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As angry as COVID-19, Singapore is becoming more hungry Coronavirus pandemic News

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Singapore – After retiring from part-time work as a servant during the pandemic last year, Danny Goh hit rock bottom.

For eight months, he struggled to find work to help his wife and four young children. The family survived the instant noodles, bread soaked in coffee and biscuits, moving forward with the good will of relatives and church friends.

Although Goh has found a new job based on commissions to get people to enroll in government skills renewal and training courses, his income varies between 800 Singapore dollars ($ 594) and 2,800 Singapore dollars ($ 2,078), which is hardly enough for them. for a large family.

He constantly finds himself in money.

To save money, the family has started eating only two meals a day: simple dishes like chicken soup with rice or potatoes.

Goh often skips meals or eats them once a day so that his children can get a bigger share.

Where the first fridge was full of fresh fruit, chicken, pork and beef, soft drinks and snacks, all of this is a luxury today, and there’s no eating out.

“It’s a huge pay cut, and it’s actually one of the hardest and most demoralizing times in my life. These are very hard times, ”said the 61-year-old, who rents a two-bedroom public home in the north of the island.

Singapore is known for its food, and the inhabitants of a wealthy city-state are known for their love for it. Experts say those who are struggling are often too embarrassed to tell anyone [File: Wallace Woon/EPA]

In a rich food paradise and city-state like Singapore, food insecurity is mostly a phenomenon behind closed doors. But as elsewhere in the world, COVID-19 has been the hardest hit, usually with the lowest incomes in precarious jobs, with few safety nets, and inadequate pay and job protection.

Earlier this year, a six-month investigation by local charity Beyond Social Services found that the median household income of families seeking help from the group fell from $ 1,600 ($ 1,187) to the Singapore $ 500 ($ 371) before the COVID-19 pandemic. ).

More worryingly, a second study, which determined the impact of the pandemic on people who rented government-owned flats between July and December 2020, found that food insecurity was growing.

Neighbors have told Beyond that they sometimes deal with food shortages by filling up with liquids or starches, buying and filling cheap products, and making choices based on economic accounts rather than nutritional value.

For example, some families made only one meal a day or gave their children coffee cream in hot water because they could not afford formula milk. The report warned that the problem could turn into a serious public health problem, linked to increased mental stress and the development of chronic health conditions.

In 2019, Singapore was ranked as the safest food nation in the world in the Global Food Security Index.

However, one in 10 Singaporeans has had food insecurity for at least 12 months, according to a study by the Center for Social Innovation Links at Singapore University of Management. Of these, two in five suffered from food insecurity at least once a month and many of these households did not seek food help, citing embarrassment, not knowing what was there and others believing they needed it more than themselves.

“For a regular in Singapore, food is a national hobby,” said Ranganayaki Thanavelu, deputy deputy director of Beyond. “But we may not realize how badly others eat, how they have to make difficult choices at every meal, and how food is just a necessity to keep them. When they face that daily difference, it erodes them over time.”

Barely “kept in plan”

Prior to COVID-19, eating out was a common occurrence for 35-year-old Joshua (not his real name), his housewife and their 6-year-old daughter.

But all that changed when the former studio technician abruptly left last March due to massive measures to reduce costs in the pandemic. He took on a job as a security guard, working 12-hour night shifts four times a week, earning 1,400 Singapore dollars ($ 1,039) a month – half the previous salary.

Food for the Heart volunteers distribute supplies to a Singapore family [Courtesy of Food from the Heart]

Nowadays, every time Joshua receives his salary, the couple sits down to find out how to extend his monthly food budget to $ 400 Singapore ($ 297).

Typically, this means buying frozen chicken rather than fresh, paying attention to valid purchases and discounts, buying in bulk, and switching to cheaper brands.

The rest of the money is spent on renting the home, including public services, telephone and Internet bills, and other daily expenses with little or no savings. To enjoy it, they take their daughter out for a fast food meal once a month.

Joshua says they have so far been able to get out well, accompanied by local charitable delicacies, fruits and dried vegetables.

