downgrading in size. for example for rental units, or in tenure from ownership to 
renting. 
193 
on the beach and then in Kallang Care Centre. In total, one fifth of households had 
downgraded in the last 5 years. Single parents were more likely to downgrade than the 
other groups supporting the idea that much downgrading often comes as a result of the 
loss of a household income earner. Social workers have identified this move as one of 
the most traumatic experienced by households, especially when there is a lack of 
understanding as to what is happening. Such was the case for Mr. Bey; "I find out the 
HDB try to evict us. I keep getting these letters but I do not understand them so do not 
know there is any problem. I go to NC [Bukit Ho Swee FSC], I go there many times 
everyday, I am very panic, very scared. I try to sort out but don't know what to do". 
A number of households however had also upgraded in the last 5 years (16 per cent), 
usually driven by the general home ownership campaign and aspirations for social 
mobility and moving from rental accommodation to buying a larger resale flat. Whilst 
the survey does not document previous conditions, discussions with the VWO sector 
highlighted the large number of upgraders who would have had previous arrears and 
debts before buying and now experienced problems paying for their new 
accommodation. 
Within households, living conditions were often poor, especially in households which 
had been experiencing long-term arrears. Most households had very few possessions. 
The most common electrical item was a television (86 per cent), followed by a fridge 
(83 per cent) and radio (58 per cent) (Table 6.30). Belongings were often broken or no 
longer used due to high usage costs, for example, with old style fridges which used 
large quantities of power. Consumer goods had often been bought second hand or 
passed down from friends or neighbours or simply found in rubbish dumps. Upon 
visiting respondents in their homes it also became evident that some lived in very 
overcrowded conditions, for example Mr. and Mrs. Teo and their five children in a 
two-room flat. 
Finally, the ownership or access to land is often a valuable asset for the poor offering 
the opportunity to provide food for personal use or to earn extra income. However, 
due to the urban nature in Singapore, and restriction on access to, and use of, land this 
was not an important factor or asset. Some respondents discussed how they used to 
194 
work vegetable plots in Sembawang but that these were being taken over by the 
government, whilst others explained that they now had to use window boxes. This 
represents the loss of a specific type of safety net. Amongst the foreign workers group, 
however, almost one third cultivated some area of land in their home country. This 
usually produced rice and vegetables which were consumed by the household and 
sometimes sold at mark-cL 
Table 6.25: Housing tenure and size 
Tenure 
Resident households 
Number 
Percent 
Rent 
65 
57.0 
one-room 
27 
41.5 
two-room 
37 
56.9 
three-room 
1 
1.5 
Own 
42 
36.8 
two-room 
4 
9.5 
three-room 
35 
83.3 
four-room 
3 
7.1 
Owned by relative 
2 
1.8 
Institution 
5 
4.4 
Total 
114 
Table 6.26: Housing tenure by head of household and household income of resident 
households 
Tenure 
h12le- 
heads 
Female-heads 
$0499 
$500-999 
$1000+ 
No. 
% 
No. 
% 
No. 
% 
No. 
% 
No. 
% 
Rent 
36 
55A 
29 
59.2 
43 
75.4 
21 
42.0 
- 
- 
own 
27 
41.5 
15 
30.6 
9 
15.8 
27 
54.0 
7 
100 
Owned by relative 
1 
1.5 
1 
2.0 
- 
- 
2 
4.0 
- 
- 
Institution 
1 
1.5 
4 
8.2 
5 
8.8 
- 
- 
- 
Note: excludes foreign workers 
195 
Table 6.27: Tenure by type of household 
Tenure 
Disadvantaged 
households 
Elderly 
Single parents 
n 
% 
n 
% 
n 
% 
Rent 
_ 
23 
53.5 
19 
61.3 
23 
57.5 
Own 
20 
46.5 
7 
22.6 
15 
37.5 
Owned by relative 
- 
2 
6.5 
- 
- 
Institution 
3 
9.7 
2 
5.0 
Table 618: Size of accommodation by household-head and type of household 
No. of 
Rooms 
Total 
Alale-head 
Female- 
head 
Disadvantaged 
Elderly 
Single parent 
% 
No. 
% 
No. 
% 
No. 
% 
No. 
% 
No. 
% 
I-room 
28.1 
12 
18.5 
20 
40.8 
6 
14.0 
13 
41.9 
13 
32.5 
2-roorn 
36.0 
27 
41.5 
14 
28.6 
17 
39.5 
11 
35.5 
13 
32.5 
3-room 
33.3 
24 
36.9 
14 
28.6 
19 
44.2 
6 
19.4 
13 
32.5 
4-room 
11 
2.6 
1 
2 
1 
3.1 
1 
1 
1 
2.0 
1 
1 
1 
2.3 
1 
1 
1 
3.2 
1 
1 
1 
2.5 
1 
Table 6.29: Financial difflculties with housing by head of household and type of 
household 
M21e-head 
Female-head 
Dis- 
adva taged 
Elderly 
Single parent 
n 
% 
n 
% 
n 
% 
n 
% 
n 
% 
Rent/Mortgage 
payment 
23 
35.4 
32 
65.3 
22 
51.2 
8 
25.8 
25 
62.5 
Buying a house 
15 
23.1 
2 
4.0 
13 
31.2 
6 
19.4 
2 
5.0 
Utilities 
27 
41.5 
42 
85.7 
24 
55.8 
14 
45.1 
31 
77.5 
Table 6.30: Consumer Goods 
Consumer Good 
Number 
Percent 
Refrigerator 
95 
83.3 
Telephone 
47 
41.2 
Television 
98 
86.0 
Radio 
66 
57.9 
Video 
16 
14.0 
Washing machine 
7 
6.1 
Computer 
11 
2 
1 
1.8 
1 
196 
6.2.7: Health and nutrition 
A principal cause and effect of poverty in a household has often been associated with 
the ill-health of an income-earner and the subsequent loss of earnings for a household. 
111-health including disability and mental illness, therefore, have always been 
associated with low income and poverty. In this survey, over a quarter (27 per cent) of 
households indicated that at least one member suffered from ill-health and this 
included heads of households and main income earners. Evidence from the sub- 
sample interviews revealed the extent to which illness could impact on the household, 
especially where it resulted in the loss of earnings. When a member of the household 
is ill there was also the tendency to self-medicate due to medical costs. The vast 
majority (77 per cent) of households when they did seek medical attention visited a 
western doctor or polyclinic or combined this with visits to a Sinseh (Chinese 
medicine). These services were paid for by clients themselves since few were in jobs 
which offered company plans or could afford to contribute to the government's 
Medisave scheme. In total, 22 per cent of households indicated that they had 
experienced financial difficulties in the last 5 years in paying for medical costs with 8 
per cent giving up treatment for this reason. 
Many of the health problems of the poor stem from poor nutrition and living 
conditions. When asked to describe a typical meal, the survey indicated a high reliance 
on tinned food and a lack of fresh vegetables or meat in the diet. Meals often consisted 
of only rice and a sauce, such as soy sauce, or were missed completely. One reason for 
this was the inability to store fresh food where a household did not own a fridge or the 
inability, due to low earnings, to buy produce in bulk which is cheaper. Such 
inefficient shopping habits are generally costly for the poor. 
Finally, discussions with welfare volunteers and social workers revealed that besides 
poor physical health, many of the members of poor households suffered ftom 
symptoms of stress related illnesses such as depression and talked of low self-esteem, 
depression, worry and feelings of helplessness amongst the poor. This is often 
accompanied by a feeling of fatalism captured in the phrase Iong kor' (hardship) in 
the qualitative interviews. Feelings of failure and inability to achieve are perhaps even 
more acute in a society where there is the drive to succeed and opportunities believed 
197 
to be meritocratic and available to everyone. Failure is therefore viewed as the fault of 
the individual in Singapore. This will be discussed in Chapter 7. 
6.2.8: Social relations and networks 
Household relations and those within a wider social network and community play a 
crucial role in the ability of an individual or household to cope, manage or adjust to 
poverty and determine how resources and assets are used and decisions made. At the 
community level, Moser and McIlwaine (1997a: ll) define a social network as 
"norms, trusts and reciprocity networks that facilitate mutually beneficial co-operation 
in a community". During difficult times, such relationships and networks can either 
strengthen or deteriorate affecting their role and importance as a safety net or coping 
strategy. Similarly the family and household relations can be an enormous asset in 
times of difficulty with research showing the resilience of the family in times of rapid 
change (Quah, S., 1990). This role of the family, kin and the community is of 
particular significance in the case here where they have been stressed at the national 
level through pro-family and welfare polices as the most important source of support 
and welfare. Again, this will be discussed in more detail in the next chapter. 
During times of difficulty, the single most important source from which help was 
sought in the study was from family or friends (Table 6.3 1). This accounted for almost 
two-thirds of responses, followed by 38 per cent who had sought help from voluntary 
welfare organisation, including religious bodies. These sources increased in 
importance if the head of household was a woman and if the household was in the 
lowest income bracket. Interestingly, schools were the next most widely used for 
households seeking scholarships (16 per cent), again indicating the very high priority 
given to schooling and the importance to families to secure an education for their 
children. In total, only 12 per cent had approached the HDB or Public Utilities Board 
(PUB) and a small minority, 5 per cent, admitted to using a loanshark. Some social 
workers, however, feel this later group is probably underestimated. The other 
approach to financial difficulties was to work overseas which was the case for the vast 
majority of foreign workers but not a strategy used by any Singaporeans in the survey. 
198 
Table 6.31: Sources of support and services used 
Source of support 
n 
% 
Services used 
n 
% 
Family & Friends 
105 
68 
FSC 
49 
32 
Welfare Organisation 
58 
38 
Senior citizen 
31 
20 
Work overseas 
36 
23 
Counselling/religious 
30 
19 
School/Education 
25 
16 
Advisory 
23 
15 
Government 
19 
12 
Community centre 
5 
3 
Loanshark 
7 
5 
Note: Households may have answered more than once 
Although family and friends were viewed as the most important source of help, this 
tended to be in the form of emotional help and gifts and very importantly, childcare. In 
terms of material help, kinship and extended families tended to be weak. Gerard Ee of 
Bukit Ho Swee SSC argued that "families tend not to be close or have support 
networks, but they may use others, usually friends and neighbours" whilst evidence 
from the sub-sample revealed that extended members of a family were often in a 
similar situation therefore could not offer much help whilst other families reported 
these networks had been overused or exhausted often resulting in relationship 
breakdowns. The issue of 'losing face' and being embarrassed or ashamed as well as 
the loss of community in HDB estates meant that the use of neighbours as a support 
network was minimal. Welfare and religious bodies tended to be approached for more 
material problems or where problems were no longer manageable. 
Interestingly, in a nation where the family and community are highlighted as the main 
sources of support and welfare, the vast majority of households did not participate at 
the community level. When asked to indicate what problems existed in the 
community, the single most important issue was the lack of community spirit (Table 
63ý). Much of this has been associated with the loss of traditional kampungs and 
move towards high-rise living in estates. There is limited scope therefore for this to be 
a source of help and support. Other problems in the community included materialism 
and the drive for success as well as restrictions which were imposed on different 
aspects of their lives, such as housing and car ownership. Respondents also 
199 
highlighted the educational pressure put on children as well as racial prejudice, 
especially towards the Malay community. 
Table 632: Community problems 
Community Problem 
Number 
Percent 
Lack of community spirit 
40 
26.0 
Lack of support 
27 
17.5 
Materialism 
26 
16.9 
Education pressure 
20 
13.0 
Racial prejudice 
16 
10.4 
Restrictions 
11 
8 
1 
5.2 
1 
Households may have answered more than once 
Finally, within the household, the sub-sample revealed complex relationships between 
members and the existence of a number of problems which impacted on the ability of 
the household to respond or cope, for example, marital breakdown, relationship 
problems with children and other members, alcohol abuse and domestic violence. 
These intra-household relations will be discussed in Chapter 8. 
6.3: Summarising the experiences of poverty 
From the evidence presented here, three important factors emerged about poverty in 
Singapore. First, poverty here is far more complex and widespread than a single 
poverty line or minimum household expenditure would suggest; second, it is also not 
random but shaped by different social divisions and factors inside and outside the 
household; and finally, poverty is about more than income, filtering into every aspect 
of daily life. 
Officially, the poor are a small, 'ignorable' statistic and a hidden minority amidst the 
wealth and success of Singapore but the relationship between economic growth and 
poverty is not a certain one. Thung (1991: 6) argues that in this context of dynamic and 
rapid economic change, "perhaps more important than being hungry, being poor 
200 
means being less of a human being than your richer neighbour; being less able, less 
regarded with consideration and respect; less worthy". Poverty does still exist here, 
but it is concealed by the success and vigorous images leading commentators to 
identify poverty as "largely hidden behind the doors of Housing Board flats" (Goh, 
1991: 61; Cheah, 1977; Minujin, 1995). What the poor exemplify here are what Vaoiu 
(1992: 250) expressed as "the less dramatic, unofficial, private, invisible [poor]". This, 
however, does not mean that their problems or experiences are any less real or painful. 
In this chapter, the extensive range of experiences and dimensions reported have 
served to capture the complexity of problems and relationships and reveal that for 
many poverty is still about the deprivation of basic needs such as food, water and 
electricity as well as insecurity, vulnerability, exclusion and a lack of access to assets 
and resources. Income and cash were considered the most important resource and 
asset by respondents highlighting their immediate needs and the ways in which gaps 
between income and expenditure meant spending less, going short or not spending at 
all. This, in turn, translated into missing meals, not paying housing or utility bills, 
spending less on clothing, having to stay at home, not taking the children out, coping 
with the stress of managing very little money, withstanding society's pressure to 
consume, not being able to take hold of opportunities and being unable to plan ahead 
or feel in control of their lives. 
importantly, previous arguments have stated that the most important asset for the 
urban poor is the labour market (Amis, 1995; de Haan, 1997b), and the majority of 
households in the survey had at least one income-earner. However, participation in the 
workforce does not guarantee an escape from poverty since all of these households 
were still considered poor or vulnerable. This can be closely associated here to the 
nature of work which was reported to be low-paying, temporary, part-time and 
irregular and therefore offering little resources or security. Although the labour market 
offers many opportunities in Singapore, it was not possible for these households to 
access them, for example, due to a lack of education and skills, ill-health and low 
literacy levels. Labour market features in the survey included working extra hours, 
taking different shifts or a second job. 
201 
This helps to illustrate the incredibly complex and multi-dimensional nature of 
poverty, and an interpretation is supported by VWOs who, despite reporting the main 
problem to be one of a lack of income, upon closer analysis of their clients the average 
number of problems faced by a low-income household was six. From documentary 
evidence and this study, it is possible to build a profile of the different dimensions of 
poverty experienced by the low-income. These are summarised below in Table 6.33. 
Table 6.33: The experiences of poverty 
Problem 
-Characteristics 
Financial 
Low or no income (cut-off point varies depending on definition. 
Varies from S$550 to S$1500), 
Lack of savings, especially CPF, 
Debts and arrears, 
Unable to pay bills, expenses or basic necessities, 
No contribution from other members. 
Expenditure 
Expenditure greater than income, 
Poor budgeting skills, 
Live day to day, 
Juggle spending according to priorities, 
Escape behaviour e. g. gambling, alcohol. 
Employment 
Low pay, 
Irregular work, shifts and hours, 
Supplementing income with extra jobs, hours and shifts or children 
going to work, 
Part-time and home-based jobs especially for women, 
Low skill levels, 
Cannot work due to ill-health or childcare problems, 
Education 
Low qualification and skill levels, 
Low literacy and non-English speaking, 
Absenteeism or children leaving school prematurely or not doing well 
due to inability to meet costs or be supervised, 
Inability to pay for school fees, books or tuition. 
Housing and living conditions 
Rental units usually one or two room, 
Owner occupiers in precarious position, using all CPF, 
Rent, mortgage and utility arrears, 
Disconnection (and illegal reconnection) of supplies, 
Downgrading from 34 room flat to 1-2 room, 
Overcrowding and poor living conditions. 
Health 
111-health or disability, 
Tendency to self-medicate or not seeking medical treatment, 
Low self-esteem depression and illnesses related to stress, 
Dependency problems e. g. Drug and alcohol abuse. 
Food and nutrition 
Poor diets and skipping meals, 
High reliance on tinned and cheaper food, 
Lack of knowledge about nutrition and health care 
Social networks and 
Reliance on family, friends and neighbours, 
relationships 
Exhaustion of existing networks, 
Relationship problems with spouses, children and parents, 
Domestic violence. 
202 
Obviously not all poor households suffer and experience the same problems and the 
enormous range of dimensions reported in this chapter, but it is clear that households 
encountered, not the singular difficulty of low income, but faced chronic multiple 
problems which impacted on the availability of assets and the household's ability to 
command resources. 
Analysis here, therefore does not support the view that poverty is just about a lack of, 
or mismanagement of, money. These are people who earn low wages, have irregular 
or unsociable jobs, they suffer from illness, experience marriage breakdown, have low 
education and skill levels and live in debt and from day to day. Although we know the 
range of dimensions, Table 6.34 below provides summary profiles of some of the 
respondents in order to convey this complexity and range of daily lives amongst the 
poor. Generalisations about the poor, therefore, are unhelpful. 
Table 6.34: Examples of case studies 
Mr and Mrs 
Malay couple who live with their 3 children in a 3-room flat after upgrading from 
Akillah 
one-room rental unit Husband works as a security guard on a contract basis 
earning $300-600 per month. It is irregular work with no CPF. They were 
encouraged by their family and a housing agent to upgrade but have exhausted 
their CPF buying the flat and now have arrears. They did not understand that they 
would need a regular income and have a lack of cash making up difference. Did 
not understand HDB documents due to low literacy and now facing eviction. 
Madam Lee 
A 36 year old Chinese single parent who lives in a one-room flat with her 2 
children. Moved from a 3-room bought flat due to arrears and problems paying 
mortgage after divorce. She receives erratic alimony from her ex-husband so 
friends help out with childcare so she can work earning $400 per month as a 
laundry lady. She was at one stage working nightshift in order to earn more money 
and leaving the children alone. 
Madam Low 
An 86 year old Chinese woman living in a one-room rental flat in McPherson with 
her 50 year old daughter. She suffers from ill-health but daughter does sewing to 
earn money. They have problems especially paying for health costs and sometimes 
they go without any food. They do not have much furniture but have a radio and 
she would like to buy a new sunlounger which she s eeps on. 
Mr and Mrs Ong 
Chinese couple who live in two-room flat with 3 children, aged 12-16, none of 
which attend school. Mr. Ong works as a hawker and his wife sells newspapers 
both earning about $20 per day. The children help out selling. They have HDB and 
PUB debts and have had water and electricity cut off several times. The water 
supply is reconnected illegally, which a neighbour showed them how to do. 
Mr and Mrs 
Mr. Ibrahim has education to primary 6 and works selling vegetables or doing odd- 
Ibrahim 
jobs earning about $80 per week. His wife is ill, so does not work. He borrows 
from friends and has over $1000 of HDB arrears. They live in a one-room flat in 
Toa, Payoh and receive RUAS vouchers for rent ($26) and utilities ($30). 
Madam Rokiah 
Indian divorcee (36) with 2 children. Works as a gardener 10 hours per day 
earning $700 per month. They live in a rented 2-roorn flat in Toa Payoh with 
arrears for rent and utilities. 
203 
Rani 
Sri Lankan domestic maid (24). Earns about $250 per month but also cleans on her 
day off for extra money. She sends most of her money home to her family. Her 
father is dead and mother suffers ill-health. Her money pays to send her 3 sisters to 
school and pay household expenses. She would like to go home but can not until 
her sisters leave school. She thinks Singapore is too materialistic. 
Sof 
An Indonesian illegal construction worker. A man in his home town in Sumatra 
organised to get him here for a fee. He stays in a large container on-site with about 
20 others. He supports his wife and 2 children as well as his mother and sister who 
live with them. He can earn good money by coming here. 
Nfr and Mrs 
Chinese husband and wife live with 4 children in two-room rental flat. Husband is 
Cheah 
illiterate and works as a painter earning about $500 per month. Mrs Cheah looks 
after the children. One child dropped out from school because she was a slow 
learner. They own a TV. 
Furthermore, by demonstrating the range of experiences and dimensions of poverty, a 
variety of factors which affect poverty can be highlighted. Poverty in Singapore is 
largely determined by access to the labour market and the ability to compete in a 
competitive, skills-intensive environment. This in turn is influenced by factors such as 
class, age, gender and ethnicity. However, getting a job does not guarantee an escape 
from poverty as the majority of households in this study had at least one economically 
active member. Here, employment often provided only low, insecure and irregular 
earnings. Poverty is also determined by extra expenditures and being able to afford the 
ever-increasing prices associated with the strong, successful economy and increasing 
affluence. This is also often associated with the life cycle and changes to the 
household structure, for example the extra cost of children, schooling and childcare or 
old age due to the lack of earning opportunities. 
From the research it was clear that education is considered one of the most important 
assets and determinants of poverty in. Singapore and that the relationship between 
education, occupation and income is crucial. However, it also emerged that education 
is one of the greatest financial burdens for the poor. The education of children within 
a household was viewed as a long-term strategy against poverty. Poor education in 
turn prevents access to better earning jobs and a lack of information on the 
employment market. A lack of education, and especially literacy skills, also 
contributes to the ignorance about services and assistance and the ability to read 
letters, demands and to deal with the authorities. Such a lack of education also serves 
to perpetuate poverty transgenerationally. This sense of inheritance is not genetic, 
204 
however, but produces a cycle where the low education of parents results in low paid 
jobs and lack of capacity to support and supervise a child through school, who then 
prematurely leave school and enter low paid employment. 
The poor in Singapore are located within a complex and controlled spatial landscape. 
