Yet another 154th Leeport to blame pride of elderly on Sporns! FCUK PAPee!
ELDERLY SEEKING HELP TO GET MAINTENANCE FROM THEIR CHILDREN
Where is the gratitude?
By Crystal Chan
August 09, 2009 Print Ready Email Article
WHAT do you do if, in your twilight years, your children stop supporting you financially?
Click to see larger image
UPSET: Mr Lee Chan Wa is claming that his elder son has refused to pay him $200 a month, despite being ordered by the Tribunal for Maintenance of Parents to do so. --TNP PICTURE: GAVIN FOO
Mr Lee Chan Wa, 72, a retired security officer, hauled his elder son, 38, to the Tribunal for Maintenance of Parents.
He is among a growing number of elderly Singaporeans who have dragged their children to court under the Maintenance of Parents Act because their kids either allegedly refuse to or cannot afford to maintain them.
A Subordinate Courts spokesman said that in the first five months of this year alone, the Tribunal for Maintenance of Parents has received 165 enquiries from parents who claimed their children failed to support them financially.
This number is higher than the number of tribunal cases for the whole of last year. (see table at right)
In Mr Lee's case, he claimed that after the court order, his son also stopped paying maintenance for his mother, a housewife in her 70s.
Burden on youngest son
Now the financial burden of maintaining Mr Lee and his wife rests solely on their youngest son, Steven, 35, a freelance lecturer.
The elder son is not on speaking terms with his siblings and parents because of the dispute.
Every month, Mr Lee gets $300 from Mr Steven Lee, but he took his elder son to the tribunal as he wanted him to give him money too.
In an interview with The New Paper, Mr Lee claimed: 'I paid for his education from his primary school days, all the way till he graduated from a university in the United Kingdom.
'And when he got married, he borrowed $60,000 from me to renovate his flat. He did not return the money and never gave me a cent for pocket money,' Mr Lee alleged.
'I can't just rely on Steven as he has other commitments.'
Mr Lee said that he went to the tribunal last month as a last resort.
Mr Steven Lee claimed his brother is refusing to support his father as the latter is a spendthrift.
He said: 'My dad spends every cent he has. But no matter what, he's still our father and as his children, it's our duty to maintain him.'
The family used to live together in a five-room flat in Woodlands. The flat is being rented out and the rental income is used to offset the repayments for the flat.
When the elder son got married around six years ago, he moved out to another HDB flat.
Mr Steven Lee and his parents moved to their present home, a condominium in Simei, after he got married in 2005.
He said: 'I bought a private property because financially, I'm stable. Besides, I also wanted my parents to have the chance of living in a private property in their lifetime.'
Mr Steven Lee earns $50 an hour as a freelance lecturer. He and his wife do not have children.
When we asked if he would consider selling the Woodlands flat to reduce his financial burden, Steven said no.
He explained: 'Should anything happen in my family, my parents can still use the Woodlands flat as a roof over their heads.'
So far, Steven's mother has not had the heart to take her elder son to the tribunal.
Mr Steven Lee said: 'My mother is a soft-hearted person and because of the rift, she has stopped looking after my brother's young children.
'But my parents have to be fair to me. I can't possibly take full responsibility for looking after them and inflation is going to go up.'
He has an older sister who does not give any money to their parents as she earns less than $1,000 a month as a sales assistant.
When we contacted the elder son and told him about the accusations that his father and brother made against him, he denied everything. He would not comment further.
Mr Steven Lee later said that after being contacted by The New Paper, his brother gave his father $200 and some money to his mother.
A lawyer of more than 10 years, Mr Nicholas Cheong, who has represented parents in enforcing maintenance orders on their children, said those who don't comply with parental maintenance orders can be jailed.
He added that in his experience, going to the tribunal is usually a last resort.
As such, the actual number of elderly parents who do not get money from their children may be higher as some cases are unreported.
Mr Cheong said: 'Taking your own child to court would affect the parent-child ties drastically so many families would try to resolve the issue themselves.'
Counsellors who spoke to The New Paper said financial abuse of the elderly is a regular complaint.
Wage cuts
Social worker Jane Tan said that with the recession, some people may choose not to give their parents money as they have suffered wage cuts.
Mrs Florence Lim, director of Covenant Family Service Centre (FSC), said: 'Most of the time, our elderly clients tell us that their children have their own family commitments and thus, can't afford to give them money.'
In such cases, Covenant FSC will give these elderly parents food rations or connect them with Community Development Councils to give them financial aid.
However, there are also elderly parents who have sufficient savings, but are still unhappy because they don't get extra money from their children.
Mrs Lim said: 'I had a case of an elderly woman who had some savings after selling her flat and one of her sons gave her $700 a month.
