In Singapore, the number of poor people is said to be much higher than declared by the authorities. This is what the experts who attended the poverty forum organized by the National University of Singapore argue, putting official data under accusation. "The fundamental problem" says Laurence Lien, member of Parliament of Singapore and director of the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre, "is that Singapore lacks, at a statistical level, a precisely determined poverty line". What comes closest is the spending threshold established for the satisfaction of the basic needs of a family unit. This threshold was set in 2011 by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry at 1.250 Singapore dollars (about 750 euros) per month for a family unit made up of 4 people. Starting from this figure, 4.830 households fall below this threshold, i.e. just 2% of all the households surveyed. However, dispute the parliamentarian Lien and the economist Hui Weng Tat, the statistics only take into account the costs of food, clothing and accommodation, leaving out other basic items such as education, health and transport. "There are many, many more families struggling to make ends meet," comments Hui, "even among those in which there is at least one person with a regular job." To complete a picture that appears increasingly worrying, data were presented showing that in recent years income inequality has increased, combined with a marked stagnation in wages for the poorest part of the population.
http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Regional/2013/09/26/More-poor-people-than-stats-show-Panel-calls-for-more-measures-to-help-needy.aspx