This has been impacted upon especially by the HDB and through policies and 
monitoring which act to prohibit the concentration of low income groups or ethnic 
minorities. In addition, the conformity of the landscape serves to hide people, lives 
and experiences often rendering them invisible. The vast majority of poor households 
are found in HDB housing but in both the rented and owned sectors. - The ownership of 
housing in particular has emerged as an extremely important asset, especially when 
coping with poverty. However, housing is also a source of poverty as it is a source of 
debt and arrears and for those who have bought, is a drain on their CPF and therefore 
retirement fund. In HDB housing therefore, there appears to be a group who are very 
vulnerable because they have bought out with their means. Any loss or change in 
income, illness or increased expenditure would and does have a significant impact on 
these households. 
In times of need, households indicated that their first reaction would be to turn to 
family, friends and neighbours. Support is primarily in the hands of household and the 
extended family. However, this source seemed to provide more emotional support 
than material. Instead, the gaps between income and expenditure were filled by other 
sources such as welfare organisations and loansharks. However, this raises a number 
of issues which will be discussed in greater detail in the next chapter. For example, is 
there a threshold to the amount of support a family unit can provide, for example, the 
elderly especially rely on their kin to care for them in old age and provide an income 
where CPF is absent or used in the purchase of an HDB flat? Further, the use of the 
household and kin systems as a source of support has implications for the role of 
women in households who are traditionally the carers in society. As a result, poverty 
is also a gender issue, as men and women experience poverty in different ways 32 . 
32 This will be discussed in Chapter S. 
205 
Finally, unskilled foreign workers in Singapore may represent the poorest and most 
visible group in poverty in Singapore. However, at the same time they also represent a 
sub-group most likely to alleviate poverty in their own households. Whilst their 
earnings are meagre in terms of Singapore's prices and lifestyles, the remittances they 
send home are a crucial source of income and poverty alleviation in their home 
countries. 
Oppenheirn and Harker (1996: 88) write that 'poverty casts a long shadow' and in 
Singapore, it has been shown here that it impacts upon most aspects of daily life. 
Despite the dynamism and success of the Singaporean &economic miracle' the poor 
here still struggle to use the opportunities created by economic success. Although this 
is a society which is quick to denounce individuals for their poor status (Bey, 1992), 
the following chapters will show that this is a situation primarily linked to factors such 
as access, control, resources and assets. A problem is that the lifestyles of the poor 
here are insufficiently understood as Sally Thio of the SAWC highlighted: 
These are real people. They have a different lifestyle from you and me but this 
is not acknowledged here by people or the government ... They are excluded 
from things, but sometimes I think it is better for them not to know, not to 
know what everyone else has. We can't impose a lifestyle on them that they 
don't know, but need to try and help them with their choices. You cannot 
change people, it is their chosen way of life you know .... what to do is support 
them, if you believe in their welfare. 
This notion of the choices of the poor is an important one and is integral to responses 
and reactions to poverty. It is these responses which are the focus of the next two 
chapters. In Chapter 71 look at the response of the state and community welfare 
organisations to poverty and the poor in order to frame what these choices are for the 
household and the individual. Analysis in Chapter 8 then uses the case study of 
women in these households to explore individual responses and coping strategies and 
the negotiations with the household, community and state. 
206 
CHAPTER 7 
INIANY HELPING HANDS': RESPONDING TO POVERTY IN SINGAPORE 
7.1: Introduction 
In Chapters 5 and 6 the aim was to highlight which groups were poor and 
disadvantaged in Singapore and investigate how four of them experienced poverty. 
Although this is essential if attempts are to be made to design strategies to assist the 
poor (Moser, 1995b), focusing only on the impacts of poverty tends to ignore what the 
poor want and, importantly, to understand how they cope. Chambers (1989) warns; 
that if no attempts are made to build an understanding of the needs and priorities of 
the poor they will continue to be seen as passive. This, Beck (1994: 2 1) argues, is "the 
language of bureaucratic planning, with 'targets', 'aims' and recipients ready to be 
(pushed', 'raised', accept delivery and attend to. It is the language of control". It is the 
responses and struggles by people themselves to avoid poverty or limit its impacts 
which are too often forgotten (Chambers, 1995) and are therefore the topic of this and 
the following chapter. 
Chapter 2 has highlighted the important role of investigating coping or survival 
strategies and the ways in which they link the external economy with the social 
relations of production and reproduction of power within the household, and 
temporally to changes over the life cycle (Rakodi, 1995). These are the multiple ways 
in which individuals and households command resources in order to alleviate poverty, 
disadvantage and vulnerability. They are also culturally and contextually specific 
(Rakodi, 1995: 414). The investigation of coping strategies, therefore, can be used as 
an extremely useful device to capture the dynamic nature of poverty as processes and 
relationships, rather than as a static state, as well as analyse how groups, households 
and individuals negotiate, mediate and perceive their choices and options when 
responding to poverty and vulnerability. At the same time, they reflect the 
207 
oppontunities and constmints imposed by structures such as 'tradition', the household, 
labour market and the state (Wolf, 1990). 
The capacity of a household or individual to respond to poverty or implement a 
strategy, however, is dependent upon a number of factors, most notably assets such as 
housing, education and savings, and the ability to accumulate and transform them into 
income, food and basic necessities (Sen, 198 1). Amis (1995: 154) stresses how crucial 
these assets are because they "determine a household's possible survivil strategies and 
ability to cope with shocks". A wide range of assets exist but Moser (1995a: 7) divides 
them into four groups; a) labour, the most important asset in an urban economy; b) 
human capital, such as health, skills and education; c) productive assets, most 
importantly here, housing; and d) household relations, the mechanism which controls 
income and consumption sharing, all of which were seen to be important in the case of 
Singapore. 
Assets, entitlements and coping strategies, however, are also impacted upon and 
determined by a range of networks, organisations and relationships at different levels. 
For example, Chant (1996b) argues that the household is an important mediator of 
behaviour, status and responses for members depending on structure and life-cycle, 
whilst Rakodi (1995) adds the influence of changes over time, especially over the life- 
cycle. However, boýh Moser (1995a) and Rakodi (1995) highlight that a key 
dimension determining coping strategies are factors at the community or national level 
and relationships with wider economic, social and political systems. Moser (1995b) 
continues that research on poverty and coping strategies must therefore look at social 
policy since it is these social and political (as well as physical and economic) 
structures within which people live, which can determine the well-being of citizens 
and their families. 
It has already been established that the state is a powerful agent of social control in 
Singapore and the level of control it commands over the labour market, assets and the 
population highlights the importance of understanding how the poor experience the 
state and its policies (Wratten, 1995). Central to this is the inappropriateness of 
government rules and regulations, which Satterthwaite (1995b) wams can help to 
208 
create and perpetuate poverty. The previous chapter has already highlighted the rigid 
assumptions upon which policy in Singapore is based, assumptions which in the main 
part exclude the poor and disadvantaged. It was revealed that assets, especially access 
to the labour market, education and housing in Singapore, all of which are controlled 
and leg islated for by policy and state planning, are integrally linked to the experiences 
of poverty and vulnerability. The importance of the state, its policies and philosophy, 
therefore, cannot be under-estimated here and stresses the importance of 
understanding how the government manages welfare questions, what policy directions 
they are taking, and the repercussions and implications this has for the well-being of 
its citizens. The state approach to welfare and social security therefore is examined 
first in this chapter as a backdrop to understanding and examining strategies and 
responses, opportunities and constraints, choices and decisions by the household and 
the individual! 
7.2: 'The Next Lap': social welfare in Singapore 
Singapore can do well only if her good sons and daughters are prepared to 
dedicate themselves to help others. I shall rally them to help the country. For 
if they do not come forward what future will we have? I therefore call on my 
fellow citizens to join me, to run the next lap together. 
Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong (1990)2 
In 1990, a new prime minister took office in Singapore for the first time in 30 years. 
This change from the old guard (Lee Kuan Yew) to the new guard (Goh Chok Tong)3 
started what was viewed as the beginning of 'The Next Lap, ' in Singapore's 
development, preparing for the 21st century and "continued prosperity and security" 
(Government of Singapore, 1991: 15). Fundamental to the new manifesto was the 
announcement of the government's policy for 'levelling up' and the promise to build 
1 In this section of the chapter I look only at the resident population since foreign workers are excluded 
from welfare and social security provisions. 
' From swearing-in ceremony on November 28,1990 (quoted in The Next Lap, Government of 
Singapore, 1991: 2). 
3 Although Lee's presence is still important as a Senior Minister. 
209 
4a more caring and compassionate society' and improve the lives of the 'less 
successful' in Singapore (ibid. ) 
Such a level of interest in social welfare being shown by the government, and 
subsequently by politicians and the media, has been referred to by Ramesh 
(1992: 1093) as 'rare' and 'remarkable' for a nation known for its preoccupation with 
economic development and is a departure from previous political statements on social 
welfare and equality. Welfare issues were not a priority in the economic plan for 
Singapore as the state maintained that growth must come before sharing and 
redistribution; and equity and distribution considered secondary issues (Pang, 1980). 
The philosophy at independence and through to the 1990s, and the introduction of 
'many helping hands'4 , was "... the accumulation of wealth through economic growth, 
rather than a more equal distribution of existing wealth and proliferation of state 
welfare services" (Goh Keng Swee quoted in Liew, 1994: 52). Had the focus been on a 
basic needs strategy and less emphasis given to the role of trade and foreign 
investment, it is argued, Singapore would be far less outward-looking and prosperous 
than it is today (Pang, 1980). 
Despite the increased interest in welfare there remains little written on social welfare 
and research remains limited. In the main, investigations have focused on the burden 
of an ageing population and been dominated by economists (for example, Asher, 
1991,1994; Ramesh 1992; Tyabji, 1987), with few integrated approaches (for an 
exception see Lim, 1988) or examinations of issues relating to gaps in welfare 
provision, access and exclusion. However, welfare Singapore-style has attracted much 
international interest and attention, not just from developing countries, but especially 
from the West (Smith, C., 1996). This, however, is not so much to do with the 
provision of state welfare and social security, but the lack of it, as other nations seek 
ways in which to curb their inflating welfare bills 5. 
4 See Section 7.3. 
-' This has included visits to Singapore by Prime Minister Tony Blair and other UK government 
members to study the CPF. 
210 
This fundamental philosophy, however, has not changed. What is important about the 
publication of 'The Next Lap'is simply the introduction of an actual policy on welfare 
and an active promotion of discussion on the topic. This has never occurred before 
and has been read by some commentators as an admission to the existence of gaps in 
society as well as suggesting the emerging significance of welfare questions and 
increasing attention given to the poor in Singapore's future. For example, Liew 
(1994: 51) writes that "the welfare question will dominate the next stage of 
Singapore's development, as the citizens of this get-rich-quick nation try to imagine a 
sense of community". This also suggests that the Singaporean 'community' as it 
currently exists is insufficient and inadequate to meet the welfare needs of the 
population. 
In Singapore, there remains a 'distinct social service landscape 6 and philosophy 
which is adamantly and staunchly opposed to state welfarism, especially in the mould 
of Beveridge's Britain and the 'cradle to grave' welfare state 7, which it considers as 
textreme politics' (Josey, 1980; Quah et al., 1987; Rodan, 1993). The two quotations 
below illustrate the rejection of state welfare by the government in Singapore as well 
as the promotion of a Singaporean and Asian philosophy based on helping others to 
help themselves: 
In Singapore, we do not give out any dole or unemployment allowances. 
This is not said as a matter of pride but as philosophy of government. We 
believe in helping people to help themselves. We do not want to create the 
dependency mentality because once it sets in we will be on a slippery road 
to a welfare state (which we can ill afford to support). 
Wong Kan Seng (1989)s 
Singapore does not believe in welfarism. as it favours an approach which is 
built upon the state fostering community and self-help and galvanising that 
as a resource and strength to build a cohesive society. We believe in helping 
those who cannot keep pace with the progress made by the rest of the 
population by providing a supportive network of resources and services that 
6 Minister for Community Developmentý Abdullah Tarmugi, Singapore Government press release, 25 
September, 1999. 
7 Heckscher (1984: 6) refers to the welfare state as "a state that accepts the collective responsibility for 
its citizens and conceivably also for other residents within its territory. It strives to abolish poverty and 
give to all concerned reasonable security against falling unwillingly into destitution ... Also the welfare 
state attempts to create equality of opportunities for advancement". 
8 Former Minister of Community Development (quoted in the Straits Times, 23 April 1989). 
211 
they can draw upon to become self-reliant. The philosophy behind this 
approach is that whilst the Government and community can help the less 
fortunate, there must be some sharing of responsibility- the less fortunate 
must want to be helped; they must want to improve their lives. In helping 
low income families, Singapore operates on this principle: 'Give me a fish, I 
eat for a day; Teach me to fish, I eat for a lifetime'. 9 
Ministry of Community Development (I 996a: 16) 
The state's philosophy in Singapore is that the provision of welfare, and social 
security in particular, will undermine the work ethic and productivity levels of the 
labour force, breeding dependency and laziness in individuals and eventually in 
society as a whole (Thung, 1991). Further, this firm approach translates into extremely 
low proportions of public spending being used for social security and welfare. In 
1993, spending on these services amounted to only 2.15 per cent of the total 
government expenditure as opposed to more than 30 per cent in many Western nations 
(IMF, 1993). Such a lack of spending in Singapore is justified since it is believed to 
further assist in attracting foreign investment and so stimulate further economic 
growth. 
This rhetorical rejection of state welfare, however, is somewhat paradoxical if we 
consider the statistics and data on social infrastructure in Singapore (see Chapter 3). 
What these clearly show are the high standards of living and provision of services 
: ftmded by massive state investments and subsidises, most notably in public housing, 
education and health systems. For example, eight in ten Singaporeans live in state- 
subsidised housing whilst recent schemes such as HDB upgrading and the discounted 
sale of Singapore Telecom shares have seen the transfer of billions of dollars from the 
state to the public (Straits Times, 14 August 1994). Expenditure on social security 
may be exceptionally low but in 1993, total spending on housing, health and education 
9 This is a popular adage and is now used as part of Oxf 's publicity. However, such ap nciple 
wn ri 
assumes there is easy and adequate access to knowledge on how to fish, to the river and to assets e. g. a 
fishing rod, and that there are no other responsibilities or restrictions such as childcare or illness. 
212 
amounted to S$3.4 billion, about a third of all spendinglo (Sunday Times, 18 
September 1994). 
Such transfers and successes could easily be perceived in effect as welfare payments 
which begs the question as to whether there is a form of back-handed welfarism going 
on in Singapore? The government says no and is quick to denounce the existence of 
welfarism and especially hand-outs. Instead, they draw a distinction between the 
provision of social infrastructure in order to support and advance economic 
development and social welfare in the form of service and money transfers. Although 
welfare here entails massive' subsidies, these are. considered an investment 
contributing to the quality of labour and increasing production levels and output (Lim, 
1989). 
This means that subsidies or assistance are not entitlements or a right as a citizen and 
that welfare is a matter of public and private charity so that those who receive 
assistance "owe a debt of gratitude to their benefactors, coupled perhaps with a touch 
of humility, even shame" (Sunday Times, 14 June 1994: 3). Such a distinction, 
therefore, acts to remove expectations for state subsidies as an entitlement and 
advances the importance of self-reliance (Liew, 1994: 53). This has been called the 
rpoor law tradition' (Asher, 1994: 56) where public money is not seen to be 'wasted' 
on the 'undeserving' (Dixon, 1986). 
The government cite this as a distinction between income-subsidy and asset- 
enhancement, or in the words of Deputy Prime Minister Lee, "We will help you to 
build up your assets, but we don't really want to help you have spending money every 
10 There is a distinction between social welfare provisions and social security. According to the ILO 
(1984: 3), social security is defined as "the protection which society provides for its members, through a 
series of public measures, against the economic and social distress that otherwise would be caused by 
the stoppage or substantial reduction of earnings resulting from sickness, maternity, employment injury, 
unemployment, invalidity, old age and death; the provision of medical care; and the provision of 
subsidies for families with children". Social security therefore only refers to state measures that seek to 
maintain income and assist with the costs of healthcare and raising children (Ramesh, 1992: 1094). Of 
significance, this does not include housin- or education. Meanwhile, social welfare is a broader 
concept, which Lim (1989: 17 1) writes, is traditionally a goal of development. This is the provision of 
basic needs, usually nutrition, healthcare, employment, education, housing, utilities and, sometimes, 
social security. 
213 
month7' (Straits Times, 18 September 1994: 6). He continues "What we want to do, 
more than we used to in the past, is help Singaporeans develop a portfolio of assets. 
Not just a home, but a total package. So that there are rewards for being a citizen" 
(ibid. 7). This focus on assets has resulted in the extensive range and cover of 
subsidies for housing, education and health so that social welfare provision in 
Singapore is directed at the majority of the population and not focused on the low 
income. This is a great strength of welfare provision in Singapore, and judging from 
the statistics, has been a successful approach. 
However, the existence of assets alone is not enough if a household or individual does 
not have the capability or entitlement to transfer these into income, food and other 
basic needs. In Singapore, access and the capacity to transform assets into 'rewards' is 
integrally linked to the notion of 'citizenship' and as the following discussion 
demonstrates, it is certain types of 'citizens' who are rewarded and gain access to 
different assets. In order to participate and be included, therefore, a household or 
individual must 'fit in' to mould of the 'healthy Singaporean family' as promoted by 
the government. This does not include, for example, dysfunctional or single-parent 
families. 
Furthermore, despite the decline in poverty and the widespread provision of social 
infrastructure, Cheah (1990: 323) argues that "The treatment of the poor in Singapore 
is clearly incongruent with the wealth resources of the city-state, and with its 
aspirations for developed-country stat&'. In particular, there remain large gaps and 
deficiencies especially in the provision of social security and insurance for the 
unemployed and elderly in Singapore. Social security does not actually include 
education and housing programmes since they do not protect against crisis or change. 
Meanwhile, the move towards the private sector as service provider and the shift of 
costs onto the consumer in particular raises questions with regards to limitations, 
adequacy, access and equity. Indeed Ramesh (1992: 1093) argues that "the direction in 
which the Singapore government is moving is unlikely to lead to sufficient social 
protection for the weaker sections of society", yet, it is these 'weaker sections' who 
are most at risk. 
214 
The current focus and interest in welfare has also been questioned. Liew (1994: 52-54) 
argues that this interest and the announcement of a welfare policy, although being in 
response to the growing differences and cleavages between different classes becoming 
more obvious and less tolerable, is actually in response to political fears. He continues 
that the political legitimacy of the government is dependent upon its ability to provide 
economic development, social infrastructure and welfare for the nation and that 
growing social divisions, therefore, could act to undermine this legitimacy and 
especially the mcial harmony achieved. Similarly, Liew (1993) and Rodan (1996) 
point towards the influence of the growing affluence in Singapore and its potential to 
undermine economic productivity and national solidarity. 
Meanwhile, others have highlighted the levels of state paternalism as the government 
defines public interest, sets agendas and formulates strategies to achieve this (Asher, 
1994; Lim, 1989). Indeed, Pilger (1995) writes that the great achievement of the PAP 
has not been social security but social control. Policy has always been utilised as a 
political instrument in Singapore primarily to ensure stability, support and growth, but 
also to achieve a range of specific goals and promote social objectives such as the use 
of housing to mould the population, achieve spatial planning, promote ethnic harmony 
and keep families small. The welfare message of the 'next lap' is no different and has 
been interpreted as a policy vehicle to inculcate the appropriate values especially that 
of filial piety which is integrally linked to the delivery of welfare in Singapore. This 
has not gone unnoticed by the electorate who, when asked in a survey what they 
thought government subsidies were for, 63 per cent answered that they were aimed at 
helping the government to win more votes (Straits Times, 19 September 1994: 7). The 
background and philosophy behind the provision of welfare in Singapore are therefore 
as crucial as the economics and statistics and in particular determine what benefits 
will be offered and to whom. In the next section I therefore look at the philosophy 
behind welfare policy in Singapore. 
215 
7.3: 'Many helping hands': the delivery of welfare 
][ý pursuing excellence, we should not forget the less fortunate in our midst. 
Our guiding principle is to help them stand on their own two feet with 
dignity and pride, with many helping hands. The government will play its 
part but we must avoid the pitfalls of a welfare state. 
Government of Singapore (1991: 16; emphasis added) 
By rejecting the ideas of a welfare state and social security, the aim to create a more 
caring and level society in Singapore was not to be achieved by the state. Instead, 
social and welfare planning was to be built upon the notion of 'many helping hands' 
which emphasises the roles of others in welfare, in particular adhering to the provision 
of welfare through the family, community and private institutions. Such a strategy 
serves to promote the pillars of welfare as self-help and community assistance and the 
belief that continued economic growth will address the basic social needs of the 
population (Salaff, 1988; Tay, 1991). What the government offers is a buoyant labour 
market in a meritocratic society as its welfare strategy so that it is up to the individual 
to work hard and save for their own and their children's needs and futures 
(Government of Singapore, 1991; Ministry of Community Development, 1996a; 
Rodan, 1993). Welfare, therefore, would not be viewed as a state-funded 
responsibility and any notions of dependency on the state are discouraged, whilst the 
task of caring for the poor and needy would be transferred largely to the family and 
community. 
The government argues that these groups are better placed to offer welfare relief Mr 
Chew of the Ministry of Community Development (pers. comm., February 1996) 
argued that these groups have "built-in limits, because they have to raise funds for the 
services they provide but are also able to exert a moral suasion on people to get back 
on their feet". 
