"This is Singapore if you dont work you dont eat. "Truth by the pioneer generation.

Bukit Merah has one of the most expensive private estates, while also having one of the most poorest families living in 1 room flats. the income gap in that area is scary.

At 12:42 when the boy said Alhamdulillah, hugging his mother and showing pure gratitude for the $800 really pulled my heart strings. That is the gratitude that most singaporeans are lagging. All they do is open their big mouths and complain.

I lived in a one room flat rental fr 11 yrs after my divorce. Not too bad. I worked hard and raised my Daughter. Wasn’t easy but with some family support I made it. I cite this. A job and family that helped me. I now own my own flat , my Daughter finished university and is married. Don’t give up and don’t stop working.

The lady who's pregnant, wears glasses, she deserves a caring and loving husband.Feel so sorry for the lady who lost her son. This is absolutely heartbreaking

12:47 *sigh happily then said alhamdullilahhhhh* her son was so innocent and happy for that money. It breaks my heart seeing how hard her mom struggle for her childrens 😭😭😭

Me and my family lived in a 2 room flat in Woodlands. Family of 7. It was very tough, food was scarce, rushing for toilet as there was only 1, sleeping all over the place, fighting for place to study, no privacy all this. Fast forward, after all of us, the children, became adult we all had tertiary education, I worked in a pharmaceutical company took part time degree and got a good job. Finally was able to buy 5room flat for my family. To all those struggling, do everything in your capacity to improve, upgrade yourself so that you can have a better life than before.

I rather don't have baby when your not financially ready.

Thanks CNA to make me realise that small things that I take for granted means a lot to others.

It breaks my heart to see children suffer because of irresponsible parents!

Honestly, if you don't have money, you shouldn't have children either.. If you do so anyway, you're ruining your life and the children's life..

This made me realised one thing. Family planning is very important. Man, kids are expensive to raise and if you’re not financial stable and couldn’t give the ones you have a good quality of life then you shouldn’t go and get somemore.

This is a timely project . I taught in Singapore in 2000 and there were frequent noticeable absences with the really poor kids who couldn't afford bus fares to school. I also saw a lot of a desperately sad old woman collecting cardboard boxes and unwanted trash who complained to me her daughter kept pushing her out of her flat. We should see more about the people who can't get by and open up discussions on ways to alleviate poverty in Singapore where most people are often mainly just materialistic.

Family planning should be made a compulsory course in Sec schools... Alot of hypertensive patients are working hard full time and exercising regularly so that they don't fall sick so easily and to maintain their health, I cannot begin to describe how lazy can a person get...

90% of the comments being about them not having more children. And know what? You guys are right.

I love Chuan Chuan's spirit. She definitely deserves a better husband. I really wish the best for her :(

I feel like adopting all the children in the video. Let them have lunch at my place, study here and go home peacefully every night after dinner and homework done. That's all. It's heartbreaking enough for the moms.

My dad worked two jobs, even when he was on dialysis. He had high blood pressure, diabetes, heart issues. The man never complained. I realize anew every day how lucky I was to have the father I did.

When Adik Irman said "Alhamdulillah" at 12:46, I immediately teared up. I pray that you and your siblings grow up to be anak-anak yang soleh and taat Allah, taat Rasul, taat ibu dan dapat balas jasa ibu yang bertungkus lumus melahirkan dan membesarkan awak adik-beradik🤍

I grew up in America on welfare. My dad worked so hard to get us out of the ghetto. It was so hard but really showed me to plan and prepare for my own future. As much as I would love a bigger family, we choose to only have 2 so we can give them everything. It's not about having more kids but what I want to be able to provide them with. Plan ahead.

The Chuan Chuan woman should leave her husband.... Its not good to place the lil girls in such an environment and she has diploma!! She met the wrong guy and ruined her life sigh

The other side of crazy rich Asian in Singapore😐

she elects to work in a fast food place instead of a high paying job because of her kids; she needs to stop having too many kids, and get rid of her bum husband.