'But she was still unhappy as her other two sons didn't give her money.'
ELDERLY SEEKING HELP TO GET MAINTENANCE FROM THEIR CHILDREN
Where is the gratitude?
By Crystal Chan
August 09, 2009 Print Ready Email Article
WHAT do you do if, in your twilight years, your children stop supporting you financially?
Click to see larger image
UPSET: Mr Lee Chan Wa is claming that his elder son has refused to pay him $200 a month, despite being ordered by the Tribunal for Maintenance of Parents to do so. --TNP PICTURE: GAVIN FOO
Mr Lee Chan Wa, 72, a retired security officer, hauled his elder son, 38, to the Tribunal for Maintenance of Parents.
He is among a growing number of elderly Singaporeans who have dragged their children to court under the Maintenance of Parents Act because their kids either allegedly refuse to or cannot afford to maintain them.
A Subordinate Courts spokesman said that in the first five months of this year alone, the Tribunal for Maintenance of Parents has received 165 enquiries from parents who claimed their children failed to support them financially.
This number is higher than the number of tribunal cases for the whole of last year. (see table at right)
In Mr Lee's case, he claimed that after the court order, his son also stopped paying maintenance for his mother, a housewife in her 70s.
Burden on youngest son
Now the financial burden of maintaining Mr Lee and his wife rests solely on their youngest son, Steven, 35, a freelance lecturer.
The elder son is not on speaking terms with his siblings and parents because of the dispute.
Every month, Mr Lee gets $300 from Mr Steven Lee, but he took his elder son to the tribunal as he wanted him to give him money too.
In an interview with The New Paper, Mr Lee claimed: 'I paid for his education from his primary school days, all the way till he graduated from a university in the United Kingdom.
'And when he got married, he borrowed $60,000 from me to renovate his flat. He did not return the money and never gave me a cent for pocket money,' Mr Lee alleged.
'I can't just rely on Steven as he has other commitments.'
Mr Lee said that he went to the tribunal last month as a last resort.
Mr Steven Lee claimed his brother is refusing to support his father as the latter is a spendthrift.
He said: 'My dad spends every cent he has. But no matter what, he's still our father and as his children, it's our duty to maintain him.'
The family used to live together in a five-room flat in Woodlands. The flat is being rented out and the rental income is used to offset the repayments for the flat.
When the elder son got married around six years ago, he moved out to another HDB flat.
Mr Steven Lee and his parents moved to their present home, a condominium in Simei, after he got married in 2005.
He said: 'I bought a private property because financially, I'm stable. Besides, I also wanted my parents to have the chance of living in a private property in their lifetime.'
Mr Steven Lee earns $50 an hour as a freelance lecturer. He and his wife do not have children.
When we asked if he would consider selling the Woodlands flat to reduce his financial burden, Steven said no.
He explained: 'Should anything happen in my family, my parents can still use the Woodlands flat as a roof over their heads.'
So far, Steven's mother has not had the heart to take her elder son to the tribunal.
Mr Steven Lee said: 'My mother is a soft-hearted person and because of the rift, she has stopped looking after my brother's young children.
'But my parents have to be fair to me. I can't possibly take full responsibility for looking after them and inflation is going to go up.'
He has an older sister who does not give any money to their parents as she earns less than $1,000 a month as a sales assistant.
When we contacted the elder son and told him about the accusations that his father and brother made against him, he denied everything. He would not comment further.
Mr Steven Lee later said that after being contacted by The New Paper, his brother gave his father $200 and some money to his mother.
A lawyer of more than 10 years, Mr Nicholas Cheong, who has represented parents in enforcing maintenance orders on their children, said those who don't comply with parental maintenance orders can be jailed.
He added that in his experience, going to the tribunal is usually a last resort.
As such, the actual number of elderly parents who do not get money from their children may be higher as some cases are unreported.
Mr Cheong said: 'Taking your own child to court would affect the parent-child ties drastically so many families would try to resolve the issue themselves.'
Counsellors who spoke to The New Paper said financial abuse of the elderly is a regular complaint.
Wage cuts
Social worker Jane Tan said that with the recession, some people may choose not to give their parents money as they have suffered wage cuts.
Mrs Florence Lim, director of Covenant Family Service Centre (FSC), said: 'Most of the time, our elderly clients tell us that their children have their own family commitments and thus, can't afford to give them money.'
In such cases, Covenant FSC will give these elderly parents food rations or connect them with Community Development Councils to give them financial aid.
However, there are also elderly parents who have sufficient savings, but are still unhappy because they don't get extra money from their children.
Mrs Lim said: 'I had a case of an elderly woman who had some savings after selling her flat and one of her sons gave her $700 a month.
'But she was still unhappy as her other two sons didn't give her money.'