In order to achieve this the government have focused their policies on two areas, first, 
the promotion of communitarianism and the role of the voluntary sector, and second, 
the advancement of policies which focus on 'healthy' families. These are now high on 
216 
the political agenda and have largely been based on an active programme promoting 
Singaporean and Asian 'values' and 'identity"'. In the 1990S12, the PAP focused 
planning on cultural values and in particular a national ideology for Singapore which 
was to be built on the concepts of productivity, meritocracy and racial harmony and 
appeal to the notions of communitarianism and national survival. Jackie Choo of the 
MCD Policy Division (pers. comm., February 1996) stressed these values: "We are very 
wary of individualism here. There is a Confucius saying that you must put the state 
before country, before home, before self The whole is greater than the sum of its parts". 
Such notions of family and collectives mean that until recently, the differential effects of 
such pro-active state planning on a number of different groups in Singapore has been 
ignored and only slight attention given to the impact on the experiences of the poor 
(Davidson and Drakakis-Smith, 1997). 
73.1: The role of the state 
Due to the enormous amount of state subsidies and therefore involvement of 
government policy in areas of social welfare, it is important to explicate state welfare 
programmes and assess the extent to which these address the needs of the poor, 
disadvantaged and vulnerable. Although statistical evidence points to the provision of 
welfare in the form of housing, education and health, this offers no indication as to 
whether it is universal provision available to all or whether specific gaps or exclusions 
exist. The forms of assistance which do exist in Singapore are limited but can be used 
to illustrate what benefits the government does provide as well as who it includes and 
considers important and deserving. 
Table 7.1 offers an overview of the main social security programmes and policies 
available for citizens in Singapore. What this shows is that Singapore has, in some- 
form or another, the same programmes as one would expect to find in most other 
countries, including Western nations. The most obvious exceptions to this, however, 
are unemployment benefits and a state sponsored pension. These are briefly discussed 
below. 
See Chapter 3. 
Although this was in evidence earlier. 
217 
Table 7.1: Welfare and social security programmes in Singapore 
, t----ýPolicyfflrogf`2'mme-ýý 
Criteria 
, Benefit 
Income maintenance 
Central Provident Fund 
Compulsory savings scheme contributing 
Withdrawal at age 55 years or earlier for 
(CPF) 
a fixed percentage of wages (401/o) to a 
house purchasing or investment scheme. 
retirement account. 6% of savings also to 
Medisave to cover basic health costs. 
Medisave 
For needy citizens who because of age, 
Monthly rates between $180 for a single 
Public Assistance 
illness, disability or circumstance are 
person household to $535 for 4-person 
Scheme 
unable to work and have no one to 
household. 
depend on 
Aims to help low income couples and 
Eligible families receive annual bursary 
Small Families 
widows own HDB flats and assist them 
of $200-$800 for education and an 
Improvement Scheme 
in their children's education. 
annual conditional housing grant of $800 
(SFIS) 
to help buy their own flat This sum is 
paid into the wife's CPF account for 20 
years or until she turns 45. 
Destitute 
Government homes 
2 government homes for the destitute, 
Shelter, food and support provided until 
homeless and vagrants found by Beggar 
family found or resettled in community 
Control Unit 
at soon as possible. 
Housing 
Rent and Utilities 
Families living in I- or 2-roorn HDB 
Assists low-income families who are in 
Assistance Scheme 
rental flats or those in 3-roorn rental 
rental and utilities arrears with I IDB and 
(RUAS) 
considered on case by case basis 
PUB by paying their monthly bills 
Health 
Subsidiscd medical care 
For those who cannot afford normal fees 
Different grades provided. Subsidies 
or medical costs 
available depending on class of ward. 
201/o for class B 1,65% for class B2 and 
80% for class C. 
Medifund 
An endowment fund to help the poor 
Amount depends on individual 
who still have problems paying their 
circumstances, financial background and 
medical bills despite subsidies, Medisave 
the size of bill 
and help from family. 
Education 
MoE Financial 
Available to students whose family net 
At primary school, 50% of standard fees 
Assistance 
monthly income does not exceed $500 
are waived and textbook grant given. At 
for families with I or 2 children, and 
secondary level, a full waiver of fees 
$600 for 3 or more. 
Childcare 
Government childcare 
For working mothers only and is given as 
Working mothers who use childcare 
subsidy 
incentive to encourage mothers to work 
services are entitled to subsidies of $150 
for a fulI-day and $75 for half regardless 
of income level. 
Assistance scheme targeted at low- 
Centre-based Financial 
income households. T'he mother must be 
Based on a 2-tier scale of $50 or $100 
Assistance Scheme for 
working or actively looking for work to 
dependent on the net income and number 
Childcare (CFAC) 
qualify , 
of household members 
Sources: Asher (1994); Ministry of Community Development (1995a; 1996ab). 
218 
73.1.1: Social welfare: health, housing, education and children 
In the early 1980s, policy shifted towards the privatisation of welfare provision and 
transferring the costs onto the user. The first significant area of social welfare which 
the government proposed should be funded this way was health. This witnessed the 
transfer of emphasis towards health as a commodity to be sold for profit and at the 
same time a decrease in health expenditure by the government (Asher, 1994; Ramesh, 
1992). In line with this policy shift, the government introduced the Medisave 
compulsory savings scheme in 1984 which allocated 6 per cent of earnings to this 
fund to help meet health care costs. 
For the destitute, however, there exists free or subsidised health care provided through 
a variety of class of wards, for example, those using the lowest class of ward, class C, 
pay only 15 per cent of their health costs. In 1991, the government also established an 
endowment fund called Medifund to help those who did not have adequate savings in 
their Medisave accounts. 
Despite the sophistication and many strengths of health services in Singapore, it 
remains extremely weak as a social security system. For example, the Medisave 
scheme, whilst forcing people to save for their health costs, excludes those who do not 
participate on a regular basis in the formal labour market or who are earning low 
wages. Access to health care therefore is determined by levels of income and savings 
rather than to the degree of need. There are also certain conditions which apply as to 
what this fund can be used for so expenditure outside this area must be paid for in 
cash. 
Those who are excluded from Medisave must rely on Medifund or subsidised health 
care, however the criteria for these are harsh; for example, the government stresses 
that "help from Medifund will not be an entitlemenf' (Straits Times, 7 January 1992) 
whilst the employment of one family member disqualifies any application (Ramesh, 
219 
1992). Furthermore, the recent reduction in Class C beds and subsidies 13 has led to 
overcrowding and a lack of resources. 
Education in Singapore is believed to be the most effective way of improving the 
living standards of the poor (Ministry of Community Development, 1996a). As such, 
the Ministry of Education provides educational assistance to low-income families and 
help with the costs of fees and textbooks. Again, however, the criteria for these 
subsidies are considered stringent since household income must not exceed $500 for 
families with one or two children and $600 for those with three or more 14 . 
Increasingly, the government has assigned more help to those with housing needs, in 
particular offering households incentives and easier routes to upgrade from rental to 
owned properties as part of their home ownership campaign. For example, one 
scheme aims to sell rental flats to their current sitting tenants which offers reduced 
prices and 100 per cent mortgages, Whilst other schemes encourage tenants to also 
upgrade to larger flats when they buy and are given priority allocation and a mortgage 
loan of up to 95 per cent if they earn less than $1200 per month and buy a 4-roorn flat. 
It is commendable that the government wishes to include the low-income in this 
upgrading process. However, this drive has recurrent costs and often forces 
households into a situation which they cannot afford resulting in debts and arrears as 
well as diminishing the rental housing stock. Although there does exist the Rent and 
Utilities Scheme (RUAS) to assist low-income families in arrears with the HDB and 
Public Utilities Board (PUB), this is based on very tight criteria, available only to 
those living in rental accommodation, and in particular 1-2 rooms, excluding owner 
occupiers despite their identification as one of the most vulnerable groups. The 
government, however, are aware of this as Jackie Choo of the Policy Unit, MCD, 
explained: 
There is a new group emerging who own 34 room flats and we need to think 
about extending RUAS to them. Housing polices have recently promoted the 
low-income to own their houses and offered positive incentives and made then 
13 It was not clear why these were being reduced. 
14 Tliis mirTors the MEE figures. 
220 
easier to acquire. However, there are recurrent costs which have not been taken 
into consideration and the quantum of the move has been too much for many. 
They get into arrears which then triggers other problems so this is when FSCs 
[Family Service Centre] must come into play. 
Finally; although it is not strictly a form of social welfare, another very significant 
form of subsidy offered by the government is for childcare'5 In 1995 a key 
recommendation of the Inter-Ministerial Committee Report was to encourage women 
into the workplace and remain there after childbirth. This was to be achieved through 
generous childcare subsidies and tax relief so that the MCD make subsidies available 
to any working mother, regardless of income, to the amounts of $150 for a full day 
and $75 for a half. In addition to this there also exists the Centre-based Financial 
Assistance Scheme for Childcare (CFAC) offered by the NCSS which targets low- 
income families and is based on a two tier system offering an extra $50 or $100 
depending upon the household income and number of household members (Pers. 
comm. Ismail Elias, Childcare Division, MCD, February 1996). 
The principle behind these subsidies is that they are only available to working mothers 
and therefore exclude mothers who are not working. In turn, this means that subsidies 
are not related to need and do not give priority to the low-income who may need 
childcare in order to look for work in the first place. This has been raised as a 
consistent concern as the low income remain deprived because they are unable to 
afford places and do not work, and is now being reviewed by the MCD (pers. comm. 
Jackie Choo, Policy unit, MCD). In the caselof single parents, Ismail Elias (Childcare 
Division, MCD) explained "applications can only be received from single parents if 
they are working and it usually preferred if they are married and the child has a 
father". The CFAC scheme also works on strict criteria and even where schemes are 
made available to the low-income there is still a significant cash input required since 
lowest fees are around $350-380 per month. 
" Children's allowances in Singapore are extremely generous but are generally available to young, 
educated mothers usually in the form of tax rebates and relief, and again not related to need. 
221 
7.3.1.2: Social security 
Although there is not in existence a public safety net in Singapore, the Central 
Provident Fund (CPF) acts as the principal income maintenance and pension 
16 
programme in Singapore (Asher, 1994) . This is a compulsory savings scheme which 
requires employers and employees to contribute a fixed percentage to a retirement 
account and is managed by the government. This percentage has fluctuated since the 
CPF began in 1955, for example, during the recession in 1985-86 employers 
contributions were reduced 17 , but in 1996 stood at 40 per cent of wages which was 
divided equally between employer and worker (CPF, 1996). Withdrawals can be made 
from the fund at 55 years of age and not before unless it is used for housing or another 
approved investment scheme. This is essentially a pension fund with the advantage of 
being at no cost to the government, a fact which has contributed to the increasing 
international attention given to the scheme (Smith, 1996). In other words, it is the 
government's way of ensuring that its citizens pay for their retirement, housing and 
health 18 (Lim, 1989). 
The implicit assumption of the CPF, like Medisave, is that all citizens are working 
and earning a regular wage from which they, and their employers, make regular 
contributions. The CPF, therefore, offers no protection to those earning little or 
nothing or who have gaps in their working lives. Such a fact means that the CPF 
cannot actually be thought of as a form of social security since funds are determined 
by one's position in the labour market and not according to need. However, even entry 
into the workforce does not ensure inclusion. In 1991, only 68 per cent of the labour 
force were contributing (Asher, 1994) whilst Ramesh (1992: 1095) estimates that 20 
per cent of the labour force are excluded from contributing due to low wages, 
temporary or part-time work. Furthermore, Rao (1995: 36) argues that if a person was 
over 20 years old in 1975 they will not be able to meet even the most modest levels 
for retirement, and in 2015 they will account for one-fifth of the population. The 
16 Interest in the CPF is increasing, especially from Western nations (cf footnote 4) 
17 These were reduced again due to the currency crisis in 1997 and have only recently been increased 
(Straits Times, 27 November 1999). 
" Six per cent of contributions are now also paid into a Medisave account for medical expenses. 
222 
Advisory Council of the Aged (1988) puts this figure even higher. Meanwhile, the 
average balance in 1991 was S$20,415, almost a third short of the government's 
minimum S$30,000 for retirement whilst this figure dropped to $4,775 for the over 60 
age group (Asher, 1994: 24; Tyabji, 1987). 
There also exists a crucial gender element. According to a study by the Straits Times 
(2 October 1988), by the year 2000,19 per cent of men will not have any CPF savings 
by the time they are 60 years old, whilst this figure increases to 34 per cent for 
women. Similarly, in a survey by the Singapore Council of Women's Organisations 
(1989: 20) of married women in public housing,. they found that only 72 per cent of 
women had benefits whilst this figure dropped significantly for women working in 
transport or manual work (50 and 40 per cent respectively). This reflects the higher 
incidence of female workers being found in lower paying jobs, part-time work and 
experiencing significant gaps in their working lives, usually due to childbirth and 
rearing (Asher, 1994). 
Acute deficits exist therefore in this programme and no safety net exists if someone 
retires with insufficient funds through lack of contributions or overextending in 
purchasing their HDB flat. Smith (1996: 5) remarks that "this is a very sobering 
thought". In such circumstances, other than selling their house (if it is owned), the 
government encourages the family and others in the community to fill the gaps in 
welfare and income. This will be discussed in the following section and is a crucial 
element especially as household size decreases and the aged increase so impacting 
significantly on dependency levels of the future. 
Finally, this is a compulsory scheme which is entirely controlled and managed by the 
state. Questions have increasingly been asked therefore as to the motives behind the 
scheme since it provides the government with the largest amount of state savings in 
the world from which they make vast profits (Lim, 1989). The two most important 
elements of wealth and assets in Singapore (the CPF and housing) are therefore 
completely in the hands of the government and its policies. 
223 
There exists only one form of government hand-out for financial maintenance in 
Singapore. This is the Public Assistance Scheme (PAS) which is administered by the 
MCD "to Provide a monthly allowance to help families/individuals in financial 
distress to meet their basic needs" (MCD, 1990) and is given "to needy Singaporean 
citizens who by reason of age, illness or unfavourable family circumstances are unable 
to work and have no-one to depend on! ' (ibid. ). This, however, translates into the 
elderly who are often migrants with no family and who account for 90 per cent of PAS 
payments; the other 10 per cent going to the handicapped, widows and orphans (Lim 
et al., 1988). Furthermore, rates of payment (Table 7.2) are consistently below MHE 
subsistence levels, in some cases by up to 25 per cent (Asher, 1991; 1997; Lim, 1989). 
Table 7.2: Public Assistance Rates, 1995 (S$) 
Household Size 
-PAS Ratc 
1-person household 
$180 per month 
2-person household 
2 adults 
$270 per month 
I adult, I child 
$330 per month 
3-person household 
3adults 
$340 per month 
2 adults, I child 
$400 per month 
I adult, 2 children 
$445 per month 
4-person household 
3 adults, I child 
$450 per month 
2 adults, 2 children 
$495 per month 
I adult, 3 children 
$535 per month 
(max. ) 
Source: pers. comm., MCD (October, 1995) 
Such a programme is in line with the government's aversion to welfare payments and 
role as provider. The extremely stringent criteria and eligibility, coupled with the 
meagre payments succeeds in discouraging applicants and reinforcing the labour 
market as the main source of income (Ramesh, 1992) as Mr Chew of the Elderly 
Division, MCD, explained: "The PAS is very minimum in order to be a stop-gap and 
not encourage dependency". In comparison to the charity sector who assigned $8.6 
million to income assistance, in 1987, the government spent only $3.4 million (Tyabji, 
1987: 26). 
224 
A final type of maintenance scheme is the Small Families Improvement Scheme 
(SFIS). This was a new scheme introduced by Prime Minister Goh in 1994 after a 
government study showed that families who are most likely to be experiencing 
problems are those with more that 3 or 4 children, living in rented flats and who 
cannot afford to upgrade. Jackie Choo of the Policy Unit, MCD, continued that: "they 
tend to live 'hand to mouth', have no savings and get into arrears. RUAS is only 
supposed to be a stop-gap measure but this isn't really happening and people are 
becoming reliant on it. You have no incentive if you have no assets". 
The scheme aims to help low income couples own their HDB flat and assist with their 
children's education and is available to those with a certain income criteria and where 
the wife is under 30 years old and in an intact family. Parliament in 1996, however, 
increased this age limit and extended the criteria to include widows (Pers. comm. 
Esther Goh, HELP FSQ. Families who are eligible receive bursaries for education 
and to assist with purchasing a house. The sum is paid into the wife's CPF account 19 
for 20 years or until she turns 45 years old. 
Initial feedback however has shown that the uptake rate has not been as high as 
expected. Jackie Choo (policy unit, MCD) explains that this may be due to the fact 
that: 
They [applicants] must sign a clause to say they won't have more than two 
children but they don't want to be tied down like this. If they have three or 
more kids then they cannot apply. There is no specific scheme for those with 3 
or 4 children even though they were targeted as the problem group. The 
population policy since the 1970s was to 'stop at two' and the government 
were very successfid in persuading the population to follow policies. Then the 
policy was changed and many were not happy and many questions asked. 
Families in this scheme were therefore required to sign a contract agreeing to have no 
more than two children. If this agreement was broken, then bursaries were to be paid 
back and since these were paid into the wife's account, she would liable for 
repayment. Furthermore, the inclusion of widows in the eligibility list distinguished 
19 Jackie Choo (NICD) indicated that it was paid into the wife's account since it was believed she would 
be more responsible. 
225 
them from other, 'less deserving' single parents who were divorced, separated or 
never married. 
73.13: Welfare gaps 
Despite this apparently extensive range of assistance, Ramesh (1992: 1100) writes that 
benefits here are "marked by low public funding, fragmentation, incomplete coverage, 
and a heavy reliance on inequitable policy instruments". Although infiustructure 
programmes and massive subsidies are provided by the state in Singapore, primarily 
through its housing, education and health programmes, these are not considered to 
emanate from welfare concerns but from political needs and act as instruments to 
ftniher state policy on industrialisation and economic development (Beng, 1991; 
Grice and Drakakis-Smith, 1985). Furthermore, these extravagant investments should 
be contrasted against actual assistance and security offered to the poor through the 
range of limited and inflexible schemes. Cheah (1990: 323) argues that; "The 
treatment of the poor in Singapore is clearly incongruent with the wealth resources of 
the city-state, and with its aspirations to developed-country status". 
Where assistance schemes do exist these are usually available only to the stringently 
tested poor whilst benefits are not necessarily related to need, but to the ability to earn 
and save. This is especially the case for the CPF, Medisave and Edusave whilst, in 
contrast, extremely generous programs and benefits exist especially to encourage 
educated, middle-class mothers to enter or remain in the labour market. This is a clear 
illustration of the use of state subsidies to mould the population and exclude certain 
individuals, households and whole groups. It also exposes important gaps and failures 
in social security and welfare, or in the words of Ramesh (1992: 1105): 
Poverty in Singapore is not restricted to the aged, disabled and vagrant, as 
seems to be the presumption of the public assistance programme. To cajole 
the working poor to work hard and save more for fmancial contingencies 
displays as much callousness as ignorance of the causes of poverty. 
One of the most consistently excluded groups are single parents since they do not 
represent a 'normal' or 'healthy' family and go against the government's pro-family 
226 
philosophy and poliqýo. This is open discrimination which the government feels is 
essential to keep families together since this is the building block of Singaporean 
society, and if families begin to break down, then so too will the community and 
society. Gerardine Nonis-Yap of HELP FSC (pers. comm. January, 1996) explained 
that for single parents "there is a lack of policy because they go against the gain of 
healthy fandly creation. Singapore is very frightened of what has happened in the 
USA and so implements hindrance rather an aid-type policies". Different groups, 
therefore, will experience government philosophy and policy regulations in a variety 
of ways, which will impact upon the ways in which people and households experience 
poverty. It is the poor and uneducated especially who are most likely to have. their 
freedoms of choice curtailed and have a greater degree of constraints imposed upon 
them in attempts to promote the notion of a 'normal' or 'healthy' family. 
The government itself admits that these schemes are not intended to help all and that 
welfare is only designed to target the most 'needy'. In the words of Senior Minister 
Rajarathnam, "We want to reduce welfare to the minimum, restricted only to those 
who are handicapped or old. To the others we offer equal opportunities and it is up to 
them what they make of [them]. Everybody can be rich if they try hard" (quoted in 
Vasil, 1984: 168). These two groups, the elderly and handicapped, are considered 
eligible for state help since they are individuals who are unable to help themselves 
through no fault of their own. They represent a 'deserving' poor who cannot be 
blamed for their own poverty. The current target on the elderly is especially a priority 
and dominates welfare and social service provision. This is related to the increasing 
numbers of the population entering old age in Singapore and who have insufficient 
CPF'savings usually because the scheme did not start until 1955 whilst this group 
would also have worked at a time of very low wages, and since many were migrants 
are now often without family support. The elderly are now the greatest concern of the 
government for the future as numbers will increase significantly over the next few 
decades whilst the working population will begin to decrease, pushing up dependency 
ratios and the demands on the family. 
20 ibis will be discussed more fully in Chapter 8. 
'227 
The gaps which are left by government policies are expected to be met by the private 
sector, the community and family and friends. The market orientation of services and 
shifting costs of welfare onto the consumer is most evident in the provision of health 
care, which has now been partially privatised, and in programmes such as CPF and 
Medisave. However, it is now widely recognised that the market is especially unequal 
and cannot promote equality. Such distortions and the impacts of rapid change, 
Ramesh (1992: 1109) argues, can only be corrected by the state. Meanwhile, with the 
promotion of the marketplace and labour market, Thung (1990) argues, it has been 
forgotten that not everyone is fortunately endowed or able to keep up with the 
upgrading process or have the capacity to succeed in the workplace. 