Despite the uncertainty, he is optimistic about the situation, saying he is still young and lucky to find a job.

“We get to continue for years. For now, it’s enough to manage my family and me, ”he said. “The pandemic has taught us a lesson about resilience and fighting.”

Al Jazeera, a charity that said new sectors of society are seeking food aid due to the pandemic, including young “concert” workers who have dried up projects and even middle-income families living in larger public or private homes. About 85 per cent of Singaporeans live in government-subsidized apartment blocks.

“From the outside, the house looks nice and polished, but then the kids tell us that the mother has been without food for two days,” said Nichol Ng, founder of The Food Bank Singapore. “For the food to have an effect, it means they are scratching the bottom of the pot.”

Every time the multi-ministerial working group of the government that manages COVID-19 announces new restrictions, the charity is overwhelmed by the requests of people who write to ask for food.

Singapore recently announced that its COVID-19 restrictions would be extended until November 21, after thousands of new COVID-19 cases were registered every day.

“This means that we have a lot of people who are very vulnerable and unable to feed themselves. Knowing that there is literally a reward for not eating is really scary and worrying, ”Ng said.

Offering an incentive

According to the Feed the City initiative, last year, The Food Bank Singapore distributed one million meals.

Driven by a belief in giving beneficiaries “autonomy and dignity of choice,” he expanded more of the neighborhood’s vending machines, including frozen bento meals, drinks, snacks, and rice. According to the group, the machines that come with special cards for residents reduce the risk of spoiling food when they are left out of someone’s home in tropical heat.

The charity has also introduced other innovations, including a bank card program that allows beneficiaries to exchange meals from food establishments.

Food from the Heart, another charity, has also seen an increase in demand and is now delivering 10,000 servings a month, compared to 5,000 before the COVID-19 hit.

Vending machines have been installed in some blocks of flats to facilitate the supply of food by the residents [Courtesy of The Food Bank Singapore]

They have also increased the size of food packages after families ran out of supplies on coronavirus-related blockages.

“With more dialogue about food insecurity, there is less stigma for people who accept receiving food aid, especially for people with more skills who have lost their jobs,” said CEO Sim Bee Hia.

. “We hope to prolong the impact of the pandemic and we need to be responsive and agile to ensure that we keep those who need food as long as they need it.”

Despite the proliferation of food aid initiatives and the growing volume of food aid, the Beyond report says the effort remains gradual and ad hoc, with some receiving too much support and others not knowing how to get the help they need.

Ng said: “There are too many big-hearted initiatives and corporations, but they think these are the few places that need help. As a result, there is a doubling of food efforts in some neighborhoods, and others are falling through the cracks.”

To address this, his team plans to create an online database – or ‘food directory’ – that sets out a range of neighborhood food support initiatives. It is also working on an application for food banking, where beneficiaries can submit food orders in real time to donors, while donors share the type and quantity of food in their hands.

The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) says it “recognizes” Singapore’s food insecurity and has implemented a number of measures to address the problem since the pandemic, including reducing subsidies and income, as well as food and food stamps. the less money.

These measures are in addition to the existing ComCare program, which provides social assistance to low-income individuals and families.

“In terms of food insecurity, Singapore has done quite well internationally as rates remain consistently low to support those in need of our economic and social policies and the collective efforts of the community,” an MSF spokesman told Al Jazeera in an email.

The ministry said about 4.5 per cent of Singapore’s population was forecast to have moderate or severe food insecurity, according to a 2021 World Food Security and Nutrition Report published by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Danny Goh’s job as a waitress disappeared with the coronavirus pandemic. He says his family has survived with the good will of family and friends [Toh Ee Ming/Al Jazeera]

It was lower than in other developed economies, he added, such as the United States (8 percent), New Zealand (14 percent), Australia (12.3 percent) and South Korea (5.1 percent).

But as the pandemic progresses and companies continue to bleed, Goh fears the long-term economic impact of families like his.

“I never imagined it would get worse,” he said. “There seems to be no end.”



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