In 2009, VC left home after an altercation with his father. He was 22 years old at the time, fresh out of National Service, with no income source other than odd jobs from his friend’s father. He was an only child, and his father had also left the family estranged from other relatives.
“My father was a compulsive hoarder and had anger issues; even my mother had left him and me a few years back. My wider family avoids him. I didn’t even know my uncle’s face and my grandparents’ faces until three years ago, if you can believe it. My home environment was totally unlivable; sometimes the police were called twice a night when we fought.”
VC made only around $50 a day, or roughly $700 to $800 a month, running odd jobs for his friend’s father.
“This was mainly small things like following him in the truck and helping to unload water at different places, or washing the truck. He also didn’t speak English well, so I’d help to read and send emails for him. But some days there was no work.”
“For the first few weeks, I would always ‘volunteer’ to help clean up the storeroom in my friend’s dad’s shop,” VC said, “He trusted me enough to lock up and close. What he didn’t know was that I spent about three or four nights a week sleeping in the store room.
I used my duffel bag as my pillow; and I didn’t want to rack up an electricity bill, so I used a small plug-in fan. On nights when it rained, I was so happy to not be outside.”
VC adds that, as his father had been a hoarder, there was a tremendous sense of spaciousness in the storeroom (it was mostly empty other than bottles for water-coolers).
But on nights when he didn’t have the storeroom, he slept at the BBQ pit areas along East Coast Beach, or in void decks.
“No it’s not nice and breezy! It sucked! During the night it’s fine, but I always felt itchy and dirty all over when I woke up. The only good thing was that you can use public showers at the beach area. Till today I hate going to the beach by the way, it reminds me of all that.”
Other places where he showered includes public swimming pools, gyms (if friends can bring him in as a guest), or friends’ home as and when he could. On days when he couldn’t, he would look for wet wipes or at least scrub with soap and water in public toilets.
“Hygiene is the most important,” VC says, “If I got a toothache, or an infection from being dirty, how to pay? In Singapore one problem is the weather; you get sweaty and you have body odour quite fast, when you’re always outdoors.”
When he wasn’t working, VC tried to spend most of the day in malls, museums, or indoor areas where he was unlikely to sweat.
“It’s very hard to find a place to wash and dry your clothes; I sometimes had to do it in sinks. As far as possible I avoided being out in the heat.”
More at https://tinyurI.com/u8gwvwp
“My father was a compulsive hoarder and had anger issues; even my mother had left him and me a few years back. My wider family avoids him. I didn’t even know my uncle’s face and my grandparents’ faces until three years ago, if you can believe it. My home environment was totally unlivable; sometimes the police were called twice a night when we fought.”
VC made only around $50 a day, or roughly $700 to $800 a month, running odd jobs for his friend’s father.
“This was mainly small things like following him in the truck and helping to unload water at different places, or washing the truck. He also didn’t speak English well, so I’d help to read and send emails for him. But some days there was no work.”
“For the first few weeks, I would always ‘volunteer’ to help clean up the storeroom in my friend’s dad’s shop,” VC said, “He trusted me enough to lock up and close. What he didn’t know was that I spent about three or four nights a week sleeping in the store room.
I used my duffel bag as my pillow; and I didn’t want to rack up an electricity bill, so I used a small plug-in fan. On nights when it rained, I was so happy to not be outside.”
VC adds that, as his father had been a hoarder, there was a tremendous sense of spaciousness in the storeroom (it was mostly empty other than bottles for water-coolers).
But on nights when he didn’t have the storeroom, he slept at the BBQ pit areas along East Coast Beach, or in void decks.
“No it’s not nice and breezy! It sucked! During the night it’s fine, but I always felt itchy and dirty all over when I woke up. The only good thing was that you can use public showers at the beach area. Till today I hate going to the beach by the way, it reminds me of all that.”
Other places where he showered includes public swimming pools, gyms (if friends can bring him in as a guest), or friends’ home as and when he could. On days when he couldn’t, he would look for wet wipes or at least scrub with soap and water in public toilets.
“Hygiene is the most important,” VC says, “If I got a toothache, or an infection from being dirty, how to pay? In Singapore one problem is the weather; you get sweaty and you have body odour quite fast, when you’re always outdoors.”
When he wasn’t working, VC tried to spend most of the day in malls, museums, or indoor areas where he was unlikely to sweat.
“It’s very hard to find a place to wash and dry your clothes; I sometimes had to do it in sinks. As far as possible I avoided being out in the heat.”
More at https://tinyurI.com/u8gwvwp