In conclusion, social security here is under-fimded, limited, incomplete, inadequate 
and exclusionary and does not appear the be helping needy citizens to 'level up' or 
'run the next lap'. The goverm-nent, however, believes that the population are already 
too dependent and therefore extols self-help to make people responsible for their own 
poverty (Salaff, 1988). At the same time, these gaps in welfare are expected to be 
filled by 'many helping hands' as policy expands the role of others in welfare, and 
especially the family, as the main sources of support (Advisory Committee on the 
Aged, 1988). 
7.3.2: Voluntary welfare organisations 
As part of the 'many helping hands' initiative, a range of individuals and groups have 
been encouraged and are expected to play their part in the provision of welfare. Of 
particular significance in Singapore is the community level represented by community 
organisations, religious groups, self-help groups and voluntary organisations. Playing 
an intermediary role between the goverm-nent and the family, this voluntary welfare 
sector is vital as it has the greatest amount of contact with those who are poor or 
disadvantaged and offers the majority of social services with volunteers and social 
workers within these organisations playing a crucial role as the main social service 
providers in Singapore. 
228 
In particular, I focus here on voluntary welfare organisations (VWO)21 since they are 
the most directly involved with the welfare and well-being of the disadvantaged and 
vulnerable and who exist "to promote the quality of life of the disadvantaged and to 
enable them to participate in mainstream society and share in the nation's progress" 
(Yap, 1991: viii) and "enhance opportunities for the socially disadvantaged to 
maximise their potential" (Thung, 1991: 2). In 1996,187 VWOs were registered with 
the National Council of Social Services (NCSS), the umbrella and funding body to 
which all VWOs must be affiliated. Of these, 75 provide direct services to the public 
whilst the remainder support objectives through activities such as fund-raising (pers. 
comm. Belen Tan, family welfare division, MCD, February, 1996). 
Voluntary welfare organisations provide the vast majority of social services in 
Singapore and Table 7.3 offers examples of the range of VWOs which exist and the 
extent of services and programmes available. An interesting feature of VWOs is the 
ethnic and religious dimension evident in the delivery of welfare services. This is 
partly because most organisations have been set up by religious bodies and societies, 
for example, HELP FSC was started by Sister Margaret of the Canossian Sisters' in 
1984 whilst Bukit Ho Swee Social Service Centre, formerly known as the Nazareth 
Centre, was established by a group of local churches in 1969. 
However, it is also connected to the notion of communitarianism in Singapore which, 
although fundamental to the shared values and promoting the collective over the 
individual and embracing all ethnic groups together (Chua, 1994), is still divided 
along ethnic lines. Ramesh (1992) argues that the sense of a Singaporean community 
has been over-exaggerated and resulted in the growing provision of welfare and social 
services by ethnic-based groups. This trend began in 1982 with the formation of 
Mendaki, a Malay self-help group, in reaction to the growing needs of the Malay 
community who were not keeping up with economic development as well as other 
ethnic groups (Teo and Ooi, 1996). This group are also believed to be the most 
community-spirited: "T'he Malays are the most strongly knitted, probably because of 
21 These were also the organisations I worked with in Singapore. These are separate from community 
organisations such as CCs and Residents CCs which are grassroots organisations in the community 
directly controlled by government (Hill and Lian, 1995). 
229 
Islam. They are very good with their old and the family is very together. There are lots 
of problems in the Malay community though, especially drug abuse which is very very 
higlf' (Jackie Choo, policy unit, MCD). 
Table 7.3: Examples of voluntary welfare organisations and services 
Volunt r "Welfýii Organisations 
'-Typýj! DfServices, ý, -ý'ý, 
Ang Mo Kio Social Service Centre 
Counselling 
Asian Women's Welfare Association 
Case work 
Bukit Ho Swee Social Service Centre 
Community based programmes 
Catholic Welfare Services 
Information and referral 
Help Every Lone Parent Family Service Centre 
Residential services 
Henderson Senior Citizen Home, 
Financial assistance 
Islamic Theological Association of Singapore 
Food rations 
Mendaki 
Day care 
McPherson Moral Family Service Centre 
Family life education 
SINDA 
Senior citizen's clubs 
Singapore Anglican Welfare Council 
Befricnders service 
Singapore Buddhist Welfare Services 
Funeral services 
Singapore Children's Society 
Before and after school care 
Sri Sathya Sai Society of Singapore 
Tuition and education bursaries 
Young Women Muslim Association 
Moral guidance 
This was closely followed, however, by equivalents for the Indian (SINDA), Chinese 
(CDAQ and Eurasian (EAS) populations. The government have expressed an 
uneasiness about this trend, however, since they represent displays of ethnic divisions 
rather than unity, harmony and Singaporean communitarianism. (Ishak, 1994). 
However, of greater concern has been the unequal abilities for these organisations to 
support their communities since some members of the community, because of their 
ethnicity, will receive superior forms of support. In particular, CDAC has displayed 
quite obviously its greater levels of fmancial assistance and resources for the Chinese 
community, whom, some would argue, are not the most in need (ibid. ). 
Gerardine Nonis-Yap of HELP FSC, however, also draws attention to the importance 
of these organisations because of the cultural and ethnic differences in the processes 
of coping. In many non-denominational organisations, she argues, certain groups feel 
ostracised and excluded. For example, in HELP FSC she highlighted the difficulty of 
helping Indian clients: "because of language and caste ... when speaking to the Indian 
groups they construct themselves very differently and there are sectors who see 
230 
themselves as a minority group and feel very isolated". In these cases, clients are often 
referred to relevant ethnic self-help organisations. 
Perhaps more important and influential than the role of ethnicity, however, is the role 
of the government. Although the NCSS is considered a non-governmental agency it 
was actually set up by the government and works closely with a range of departments, 
especially the Ministry of Community Development. Furthermore, VWOs are eligible 
to apply for grants from the fund-raising division of the NCSS, the Community Chest. 
This was established by the government in 1984 to raise and allocate funds for NCSS- 
affiliated charity organisationSý2 . The maximurn amount of funding however is 50 per 
tent with the rest having to be raised from public and private donations (Pers. comm., 
Thung Syn Neo, NCSS), although not all applications are successful as the amount of 
funds cannot meet demand (pers. comm. Mr. Fong, SAGE, January 1996). 
This position of VWOs is important. Heng, C. (1994: 16) notes that although the 
government avoids direct involvement with social security and the poor, its increased 
control over the NCSS and Community Chest provides the state with indirect control 
over VWOs and, therefore, its clients. He continues that VWOs should, therefore, be 
viewed in reference to their location within a network of government bodies and as 
agents of government policy and control (ibid. ). Consequently, the guiding principles 
of the voluntary sector mirror the government's discourse and philosophy on poverty 
and welfare, that is, first, to help the disadvantaged to help themselves, and second, 
that help should be given from many sources, or 'many helping hands' (Government 
of Singapore, 1991; Yap, 1991). 
More realistically, voluntary welfare organisations represent a type of government- 
voluntary sector collaboration whereby the state oversees and legislates for this sector 
whilst VWOs provide direct social services. In general, it is believed that this is 
successful although concern has increasingly been voiced about the control the 
government maintains over welfare despite their 'non-welfare' approach: 
22 Funding is from government, public and private donations. 
231 
I think the VWO-government collaboration works because the government 
isn't directly involved. But NC [Nazareth Centre]23 used to be completely 
independent and we preferred it that way as there were no strings attached and 
no expectations. This all changed in 1994 when we got funding from the 
Community Chest. Now we have an obligation to national policy but these may 
not fit our plans and we are no longer autonomous. 
Gerard Ee (Bukit Ho Swee SSC) 
The difference between us [SAGE] and other senior citizen's clubs is that we 
are non-governmental and so can plan our own activities and don't need their 
[government] approval. Once you are government funded, they want to control 
you. 
Mr. Fong (SAGE) 
Despite this pivotal role in the provision of welfare there exists no comprehensive 
study of the extent and nature of the needs of the disadvantaged in Singapore or the 
extent to which these have been met by either the government, voluntary welfare 
services or any other 'helping hands'. Discussions within the voluntary sector revealed 
however that in many areas demand outstripped supply with Thung (1991) estimating 
that the voluntary welfare sector serves only about 20 per cent of the community's 
needs: 
The government are beginning to realise that people, especially women, need 
artificial support services. There is a very big contradiction in gender. They 
[government] are encouraging Bukit Ho Swee to provide these services but 
this is not good enough because services are always full and with waiting lists. 
Gerard Ee (Bukit Ho SWee SSC) 
in discussions with social workers and volunteers in Singapore, the majority 
expressed concern over the lack of services. Looking just at the example of services 
for disadvantaged families, this illustrates the extent to which services and the 
capability of the welfare sector are limited. There are 16 VWOs which provide 
services for this group, all of which acknowledge, not only their inadequate income, 
but also their accompanying multiple problems. Goh (1991) highlights five particular 
areas where the needs of this significant group are not met: 
23 This is now called Bukit Ho Swee Social Service Centre but is still referred to as NC. 
232 
Financial assistance: This is token in nature. Three schemes available are RUAS, 
PAS and financial aid provided by VWOs but amounts are usually insufficient and 
do not cover monthly expenditure. An estimated II per cent of the 38,000 
disadvantaged families receive assistance: 2880 families on PAS, 1241 on financial 
aid and 120 receiving RUAS24. 
Low-cost child care facilities: There is a limited supply of these with only 200 
places secured for low-income households It is conservatively estimated by the 
NCSS that around 6000 places are actually required. This means that low-income 
households cannot increase their income since childcare fees are beyond their reach 
and women are unable to seek employment. 
Before and after school care: There is an increasing awareness of the need for 
these services but only II VWOs operate affordable schemes with a total of 520 
places 
Tuition: In total, there are 632 places for underachieving students. Goh (1991) 
remarks that a more holistic approach is required to make programmes more 
effective 
Help for single parents: This is extremely limited. Although numbers remain 
small (an estimated 3900 households are single parene), the numbers are 
increasing. Despite this, only 2 agencieS26 exist to assist single parents with places 
for only 470 families whilst single parents remain excluded from many assistance 
schemes. 
The lack of adequate services and funding is openly acknowledged within the 
voluntary welfare sector 27 . Yap (1991: viii) writes that this is due to a number of 
factors including the shortage of resources, difficulty in recruiting professional and 
care staff and high levels of social worker 'bum-out' (Cheung, 1991), difficulty in 
acquiring adequate premises, constraints due to the lack of information and research 
on services and demand as well as lack of client awareness, and finally, the low level 
of volunteer involvement. For a nation heavily dependent on its voluntary sector, only 
6 per cent of the population is involved in voluntary service provision compared to 32 
per cent in the USA and even more in the UK (Ramesh, 1992). This has been related 
to the lack of time available in a society which pressurises it citizens to strive for 
excellence, care for family members, work long hours and still donate time to the 
community (Ho, 1993). Although it has also been argued that the new breed of 
Singaporean is too materialistic and is mostly ignorant of the needs of those less 
fortunate whilst the notion of communitarianism in Singapore has been exaggerated 
(Financial Times, 1995; Liew, 1993; Ramesh, 1992). 
24 This figure is so low because few families are eligible to apply and the majority of cases are rejected. 
25 This does not take into account hidden single parent households. 
26 These are HELP FSC and AMWA. 
233 
As a result, there now exist various government programmes to promote volunteering 
such as media campaigns on 'caring' and 'courtesy' and volunteer award ceremonies 
as well as levy exemptions for VWOs employing foreign workers, usually in homes 
for the elderly (pers. comm. Mrs. Tang, Voluntary development and co-ordination 
branch, MCD, Feb. 1996): 
Economic advances have been very fast but need to pay attention to social 
advancement. We dodt want the economy to be so fast that its not a caring 
society. We now have 'caring week' to remind people that they must care. The 
economy is so fast that they forget ... If we don't emphasise the social side as 
well as the economic then people will only care for their own. 
Mr. Balakrishnan (Superintendent, Woody Lodge) 
Many of these difficulties can also be related to social perceptions of poverty and 
welfare services by the public, voluntary organisation staff and the disadvantaged 
themselves. One of the most important factors limiting the amount of help VWOs can 
offer is the stigma attached to seeking help (Goh, 1991; IMC, 1995; Yap, 1991). For 
example, Gerrard Ee of Bukit Ho Swee SSC identified this as a problem especially in 
the Malay community because of its closeness and 'tradition', whilst Gerardine Nonis- 
Yap highlighted the cultural stigma of being a single parent in a pro-family society: 
There is embarrassment and stigmatism, but it is self-imposed, for example in 
the case of Islam where they fall away except for the big occasions like Hari 
Raya. Sometimes they will go back to the Muslim agency but there is a big 
social distance so they usually relate more to Bukit Ho Swee. 
Gerard Ee (Bukit Ho Swee SSC) 
Single parents experience a real stigma. Theirs is real disadvantage and not just 
about low income. They face housing regulations and disenfranchisement. 
Perceptions by the rest of the community mean they feel alienated. There is a 
need to educate people, employers and so on. We have to help them try and get 
back into the workplace but problem isn't always one of childcare but is the 
fear of stigmatism. 
Gerardine Nonis-Yap (HELP FSC) 
27 But not within the MCD (pers. comm., Mr. Chew, MCD; Belen Tan, MCD). 
234 
Services provided by the welfare sector are viewed as being intended for failures and 
the destitute which affects all families whether disadvantaged, vulnerable or 
mainstream in their attempts to seek help. This is integrally linked to the perceptions 
of the poor by society and their lack of understanding. As Goh (1991: 67) explains 
"Even faced with an individual, a family or a group in hardship, society generally 
gives little active compassion or passive concern. Some even think that the poor only 
have themselves to blame. They think that the poor are poor because of inferior 
genetic endowment (thus nothing can be done), laziness and other personal 
inadequacy". As a result, social perception of the poor in Singapore is extremely ill- 
informed as society views poverty as a 'sickness' or 'pathological' (ibid.: 68) which 
acts to obstruct the poor from seeking help, or for others to volunteer help. The 
philosophy of welfare in Singapore, especially the feeling that providing help will 
breed dependency, therefore, serves to withhold assistance for the poor. 
7.3.2.1: Family service centres 
Increasingly emphasis has been placed on a particular type of voluntary welfare 
service, the Family Service Centre (FSC). The first FSC was set up independently in 
1978 but in 1988, the Advisory Council on the Family and Community recommended 
the development of FSCs as a national policy. Initially three FSCs were established 
but then in 1993 the programme was expanded so that by 1996 there existed 17 FSCs. 
These Family Service Centres are described as "first-stop, neighbourhood-based social 
service centres which provide remedial, preventative and developmental services to 
help families cope with their responsibilities and problems" (Ministry of Community 
Development, 1996a: 15). Due to rising levels of demand and the success of FSCs, and 
particularly in response to the growing trends in dysfunctional families, juvenile 
delinquency and drug abuse, the Inter-Ministerial Committee (1995) recommended a 
further expansion to 27 centres by 2034. However, these new centres will be located 
geographically according to population density, for example, one per 100,000 people, 
rather than according to need (Belen Tan, Family Welfare Division, MCD). 
235 
Although FSCs offer a wide range of services from financial assistance to activities 
for the elderly, there exist four common core sets of objectives and programmes which 
are also the only areas for which government funding can be used (ibid.; NCSS, 
1995). These are: 
" Counselling: for example, in areas of marital and relationship conflict, parenting 
difficulties and behavioural. problems, 
" Information and referral: provide information on services available in the 
community and refer to other agencies, 
" Family life education: for example, marriage preparation, parenting, stress 
management and budgeting 
" Volunteer development: opportunities and training for volunteers 
Such distinctions are consistent with government policy and philosophy on welfare 
provision, especially the focus on pro-family programmes and avoidance of financial 
hand-outs. The concept of FSCs has been evolving since their inception and in 
particular expanded their roles to cater for everyone in the community and not just the 
disadvantaged. This serves to highlight the importance of FSCs as vehicles of state 
policy as the government attempt to implement pro-family policies. Programmes now 
focus on strengthening families and are accompanied by a new motto for FSCs 
'Enriching you and your family' (Minister for Community Development, Abdullah 
Tarmugi, Government press release, 3 October 1999): 
FSCs were originally for the low income so were located where there were 
rental flats, but now they're for everyone. Focus now is to strengthen the family 
and family development which is needed by all. 
Belen Tan (Family Welfare Division, MCD) 
More recently the government have sought to change the image of FSCs away from 
one as a source of welfare for the disadvantaged: "It is unfortunate that over the years, 
some families perceive the FSCs as catering only to low-income families, or those 
with problems. They regard association with an FSC negatively and do not want to be 
seen in one" (Minister for Community Development, Abdullah Tarmugi, Government 
press release, 3 October 1999). Attention has now been placed on FSCs as resource 
centres to help the family remain intact and strong. This has been fuelled by recent 
reports on the increase of juvenile delinquency (IMC, 1995) and "therefore, the need 
236 
to look at families and offer child management and parenting education. There are 
many parents going to work so the children need care and not to be left on the streets 
or in empty houses. The FSC means they would have somewhere to go and there 
would always be facilities" (Belen Tan, Family Welfare Division, MCD). 
There are two important issues here. One is that such an approach and effort helps to 
make FSCs more acceptable diluting the stigma associated with seeking assistance, 
and so attract a greater number of citizens. However, this shift away from a focus on 
the low-income and disadvantaged directs crucial financial and human resources away 
from the most needy who have few other alternatives from where to seek assistance. 
This is despite the fact that most FSCs argue that with current resources they can only 
offer 'stop-gap measures' and are in a constant state of 'fire-fighting' and 'chaos', and 
acknowledge that such front-line work for the poor is not enough and much more 
could be done to help these families breakout away from poverty and its associated 
problems (Ee and Fruchtel, 1995: 3). 
Table 7.4: Case studies of Family Service Centres 
Case Study 1: Bukit Ho Swee Social Service Centre 
Founded in 1964 for the low income by local churches and called the Nazareth Centre. independent until 
1994 when it became part of the government's programme to create family service centres and so half of 
all funding is from the Community Chest. The rest is raised from public and private donations. They target 
the low-income with poverty problems such as marital conflicý divorce, juvenile delinquency, school drop- 
outs and substance addiction and serve approximately 50 flats out of 500. These are one and two-room 
flats within a 31an radius of the centre and 3-room flats which are closer. In total, 3/4 of clients are multi- 
problem families with an average of 6 problems. The most commonly reported problems are financial, to 
do with employment and relationships. The criterion for services is usually an income-ceiling although 
those in 3-room flats can use the pre-school facility. Criterion for schemes is usually about $600 per month 
for a4 person household. They do not conduct a pro-active search for clients because would be 
overloaded. In the last 3 years Malay cases have reached 50 per cent and are therefore over-represented 
(they constitute about 30 per cent of the local population). Services available at Bukit Ho Swee include: a) 
Family intervention, b) Social work, c) Counselling and therapy, d) Pilot scheme, e) Family life education. 
They are supposed to offer tuition but give basic reading and writing instead. They also have an elderly 
programme which has about 70 users. Volunteers will visit them, provide meals, offer activities and 
supporL 
237 
Case Study 2: Help Every Lone Parent FSC 
This centre in Ang 
.. Mo Kio was set up in 1985 as a response to a study by the NCSS which discovered a 
common struggle among single parent families with respect to coping with single parenthood. It is the 
only service for all single parents2s. It is the only centre which operates nation-wide. Its role is to 
provide services to assist single parents who are socially disadvantaged and vulnerable to the demands 
of coping alone. They also aim to promote greater awareness through public education in order to foster 
better understanding and acceptance of these families. HELP has 9 staff and offers the following 
services: a) Family work, b) Counselling sessions and home visits, c) RUAS, d) Financial assistance, e) 
Public education programme. In 1995 261 single parents used HELP out of a possible 4000 fan-dlies 
nation-wide. In total, 31% were divorced, 33% separatedý 26% widowed and 10% unwed. The vast 
majority were headed by women (89%), Chinese (73%) and had one or two children (76%). Ile 
majority of clients were in employment (80%) although a high proportion were in unskilled or sales 
jobs. Most clients came to the centre with emotional and financial problems. 
Family service centres are important to the research here since it was primarily these 
organisations with which I worked with in Singapore and through which I gained 
access to many of the respondents. (See 7.4 for case studies of two FSCs). They also 
clearly illustrate the importance placed on the family in the provision and delivery of 
welfare and security in Singapore. Minister for Community Development, Abdullah 
Tarmugi, stressed recently that FSCs must "help to build strong families because these 
must continue to be the first line of care" (Singapore Government press release, 3 
October 1999). 
7.33: The family in Singapore 
Happy, harmonious and healthy families make for a strong community and a 
cohesive society. The family is the heart of the nation and family values, its 
life-blood. 
Ministry of Community Development (I 995b: 16) 
To ensure Singapore's continued success, painstaking efforts are being taken to 
preserve the family unit to keep it close-knit, strong, resilient and self-reliant. 
Only then can families be competent in the care and wholesome development 
of its members. To this end, Singapore as a nation promotes marriage, 
procreation", healthy families and family life. 
Ministry of Community Development (I 995a: 1) 
28 AMWA serves only Muslim women. 
238 
The main and most important substitute for the welfare system in Singapore has been 
established as the family which acts as the fundamental institution in society (Blake, 
1994; Brown, 1994) to provide care and support financially, physically and 
emotionally to those in need. The government stresses that "every citizen is responsible 
for the well-being of his [sic] country" (Lim et al., 1988: 392) Whilst the President of the 
NCSS (quoted in Yap, 1991: xv) writes that, "In reaching for success, we must build a 
balanced society where the family unit remains the building block of our society, 
where the young and old understand, share and care for each other". The importance 
placed on the family deserves particular attention, especially in a nation which treats 
social security and state provision as something to be avoided. 
