A man chased his wife and seven-year-old daughter out of the house in late December 2020, leaving the duo with nowhere to go and no one to turn to for help.
As a last resort, the duo turned to Member of Parliament, Sun Xueling, for help.
Sun revealed in a Facebook post on Jan. 27 the steps that have since been taken to render assistance to the mother and daughter, which culminated in moving the duo into a rental flat.
Mother from Vietnam
The PAP MP for Punggol West SMC wrote in her post that the mother did not have relatives to turn to in Singapore as she is from Vietnam.
After being thrown out of the house by her husband, she was only left with S$85 to her name and had taken to living in a crisis centre in Serangoon to get by.
As the woman’s daughter was starting school in January 2021 in Punggol, the duo turned to Sun for help with transport and expenses.
Mother cried during appeal
Sun wrote that the mother was crying while she pleaded for help and her daughter looked confused.
As an immediate remedy, Sun said the child was given “all the confectionery we could find” for her to eat that night, while cash was pooled for the mother to help her tide over temporarily.
Rental flat allocated after a month
A month after the mother and daughter sought help, Sun said a rental flat has been allocated to the mother, referred to as Mdm N.
Sun also shared that the Housing and Development Board helped with the flat’s allocation.
However, the spartan flat was devoid of any furniture and appliances.
A photo of the empty unit was shared by Sun.
Appeal for donation of items met swiftly
In her post, she made an appeal to the public to come forward with donations, especially since Chinese New Year is coming, households might be throwing out used but still usable furniture and appliances that can be passed to the family.
In a subsequent update to her post, Sun said all the items the mother and daughter require were donated by the public within 10 minutes.
These items included a queen-sized bed with mattress, study table and chair, refrigerator, washing machine, two-seater sofa, dining table and chairs, standing fan, water heater and shower head.
Top photo via Sun Xueling