Dedicated centre to serve needs of lower-income transnational families

Households where one spouse is S’porean or a PR can now tap legal, social assistance

- Theresa Tan

Madam R, an Indonesian woman in her 60s, has been the sole caregiver of her three Singaporean grandchildren since they were young.

Her Singaporean son-in-law was jailed and is estranged from his children, while her daughter had been deported back to Indonesia.

Madam R began to worry about her ability to look after her grandchildren after she had a fall in 2022 and the back pain affected her mobility, said Ms Kanak Muchhal, manager of South Central Community Family Service Centre’s (FSC) The Inclusive Fund.

Madam R also fretted about her medical bills.

As a foreigner, she does not get the subsidies Singaporeans and permanent residents (PRs) get at public hospitals here. Thankfully, the fund paid for her medical treatment in Batam.

It also linked her up to the Mount Alvernia Hospital Community Outreach Team, which has a programme that supports needy transnational spouses by providing them with heavily subsidised primary care at the Mount Alvernia Outreach Medical and Dental Clinics, among the forms of healthcare aid given.

In Singapore, transnational families often comprise a Singaporean man with his foreign wife and their children.

Madam R went through a procedure to treat the fracture in her vertebrae, among the host of diagnostic tests and consultations she had at Mount Alvernia, a not-for-profit hospital.

The total cost of treatment came up to about $26,000, said the hospital’s assistant director of community outreach Anthea Neo, but the hospital and the doctors waived their fees.

Meanwhile, Pro Bono SG, a charity which provides pro bono legal aid to the needy, is helping the grandmother to apply for a long-term visit pass so she can stay in Singapore for a longer period of time.