In the promotion of a Singaporean national identity, government propaganda clearly 
outlined the importance of maintaining cohesive family ties, "Today, families all over 
the world are exposed to value systems which undermine family life. There is a need to 
recognise and promote values which uphold the importance of family ties and thereby 
contribute to the collective good" (National Advisory Council on the Family and the 
Aged, 1995: 4). This is perceived to be integral to the economic and social survival of the 
nation as Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong explained in his 4th National Day rally 
speech, "if we lose our traditional values, our family strength and social cohesion, we 
will lose our vibrancy and decline" (Straits Times, 22 September 1994). Media 
campaigns and family education programmes are therefore prolific with appeals for 
'positive values' and 'cohesive and healthy families' to implant the importance of 
marital relationships and filial piety. 
Singapore makes no secret of the fact that state planning and laws are assertively pro- 
family as part of measures to reinforce and preserve selective traditional moral and 
family values. For example, housing policies and family life education have been put in 
place to encourage families to stay together and live close to one another, whilst one of 
the most recent pro-family efforts was the introduction five core Singapore family 
2' This is not strictly true since we know, for example from the SFIS, that the low-income or parents 
(especially mothers) with low education achievements are not encouraged to procreate. For a fuller 
discussion on this, see Davidson (1999). 
239 
values to promote 'happy, harmonious families' (Ministry of Community Development, 
1995b). These values are: 
" Love, care and concern 
" Mutual respect 
" Filial responsibility 
" Commitment 
" Communication 
This philosophy of 'healthy' families is threaded through most policies and programmes 
in Singapore, and especially those relating to welfare and social services. The family has 
consistently been highlighted by advisory committees as the most important source of 
support and help for those in need (Advisory Committee on the Aged, 198 8; IMC, 1995). 
The effectiveness of alternative care givers, and most especially the family, must 
seriously be brought into question. This becomes particularly important at a time when 
the Singaporean family has never been faced with so many dramatic changes (Singham, 
1996) and increases being experienced in marital dissolution, juvenile delinquency, drug 
abuse, the greying of the population and nuclearisation of the family, all of which 
challenge the stability of the family. Given such dynamics, how effective can the 
modem Singaporean family be as a support system? What impact will creating such an 
intense dependency have on the different members of a household? So far, there is no 
comprehensive study or investigation of the impacts of these pro-family policies on 
different families and households and their members. 
There are some fundamental flaws in this pro-family approach to policy and welfare 
planning. Most importantly there is the assumption of what constitutes a 'normal' or 
'healthy' family and the rejection of different types of families in Singapore. The 
implementation of such precise and narrow definitions of the family can be identified as 
an example of Massey's (1994) 'boundary-drawing' because it acts to neglect and 
deliberately ignore the differences and dynamism inherent in family life and the 
construction of households. In particular, through the promotion of family life education, 
marriage enrichment programmes and state planning, the government has deliberately 
defted the family consistent with 'intact' families, therefore, actively discouraging 
single parent households. 
240 
7.4: Conclusion 
From this discussion, two features emerge as important from the welfare policy in 
Singapore. First, welfare and coping here are based on building a 'portfolio of assets', 
such as housing and education, in order to act as a buffer against poverty and 
vulnerability; and second, welfare provision should be from many different sources, 
but is especially the responsibility of the family. Both of these features, accompanied 
by a paternalistic government which advocates welfare as a privilege, hold enormous 
implications for all families, but especially poor and vulnerable families who are the 
most likely to be in need of help and social security. 
Blake (1991), however, argued that state policy was based on a set of assumptions 
which in turn resulted in a 'lack of fit' between provision and need. In particular, she 
highlighted three assumptions; first, regular employment; second, a certain level of 
literacy; and third, an equal division of labour within the household. Data presented in 
Chapter 6 from the survey, however, has shown that households participating in this 
research did not conform with these first two assumptionsýo and commanded very few 
assets or resources. 
Meanwhile, this chapter has discussed the 'Many helping hands' strategy highlighting 
the importance of social and community networks and household relations to coping 
strategies and responding to poverty. However, it has also shown the restricted and 
regulated responses by the government and welfare sector which was reflected in 
evidence from Chapter 6 which suggested that the use of the government or VWOs as 
'helping hands' amongst the survey households was not widespread. It would seem 
that despite this successful and allegedly meritocratic society we cannot overestimate 
the opportunities or options available to the poor. 
At this community and household level it is not possible to investigate fully coping 
strategies and decision-making or to gauge the extent to which household relations 
and the family were important assets and sources of coping. Instead, Chapter 8 
explores these intra-household relations of poor households and the extent to which 
241 
experiences, responses and strategies differ between individuals, and in particular 
between men and women. The role of women here is absolutely crucial as they 
perform the main caring tasks in most societies and households. Ramesh (1992: 1105), 
however, writes that "family care is exploitative of women, who typically bear most of 
the physical and psychological costs of home care for the elderly and the sicV. Such 
notions of the family and collectives mean that until recently, the differential effects of 
pro-active state planning and policy on a number of different groups in Singapore have 
been ignored and only slight attention has been given to the impact on the experiences, 
rights and equalities of women (Davidson 1996,1999). In the following chapter, 
therefore, I consider how the preoccupation of state planning with economic growth and 
a 'family strategy' has impacted upon the experiences of different groups of poor 
women in Singapore. 
" The third asswnption will be discussed in Chapter S. 
242 
CHAPTER 8 
THE SPACES OF COPING: WOMEN AND POVERTY IN SINGAPORE 
8.1: Introduction 
Poverty statistics are people with the tears wiped off. 
Ismail Serageldin (1995) 
In this final chapter, analysis is concerned with the micro-level and the experiences of 
the individual, which Chapter 2 argued is crucial if attempts are to be made to 
illuminate and understand the meanings and everyday realities of poverty for different 
people. More specifically, this chapter analyses the responses and reactions to poverty 
through an analysis of coping strategies at the individual level in an attempt to move 
away from the statistics and generalisations of poverty to capture "its smell, colour, 
and sound, its cry and its whisper" (Novak, 1996: 59). 
In order to explore these differences hidden within households and statistics I focus on 
women in low-income households as a case study. This is considered important for 
two reasons. First, as Chapter 2 has shown, there is now. a growing amount of 
evidence and literature which highlight that fewer gains of economic restructuring 
have especially been appropriated by women (Aslanbeigui et al., 1994; UN Habitat, 
1996). Research has increasingly demonstrated the gender divisions in response to 
poverty (Chant, 1996a; Kanji, 1994; Meer, 1994), and more specifically, that the costs 
and responsibilities of change are largely borne and shouldered by women2 (Chant, 
1994a; Feldman, 1992; Meer, 1994; Moser and McIlwaine, 1997ab). 
Second, the construction of women's identities within the family and as the main carer 
has enormous implications for women, especially as the responsibility for welfare is 
1 In tile foreword of Moser (1995). 
2 This treatment of 'women' as one group is recognized as simplified and that experiences do not just differ 
by gender but also between different groups of women (MiUs, 1996). 
243 
increasingly shifted from the state and onto the household. Chapter 7 has shown that 
the community and family have been assigned a fundamental role in most policy areas 
in Singapore, but especially in welfare and social security. This is especially important 
as women's identities and roles are not only predominately situated within the family 
in Sing . apore, but they are considered the main carers3. In a society where the family 
has been handed the responsibility of caring for the nation, its poor and needy, then 
the potential impact on women is enormous. 
In particular, by prescribing a specific selection of Asian cultural values and morals in 
Singapore and implementing them through intrusive planning agendas the government 
has constructed national, ethnic and gendered identities and fi-ames them by a series of 
social norms and legal restraints. This fails to take into account the diversity and 
dynamics of different families and their members or the different impacts that 
dramatic social and economic change will have on their daily lives and the cohesion 
and functioning of the family. Furthermore, the family can be a site for unequal 
relations and burdens, liberation or oppression (Meer, 1994), and in Singapore 
operates on a patriarchal basis where the male-head is the norm (Blake and Nair, 
1996). Such notions of family and collectives mean that until recently, the differential 
effects of such pro-active state planning on a number of different groups in Singapore 
has been ignored and only slight attention given to the impact on the rights and 
equalities of women (for an exception see Davidson and Drakakis-Smith, 1997, on 
poverty; Davidson, 1999, on women's rights). As a result, Singham (1996: 4) writes, 
that the family in Singapore is in urgent need of investigation, whilst Soin (1996: 206) 
has highlighted the mis-match between reality and expectation in Singapore and lack 
of analysis of the gender consequences. 
It is the aim of this chapter, therefore, to focus on the intra-household relations of two 
groups of womený in low-income households in Singapore and document their 
experiences of poverty and coping within the framework of intrusive state planning, 
patriarchal households, expectations as women, wives and mothers and confinement 
in the role as dependent. Drawing on real life accounts and spatial stories I attempted to 
3 See Chapter 3 for a fuller discussion of gender in Singapore. 
" These are single parents and women in intact disadvantaged households. 
244 
assess both the extent and nature of poverty experienced by these women in Singapore. 
Summary tables (Fables 8.1 and 8.3) of the respondents characteristics and sample case 
studies (Tables 8.2 and 8.4) are provided in order to help conceptualise the background 
of the respondents and their responses. ýIbe interpretation occurs at different levels 
hence the results are by no means absolute and represent a range of constructions and 
views in an attempt to 'flesh out' meanings and relationships of poverty. What follows 
therefore is not a measurement or appraisal of poverty but an investigation into how 
these women experience poverty, the spaces they occupy and negotiate and the barriers 
encountered in their attempts to construct coping stmtegies to alleviate poverty and 
vulnerability. 
Table 8.1: Summary characteristics of women in intact families 
Ethnicity 
Chinese 
Malay 
Indian 
Eurasian 
7 
7 
5 
I 
Age 
20-30 
30-39 
40-49 
7 
6 
7 
No. of Children 
Education 
one 
I 
None 
I 
two 
5 
P2 
5 
three 
6 
P4 
2 
four 
4 
P5 
I 
five 
I 
P6 
7 
six 
0 
SEC3 
2 
seven 
I 
SEC4 
I 
eight 
I 
House Size 
Work Status 
(all rental) 
One-room 
8 
Not Working 
13 
Two-room 
II 
Informal 
3 
VWO centre, 
2 
Formal 
4 
245 
Table 8.2: Case studies of women in intact families 
Susela 
Indian, mother of 4 children living in one-room HDB. Her husband recently left 
his job as a contract labourer at Singapore Port Authority due to Ul health. This 
was an irregular, low paid job where he earned from nothing to $200 per week. 
They have arrears with HDB and utilities and no CPF but her husband does not 
like her going out or working. She cannot read or write. She attends temple and her 
local FSC who help with education bursaries. They receive income from the MCD 
which she thinks is about $500 per month. 
Patricia 
Chinese, 34 year old mother of 2 boys. She cares for her elderly father-in-law who 
requires constant attention and takes sewing work when she can to supplement the 
income. Her husband works in some kind of manual work but she is not sure what 
he does, she does not ask. He gives her between $100-200 per month and he pays 
the bills. She thinks they have arrears but is not sure because she does not have a 
key to the mailbox. They have no CPF and live in a 2-room. HDB. Patricia was 
unaware of services at her local FSC including education bursaries for which her 
sons are eligible. 
Fatima 
24 year old, Malay mother of 5 children. Attended school until Secondary 4 and 
worked in factory until she married her husband. Lives in two-room rented flat. 
She has 3 children at school and receives bursary. Husband works nightshift as a 
security guard earning $600 per month. They have arrears with HDB and utilities 
and receives food rations from the Salvation Army as well as borrowing money 
from friends. 
Table 83: Summary characteristics of women in single parent households 
Ethnicity 
Chinese 
Malay 
Indian 
Eurasian 
8 
1 
4 
I 
Age 
20-30 
30-39 
40-49 
1 
6 
7 
House Size 
Education 
Rental 
None 
I 
One-room 
2 
Pi 
2 
Two-room 
5 
P4 
2 
P6 
3 
Owned 
SEC2 
I 
Three-room 
5 
SEC3 
3 
SEC4 
2 
VWO centre 
2 
No. of Children 
Work Status 
one 
4 
Not Working 
5 
two 
6 
Informal 
3 
three 
4 
Formal 
4 
Both 
2_ 
246 
Table 8.4: Case studies of women in single parent households 
Mariella 
Eurasian divorcee who lives in a 2-room rental flat with her 3 children, They were 
evicted from the family four-room home after debts and arrears accrued after the 
divorce. She worked in Burger King up until 6 months ago when there were staff cuts. 
She has since had an eye operations so cannot work but helps out in her friend's 
hawker stall getting $30-50 per month. She receives financial assistance from HELP 
of $200 per month and is hoping to get bursary for school fees. 
Siew Bee 
Chinese divorcee with 3 children (aged 40). She has two jobs to pay for costs of her 
bought three-room house and school fees. She works nightshift in a factory and in the 
mornings in McDonalds earning about $600 per month. She leaves the children alone 
overnight as she cannot get a baby-sitter. There is currently a court case going on with 
her husband but she does not understand all the documents or procedures as she 
cannot read and write very well. She has debts with HDB and PUB. 
Nagamiah 
Indian (33) mother of two young boys. Her husband died four years ago. She gave up 
work when she got married because her husband did not want her to but now works as 
a road sweeper earning about $400 per month. They live in a one-room HDB flat for 
which she received RUAS up until last year. She has had many problems with her 
sons after their father's death but cannot afford the extra school and tuition costs so 
one of her sons has dropped out She uses HELP for advice and visits the temple but 
does not like to ask anyone else. 
8.2: The form and faces of poverty: women's experiences in Singapore 
Despite the visible uniformity of the built environment, not everyone has experienced 
urban change and social policy similarly or equally. Sensitising the investigation to 
difference has highlighted the hidden and concealed spaces in Singapore where the 
forms and faces of poverty are obscured by the images of virility and aggression. Peeling 
away some of these images made invisible by the affluence and dash for success reveals 
that there are people being left behind (Davidson and Drakakis-Smith, 1997). 
Regarding their experiences of poverty all of the women interviewed knew they were 
struggling to keep pace or afford the cost of daily living in Singapore and that their 
problems were little recognised. Many expressed their despair and lack of choice in the 
matter. One informant Lil?, who had once had a successful business but who now 
struggles to raise her four children on a low and irregular wage commented: 
5 All quotations with first name references or no reference are from interviews with women in Singapore. 
Pseudonyms are used throughout 
247 
What other people see they only see on the surface of things. What we are going 
through nobody understands. Everybody says Singaporeans are basically rich, 
they see the cars on the roads, the big house, people spending money and going 
on holiday, but they dorft see the minorities like us. Sometimes we go without 
food you know and nobody knows, nobody cares in Singapore ... It's not all 
success you know, yes its very successful but nobody knows what is 
underneath. 
All of the women discussed the increasing costs in everyday living in Singapore 
suggesting that it has made society money-orientated and competitive. This increase in 
prices of goods and services was stated as a main burden throughout and the lack of 
sufficient income to meet these expenses, even when both husband and wife were 
employed. Mrs. Lim, who undertakes home-work to supplement her husband's job as a 
labourer, commented: 
I have no savings, Everything comes, everything goes. We have no money. 
Living standard is so high in Singapore. I give my children $3 or $4 and they tell 
me Us is not enough, it is so hard. Always fast money and become very selfish. 
Singapore is very selfish. Get controlled by your money, all you think about is 
getting money. 
whilst Mariella, a single parent, also stressed the competitiveness in Singapore: 
If you have a good job there is no problem. Singapore progresses very very fast. 
A certain progress is good lah but maybe certain things too fast. Tax,. tax, tax all 
the time and now GST6. The living standards is going up so if poor family then 
today is not good. For some people it is not fair. 
Ihe types of characteristics and experiences related to this failure to meet costs have 
been documented in Chapter 6 and include, for example, low and irregular income, low 
levels of education and skills, debts and arrears, lack of savings and no or small 
contributions to the Central Provident Fund (CPF). Such a range of problems were 
shared by most informants, both married and single parent. Mdm Tan, a married mother 
of two, noted; "We have arrears, over $2000, but have no savings, no CPF, what comes 
in one hand leaves by the other ... prices all increased because the price of everything has 
gone up ... always struggle". Poverty is quite real for these women and their families and 
6 Goods and Services Tax which was introduced in 1994. 
248 
is clearly represented in the language used conveying images of 'pain', 'Struggle', 'tears' 
and 'hurt'. Susela, a fidl-time housewife with four children expressed feelings of despair 
which were shared by many of the women; "Everyday my head hurts, I cannot eat, 
cannot sleep, just cry, put my head on the floor and cry". 
These problems were rarely short-term but persistent, long-lasting difficulties and were 
greatly amplified in times of crisis such as the loss of income, the birth of a child, a 
relative coming to stay or when expenses increased, such as when children were entering 
school. Fatima, a young mother of 5 children discussed how she had one problem after 
another, 
Our main problem is to do with money because husband not working. Problem 
with water bill, get so high. For a few days no rations, no food, no rice, no 
nothing at home. Lots of problems because no money and I pay this then that 
and then ifs all finished. Next week they [the children] go back to school and I 
don! t know how I am going to pay, everyday I must find them busfare, food to 
eat, money. Would not stop them going to school, I let them study. 
Interestingly, in the case of single parents, many of the problems, and especially debts 
and arrears, were expressed as their husband's which they had then been left to cope and 
deal with. Evidence from both groups in the sample suggested that in most households, 
decisions, especially if economic and financial, were dealt with by the husband. For 
example, Mdm Bee, a single parent with two children explained; "My husband didn't 
regularly take care of bills so we have arrears. He always took care of it, I did not open 
bill letters but now I have a court order for the water bill because he did not pay, but 
how am I supposed to pay? ". Sylvia, another single parent, described her problems in 
similar terms; 
I don't have any personal debt or loans but now I am faced with the debts of my 
husband from his business. Most of the time I think I know the state of affhirs in 
the house so I am not sure how he managed to get so much debt, have so many 
expenses. I just got this letter from a lawyer saying they will repossess 
everything in my house. Letter come to me now because he has gone but I 
cannot read so bring them to Bukit Ho Swee. There are two creditors, one for 
$6000 and one for $10,000 and both have taken action to repossess and 
evaluators come and want to auction and then Bailiff come to arrange public 
auction. Everyday that pass I hope they don't come and take my things away. 
249 
This could be used as an expression of the passiveness and victimisation of women. 
However, because women are constrained by their circumstances and act from within 
their spatial and social margins does not mean that they are not active in shaping their 
own and their families lives. What appears to have happened is the successful 
development and consequent upgrading of Singapore's economy which has created a 
society that has outstripped the ability of some of the population to compete and contest 
the pace at which spaces are changing and reconstructing. 
Instead, evidence from this study recorded that women were not passive or powerless 
victims of circumstances, unable or unwilling to make a difference in their own lives, 
even in the face of adversity. On the contrary, it was crisis, poverty and vulnerability 
which was often the precise catalyst for women to transgress society's gendered notions 
of identities, roles and spaces and to carry the burden of coping in these situations. 
Susela explained, "A major problem was the time we had rent arrears. I was the one who 
had to look for help. I must always ask as the man is too embarrassed". Meanwhile, 
Fatima expressed similar feelings, "Everyday I must use my brain, I must think, plan 
from day to day, very confusing. I work out everything, not my husband, always me but I 
have no choice ... there is only me to do something". 
Discussions of coping strategies in this situation revealed that they are clearly gendered 
and reflected in the divided nature of activities and roles in the household and the clear 
distinction in tasks and decision-making between inside and outside. Roles are clearly 
constructed through the division of public and private images, men being viewed 
through their position in the public sphere, physically outside the home, whilst women 
were perceived through the private, domestic domains of the family. This construction is 
visible in both the physical and symbolic use of everyday spaces. Anna, a 26 year old 
mother of two who had given up paid work when she married, illustrates this point; 
Outside was all his decisions so I don! t know what happens outside. I dorft 
interfere with outside, I just stay inside. But everyday my husband goes 
downstairs with his friends, he spends his wage and he don't give me money for 
the house. We have so many problems, how am I going to cope? He won't let 
me go to work-my husband is very strict. 
250 
The predominance of the male head and their role in decision-making was evident. For 
example, Patricia commented that "Husband is boss. Laki7 is most important thing, he is 
number one. I follow my husband". As a result, it was clear that the majority of 
decision-making was made by the male head of household, even with regards to issues 
concenung the women, such as working. Nagamiah, a single parent, explained "When 
he [husband] was alive, he would not have allowed me to work. I approach him a few 
times but he would not allow if'. Many of the respondents discussed their husbands in 
these terms and the need to ask for permission, especially to work or even to enter public 
spaces. 
However, this insideloutside dualism appeared to dissipate when problems and crisis 
occurred such as debt or arrears, usually due to the 'husband's embarrassment' to ask for 
help. Women in all households discussed the ways in which their husband's were less 
likely to modify their lives to secure the well-being of the family since they were already 
fulfilling their role by being in work or seeking employment. It was the women in the 
households, therefore, who found themselves compelled to enter and negotiate new 
spaces, usually viewed as being 'outside', in order to access the resources required to 
ensure security for the family. 
This change in roles was particularly evident from the experiences of the single parents 
who were usually the only available income-earner in the household. In particular, 
informants discussed their need to change and learn in order to cope with the problems 
their families faced after divorce, abandonment or death. Selvi, an Indian single parent 
with 2 children, discussed this transition; 
When I start being a single parent, I had a very difficult time. It was a difficult 
change because I did not know what to do or how to pay, how much, where to 
go, but I did a lot to fend for myself .I learn to check the post for bills and I try 
to pay them. My friend teach me how to pay the house bill. 
