An 82-year-old elderly man was spotted ‘living’ at the void deck of an HDB rental block. He was suspected of being homeless, but he actually has a rental flat.
Source: Shin Min Daily News
He shared that the fan in his rental flat had broken down, leaving the room extremely stuffy. Thus, he moved downstairs to the void deck.
He has since been assigned a new rental unit, and will move there soon.
According to Shin Min Daily News, the 82-year-old man, Mr Ye Huang Zhang, used to live in a rental flat at Block 26 Sin Ming Industrial Estate Sector A.
He lived there for four years, until his fan broke down in the middle of 2022. This left his flat feeling extremely stuffy.
Thus, he decided to move out and found a new place to call ‘home’ — the void deck, which he found extremely cooling.
However, Mr Ye noted that one resident often teased him for his living situation. The resident even went as far as to throw eggs on the wall near his sleeping area and pour sugar water to attract ants to his living space.
Thankfully, the resident has moved out, and no one has bothered Mr Ye since.
Shin Min Daily News reported that Mr Ye worked at PUB, Singapore’s National Water Agency, for 30 years. After retiring, he worked as a part-time cleaner.
However, he stopped working in his 70s due to health problems like poor vision and hearing.
He added that he used to own a house with his wife. However, after getting divorced, he sold the house and lived with his children.
After a while, he decided to move out of their house. He shared that his children are not financially stable either, and he did not wish to burden them. As such, he learnt to become self-reliant.
He lived with his friend for some time before eventually becoming a vagrant.
However, thanks to the help of the MP in charge of his area, Mr Ye moved into the rental flat, where he stayed for four years.
Apart from living at the void deck, the unemployed Mr Ye also survives on welfare money.
However, according to Shin Min Daily News, many kind people have also offered him snacks and mineral water to live off. He also showers and does his laundry at the public toilet.
As the HDB rental block is being demolished, Shin Min Daily News reported that residents must move out before 30 Sep. As such, many residents have been assigned new rental units to move to.
Thankfully, Mr Ye has also been allocated a new HDB rental unit.
However, he has not moved yet as he has many things to shift to his new home. As he wishes not to burden his friends, he will slowly bring his belongings to his new home by himself.
It is expected that Mr Ye will move into his new rental unit by late April or early May.
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Featured image adapted from Shin Min Daily News.
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