Grant helps poor S’pore family obtain new home

Singapore: When office administrator Soh Jie Ling divorced her husband nine years ago, she had to move out of her in-laws’ flat.

She lived with her parents and younger brother for three years, but when they downsized their home, the single mother had to find a new place with her two sons.

She ended up moving into a tworoom rental flat, sharing a double-decker bed with her children, who were then aged four and six.

Rent was S$62 (RM183) a month, but it later became a struggle when she was diagnosed with Wilson’s disease, a genetic disorder in which copper builds up in one’s tissues.

Her condition led to liver disease, which meant she could not work full-time at that point and could earn only S$800 (RM2,358) a month.

“I felt very inferior at the time. I wanted to get my own flat but I could not,” said Soh. “I’ve always believed you can have not enough to eat, but you cannot not have a roof over your head.”

Her wish to buy her own flat was finally fulfilled in 2012, when she applied for a three-room Build-To-Order unit in Sengkang with the help of government grants.

It would have cost S$190,000 (RM560,130), but she received S$60,000 (RM177,000) in Central Provident Fund housing grants.

She also got S$50,000 (RM147,400) in housing grants through the Home Ownership Plus Education Scheme, which provides financial aid to low-income families with no more than two children. She and her sons moved into their new Rivervale Crescent home last November.

“It was a huge accomplishment to finally have a permanent home,” said Soh, who now takes home S$1,700 (RM5,011) monthly.