Despite these changes and the subsequent deterioration in their financial situations, 
many single parents also expressed that the ability of the household to cope had 
' Malay for husbandL 
251 
improved since their husbands had gone and they had adopted this new role. Mdm 
Krishnan, who had a secondary school education, remarked "My husband was not a very 
responsible man, we face a lot of problems like paying bills and debts. With HDB we 
had arrears, so many things we had. But after my husband's death I didn't face this 
because I managed to budget properly and pay bills. I use my money very careftdly". 
Much of the literature has established that in order for poor families to cope women 
must demonstrate a degree of mobility in order to enter public workplaces. Yet, at the 
same time other commentators have also noted the bounded nature of poor spaces. What 
then are the spatial stories of women experiencing poverty in Singapore; are they 
accounts of containment and placement in 'carceral compounds' or stories of movement 
and dislocation in a 'multiplicity of spaces'? By investigating the coping strategies used 
by women in public, private and 'in-between', places the next section attempts to answer 
these questions. 
8.3: The spaces of coping: women's responses to poverty 
Chapters 3 and 7 have shown that official attempts to meet the needs of the population 
by the government has shaped responses through the implementation of policies relating 
primarily to the labour market and then to family and community welfare (Salaff, 1988). 
These policies will in turn affect and determine how women and households respond to 
poverty, by enabling or constricting access to the spaces in which resources can be 
appropriated. Policies hold massive implications for the ways in which women use 
space and engage with the private and public spheres especially where social relations 
are so closely controlled by a paternalistic state. Furthermore, the inherent political 
nature of both space and policy raises questions about restrictions and inevitable 
exclusion. The government may indeed know best but it has been suggested that there 
may also exist a perception gap between what they provide and what is needed (Lim, et 
aL, 1988). The implementation of inappropriate policy, therefore, can cause and 
exacerbate poverty. The next section begins with an exploration of the public space of 
the labour market which is promoted as the main provider in Singapore revealing the 
disparities in different women's experiences of policy. 
252 
8.3.1: The public arena: women and paid work 
Related to the labour market has been a series of pro-work initiatives in Singapore 
prioritising the entry of women into the workforce. Female participation rates are 
currently at levels above 50 per cent demonstrating how women are clearly not excluded 
from public spaces in Singapore. Furthermore, in areas experiencing economic hardship 
or crisis the proportion of women working is expected to be higher again (Vaiou, 1992). 
Entering the workforce for these groups of women in Singapore should therefore be 
relatively easy and one would expect a high number engaged in formal employment. In 
the survey, however, only four of the twenty women in intact households were engaged 
in formal work whilst three had informal, usually home-based jobs. The situation was 
slightly different for single parents, however, who, perhaps unexpectedly, were more 
likely to be in paid employment, with only five women not in any form of formal or 
informal employment. TMs raises a number of issues. If work strategies in Singapore 
have focused on attempting to attract women into the workforce and, more importantly, 
to stay there especially after childbirth, why then have poorer women, especially in 
intact households, not been entering the formal labour force and public workplaces as a 
principal coping strategy. Yet, why have single parents, who we would expect to face 
greater barTiers, for example, in relation to childcare, been entering the labour market in 
greater numbers? 
A closer examination of the incentives used by the government to mobilise women both 
physically and socially, such as tax incentives and series of childcare options, reveals 
that most of the policies and benefits are directed towards middle-class and especially 
educated women such as graduates. State childcare provision is only for women who are 
in employment, is still considered expensive and competition for places is fierce (see 
Yeoh and Huang, 1995). Private facilities are obviously more expensive excluding 
poorer households immediately. What results is a 'Catch 22' situation where women 
cannot go out to work because they have no adequate childcare facilities and they can 
only receive childcare allowances if they are in employment. None of the mothers 
interviewed received childcare allowances, even though it could be argued they are the 
ones most in need. For example, Mdm Teo whose husband had recently fallen ill and 
had to terminate his job, "I need to work for extra income but cant go outside because of 
253 
the children, I need to look after them at home, they are a restriction7' whilst Sylvia, a 
single parent, explained "I had to give up work because I had nobody to take care of him 
[son] and I work very far away". 
Incentives and disincentives therefore are determined by who you are, based most often 
on educational qualifications in line with the nature over nurture beliefs of the state 
(Kong, 1995). For example the Graduate Mothers Scheme which offered tax relief, 
priority in hospitals and schools whilst sterilisation incentives were offered to less 
educated women (Drakakis-Sn-ýith et al., 1993) and the Small Families Incentive 
Scheme targeted at low-income and unskilled families where participants must agree to 
stop at two children. What these and the experiences of childcare policies suggest is the 
construction of barriers to some women using the workplace as a coping strategy and the 
bounded nature of the poor. 
The belief that small families will prevent poverty is now widely acknowledged; 
however, this does not accommodate choice or the role of tradition and culture. Most of 
the households displayed traditional attitudes towards the family, marriage and children 
and their roles as mothers. The most common number of children was three and those 
with one or two expressing a desired wish for more. Even the respondent on the SFIS 
scheme said; 
I stop at two because it is the MCD [Ministry of Community Development] 
policy. I follow law then they help me with some money .. I am happy with this 
because we can get money, but my husband is now saying he want more, he 
want another boy... but I think I stop at two to get the money. 
Pro-natal feelings, however, were expressed by most respondents as their husband's 
opinions on childbirth, rarely expressing their own, as one respondent commented, "My 
husband wanted another boy because we have two girls and only one boy. My husband 
is very traditional Chinese man and one boy is too few". 
The construction of women as natural mothers is an undertone to gender identity and the 
basis of relations in most of the world. Much of the work from Latin America refers to 
the romanticisation and marqTdorn of motherhood (Ehlers, 1991), features of which can 
254 
also be identified in Asian culture, "The traditional religiocultural systems of 
Confucianism, Hinduism and Islam prescribed a subordinate status to women within the 
household. Whether bom Chinese, Indian or Malay, a woman was socialised from a 
young age both to play the roles of wife, mother and daughter-in-law, and to lead a 
secluded 166" (Wong, 1981: 449). Despite government attempts to subtly mobilise 
women and change certain attitudes, they have also continued to promote Asian 
traditional values and the family. Esther Azizah of HELP FSC commented that "Women 
are sandwiched in Singapore. There are expectations from the community, government, 
their families and themselves. They are expected to work at one level but then expected 
to stay and look after children on another. I think this is a contradiction women are 
expenencing; it is a double burderf'. 
This cultural construction of women as mothers and wives and the numbers interviewed 
who are remaining in the home demonstrates the very private nature of women's daily 
lives. This confinement has already been represented in the conceptualisation of inside 
and outside space which demonstrates how their identities are constructed through 
private space which then determines women's perceptions and relations. There are 
clearly two sepamte worlds in Singapore which women must cross between to enter the 
workplace. However, they continue to be perceived in their private sphere and entering 
space outside is viewed as 'interfering'. This even occurs close to the home where men 
occupy the near-by coffee shops and void deckS8 or hold the key to the mailbox, as Anna 
commented, "I do housework and my husband usually goes downstairs with his 
friends7'. One of the most striking displays of confmement however is after the birth of a 
child when Chinese mothers are removed from public life for one month. Mdrn Tan, 
who was pregnant, explained, "soon when the baby is born I will go into confinement 
for one month. I am not allowed to go out, wash my hair, drink coffee, so my mother 
will come to my house. She will cook special food with ginger and wine". Identity in 
Singapore has indeed remained very 'sticky' and what has emerged so far are lucid 
stories of containment and enclosure. 
a Void decks are vacant areas on the ground floor of HDB flats used daily on a social basis or for special 
occasions such as weddings and funerals. 
255 
This containment can be traced not only to official identities as mothers but also to the 
household and the attitudes of husbands. 'Me women who did work, and those who had 
previously, all expressed how they entered the workforce after receiving permission 
from their husbands or had left due to his demands. As Mumta, a part-time cleaner 
remarked, "My husband doesn't like that I work but nobody supports me so I eventually 
ask husband to let me go and he say OK7. In addition to the problem of childcare, 
women were also then constrained by their husbands who restricted the entry of their 
wives into the workforce through the control of metaphorical constructed identities and 
physical movement. Permission was generally only sought when the household was 
experiencing crisis, usually associated with the husband's loss of earnings such as in a 
P eriod of ill health. 
The importance of women's domestic roles and the restrictions faced from husbands 
helps to explain the differences between women in intact families and single parents, 
who were more likely to be in some form of income-earning activity. Not only were 
women in single parent households generally the main source of income, they also no 
longer faced the barrier of having to ask for their husband's permission to work. Paid 
employment was expressed far more as a necessity by this group; "The main thing is that 
I work. I have to work to get money and to get CPF. I must get CPF'. 
However, for all women who did work, the predominance of matemal and private roles 
was further represented by the type of jobs taken and the existence of informal work. 
Although all cited factory work as their preferred jobs due to the good wages, none of 
the women were found in this sector due to the level of commitment required by a 
company. Instead they occupied jobs reflecting domestic tasks, working part-time or on 
graveyard shifts in order to negotiate and integrate childcare concerns. A number of the 
respondents were engaged in some form of informal home work, an unrecognised sector 
in Singapore, as a compromise. This allowed them to participate in paid work without 
entering the literal and public workplace. This type of work would normally include, for 
example, baby-sitting, assembly work, sewing and other tasks which could be completed 
at home. As Patricia, a mother of two boys who has to care for her elderly father-in-law 
said, "I occasionally bring some sewing work back, I sew flowers on childrens skirts 
and fix thread and get about $30 in a montif'. This work however pays only small 
256 
amounts and offers no security due to its irregular nature and the absence of CPF. As a 
strategy though it aHowed the women to combine work with their domestic roles and so 
far is the most clear representation of a challenge to the division between home and 
work from within their contained positions. 
Other mothers combined working and childcare by finding nightshift work or jobs 
which would allow them to take their children. Mariella, a single parent, took her 
daughter with her to jobs, "I do oddJobs and take Jessica [daughter] along with me. I do 
like part-time maid or cleaning so get work daily or weekly. Friends go around asking 
for me and I can make the most of festivals and holidays. Like this week was school 
holiday so could leave her with heir brother and do more work! '. 
The restrictions of childcare and traditional attitudes can also be regarded as a pressure 
to conform and influencing women's preferences. However it could also be argued that 
this is perpetuated by the women themselves as they also define themselves in these 
roles, as one respondent summed up the feelings of many of the others, "I would rather 
not work and stay at home with the children, prefer to be mother". As a result, the 
evidence from the survey revealed that entering the labour market was a last resort for 
most women whether in intact or single parent households. 
What is clear then is that the formal labour market and public workplace are not being 
utilised as the main form of coping strategy to alleviate poverty even where government 
policies exist to encourage the movement of women into the workforce. This highlights 
how policy is not necessarily experienced similarly, here preventing poorer women from 
meeting their needs through the public sphere due to inappropriate childcare policy and 
the persistence of intra-household power relations. When entry does occur it obviously 
relieves the absolute poverty of the family, but simultaneously increases the relative 
poverty for the woman who becomes not only wife, mother and daughter but also 
worker. The cost of work, therefore, is simply too high for most of these women. They 
are not victims or lazy, instead they have made rational, economic trade-offs and only 
when entry to the workforce is of real economic benefit will women attempt to negotiate 
such a move. 
257 
83.2: Many helping hands 
As well as promoting the workplace as a provider of the needs of the population, 
Chapter 7 discussed the promotion of the role of the family and voluntary organisations 
through its pro-family and Asian values campaigns which promote the family, filial 
piety and traditional Asian values (Ministry of Community Developmentý 1995a: l). 
However, by shifting welfare from the state to the home will have a disproportionate 
impact on women who generally fill welfare roles within the family. In policy terms 
women are now legislated for in their family roles and not as individuals, as Jackie Choo 
of the MCD Policy Division explained, "Women's policies have been scrapped for the 
new focus on the family instead. Women are not seen as individual cases but as part of 
the family". Such emphasis on the family, however, will mask the intra-household 
differences and the increasing burdens of women in private spaces. 
All of the women, however, were extremely receptive to these familyý-based policies 
believing strongly in family and traditional values and in their roles within the family. 
They also viewed that any help they received from the state or voluntary groups as extra 
and 'lucky'. Most still considered the labour market as their main provider and expected 
little or nothing from different sources other than the family. However, the majority of 
these women did not work in formal employment prioritising their roles in the family 
first as mothers, wives and daughters. The question remains however, that if income was 
not accessed through the public spheres, how did women cope? 
On a day to day basis women managed and negotiated from within their private roles as 
mothers and wives in order to ensure the well-being of their families. The choice of 
coping strategies among the respondents varies but this captures the complexities of 
their lives. Amis and Rakodi (1994) identify three groups of strategies based on 
increasing resources, limiting expenditure and resource use and changing the household 
structure. Examples of the first two can be seen in this study, such as the juggling of 
bills and debts and learning how to pay them, using credit in local stores, searching for 
bargains and cheapest prices such as supermarket special offers, eating at home, 
pawning items and recycling discarded items such as furniture. Tbree resourceful 
respondents shared some of their strategies, Susela: "I use leftovers ... what we've got, we 
258 
eat. I take what anyone give me. Everything here is donated or people throw away 
downstairs [void deck] so I take and wash nicely and use for my house. These flowers 
come from downstairs. If people don't want then I take" and Fatima: "We had debts to 
the water company so I opened the pipe and took the water from it when everyone was 
asleep" whilst Mdm. Goh shared "Had trouble with school books for children so 
borrowed from here and there and managed to get things together. Something may be $5 
so I haggle to $4.50 and can save a dollar here and there". 
However, what this reveals is that none of the women, with the exception of one single 
parent who lived with her parents, resorted to household change or restructuring as a 
form of coping strategy' This could be linked to the controlled nature of housing and 
lack of space and limited movement within the housing market in Singapore. Some 
women also retreated fin-ther into their private space as coping became increasingly 
more difficult. A mother of seven who rarely received money from her often-absent 
husband narrated, "I take pills to make me forget, after I have taken the pills I can forget, 
I can sleep, forget all these problems". Others revealed that they would not discuss their 
problems with anyone, I talk to no-one, I keep my problems to myself. I only talk to my 
God, I have no one else to turn to". 
According to the 'Many helping hands' policy, the next step would be to , use the 
extended family as a method of coping. However, only a few of the women interviewed 
expressed their family as a source of help. Most reasoned that their families had their 
own problems and had to struggle themselves or else where family had been approached 
it had become an exhausted source. Sylvia commented "My mother can't help because 
she is ill and my sisters live far away, and they are working mothers anyway". Some 
would instead ask neighbours and friends but this was not considered a long term 
solution and again most were occupied with their own problems and at some point the 
favour would have to be returned. A number of women would not ask friends because of 
the disapproval of their husbands. One respondent who accepted food from a neighbour 
illustrated: "My husband was very angry because he said they were looking down on me 
so I then realised I don't share my problem with no one, it is your own problem, my 
husband scolded me, he say 'are you a beggar woman, begging for food? "'. 
259 
These intra-household relations were also crucial, and relationships with husbands 
emerged as one of the most influential factors determining the responses and strategies 
of women. A number of respondents discussed problems with their husband's 'escape 
behaviour' which would normally involve expenditure on goods such as alcohol and 
drugs which could be seen to lead to 'secondary poverty' for others in the household as 
well as conflict over priorities (Chant, 1985). For example, one informant said "He work 
but he never give me any money. I don't know where his money go. I ask him but he 
won't tell me. I think maybe he gamble and spend on alcohol" whilst a single parent 
described her situation, "My husband always use all our money. He started working 
down at the port and started taking drugs, many drugs down there. He used to spend $20 
every day on drugs so I got nothing". 
Unfortunately, it emerged that much of this conflict translated into domestic violence for 
a majority of the women interviewed. Stories were shared of abuse, both physical and 
mental, and in the case of some single parents, how difficult it was for them to escape 
because of the restrictions and stigma attached to single parenthood. Such barriers and 
the preservation of the 'normal' family therefore serve only to confme women who are 
victims of domestic violence to a life of inequality, fear and abuse. As Moser (1993) 
suggested, the reverse of poverty for some women need not be wealth but security and 
safety. 
833: 'In-between' space: Family Service Centres 
Finally, one last strategy which is extensively promoted and been used by many of the 
women is the voluntary welfare sector, one of the main examples of which are the 
Family Service Centres (FSQ. 
Almost all of the women interviewed used some form of voluntary or 'artificial' support 
service, most often based at a FSC, although it was more common amongst women in 
intact households. Increasingly these women were turning to more official spaces in 
order to seek strategies to cope. This could be reflecting a failure to cope from within the 
home and the hardened form of the constraints to labour force access. Lily and Mdm 
Tan expressed what FSCs offered for them, "Singapore not difficult place to live 
260 
because centres like this are here to help us, but not enough money because food and 
things very expensive. Come here, it is for me big freedon4 helps me to cope" and "I 
doift talk to no one else, only some of the mothers at the centre, and even then only if I 
know they will understand my problems". 
The respondents used a wide range of services, but most frequently trying to find 
financial assistance or food parcels; "I tell church I get only $300 and they give me some 
things like rice and sugar so the money I get I can use to buy her [daughter] milk or 
pampers and thinge. Other women approached VWOs for childcare and help with 
school costs and tuition, for example in the case of Selyi, a single parent, "I only want 
two kinds of help. One is for my child's tuition and the other is someone to take care of 
him so I can go to worle'. Discussions with social workers revealed that most women 
would approach centres and organisations in search of money and food but would then 
usually be identified with other needs such as counselling. 
Government schemes or assistance were rarely mentioned as sources of help for the 
respondents, as in the case of Mdm Krishnan, "Nobody help me. Government did not 
help me. I didn't get RUAS. I tried but not available because I'm a single parent and 
because government in Singapore no really help the poor". Furthermore, there was an 
evident lack of information on programmes which did exist, "Before there were free 
books but I was too late, I don't know anything about these schemee'. 
The importance of the VWOs, and especially FSCs, is that they occupy spaces which are 
neither in the public nor the private spheres, but in the community. Moore Milroy and 
Wismer (1994) were dissatisfied with conventional categories when they encountered 
major limitations applying the bipolar model to interpret community work. They 
identified it as conceptually separate from the domestic or traded work spheres. What is 
unique to community work is its allegiances to both the non-family and non-economic 
which is unaccounted for in both the pubfic and private. They state (ibid. 84), "Our 
working premise is that if domestic work is building homes, families and households, 
and traded work is building companies and economies, then community work is 
building communities and should properly be identified as a separate nucleus of 
productive effort". Instead, they placed community work into a third sphere where the 
261 
public and the private overlap. This can also be applied to those who utilise conununity 
services to problematise ftirther the constructions of public and private spheres. For the 
women in the survey this was accessible and acceptable space, it did not involve 
crossing the concrete boundaries between home and work and therefore negotiating the 
restricti ons of constraints. In both the public and private arenas women expressed their 
lack of options, the struggle and how they have 'no choice'. In these in-between spaces 
however the women expressed it in terms of 'freedom', 'comfort' and 'support'. These 
spaces therefore were most importantly negotiable, places where women could fulfil 
most of their roles Whilst conserving their constructions as private and domestic. They 
are also shared. spaces primarily occupied by women, and women who were 
experiencing similar problems and struggles. 
At the policy level developing more of the FSC's is essential if the needs of these 
women and their families are to be reached. Many, however, still have no knowledge of 
the services available to them but also due to the voluntary nature of most of these 
services and the extremely low percentage of volunteers in Singapore (Ho and Chua, 
1993), doubts can be raised as to whether this policy can remain sustainable without 
further assistance. What is required is a recognition of the importance of liminal, 'in- 
between' spaces outside the public sphere but which can be accessed by women from 
the private. 
8.4: Conclusion 
In telling a particular story, this chapter has aimed to highlight the experiences and 
realities of groups of women in Singapore whilst simultaneously addressing wider issues 
regarding women, poverty, and the use of space. I attempted to do Us by using coping 
strategies as an investigative device, reflecting on the everyday practices of these women 
in order to then understand the images and assumptions underneath. 
Analysing women's accounts of coping strategies reveals the relationship of these 
women to space in the context of poverty. The mediation of space and perception of 
choices exposed how few options these women really had. This reflected the nature of 
262 
the constraints and the hardened boundaries which still existed around the home in the 
form of childcare problems and especially traditional attitudes. It became clear that 
women did not always engage in the complex negotiations required to find a way into 
the public sphere, placing more importance on their roles as mothers and wives. These 
processes and struggles reproduced the power relations imbued in spaces and its 
inherently exclusionary nature; however, this did not imply a lack of agency or activity 
since the women were still able to carve out and find their own spaces blurring the 
divisions and boundaries of the public and private spheres by pitching their realities 
somewhere in-between. 
The issue of policy, therefore, is critical. The obvious inappropriateness of some of the 
Singaporean government's policies complicated the processes and negotiations by these 
women in their attempts to secure the future of their families. If policy makers wish to 
help these women, or any women, (and I believe they do) then they must focus on the 
realities of everyday lives, highlighting the difference and variation without exclusion. It 
is only then that perception gaps between policy and legislation and the needs of women 
in poor households, or any households, will begin to close. 
To this end the lifestyles of women in poor households must be recognised and 
acknowledged as deserving and that the choices and spaces made available to them must 
be stretched and expanded. If the economic agenda is to remain a principal priority and 
policies are to be sustainable in both the short and long term then strategies such as the 
pro-work and pro-family campaigns in Singapore require rethinking and increased 
flexibility if women are to cope with the demands of rapidly changing urban 
environments. The way forward therefore may be to firstly assist with the choices people 
do have rather than attempting to change their lives to fit current state and economic 
agendas. 
