Glad to catch up with Uncle Neo (73 yr old) again last night during our MacPherson’s Parents’ Day celebration dinner. He looks to be in good shape and spirits! When I met him last night, he shared happily that he has just moved into a new rental unit at Pipit Road. His story is a successful example of how the community and the government worked together to help those in need.
A local café operator first noticed Uncle Neo sleeping out in the open and notified me. She had not seen him around before, and hence when he started sleeping out in the open, she noticed him quickly (power of the community!). When she approached him, she found out that he was a co-tenant of a rental unit nearby under HDB’s Joint Singles Scheme. However, he and his co-tenant could not get along and he was in fact bullied by the other person (also a single elderly…). Uncle Neo suffered in silence at first but eventually gave up and ceded the space. The good hearted café operator felt sorry for Uncle Neo and tried to help him by providing him with simple supplies. She also emailed me for help.
My team and I arranged for him to take temporary refuge at an elderly home within our constituency. I also followed up with the HDB to look into the issue urgently. A social worker from another VWO within our constituency came in to assist Uncle Neo with his daily needs. We eventually managed to re-home Uncle Neo in a different HDB rental unit and we are very pleased to see him so relieved now. Helping Uncle Neo would not have been possible without the support from everyone.