Do you think this town council's action has gone too far?
Town council issues court summons to elderly woman for owing $411
Shin Min Daily News reported yesterday (26 Aug) that a 75-year-old Mdm Lee was detained and summoned to court for owing $411 in conservancy fees to Tanjong Pagar Town Council.
Mdm Lee lives in Lengkok Bahru in Bukit Merah. She told the media that she received the summon two weeks ago.
She said, Because I dont understand English, I asked my friend to translate. It turned out to be a court summon. It said that if I dont attend court, I will be arrested.
She is accused of owing Tanjong Pagar Town Council some 8.5 months of conservancy charges, amounting to $411. She is said to have infringed the Town Council Act.
According to the town council, Mdm Lee has been late in her payments many times, and usually only pays when she is issued a court letter.
Mdm Lee further told the media, My husband died in 2008, and I stopped working in 2003. I pay only when I have money to spare.
She added that her husband had been ill before he died and she had been delaying the $55 monthly payments off-and-on since then.
So far, she has received 5 court notices from the town council. Unfortunately, the pioneer generation package she has probably received by now will not be able to help her pay for the conservancy charges owed to the town council.
This month, unable to pay, Mdm Lee said she turned herself in at a police station. She was offered bail, but chose to remain in custody. After two days, the $1,000 bail was paid and she was released.
Dr Chia Shi Lu, a walkover PAP MP for Tanjong Pagar GRC, said that residents who are unable to pay the fees can speak to the town council or approach the MPs for help. He said that the town council issues court summonses only to tardy residents after sending them reminders and visiting them in person.
Since Dr Chia implied that Mdm Lee had been visited in person, its not known why she was not given help by Tanjong Pagar GRC MPs since she is obviously in dire straits. Perhaps the town council officers who visited Mdm Lee forgot to tell Dr Chia?
Meanwhile, Dr Chia had blamed the new flat design in Tanjong Pagar GRC for fewer national flags being flown in this years National Day celebration (PAP MPs try to explain why fewer flats flying SG flag). He said that the newer blocks in Queenstown do not have common corridors facing the outside, making it harder to display flags.
In Singapore, its important for the elderly to continue working as long as they are alive as they need to continue to pay fees such as the town council conservancy charges owed by Mdm Lee.
In 2011, the former head of ageing issues at the World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr Alexandre Kalache, pointed out that while Singapore had done exceedingly well in increasing life expectancy, it had miles to go in helping its elderly age with dignity.
Men and women in their 70s being forced to clean tables at hawker centres, scrub apartment blocks or slog in the hot sun as security guards were not signs of active ageing, said Dr Kalache, who had spent some 15 years crafting ageing policies at the WHO.
He pointed out that much of the developed world already had non-contributory pensions or handouts for low-income older folk, saving them the indignity of hard labour at a time in life when many may want to retire and rest.
I am all for active ageing, but
to make you work till you practically drop dead is not human, he said.
Sad to say, the only time Tanjong Pagar Town Council wont summon people in Mdm Lees situation is when they really drop dead.
Source:
http://www.tremeritus.com/2014/08/27/town-council-summons-elderly-person-for-owing-411/