263 
CHAPTER 9 
CONCLUSIONS 
9.1: Summary of the research 
For the past 30 years, East Asia and the nation-state of Singapore have symbolised 
successful and rapid economic development, a development which has dramatically 
transformed the physical, economic and social environment and landscape. There are 
numerous ways to look at these changes, but it is economistic views focused on the 
growth rates and macro-economic statistics which have dominated here. As a result, 
alternative and more local perspectives have been marginalised in East Asia and 
consequently the analysis of differential impacts and implications of development on 
different groups, households and individuals. There is an increased awareness and 
concern, however, about these gaps in our understandings of the unevenness of 
development and questions are beginning to be asked about 'who has missed out? ' 
and 'what has been happening to poverty? ' and it is within these growing areas of 
research that this study is located. 
This thesis is a study of 'poverty amidst plenty' and has focused on the need to 
adequately address and deal with the relationships between urban poverty and 
economic success in Singapore. The importance of such a study lies with the need to 
ensure that the poor and excluded, and their experiences remain visible and that 
decisions about the poor are based on as complete data and understandings as is 
possible. Furthermore, in a region and nation which has served as a role model for 
economic development around the world, the need to understand fully what has been 
happening cannot be over-emphasised. The aim here, therefore, has been to create a 
space for a fuller discussion on the impacts and costs of rapid and successful 
restructuring on the urban poor and their responses using the case study of Singapore. 
This thesis has argued that the neglect of non-economic concerns is associated with 
the persistence of investigations and examinations in East Asia remaining at the 
264 
aggregated regional level, or at best the national level, failing to acknowledge or pay 
attention to the variations between and within countries, communities and households. 
It is proposed, therefore, that poverty research should use a three-level approach, 
gaining knowledge and understanding from the macro-, meso- and micro-levels and 
the ways in which they interact and influence one another. This in turn allows the 
investigation of hidden spaces and experiences and highlights the relationships 
between the meta and the particular. A main aim of this research therefore has been to 
make certain groups of disadvantaged individuals and groups more visible and focus 
on those who are excluded from the successful images of East Asia in the example of 
Singapore. It was argued therefore for a (re)engagement with the language of poverty, 
equality and rights in the region. 
In order to do this, Chapter 2 explored the different deftitions, understandings and 
debates in poverty research from urban and rural, north and south. Poverty was 
understood to be a 'lack of something, usually income, but it was argued that in order 
to investigate poverty in a dynamic and successful context, poverty also needed to be 
understood as vulnerability, exclusion, powerlessness and lack of dignity. As a result, 
this thesis rejected the singular use of an absolute poverty line because it served to 
reduce and simplify poverty and exclude diversity and difference whilst failing to 
discuss inequalities and intra-household and non-monetary factors. Instead, the use of 
participatory understandings and concepts was advocated in order to capture the 
"local, complex, diverse and dynamic" (Chambers, 1995: 75) and to allow for an 
analysis of the whole system and not one singular layer, such as income. In particular, 
the notion of vulnerability was seen to be important since it allowed the examination 
of the dynamics of poverty as well as strategies and resistance and the processes 
which diminish or increase the capacity to cope. Meanwhile, the concept of social 
exclusion was also viewed as useful in order to link the macro-level to the individual 
and expose restrictions and negotiations. The use of both of these concepts formed a 
crucial element and contribution of this study. 
Building on this, the thesis went on to explore the relationships between poverty and 
gender, space and coping strategies. A key strategy in the research was to investigate 
the individual and intra-household level and to highlight the diversity of poverty by 
265 
using women in poor households as a case study. The research argued for the use of 
coping strategies as a tool through which to investigate these relationships 
highlighting how different groups and people responded and constructed strategies 
from different spaces and exposing the different processes which impoverish. An 
investigation of these spaces was also seen to be crucial as they could be linked to 
identities and experiences and highlight complex negotiations, especially in such a 
regulated environment as Singapore. 
This thesis, therefore, has made a contribution to understandings of poverty in three 
ways. First, to challenge the symbolic significance of economic dynamism in East 
Asia and Singapore and especially to add to research on a topic which is little 
understood or studied in a turbulent region. Second, this thesis has contributed to 
debates on poverty and provide evidence for the applicability of definitions and 
techniques from structurally adjusting nations as well as advanced nations to the 
region of East Asia, which does not sit comfortably in either the North or the South. In 
particular, it has been demonstrated that the concepts of vulnerability and exclusion 
can be successfully utilised here to expose the different manifestations of poverty. 
Finally, the research has provided evidence which highlights and stresses the 
importance of engaging with concepts of space in poverty research to reveal hidden 
voices and lives, especially in gender studies. 
On the basis of these discussions and arguments, a flexible research strategy, which 
draws on a number of techniques and theories was adopted. In particular, it was seen 
as important to use multi-methods and draw on the advantages of both quantitative 
and qualitative methods and data. The research produced a number of theoretical and 
empirical findings which enabled several conclusions to be made although it will be 
useful to recap on the main themes and research questions first (see also Table 3.7): 
to understand what poverty is in Singapore and what is means to be Poor 
to investigate the experiences of men and women in poverty and capture their lived 
realities 
to clarify the responses and strategies of poor households and their members and to 
explore what factors diminish or increase the capacity to cope. 
266 
9.2: Key findings from the research 
Given the lack of poverty research in East Asia and Singapore, a first step was to 
explore how poverty and the poor were defined and understood in Singapore. Chapter 
5 examines the range of mediums through which poverty is defined and can be 
understood. Officially, only 6 per cent of the population are believed to live below a 
poverty line. Importantly, understandings of the poor are framed as the opposite to a 
set of assumptions which defined a 'normal' or 'healthy' family, therefore 
differentiating poor families and assigning a stigma to their situation which would in 
turn impact on their ability to seek help and advice. Furthermore, since society here is 
constructed as meritocratic, poverty is perceived as a lack of social mobility for which 
the individual or household is to blame. 
However, explorations of studies and discussions within the voluntary welfare sector 
have begun to flesh out these understandings and have revealed a broader, more 
generous appreciation of poverty as well as the identification of social divisions along 
the lines of class, gender, ethnicity and age. In particular, this sector especially 
identifies multi-probIem families, the elderly, single parents and Malays as households 
most in need and highlights the greater numbers experiencing poverty, its complexity 
and the need to explore the variety of experiences and divisions. 
In Chapter 6, analysis of the experiences and dimensions of poverty builds a picture of 
realities beyond the simplification of an income poverty line and reveals the multitude 
of factors and influences which impact on the daily experiences of poverty and the 
ability to cope (see Table 6.3 1). Poverty is not only related to income in Singapore, 
but also to a multitude of non-monetary factors. Although all of the respondents 
experienced low income, their poverty was also multi-dimensional and manifested 
itself as exclusion, vulnerability and powerlessness and expressed as a lack of assets, 
access, choice, security and self-respect. 
267 
The importance of assets and resources is highlighted as particularly important in 
Singapore by both the state and respondents and there does exist an extensive range of 
assets from the labour market to housing and education here. However, this thesis has 
shown that their existence alone is not enough to prevent poverty or vulnerability if 
individuals and households cannot gain access or the right to these assets or are not 
capable of transforming them into income and other basic needs. These capabilities 
are determined by a number of complex and over-lapping factors and processes which 
this thesis argues serve to impoverish households and their members. The processes 
and factors which impoverish or make vulnerable, and the main barriers to the 
alleviation of poverty, vulnerability and social exclusion are summarised in Figure 
9.1. 
Similar to elsewhere, the labour market in Singapore is the most important asset to 
secure income and alleviate poverty and vulnerability since it is the main source of 
income. In Singapore, however, other sources such as transfers from kin, welfare 
organisations and the state are extremely limited, further emphasising the importance 
of access to the paid workforce. 
Moser and McIlwaine (1997a) argue, however, that changes in the labour market can 
act as a main source of vulnerability. Economic restructuring in Singapore has 
resulted in a number of trends and processes, most notably, the shift from labour- 
intensive industrialisation towards an upgrading of the economy and capital-intensive 
businesses and a skilled workforce which has resulted in a rapid rise in prices and the 
costs of living, the departure of manufacturing industries, and therefore many low- 
skilled jobs to surrounding countries and the controlled management of the population 
by the PAP. This has massive implications for the poor who disproportionately bear 
the burden of economic and social change and struggle to keep pace with the rapid 
economic and social changes and the cost of daily living (Aslanbeigui et al., 1994; 
Moser, 1995a). 
268 
POVERTY 
Lack of kicome 
VULNERABILITY 
Assets and Resources 
I 
Labour Market 
" Low aid irregular incom e 
" Insecure, temporary or contract employment exclucling contributions to CPF 
" Loss of job, ill-firialth 
" Lack of d9ldcans facilities (especially for single parents) 
" hability Io motxlise extra Irmome-earners. usually women 
" Lack of aducatKn skills, literacy and information 
" Construcbon of women as secondary incom a earners 
Education 
InIKIMIUSts access and inability to afford costs 
DroP-(XA of school and hick of parental support 
Mono4mgual (non-English speaking) 
Exam-onentated and intense pressure from an early age 
Housing 
" Lim Red rental accommodation and lack of non-government alternatives 
" Exclusion from ownership Kno regular income orsingle parent 
" Det*, wears and eviction 
" Regulations and restrictions on use for money6making enterprises 
Household Relations 
" Marital breakdown and dissolution 
" Increased dependency ratio and carkV for other household members 
" Unequal distribubon of resources and deci3ion-making 
" Doublettriple roles for women 
" Escape behaviour and domestic violence 
Social Capital 
" Lack of community based organisation3, especially offering financial assistance 
" Lack of aocess, information and knowledge of services 
" Stigma attached to help-seeking 
" Decline In communityspirit and reciprocity between households 
Government Policy and Assistance 
" Exrlusivity of policy based on notions of 'ciftenshilY and 'healthyfamilies 
" Lack of state provided benefits and safety net for poor and low-income 
" Lack of rights and entitlement especially to benefits 
" Rigid gander divisions and klentibes 
" Lack at public mid political parbcipabon 
SOCIAL 
EXCLUSION 
Lack of access, rights 
and entitlement 
Figure 9.1: Factors influencing poverty, vulnerability and social exclusion in Singapore 
269 
Despite the opportunities which exist in the Singaporean labour market, the shift 
towards this capital-intensive, hi-tech working environment has diminished the 
numbers ofjobs for the low or unskilled. Although the vast majority of households in 
the study had at least one income-eamer, this access to the labour market was not 
necessarily enough to alleviate poverty or vulnerability since it was labour 
characterised as low paying, insecure, temporary, contract and unskilled jobs. The lack 
of access and opportunities for secure and permanent jobs is critical in Singapore 
since it denies contribution to the CPF and therefore main pension, income security 
and mortgage scheme and safety net for the future. Other barriers to accessing the 
labour market were also evident, especially for women who were often bound to their 
family roles as mothers and wives by childcare problems and conservative 
constructions of the family which defines the male as the breadwinner. 
The relationship between income and occupation is also influenced by a third element, 
education. Access and affordability of education was viewed as one of the most 
important determinants of poverty and the ability to secure a job in the formal labour 
market. However exclusion manifested itself in the form of high costs for books, fees 
and uniforms, the inability to compete in such an exam-orientated and competitive 
environment and provide extra tuition or support. 
Although the ownership of housing usually implies a decrease in vulnerability, this 
was not always found to be the case in Singapore. Despite the almost universal 
provision of housing, barriers and regulations were in operation which denied access 
and affordable alternatives to different groups. Integral to levels of vulnerability has 
been the government's drive for home ownership which was seen to have pressurised 
families who could not afford it, or who could not secure a regular income, to 
purchase beyond their means. A significant number of households therefore have been 
found in precarious positions characterised by debt and arrears and, in the worst cases, 
eviction. Furthermore, certain groups were excluded outright most notably single 
parent households, since they did not fit with government notions of 'healthy' 
families. 
270 
Alternative sources of income or assistance in the form of social capital have also 
been shown to be limited in Singapore. This is especially clear from the lack of 
community based organisations and the waiting lists and lack of spaces which 
characterise those which do operate. Further, access to these organisations and 
information and knowledge of their services has Proven to be limited and help-seeking 
activities stigmatised in society which acts as a self-imposed barrier to this asset. At 
the inter-household level, support and networks are weak and community-spirit low. 
TMs has been associated with the rapid physical and social changes in Singapore's 
environment 
Within households, results from Chapter 8 confirm the importance of intra-household 
relations and analysis at the individual level. A number of factors are crucial here 
which influence the levels and experiences of poverty and are especially seen to 
impact on women. For example, due to their multiple roles as workers, mothers, wives 
and carers; women disproportionately experience increasing dependency ratios and 
marital dissolution, whilst aspects such as domestic violence impact on their physical 
security. Influences within the household therefore act to prevent the equal 
distribution of resources or secure the safety of all members. 
Finally, Chapters 6,7 and 8 demonstrate the importance of linking analysis to the 
macro-level and policy, and in particular to an examination of the state in Singapore. 
Watts and Bohne (1993) have argued that the ability to command resources requires 
full membership of society-, yet, it has been shown in this thesis that if individuals and 
families do not confonn with the 'norm' or notions of 'citizenship' then this full 
membership is denied. This in turn has translated into the inability to claim on the 
government or other sources and to participate in 'normal' society. Whilst analysis of 
vulnerability has revealed the precarious position of the poor and the inability to 
adequately command resources, applying understandings of social exclusion has 
exposed- the level of restrictions and regulation imposed and the extent to which these 
contribute to that vulnerability and poverty. The most obvious acts of discrimination 
and exclusion have been against single parents. Although not all single parents are 
poor, they are all discriminated against. 
271 
This analysis has highlighted a number of crucial factors which impact on the 
incidence of poverty but that one of the most obvious manifestations of poverty is as 
social exclusion: exclusion from the labour market, housing, education, welfare. Most 
significantly the source of this exclusion is often the state and its policies which 
legislate for economic development and the advancement of the 'normal' and 
'healthy' family. These policies, such as labour, population planning, Asian values 
and social welfare, act as one of the main sources which perpetuate poverty in 
Singapore. Schmidt (1997) contended that macro-economic policy and government 
neglect have acted as causes of poverty, vulnerability and exclusion in this region and 
this thesis has shown a causal relationship between urban poverty and state policies in 
Singapore since they marginalise groups and widen social divisions. Poverty therefore 
is also culturally specific and caused by local constructions of what is 'normal' or 
'right' (Kabeer, 1996). 
Despite these restrictions and the lack of choices and alternatives in the urban 
landscape of Singapore, Chapter 8 has highlighted the resourcefulness and 
negotiations of individuals and households in order to secure well-being. Table 9.1 
summarises the range of coping strategies adopted and adapted by households and 
their members from within often confined and bounded spaces. The research found 
that women were more likely to modify their lives and attempt a range of responses 
from within the home, labour market and welfare sector. In particular women in the 
research discussed their movement and responses from within restricted spaces and 
understandings in order to maintain their roles as mothers and wives first. 
To this end, coping strategies were seen to be gendered. In general, male household 
members tended not to alter their daily lives maintaining the role as worker, whether 
this was adequate or not. A wide variety of strategies and responses, however, were 
evident amongst the women interviewed, based on the labour market, the family and 
social networks and voluntary welfare organisations. However, use of these differed 
depending on type of household. Most notably, women in intact families were much 
less likely to enter the workplace, finding and negotiating other strategies from within 
the home, whilst single parents tended to view the workplace as the main and only 
source of survival, and a space which they were now more free to enter without the 
272 
I 
restrictions of a husband. Finally, many of the women, irrespective of household type, 
used VWOs and family service centres. Unlike the public and private spaces or work 
and home, these were used by women as 'in-between' spaces, into which women 
could enter from the private in order to access the public. 
To this end, the lifestyles of women and men in poor households must be recognised 
and acknowledged as deserving of research and policy attention and that the choices, 
options and spaces made available to them must be stretched and expanded. If an 
economic agenda is to remain the principal priority and policies are to be sustainable 
in both the short and long term, then strategies, such as a pro-family welfare 
campaign, require rethinking and increased flexibility if women and men are to cope 
with the demands of rapidly changing urban environments. The way forward for 
policy therefore is to assist with the choices that people do have rather than attempting 
to change their lives to fit current state economic agendas. 
Table 9.1: Summary of coping strategies 
Level of response 
Coping strategy 
Household 
Household restructuring, mainly living with extended family (especially 
for elderly and single parents) 
Removing children from school 
Illegally reconnecting utility supplies 
Juggling bills and debts depending priority 
Using VWO and FSCs for food, fmancial assistance and other services 
(although usually one individual who approaches) 
Borrowing from family, friends or a loanshark 
Not eating out 
Pawning items 
Reduce expenditure and cut back 
Ask ftiends and neighbours, for example, to babysit 
Individual 
Seeking paid employment 
Taking two jobs, working irregular or extra hours or shifts 
Home-based, informal or part-time employment by women 
Elderly or children working 
Talk/pray to God 
Taking cheaper non-air conditioned bus 
Learn how to pay bills etc. 
Scavenging in rubbish tips and recycling 
Going without food, especially meat 
Haggle and bargaining in market 
Anti-depressant tablets and sleeping pills 
Negotiate credit or 'tick' at a store 
273 
9.2.1: Policy recommendations 
Although this study is on a small-scale and has been based on micro-level data, it is 
still possible to provide information for policy and planning. Drawing on Moser 
(1995), policy recommendations in Singapore require a more holistic approach which 
places less emphasis on the economy and infrastructure and more on social structures 
of society and the political context within which decisions are made and policies 
implemented. Moser (1995) argues that such a task requires social policy as opposed 
to economic policy since economic policy neglects people as members of social 
groups and makes judgements and plans on welfare on the basis of how policy-makers 
perceive the world. This research has shown that the poor are not passive victims but 
negotiate and navigate within the barriers and spaces to which they are confined. 
In particular, attention needs to be paid to restrictions and regulations on access to 
services, income and opportunities in Singapore. Solutions need to be worked from a 
foundation of inclusion and opportunities for all and removing the stigma attached to 
poverty, failing or 'losing face'. Support should be offered to a number of 
programmes which will help those without skills or adequate education or literacy 
levels to gain access to regular employment, and especially to remove barriers such as 
insufficient childcare and unequal attitudes which impact on women trying to enter 
the labour force. Assessment must also be made of the impact of transferring welfare 
to the community and family and the extent to which exclusions from CPF and 
therefore income and old-age security will affect the poor of the future. Most 
importantly, policy must create options and opportunities by removing rigid and 
exclusionary restrictions. 
93: 'The East Asian crisis': implications for the future 
In 1997, the world within which this research study was conducted changed 
dramatically and rapidly as East and Southeast Asia witnessed the unravelling of its 
economic miracle and the beginnings of what was to become known as the 'East 
Asian crisis'. What began as a seemingly isolated devaluation of the Tbai Baht, 
quickly spread throughout East Asia and beyond bringing a sudden end to 
274 
dictatorships, Japanese banks and South Korean multi-national corporations, Russia to 
near collapse and the destabilisation of global markets (Bezanson, 1998). It took only 
12 weeks from the currency crisis in Thailand for the Asian stock markets to lose 
nearly half of their value and for the worst affected countries- Thailand, Indonesia and 
South Korea- to have their real GDP growth turned from over 7 per cent per annum to 
zero or a negative figure (ILO, 1998). Even the nations which were less affected, such 
as Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore, all experienced significant deceleration of 
growth rates in 1998. For example, growth rates, although staying positive, have 
decreased between 1997 and 1998 in Singapore from 7.8 per cent to 0.5 per cent and 
in the Philippines between 5.1 and 2.8 per cent (Griffith-Jones, 1998). 
Attention, therefore, has once again been focused on this dynamic region, but this time 
for very different reasons, as uncertainty, change, risk and shock dominate and 
devastating pictures of rioting, death, mass poverty and unemployment emerge, all of 
which continue as I write. Despite this, discussions and debates have remained pre- 
occupied with the macro-economic elements of the crisis and focused on stock 
markets, currencies and growth rates. Although the numbers are dramatic and signify 
the enormous extent and intensity of crisis here, remarkably little attention has been 
paid to the socio-political, human and poverty dimensions of what is happening 
(Wolf, 1998). 
As a result there is a need to 'cut' through the talk of stock markets and attempt a 
more balanced appreciation of what has occurred and what can be done. What the 
crisis should provide therefore is an opportunity to re-open discussions on poverty in 
the region. However, a major problem with this task is the fact that the absence of 
debate has left a void in most cases as to what the situation was before the crash. Most 
observers however have signalled a major reversal of previous trends, most notably, 
predicting a major increase in poverty. The basis of poverty reduction in East Asia has 
been due to sustained periods of high economic and income growth rates rather than 
government efforts to improve social welfare or service provision. 
Given this, and the fact that this is where the crisis has had its most devastating 
influence, then the most significant impact on poverty is due to falling income and 
275 
wages and rising unemployment. Unemployment rates have increased dramatically as 
companies retrench workers, especially in construction, financial services and 
manufacturing sectors. For example, South Korea recording the highest figure ever on 
record (Dixon, 1999) whilst in Singapore, 10,000 workers have been retrenched 
between January and August in 1999 (Government press release, 13 Dec. 1999). This 
has resulted in increased participation in the informal sector, and along with 
unemployment has served to depress wages (Robb, 1998). There is also increasing 
evidence of the growth of activities such as gambling, prostitution and child labour 
(ibid.; Parnwell, forthcoming). 
Furthermore, concern has particularly been raised because of the lack of safety nets 
and welfare provision in East Asian states (Park and Song, 1998). The substitutes of 
the labour market and the family will not be able to secure well-being for everyone 
and as a result, Griffith-Jones (1998) argues, there has been the emergence of dramatic 
gaps between the rich and poor. In the absence of a welfare safety net such as 
unemployment benefit and social assistance, Bezanson (1998) contends that this 
indicates economic hardship beyond that suggested by falls in GDP and that the fall in 
real earnings and unemployment levels will reverse the impressive trends in poverty 
reduction in the region (ILO, 1998). 