"no matter what they have done in the past, children should take care of their parents..." Ms. Koh, while this is true in general for most normal and functional parent-child relationships, perhaps you ought to also put yourself in the shoes of some of those grownup children who refused to support their parents and understand their reasons - some scars simply cannot and will not heal. I have personally looked after two teens under child protection whose mother was a compulsive gambler and was extremely aggressive and volatile, often threatening to chain the house gate and burn the whole family to death together or thrashing the entire flat and destroying the furniture whenever she fails to get money from her husband (the kids' father) to feed her gambling addiction or pay her debts. And she had on more than one occasion nearly stabbed or slashed the two kids during her tantrums when she would grab knives and choppers from the kitchen. There was even one ludicrous occasion when she dismantled the flat's main gate and door and left the parts on the ground before she happily went off on another gambling spree. Harassment from creditors was also a regular occurrence and she even stole the husband's IC to borrow money (don't ask me how the moneylenders would accept someone else's ID). Ironically, it was fortunate that the creditors behaved in a relatively far more civil manner in comparison to this woman and did not cause any physical hurt to them. The father's substantial retirement savings, which could have allowed the family to live quite comfortably, were wiped out completely to pay for her never-ending gambling losses and loan shark debts, but she finds it perfectly justifiable that her husband should be the one bearing the duty to settle the debts she herself incurred for her own enjoyment. Best part was, the father refused to take any action to safeguard the kids' well-being, including options such as obtaining a DEO and PPO, or to apply to ban her from the casinos despite urging from domestic violence counsellors simply because he was afraid she would divorce him! If the police and MSF had not intervened, the family would sooner or later have become part of the local murder-suicide statistics. Being filial is a reciprocating behaviour to repay the love and care that parents provided for children when they were young. When parents fail woefully in their duty as caregivers and protectors through their very own fault and selfish choices, they should not expect their children to play the same provider role to them in their old age.

When her anak say “Alhamdulillah”. Tersentuh hati

Family planning and financial awareness is crucial and should be widely accessible to all families.

When I saw Sky's interview I understood why his family is in this state. Its because of him and his thinking. Both my wife and I are blind. We have three healthy kids. I am the only one working to support the family. My wife is not working and we are not on welfare from SSO. I have high blood but I stay away from the nice food which he said is nice because I know if I am down my whole family will go down with me. You can eat those nice food once in awhiile but not everyday. He said he can easily get a high paid job earning more so he should be a man and take up the responsibility get his health back start eating healthy and start exercising. 2k a month is not alot don't overthink. You cannot have the best of everything. Start doing something.

At least they have a home to sleep, and not homeless living on street. But i agreed with most comment here. If u barely can feed yourself, don't have big family. Just have one child and raised him/her the best possible by giving the best education. Having too many kids means you could not afford to raise them poperly and most possible will be wasted and neglected sooner than later.

Esther Ho have the toughest job in this world.. Salute to you Maam.. May you have more blessings cone to you..

If u dont have money....DONT BREED ...that SIMPLE ....

Ms Esther Ho is the real hero in this! Keep it up. We need more people like her in this world.

Watching this.... I'm speechless of how poor some people could be in the so called developed country Singapore. I feel extremely blessed and grateful with what i have now... No water to survive? I would've been in major depression if im in her shoes.

Awww the kid when he said alhamdulillah. What a good boy!! Her mom's English is good too. Idk y but to feel that she is actually a smart person

i was once the same as them living in gov rental house , living on the government since the age of 8 but once i reach the age of 16 when i finished my secondary school i didn't enter ITE i work so hard to work out of this place and exit this place by all means , i did it on the age of 21 i purchase BTO with my mum and my younger brother forever saying goodbye to this place. now it's all depending on the children to make it out of this place i would say this place gave me a very good lesson in life.

when the kid say Alhamdulillah...i know she is a good mom....

12:48 when her kid said “alhamdulilah” upon knowing his mum is gonna receive financial support :’)))

I have traveled few countries and I always visit the markets to check the foods most people consume, the countryside to view the culture and the locals and it's always the poor ones and get chance to live with them as much as possible. Having to experience it and knowing that its only a borrowed experience makes me thankful of what I have and respect these people who have lived this life and still surviving with chins up.

My deepest condolences to the lady who’s son died. Poverty is a big cycle, I do feel for some families on a single income. Though hubby and I earning quite well, yet I do a strict budget. We make sure two kids are enough, we have taken all precautions.

Very insightful video! Here is an inspirational saying by Japanese writer and philosopher Josei Toda: "Even though you may be poor (physically or financially), you mustn't be poor at heart." ♥

Try not to have so many children if can't afford cos need to feed n give them proper education n life.. Quality is better than quantity..many said children are a blessing but if we can't afford to feed them what is this call? Family planning is very important..everything is so expensive this Gen. .

That ending bit where the husband was using his belt to threaten someone off screen really upset me. Hope the production team was able to step in or a police. :(

When I was still young I didn’t understand why my mummy asked me to eat my breakfast everyday before I goes to school, until I see this video then I realised that I was fortunate enough to have pocket money and enough food to eat Everyday.

im so grateful to be malaysian after seeing these unfortunate families dealing with all the unpaid medical fees😢...in malaysian u will need to pay RM 1 minimum (0.3 SGD) to see the doctors at gov hosp...medical fees are highly subsidised by gov...stay strong dear fellow singaporean...i wish the best for you guys

I can feel her pain...I'm a single mum supporting my 2 boys...alhamdulillah both my son has grown up 28, 30 ....even though my pay is only 1000 per month ..I managed to endure the struggle ...have faith n believes in urself

I praise God for blessing me with so much.

