<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>No relief for those looking after single, elderly kin
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->I REFER to Thursday's editorial, 'Who cares for these when they grow old?'.
I am a 58-year-old Singaporean, my husband is a permanent resident and we have a teenage son. For the past 18 years, my husband and I have cared for my aunt (my mother's sister), now aged 90, who lives with us.
I have to top up her Central Provident Fund savings with cash, instead of our CPF contributions, as she is not defined as a primary family member. For the same reason, my husband and I do not receive relief through tax rebates, which parents and children in a similar position as ours enjoy.
As our aunt is no longer independent and we both work, we have had to hire a maid to care for her. Here too, relief through maid levy rebates are denied us.
I have written for help many times to the CPF Board and the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore and have sought assistance from three Members of Parliament. The answers have been the same: Nothing can be done.
It is ironic that at a time when Singaporeans worry over the weakening of filial piety - of unfilial children and abandoned parents - couples like us, who have looked after an unmarried and dependent elderly relative for the past 18 years without seeking government assistance, are denied the basic relief accorded to filial primary family members.
The easy answer would have been to let the Government or an old-age home handle my aunt's problem. But we chose not to because caring for a helpless relative with no one to turn to is also part of the Asian idea of filial duty.
I have two unmarried siblings in their 60s who are living alone. In due time, they too will have to be cared for, as will we, when we retire.
What message would my husband and I send to our son and his generation if we let others care for our aunt?
We do not seek financial aid, just what is fair in terms of basic relief. I appeal to the Government to consider cases like ours and act.
Tan Siew Leng (Mdm)
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->I REFER to Thursday's editorial, 'Who cares for these when they grow old?'.
I am a 58-year-old Singaporean, my husband is a permanent resident and we have a teenage son. For the past 18 years, my husband and I have cared for my aunt (my mother's sister), now aged 90, who lives with us.
I have to top up her Central Provident Fund savings with cash, instead of our CPF contributions, as she is not defined as a primary family member. For the same reason, my husband and I do not receive relief through tax rebates, which parents and children in a similar position as ours enjoy.
As our aunt is no longer independent and we both work, we have had to hire a maid to care for her. Here too, relief through maid levy rebates are denied us.
I have written for help many times to the CPF Board and the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore and have sought assistance from three Members of Parliament. The answers have been the same: Nothing can be done.
It is ironic that at a time when Singaporeans worry over the weakening of filial piety - of unfilial children and abandoned parents - couples like us, who have looked after an unmarried and dependent elderly relative for the past 18 years without seeking government assistance, are denied the basic relief accorded to filial primary family members.
The easy answer would have been to let the Government or an old-age home handle my aunt's problem. But we chose not to because caring for a helpless relative with no one to turn to is also part of the Asian idea of filial duty.
I have two unmarried siblings in their 60s who are living alone. In due time, they too will have to be cared for, as will we, when we retire.
What message would my husband and I send to our son and his generation if we let others care for our aunt?
We do not seek financial aid, just what is fair in terms of basic relief. I appeal to the Government to consider cases like ours and act.
Tan Siew Leng (Mdm)
