During elections:
“Will you keep your job? Can your families cope with school expenses, medical bills, rent and utilities charges? I understand your worries.”
– PM Goh Chok Tong, Straits Times, Oct 28, 2001 (A week earlier, Goh had said he understood our “concerns.” See posting on 19 Jul 2005 below. Concerns and worries come thick and fast before elections to the PAP; what happens after elections is another matter.)
After elections:
“A growing number of Singapore children are not being sent to school because their cash-strapped parents claim they cannot afford to pay for education. Ministry figures show 1921 children did not register for Primary 1 classes in 1999, up 244 on 1997 figures. “
– Reuters, Mar 3, 2002
“More parents seeking help to pay school fees.”
– Straits Times Jun 17, 2002
“About 10,000 students received financial help from the Ministry of Education in the first six months of this year, almost three times that for the whole of 1999. The Starits Times School Pocket Money Fund, which gives students $30 or $50 a month, is also helping 2,000 more students this year, nearly 40 per cent more than last year’s 5,500.”
– Straits Times, Aug 11, 2003
“Thousands can’t pay utility bills, many face power cut.”
– Straits Times, Apr 12, 2003
“Desperation is forcing some people to ask for personal loans on the internet … they are asking strangers for anything between $500 and $30,000.”
– Straits Times, Apr 14, 2002