News

Couple Made a Hougang Walkway Their Home & Piled Up Items That Blocked the Way

2022-12-24 , 10:22 am

Last Updated on 2022-12-26 , 1:06 pm

What would you do if your home isn’t big enough for all the items you have?

Most people would just throw or donate their items away. Hoarders might just choose to live with limited space. But for this elderly couple, they simply turned a Hougang walkway into their second home.

Here’s why they’d rather sleep on the streets instead of their nearby HDB flat.

10-Metre-Long Stretch of Rubbish

One man’s rubbish is another man’s treasure. This couldn’t be any truer for the residents along Block 107, Hougang Avenue 3.

When people walk down the overhead bridge, they’re greeted by a spectacular mess: both sides of the nearly 10-metre-long sheltered walkway are lined with various second-hand goods and cardboard.

The numerous items include plastic bags, wire panels, gas tanks, and even an iron tricycle carrying food. These are all items that elderly “scavengers” will collect to sell.

Residents Feel Sorry For Them But Think Mess is Unacceptable

The mess, coupled with the fact that the elderly couple were always spotted eating and sleeping beside their items, led nearby residents to think they were homeless.

Residents interviewed by Shin Min Daily News said that sleeping outside isn’t good for the elderly’s health, especially since it has constantly been raining for the past few months. They thus felt sorry for the elderly couple.

Despite being sympathetic to their plight, residents still found the mess unacceptable.

“The couple had placed their items at a nearby bus stop before relocating to the walkway after receiving complaints… I feel like the walkway has become dirty like a garbage dump.”

Would Rather Guard Items Than Sleep in HDB

When reporters from Shin Min went to Hougang to investigate this situation, they ended up recognising the elderly couple.

It turns out that the elderly couple has been making walkways their home for a number of years now. They were located in the Kovan area for three years, and in the back alleys of shophouses at Upper Serangoon Road and Jalan Rengkam before the pandemic.

It seems like Hougang is their newest location because they actually have a home there. 53-year-old Uncle Wang told reporters that he has a home in the nearby Block 174C HDB flat.

Despite having a place to live, the couple doesn’t have enough space to keep all their items at home. It is also “too troublesome” to move everything up to their home on the third floor.

Additionally, the couple is worried that if they don’t guard their items, someone else will come and take them at night, or cause a fire. This thus led to the couple deciding to live along the walkway.

“Now we only go back home to take a shower. We use the bathroom of a nearby coffee shop whenever we need to use a toilet,” Uncle Wang said.

The only time they’ve moved back home was during the COVID-19 pandemic when measures were especially strict.

Uh, Uncle Wang, but you’re already paying rent for the flat… Isn’t it a waste of money if you don’t use it?

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Refuse Help from Social Workers, Want To Support Themselves

Previously, Shin Min reported that the couple lost all their money to gambling, and had nowhere to live after selling their house. They decided to sleep outside while selling second-hand goods and working at coffee shops for a living.

The authorities have helped the couple rent an HDB flat many times in the past. When the couple worried about needing to pay for utilities, social workers offered to help too.

However, the couple refused help many times, with reasons like the unit being too far away or too small for their items.

“If we live in a HDB flat with one bedroom and one living room, where do we put these things? The authorities can’t let us put these things in the storage room of the HDB cleaners, so it’s better to live [on the streets].”

They also refused to give up their collecting and selling of second-hand goods, despite only earning about $1,000 a month.

“It is better for us to support ourselves than to beg [for help],” stated Uncle Wang.

He also shared that sometimes people would give him money along the streets, and volunteers would often deliver lunch boxes to them. When he considered how they don’t need to pay for utilities and food, sleeping outside makes more sense to them financially.

Not Actually About The Money?

Despite Uncle Wang’s description of struggling financially, social workers revealed that the couple has enough money saved up to pay for such necessities. They’re also already spending money to rent a flat, but simply choose not to use it.

Perhaps the main problem here isn’t about money, but that they can’t give up on the lifestyle they’ve committed to for years.