I loved most when the son says 💖Alhamdulillah💖 his very happy and thankful he understand life🙏Ya Allah,Blessed this kid Amiin😔

Singapore is a very fortunate country. If you ask me as a foreign worker here. You've never seen what "poor" is back in my country. Hope they can better their lives. It saddens me also seeing the children suffering

these series are so important. honestly the underrated lives in singapore that people don't know of. I really wish the best for these people. :/

Inilah dia hidup diduniA .aku pun pernah Ada disituasi seperti ini .tidak punyA Wang Satu sen pun terpaksa tebalkan muka dapatkan bantuan $$$ dari sosial welfare.sekitar 2-3tahun lamanya.namun sekarang alhamdulillah itu semua sudah berlalu Dan kini aku sudah tk punyA masaalah $$$$lagi.hidup seadanya.aman.sekiranya aku berkemampuan,aku Akan Bantu mereka mereka yg memerlukan.

12:40 when the kid said alhamdulillah, my tears started to pour 😭

Esther Ho, you have a real good heart and full of understanding. God bless you my dear.

Esther Ho (MSF) you will be blessed, good Karma will come to you.

12:47 his son said alhamdulillah 😢 allahu akbar

Why do they have so many kids when they're saying they dont have what all?

@22:14 - Just because he has hypertension, he works part time; that was a lame excuse. He is indeed a lazy fellow. One can control hypertension by medication and type of food consumption.

At 12:50..her kids spontaneously said Alhamdulillah... And I was.. MasyaAllah nakkk.. Allah bless you nak.. 🙂

I cried watching this story, I have no idea Singapore have so many people with economy issue. This is a serious issue, I wish I can do something to help.

Sad...but still better than Hong Kong's poor ! Public housing is better than Coffin rooms !

I never knew how hard living in Singapore...for the poorest community in Singapore..May god ease you and bless them.. Love drom Malaysia..

Stop producing so many kids if you can't feed them. Simple as that..

To the ladies in the series if you are reading this I want you to know that you guys are amazing, strong and brave to share your story with us. Life is never easy but your guys are surrounded with love from your kids. There's no such thing as a smooth journey, people will judge you, tell you not to have to many kids but I'm sure if they were in your shoes I don't think they can last a day, they most probably kill themselves and let their kids to rot alone.

There will be no poor kids if you don't have them in the first place!

Here I am...drawing about 4k and thinking I am "poor". Because compared to my friends, I am very very behind. I thought I was "poor" because I couldn't buy many things I want (not a need). Sometimes I get upset that I couldn't travel much, not enough money to buy my own hdb, no money to buy car, etc etc. Now that I see this...really change my perspective. Maybe...I'm just like the usual Singaporeans who likes to complain

honestly thank you so much for shedding light on this topic

The other side of Singapore no one sees

Her husband is more like a chao Keng recruit..

The mother who lost her son , she had me crying in the first few mins my god the pain is palpable

Who am i to pass judgement on those that are not as fortunate. I can only whisper a soft prayer that their lives will get better and their children will have a brighter future.

Why the hell should the kids pay an allowance to a man that left them. This is a joke right?

I really don't understand why do people have so many kids when they know they have financial issues

I used to live here.. blk 61 from 1994-1999.. made many friends and many great memories we made while we were young..we are really close till now.. there was a couple named Mickey chiang and Auntie Meiling.. they really took care of us, send us to tuitions, got us schools to study,and thanks to them.. all of us now are not rich but able to live and buy our own houses, alhamdulillah.. i thank god for all these good souls... and May our beloved late Uncle Mickey rest in peace and may Allah grant him paradise.. Thanks for all these good people in our lives..

Malay Singapore be strong kept in remembrance to All Mighty.

"If we don't work, we don't eat" this is Singapore.

I broke down when Salbiah's son said "alhamdulillah" after she said what they're getting from welfare :')

Respect to the Social Assistant Officer

The 7yrs old son heard that they're getting $800 from the Social Service. His first word really break my heart. He said "Praise to God"

I do understand their point of view, been there before...BUT one thing that really stops them from moving foward is the complaining and excuses (I'm talking about the uncle).... From the uncle's lesson, what could he have done to prevent such things from happening while he's in the past, I bet there's plenty of opportunities for him to improve his financial standing or his financial education to live a financially secure life....

nobody: Malaysian Chinese: Singapore is the best liaw, the gomen take so much care of the people....

