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10-08-2021, 08:13 AM
SINGAPORE - The number of applications for two key Government financial aid schemes jumped by 26 per cent last year as Singapore was gripped by the Covid-19 pandemic.
About 83,000 applications were received for the ComCare Short-To-Medium Term Assistance Scheme and the ComCare Long-Term Assistance Scheme last year (2020), up from about 66,000 in 2019, said a Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) spokesman.
Even as optimism bubbles for a sustained economic rebound, government support will be needed to smooth out the rough patches along the road to a full recovery.
There is not much of a choice when it comes to aviation, tourism and hospitality businesses that continue to suffer from travel curbs. But some of the fiscal support is likely to be redirected to repositioning and rebuilding the economy for a post-Covid-19 world.
Five Budgets, nearly $100 billion committed in Covid-19 support measures, and up to $52 billion drawn from past reserves. A deficit to the tune of $74.2 billion - Singapore's biggest since independence in 1965.
This represents the unprecedented fiscal firepower the Government unleashed last year to save jobs, support workers and protect livelihoods.
For Mr Muhammad Ridzuan Raman's family, a government financial aid scheme is a lifeline in the midst of all the gloom and doom brought about by the pandemic.
Mr Ridzuan, 45, was retrenched from his delivery driver job with a courier firm during the circuit breaker last year.
He is among those getting ComCare. The delivery driver and his family had already been on the scheme when Covid-19 hit Singapore's shores, but they are now receiving more monthly assistance after he was let go on April 9. From bringing home about $1,400 a month, he suddenly had no monthly income.
"During that period, I had no more cash and all my bills were stuck - I couldn't pay," said the sole breadwinner who lives with his wife, 42, and four children aged 12 to 16.
The ComCare cash payout of $1,700 a month goes towards putting food on the table and buying diapers for one of his sons, who is autistic, he said, adding that the Social Service Office is looking at ways to provide more help to his family.
Meanwhile, the increase in people going on the government assistance schemes has also made it easier for people to apply, said another ComCare recipient, Mr Koh.
The 33-year-old, who declined to give his full name, was just making a career switch from selling chemicals to insurance when Covid-19 hit and the Government put in place the circuit breaker. This meant he was no longer able to canvass for clients, and his income fell from about $2,000 to $3,000 a month to zero.
"I was very stressed, it caused me sleepless nights. I literally fell asleep only in the morning because of fatigue," he said of why he decided to apply for ComCare. "I think more people are exposed to it, more people know what kind of help there is and there is also less of a stigma."
He and his wife, 31, have two daughters, aged seven and three. The family now gets $1,450 in cash a month from ComCare.
There has also been high demand for other grants and schemes. The Covid-19 Support Grant, for Singaporeans and PRs who have lost their jobs or seen a significant reduction in their pay, has seen 15,000 people apply since applications opened on May 4. The MSF is assessing the applications, which take two weeks to process.
Organisations and individuals have also raised some $17 million for two funds to help vulnerable Singaporeans facing difficulties resulting from the coronavirus crisis.
Since February, The Courage Fund, which provides relief to vulnerable individuals and families, has received more than $8 million from corporate donors. The Invictus Fund, which channels private donations to social service agencies and was set up in April, has raised over $2 million in just over a month.
Individual donors have given close to $7 million to both funds, with two philanthropists alone giving $2 million, said the Community Chest and National Council for Social Services (NCSS) in a statement yesterda
In all, more than 70 companies have generously donated to the two funds, while 10 others have contributed essential supplies, including masks, hand sanitisers and thermal scanners to vulnerable segments of the population, said NCCS and ComChest.
In a Facebook post yesterday, Minister for Social and Family Development Desmond Lee said: "I would like to thank all our corporates for being a force for good in these challenging times. We are encouraged by this generosity, and welcome more to give back to the local and international community so that we can weather this global health crisis together."
About 83,000 applications were received for the ComCare Short-To-Medium Term Assistance Scheme and the ComCare Long-Term Assistance Scheme last year (2020), up from about 66,000 in 2019, said a Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) spokesman.
Even as optimism bubbles for a sustained economic rebound, government support will be needed to smooth out the rough patches along the road to a full recovery.
There is not much of a choice when it comes to aviation, tourism and hospitality businesses that continue to suffer from travel curbs. But some of the fiscal support is likely to be redirected to repositioning and rebuilding the economy for a post-Covid-19 world.
Five Budgets, nearly $100 billion committed in Covid-19 support measures, and up to $52 billion drawn from past reserves. A deficit to the tune of $74.2 billion - Singapore's biggest since independence in 1965.
This represents the unprecedented fiscal firepower the Government unleashed last year to save jobs, support workers and protect livelihoods.
For Mr Muhammad Ridzuan Raman's family, a government financial aid scheme is a lifeline in the midst of all the gloom and doom brought about by the pandemic.
Mr Ridzuan, 45, was retrenched from his delivery driver job with a courier firm during the circuit breaker last year.
He is among those getting ComCare. The delivery driver and his family had already been on the scheme when Covid-19 hit Singapore's shores, but they are now receiving more monthly assistance after he was let go on April 9. From bringing home about $1,400 a month, he suddenly had no monthly income.
"During that period, I had no more cash and all my bills were stuck - I couldn't pay," said the sole breadwinner who lives with his wife, 42, and four children aged 12 to 16.
The ComCare cash payout of $1,700 a month goes towards putting food on the table and buying diapers for one of his sons, who is autistic, he said, adding that the Social Service Office is looking at ways to provide more help to his family.
Meanwhile, the increase in people going on the government assistance schemes has also made it easier for people to apply, said another ComCare recipient, Mr Koh.
The 33-year-old, who declined to give his full name, was just making a career switch from selling chemicals to insurance when Covid-19 hit and the Government put in place the circuit breaker. This meant he was no longer able to canvass for clients, and his income fell from about $2,000 to $3,000 a month to zero.
"I was very stressed, it caused me sleepless nights. I literally fell asleep only in the morning because of fatigue," he said of why he decided to apply for ComCare. "I think more people are exposed to it, more people know what kind of help there is and there is also less of a stigma."
He and his wife, 31, have two daughters, aged seven and three. The family now gets $1,450 in cash a month from ComCare.
There has also been high demand for other grants and schemes. The Covid-19 Support Grant, for Singaporeans and PRs who have lost their jobs or seen a significant reduction in their pay, has seen 15,000 people apply since applications opened on May 4. The MSF is assessing the applications, which take two weeks to process.
Organisations and individuals have also raised some $17 million for two funds to help vulnerable Singaporeans facing difficulties resulting from the coronavirus crisis.
Since February, The Courage Fund, which provides relief to vulnerable individuals and families, has received more than $8 million from corporate donors. The Invictus Fund, which channels private donations to social service agencies and was set up in April, has raised over $2 million in just over a month.
Individual donors have given close to $7 million to both funds, with two philanthropists alone giving $2 million, said the Community Chest and National Council for Social Services (NCSS) in a statement yesterda
In all, more than 70 companies have generously donated to the two funds, while 10 others have contributed essential supplies, including masks, hand sanitisers and thermal scanners to vulnerable segments of the population, said NCCS and ComChest.
In a Facebook post yesterday, Minister for Social and Family Development Desmond Lee said: "I would like to thank all our corporates for being a force for good in these challenging times. We are encouraged by this generosity, and welcome more to give back to the local and international community so that we can weather this global health crisis together."
