Lending A Hand To “Rough Sleepers”

On Saturday (30/1/2021) night, our group, consisting of young professionals and an engineering student, joined the Catholic Welfare Services (CWS) to visit the “rough sleepers” (homeless) around the Brass Basah area. We handed out food and drink to them, and gave them some company. Despite their existence, they have been relatively invisible and overlooked by society. That night, we were fortunate to be guided by Harry Tan, a sociologist from the Institute of Policy Studies, National University of Singapore. He had done many such visits and had befriended quite a few homeless people in Singapore. Through him, the visit ‘came alive’ as we got to know the stories behind the “rough sleepers” we met.

The CWS has been doing the so-called Night Mission programme since 2014, and this programme has received much support, including from non-Catholics. As a development of this programme, the CWS also initiated places for the “rough sleepers” where they could have a good night’s sleep, hence helping to sustain bodily and mental health. Inspired by this idea, other religious and secular institutions have also opened numerous so-called Safe-Sound-Sleeping Places (S3P) in Singapore.

Through the visit, we learnt that homelessness is a complex issue, with multiple causes ranging from financial to family problems. Every “rough sleeper” has his or her own story. According to CWS, many of the “rough sleepers” suffer from an unjust stigmatization from society, whereby they are accused of being lazy and useless. In actuality, many of them do try to work to make their ends meet. Removing bias from the stereotype image of the homeless would be an important step towards social reintegration.