12:44 her son is so cute! so grateful

That's the mother's love, they'll do anything for their kids, it is still to see what the child can do for the mother in future when they grew up.

20:28 I really don’t think he is in a position to say that... 😖 I mean look around you! This last family is just 🤨... Not getting a higher paying job coz of flexibility and convenience issues?? I mean really...?? The only consideration I see here is just to make more money ASAP. The mom needs to force the dad to get up and do some work. Nothing will change if they won’t change themselves.

I'm ashamed to be called Singaporean when I read the comments section. If anything, we have failed as a community. I hope we can be better than this.

Thank you for such meaningful documentary. Keep up the good work

1) If we really have the feeling that we’re not going to make it in this world, try our very best as not to have kids unless we were once doing good but somehow something unlucky befall us. However the poor of the world everywhere are with lots of kids, I cannot figure this out. I might be highly naive of this although highly educated and well read, I admit it. But that’s my on the spot thinking on the matter and what I would do if I know I’m up against incoming current in my life. My apology for the thoughts. 2) No matter how poor we are, never never let our mother and father be hungry or just leave them. Share even our small piece of fish slice three way with mother and father and make sure they are happy with the little we have. Hunger will not be felt if we take good care of our parents. This, I have experienced. 3) Awwww come on governments of the world. You can do better than this.

I don’t and will never understand why people still have so many kids despite being financially incapable of supporting them

Kalau Malaysian pergi Singapore, sesetengah penduduk Singapore pandang rendah kt Malaysian unless kau pakai barang berjenama mahal. Padahal ni reality kehidupan kt Singapore ada yg kaya, ada yg memerlukan. So be kind lah to one another. Taraf kita sama je

I with many other friends who were born from poor and multi siblings single parent families. We felt it is really taxing for both the parents and the children. Kids like us since young struggled through school due to overwhelming financial problems and have to forsake studying and work to provide for the family earlier. Given that Singapore is a paper qualification society as of now unlike last time, it has many detrimental issues such as depression. As per this Chinese saying, the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.

Looking around at other poor and impoverished groups of people in the world. The common denominator seems to be the lack of birth control leading to over stretching a family's limited resources. I was born in Singapore and my father had eight children and we were impoverished. So poor that I had to leave school after Year 10, unable to continue to HSC because I had to find work to support my father and family. Fast forward fifty years. I learnt from that lesson and have only two children. Now I live very comfortably in another country (not that it matters) and at 72, I still work in the IT industry. I got here by working , educating myself, living a clean and healthy lifestyle and creating good Karma. When you help others worst off than yourself, things seem to fall into place when you least expected it. It is not luck but good Karma. Few people will agree with me, but good Karma also means not bringing another child into this world at a time when you cannot afford to provide. Especially if you live in a society where family planning is available. No, I will not say you are poor. What I went through in my early years is nothing compared to being poor in some countries where daily life is rummaging through a rubbish tip filled with used syringes and bandages, to look for scraps. What I had was apples and fruits left on some street corners with joss sticks that people used to leave as prayer offerings.

my heart is heavy for the children when parents bring them into the world to suffer...the nes who do work and earn barely enough to provide for themselves...the dog who is so thin....but i am upset for parents who keeps having kids irresponsibly....

Did the lady said 5 days old baby? So adorable!! I'm already worried about the pain, she's so relax

bgs ya news sg revealed life ordinary ppl in sg..... masalah ni bkn hanya di sg saja byk negara lain mempunyai masalah yg sama sekrgnya ketelusan dlm media masa dlm menyampaikan sesuatu cerita..... thumb up👍👍👍

wonderful documentary...much needed since this is a side of singapore that many dont know

I've been to Singapore at least 100x since I was a baby to this day. Never have I known poverty on this level happens in Singapore. Please people, DO NOT HAVE MULTIPLE KIDS WHEN YOU LIVE BELOW POVERTY LINE! It's really not fair to give this quality of life to those innocent children

at 20:13 Sky Quek knows the solution to his HP problem, but he is not prepared to make the change to his life style.

I can't stand Chuan Chuan's husband. Lazy af. If he truly cares for the family he will do his best to be healthy so that he can provide for them a better environment. 打女人？你不是男人!

To those who are suffering due to unforeseen circumstances, I pray that you have better days ahead. Don’t lose hope 🙏🏽

7:30 Esther, you just showed how poor you are within. How can you empathize with such pride.

There is a word called 'family planning'. Practice it

chuan chuan is so well spoken, she can do so much better.

The results of poor family and long term financial plannings; and ignorance. The story of Von Trapp is a very dreamy and rare one.