All of these trends imply increased numbers in need of social protection but these are 
the very systems which are especially underdeveloped in East and Southeast Asia. In 
particular, those most affected will be those in informal, irregular employment outside 
the coverage of social security systems and provident funds. Such areas are dominated 
by the poor and especially women. Due to the unequal position of women in the 
labour market and their ascribed roles in society, women are more likely to be 
adversely affected by the crisis than men and considered more dispensable in the 
labour market (Truong, 1999). This will be particularly acute for female heads since 
they are usually the sole earners in a household and less likely to have savings or 
contributions. There are few disaggregated data however by gender (or anything else) 
on the crash but the ILO (1998) have noted growing anecdotal evidence. 
276 
Particular concern has also been raised with regards to migrant workers due to the 
large numbers in irregular or illegal work and in the construction sector, as well as the 
large number of women. Intra-regional migration grew rapidly due to labour shortages 
in the NEEs but these levels are expected to decrease dramatically and the extensive 
repatriation of workers expected. 
Despite the strength of the Singapore economy and strong fundamentals such as large 
foreign exchange and fiscal reserves, Singapore has not been exempt from the spread 
of the Asian crisis. Directly, Singapore has experienced lower growth rates, drops in 
currency and the stock exchange and growing unemployment figures and indirectly 
through its extensive investments in some of the hardest hit tast Asian economies 
such as Indonesia and Viet Nam. Furthermore, in more resilient and affluent nations 
such as Singapore, Parnwell (1998) has argued that it is the middle classes rather than 
the poor who will be affected and suffer the most. The poor have not been impacted 
upon to the same extent, he argues, because they were not as directly involved with 
the immediate issues of the economy such as stocks and shares and that they would 
already have in place mechanisms of coping in their lifestyles. 
Since the crisis, evidence emerging from Singapore suggests the government has 
reacted to the needs of increased unemployment, vulnerability, poverty and lower 
incomes. Government press releases are now pre-occupied with building a stronger 
and more resilient society and especially a more caring and compassionate one. 
Although this increased interest and attention to welfare and poverty issues, Singapore 
has not fundamentally changed any approach but instead intensified its campaign to 
build the role of the community and the family in welfare provision and caring for the 
'less successful' (Government press release, 5 October 1999). 
However, the events in East Asia have also transformed from a financial and 
economic crisis into a more general socio-political one. For example, in Indonesia, 
Malaysia and Singapore ethnic rivalries have re-surfaced (Bezanson, 1998) and the 
fear now is of rising ethnic conflict, ethnic cleansing, regional separatism, military 
rule and resurgent fascism. Challenges have so far been suppressed in East Asia and 
Singapore in the name of economic development but if a continuation of the economic 
277 
crisis spreads it is likely to create political instability around the region. How 
Singapore, and other nations, resolve this dilemma may well be what conditions its 
economic future. 
The fact that the so-called economic 'crisis' has occurred and has been so deep and 
widespread is an enormous challenge to all development agencies, researchers and 
policy-makers. It is essential therefore that careful and detailed research is carried out 
to investigate what has happened to the poor and to identify the new poor and the 
most affected and vulnerable groups. Furthermore, research is needed in order to 
assess the levels of coping amongst the poor and vulnerable and how affordable and 
sustainable safety nets can be designed. There are enormous gaps in our knowledge 
and understanding of the poor, vulnerable and excluded in East Asia, gaps which call 
for urgent attention and research. It is to this research agenda which this thesis has 
made a contribution. 
278 
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308 
APPENDIX 1 
Household Survey of Low-Income Households 
Singapore 1995 
This questionnaire is about you and your household and their activities. The 
information you provide will remain confidential and no data will be reported in any 
way which could allow anyone to identify individuals or households helping with this 
study. 
Questionnaire No.: 
Location/Address: 
Interview Date and Time: 
Interviewer: 
Language Used: 
Interview Completed?: 
Respondent's ID: 
Group ID: 
Gender: 
Ethnic group: 
If you have any problems or queries about this questionnaire, please contact: 
Gillian Davidson 
c/o Department of Geography 
National University of Singapore 
Kent Ridge 
309 
SECTION A: Personal and Family Details 
Firstly, I want to ask you questions to find out some background details about you and the members of 
your household. 
[A household is defined as a group ofpeople who normally live and eat together in the same dwelling 
and who generally consider themselves to be the unitfor which plans and decisions about daily life will 
be made. ] 
Forforeign workers, this refers to the household in their home country, tircept where it says otherwise 
Al. Please identify all members of your household and their relationship to you. 
A2. Are you considered the head of the household? Yes 0 No C3 
[MI is the key decision maker, especially about economic matters] 
A3. What a, -,, e are you? 15-24 13 25-34 0 3544 El 45-54 11 
55-64 13 65-74 11 75+ 
A4. What is your marital status? ................................... 
A5. What level of education have you reached? 
0 
No education 0 Incomplete Primary 0 Complete Primary 
Incomplete Secondary 0 Complete Secondary 0 Tertiary 
A6. How many members of your household are schoolchildren or younger? ............................ 
A7. How many members of your household are aged over 60 years old? ..................................... 
AS. How many members of your household are economically active? .......................................... 
fir ny ty, 
[e. g. all those household memhers who earn an income oma pe ofwork] 
A9. What is the main languaget dialect spoken in the home? ........................................................ 
" 10. How many members of your household speak: 
a) English? .......... b) Mandarin? .......... 
" 11. Has any member of your household had to leave school prematurely? Yes 
No 
a) If yes, could you please give details as to who and the reason(s) why: 
310 
A 12. Have any of the members in your household changed in the last 5 years due to? 
Birth [I Death 0 Marriac,,, e 11 Divorce C3 
Relatives coming to stay 13 Other C) None 13 
0 
SEMON B: History 
B 1. Which of the following refers to your status in Singapore? 
Singapore CitizenO Permanent Resident C3 
Work Permit Holder 0 Illegal Worker 
B2. Where were your parents born? ................................... 
IF NOT SINGAPORE CITIZENS 
B3. Where were you born? .... . .......................................... 
B4. What were your reasons for coming to Singapore? 
Job/Work 0 Family/Friends 0 Other 0 
B5. When did you arrive in Singapore? .................... 
FOR MIGRANT WORKERS ONLY 
B6. When do you plan to leave Singapore? Month: ........ Year: .......... 
B7. Do you think you will return to Singapore? Yes 0 No 0 DK 
B8. How did you get yourjob in Singapore? 
Agency 0 Family/Friends 0 Other 0 
SECTION C: Accommodation Details 
C 1. What type of accommodation do you live in in Singapore? 
HDB Cl Private 0 Temporary dwelling 0 Institution/Home 0 
C2. Is your accommodation.... 
Rented 0 Owned 0 Provided by employer 0 Provided by Other 
C3. How many rooms does your accommodation have? (orforforeign workers, how many do you have 
use oj. 7) ........................... 
311 
C4. Has your household moved in the last 5 years? Yes 13 No 0 
a) If Yes, Why? ........................................ 
C5. Does your accommodation have repairs needing attention? Yes 0 No 0 
C6. Which of these consumer goods does your household own (or does the individual own for migrant 
workers? ) 
Fridge 0 TV 0 Video C3 Phone 0 Vacuum Cleaner 0 
Radio 0 Washing Machine 0 Computer 0 Microwave 0 
C7. How were the majority of these goods paid for? ...................................... 
FOR MIGRANT WORKERS 
Please repeat the same questions for your household in your home country 
CS. What type of accommodation do you live in in your home country? 
House 0 Flat 0 Farm 0 
C9. Is your accommodation 
Rented 13 Owned 0 Provided by Other 11 
C 10. How many rooms does your accommodation have? ....................... 
C 11. Has your household moved in the last 5 years? Yes 13 No 0 
a) If Yes, Why? ........................................ 
C 12. Does your accommodation have repairs needing attention? Yes 0 No 
00 
C 13. VVhich of these consumer goods does your household own? 
Fridge 0 TV 0 Video 0 Phone 0 Vacuum Cleaner 0 
Radio 0 Washin- Machine 0 Computer 0 Microwave 
0 
C 14. How were the majority of these goods paid for? ...................................... 
FOR ALL RESPONDENTS 
C15. Does your household own or cultivate apiece of land? Yes 11 No 11 
a) If yes, Where? ................................................ 
b) Does it make any produce available? (Give details) .......................................... 
312 
d) Is this produce.... For Sale 11 Self-Consumption 0 
SECTION D: Occupation, Income and Expenditure 
D 1. What is the principle occupation of all economically active members of your household, including 
yourself? 
Household Member 
Occupation 
D2. Does anyone in your household have more than one job? Yes 0 No cl 
a) If Yes, please give details: 
D3. Does everyone in your household have permanent and regular jobs? Yes 
No 
a) If No, please give details: 
D4. If you are employed, on average, how many hours per week do you work? ................... 
D5. What shift(s) do you normally work? ......................................................... 
D6. What is your main mode of transport to work? ....................................... 
D7. What is your individual average monthly income (after CPF, tax etc. )? 
None 0 1-249 11 250499 0 500-749 13 
750-999 0 1000+ 0 Confidential 0 
DS. What is the average total monthly household income from work (after CPF, tax etc. )? 
None 0 1499 0 500-999 11 1000-1499 0 
1500+ 0 Don't Know 0 Confidential 0 
313 
D9. Does your household currently receive any additional income from any of the following? 
Family/Friends 11 Government 0 VW0 0 Church/Religious El 
Loans 11 Other(Specify) 0 
D 10. If you do receive any income could you please indicate the type of subsidy or loan and the amount 
your household receives? 
D 11. I'm now going to ask you some questions on your household spending and expenditure. For each 
of the following could you please indicate to the best of your knowledge: 
a) the percentage of household monthly income spent on these, and 
b) the priority given to each item e. g. High, Medium or Low. 
Item 
Percent 
Priority (H, M, L) 
Accommodation 
Utilities and Conservancy 
Food 
Transport 
Education 
Health 
Remittances overseas 
Savings 
Recreation and festivals 
Other (please specifý) 
* 12. Who makes key decisions on expenditure in your household? .............................. 
* 13. Do you currently contribute to any of the following schemes? 
CPF 0 Edusave 0 Medisave C) None 
D 14. Do you have CPF savings? Yes 0 No 0 
D 15. Could you please describe a typical family dinner? ........................................ 
D 16. When a member of your household is ill, where would you go for treatment? 
............................................................... 
D 17. How is medical treatment paid for? .............................................................. 
SECTION E: Support Services and Coping 
314 
E I. In the last 5 years, has your household experienced any time of fmancial difficulty in any of the 
following areas? 
Rent Arrears 0 
Buying/building a house 0 
Utility Arrears 
Phone Bill 
Education costs 0 
Health Costs 0 
Providing meals 0 
Supporting a family 
member 0 
Other (specify) 0 
E2. When difficulties have been experienced, from whom, if at all, have you sought help? 
Family/Friends C3 School 0 
HDB/PUB 0 Loanshark 0 
NCSS 0 Other (specify) 0 
VWO/FSC 0 No-one 0 
E3. Have any of these difficulties your household has faced altered the lives of any member of your 
household? 
No 13 Yes 0 
a) If yes, please give details: 
E4. Have you or your household had to give anything up because of fmancial difficulties or because it is 
too expensive? 
No 0 Yes 0 
a) If yes, please give details: 
E5. Do you or your household budget 
In advance 0 
Day to day 13 
Don't know El 
E6. Do you or your household use any of the following services? 
Childcare facilities 
Tuition 
Senior Citizens Clubs 
Family Service Centres 
Counselling Services 
Community Services 
Advisory Groups 
Other (specify) 
cl 
cl 
cl 
(3 
cl 
315 
E7. Are there any facilities you would like to see made available to you? 
E8. Are there any services that you consider to be too expensive? 
E9. Do you, or any members of your household, participate in any community activities? 
E 10. What do you think, if anything, are the main problems in your community? 
SECTION F: Attitudes and Opinions 
Fl. In terms of household income, what would you consider to be aLow-Income'household (in S$)? 
0499 0< 1000 0 <1500 0< 2000 El 
F2. In terms of social class, where would you place your own household on the following list? 
LOWER LOWER MEDDLE MEDDLE UPPER MIDDLE UPPER 
F3. What follows is a list of statements about Singapore's economy and society, household needs and 
support services. Could you please rank your opinion using the following scale; 
1: Agee strongly 
2: Agree 
3: Neither agree or disagree 
4: Disagree 
5: Disagree strongly 
The cost of living in Singapore 12345 
is high 
It is easy to get a job in Spore 12345 
The cost of living has increased 12345 
since the introduction of GST 
I am better off than my parents 12345 
are/were 
My children will be better off 12345 
than me 
316 
Being successful is a matter of 12345 
hard work 
Everyone has an equal chance to succeed 12345 
Everyone in Singapore has the same 12345 
opportimities 
Pressures to succeed have increased 12345 
in the last 10 years 
IMere are adequate Govcrmuent and 
Voluntary support services available 
The family should be the main form 12345 
of support in society 
If I could not afford anything 1345 
would approach my family fast 
A welfare system encouragges a12345 
dependent society 
I can adequately express my views 12345 
and problems in society 
I am free to practice any religious 12345 
and social needs and duties 
F4. Finally, could you please describe the expectations you have for the future for you and other 
members of your household. 
THANK YOU FOR COMPLETING THIS CONFIDENTIAL AND ANONYMOUS 
QUESTIONNAIRE. 
317 
APPENDIX 2 
Sub-sample Survey of Women in Low-Income Households 
Agenda and Prompt Sheet 
Singapore 1996 
Interview number. 
interview Location/Address: 
Interview Date & Time: 
Interviewer 
Language used: 
Interview completed? 
Call back required? 
Respondent's ID: 
Group ID: 
Ethnic Group: 
Additional comments: 
318 
SECTION A- Social Characteristics of the Household 
a) Personal details 
Ask informant about her background- Place of birth, age, marital status, number of children, age at 
marriage, formal education, qualifications, ability to read and write, year arrived in Singapore? 
b) Household structure 
(70. Household defined as a group ofpeople who normally live and eat together in the same dwelling 
and who generally consider themselves to be the unitfor which plans and decisions about daily life will 
he made. ) 
Ask informant about her household background- Household size, who is the head, who are the different 
members, number of dependants? 
For all members ask for their- household status, age, marital status, formal education, levels of 
qualifications, occupation, location of children not living in the household? 
(If foreign worker these details should relate to their household in their home country but general details 
., apore households) 
should be obtained for their Sing 
c) Housing type 
Ask for details on housing: Do you own/ rent/ live in institution? Number of rooms, cost per month, 
how paid for, feel it is adequate, find it is affordable, is it in need of repairs, ownership of consumer 
goods, have they upgraded or downgraded in last 2 years, why, who made the decision to move? 
d) Household Changes 
Ask respondent about changes to the household structure over the past 5 years, for example, birth, 
marriage, divorce, separation, death, migration movement of children, grandparents ctc.? 
When did these changes occur and why? 
What impacts have these changes had on the household e. g. Financial, emotional, practical? 
What are your feelings about these changes - satisfied, unhappy, relieved, not bothered? 
Are you satisfied with your current household arrangements - if no, why not, what would make it better? 
SECTION B- Employment and Income 
a) Informant's employment history 
Ask the respondent to discuss her employment history- Age at firstjob, number and types ofjobs, when 
these were in relation to life cycle, reasons for leaving job, reasons for not working, how were jobs 
found, did she stop when married? 
Details of currentjob - hours, shifts, conditions, how long injob, other extrajobs, permanency, 
transport and time to get to work? 
If workinz - What is the main reason for working e. g. financial/economic, independence, satisfaction - 
would they rather stay at home? 
319 
If not working- reasons why not, would you like to work, are there any restrictions on you working, for 
example, from husbands, parents, childcare problems? 
Have there been any changes to your life or the household because you work/ do not work, e. g. 
relationships, intra-household cohesion and conflicts, finances? 
How mahy of these different roles do you play mother, wife, wage-earner, daughter (in law), employee, 
community member? Which do you feel is the most important role? Do you feel any stress or pressure 
having different roles? Why, how do you cope, what could make it better? 
Do you experience any pressure to play more roles/ do more things than you already do - what would 
that be, where do you get pressure from, why do you think there is this pressure? 
b) Employment of other household members 
Ask informant to give details of the employment for all other household members (where relevant) - 
type of work, permanency, shifts, reasons for not working, more than one job? 
c) Household Income 
What members of the household generate income e. g. Informant, husband, children, elders - does 
everyone earning contribute to the household, in what way, how much, is this enough? 
Do you know how much each member earns and whether they contribute to the CPF? 
Do you receive any income from non-resident relatives (children, maintenance) and gifts in kind - what 
do you get, how much, how often, from whom, where are they now? 
Do you receive income from any other sources e. g. social services, voluntary organisations, credit, 
loans, borrowing - how much, how often, what is it used for? 
Do you know the total household income each month - is this enough, how much would be enough, 
satisfactory, if not, why not? 
Has this income changed in the last year - in what way, why, what did you do to manage (if decreased) 
SECTION C- Expenditure and Division of Labour 
a) Household expenditure 
Ask informant to discuss household expenditure- what are the main costs and expenditures, what is the 
main priority, how much is spent each month? 
What proportion of income is contributed to the household budget by different earning members, is this 
an equal amount what are these incomes used for? 
Who makes the decisions on expenditure and budgeting - why, does this work? 
Have you experienced any expenditure increases in the last year -how much, why, what extra costs, 
have prices increased, what for? 
320 
b) Division of Labour 
Who does the chores in the household, what are the tasks of children, husband and other relatives e. g. 
cooking, cleaning, washing, shopping, maintenance? What does informant do? 
Who is responsible for childcare in the household- who takes the children to school, who looks after 
them when main carer not there; do you use external childcare -how often, cost / why not? 
Who are all the dependants in the household, other than children - who cares for them? 
Do you receive domestic help from outside the household e. g. from non-residents relatives, neighbours, 
VWOS - what kind of help, why do you need them? 
Could you please describe a typical day of activities in the home, the workplace and the community for 
yourself and then if possible (and applicable) for your husband? 
SECTION D- Problems and Coping 
a) Problems 
What have been the main problems faced by your household in the last 2 years e. g. financial, emotional, 
family, housing 
.,,, debts, illness - when did these occur, how did they come about, what did you do, do 
these problems still exist? 
Have any of these difficulties altered your life or members of your household- if yes, who, in what way, 
what did you/they do? 
Have you or your household had to give up anything as a result of problems e. g. make cutbacks, skip 
meals, not buy things, give things up - what when, for how long? 
Have you experienced any other situation which brought difficulty to your household and you have not 
mentioned yet e. g. divorce, illness, death, loss of income? 
b) Coping strategies 
How did you cope with these problems - how did you manage, who did you turn to, did this resolve the 
problem, do you think you knew all the options available to you? 
If didn't seek help - why not, why didn't you turn to anyone? 
If you had a problem now who would you turn to first - why? 
Would you look to anyone else for help - who (e. g. relatives, neighbours, friends, social services, 
community, government); why, why not? 
How important is the role played by the family and the household in times of difficulty- why? Do you 
think the family should be the first source of welfare and income- Why/why not? 
How important are other services offered outside the household when experiencing problems e. g. 
community services, voluntary welfare organisations, social services and the government? 
321 
SECTION D- Social Services and Participation 
a) Social Services 
Do you or your household use or participate in any groups or activities in the community e. g. 
Community group, church, women's group, trade union, political party, voluntary organisation, youth 
group, senior citizens group - how often, are these accessible, do you find them adequate, how did you 
find out ýbout them and get involved? 
Do you use any particular services offered by these groups - e. g. childcare, counselling, befrienders, 
tuition - what, how often, cost, satisfactory? 
For HELP FSC Users: 
What programmes have you participated in at HELP in the last 6 months e. g. Counselling and family 
work, Group work programme (Rainbow, SPE), parent education, financial assistance, information and 
referral, legal consultation) 
For each programme you have participated in, how would you assess them on a scale from I (benefited 
very much) to 5 (not benefited at all); what are your reasons for this assessment, what could make it 
better? 
Why do you not participate in other programmes? 
Are there any other areas where you think BELP could assist you and other single parent families; any 
programmes which could be developed? 
Do you feel there any programmes at HELP which could be improved upon, why in what way? 
For All: 
Do you use any ethnic help services e. g. Mendaki, Sinda? Why, why not, what do they offer? 
Are there any differences between different agencies and services and the programmes they provide? 
Do you feel you could not use any of these services - why, what would change that? 
Are you satisfied with the services available to you, their cost, location, would you like to make more 
use of services, why don't you, what would make them better? 
Are there any services you would like to see made available - what, why, where? 
Do these groups or activities play a part when you experience any problems - in what way, do they help 
you cope and manage? 
Do you think adequate services are offered by the community, voluntary organisations, the government 
- why/why not, what could change that? 
SECTION F- Perceptions and Aspirations 
Thinking about Singapore, do you think everyone has an equal chance to succeed in Singapore, do they 
have the same opportunities - if no, why not? 
Is success a matter only of hard work in Singapore- if no, why not? 
What advantages and disadvantages do you think the economic success of Singapore has brought - do 
you feel part of this success? 
322 
Thinking about welfare and support, do you think the family should be the main source of support for 
you - why/why not - If no, then who should be? 
Do you think a welfare system encourages a dependent society - why/why not? 
How important are voluntary organisations and social services for you when you have a problem and in 
helping you to cope? 
Finally, thinking about the future, what are your main aspirations for yourself and your household - do 
you think this will happen, what will you do to make it happen ?