![\"Tents](\"http:\/\/countrytalkstory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Caldwell-homeless-children1-470x287.jpg\")
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So much effort and financial resources have been spent on mitigating this housing issue here in Honolulu.<\/p>\n
\u00a0I wanted to share my private story as a young girl in Singapore, relating to housing.<\/p>\n
\u00a0Long story very short, my mother’s father warned her not to\u00a0spend time\u00a0with the popular and handsome guy in the Holland Road neighborhood. My maternal grandfather was an affluent business trader. My paternal grandfather was also an affluent businessman and community headman.\u00a0But my young mother ended up eloping with my father; later to find out he already had a wife and children. He would later add a third wife.<\/p>\n
My maternal grandfather disowned her; my mother was too proud to seek reconciliation or for help with her children. The father and daughter would reconcile decades later.<\/p>\n
\u00a0I was the seventh child but I don\u2019t remember my father in my early childhood days. He must have visited us at least ten times; I have seven brothers and two sisters!<\/p>\n
Mother\u00a0became a washerwoman \u2013 a human traveling washing machine. She was intelligent and spirited but did not attend school because her very traditional father thought it was a \u201cwaste of rice\u201d to send daughters to be educated. (In fact, Grandfather was so traditional that when he died, he left all his assets to his first born son only.)\u00a0 I always thought that, if my mother were formally educated, she would have been a great partner with\u00a0the former Lee Kuan Yew, the Founding Prime Minister of Singapore. They were so much alike.\u00a0\u00a0She was very intelligent, spoke many languages, a natural leader, but unlucky with her love life.<\/p>\n
I remember living in a rural attap house in my early years. \u00a0It was supposedly haunted. No one dared to live there so\u00a0my father\u00a0moved our family into that house.<\/p>\n
![\"attap-house\"](\"http:\/\/countrytalkstory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Attap-house-470x314.jpg\")
(This is a similar style attap house but minus the vehicle. We had no cars.)<\/p>\n
We had the best childhood. We were poor but we didn’t know we were\u00a0poor.\u00a0My stomping grounds were up in the big tropical trees and exploring the rural surroundings. We walked miles to the public school. Kind neighbors gave us their daily newspapers\u00a0after they were done.\u00a0\u00a0My mother raised pigs, tilapia, chicken, and vegetables. We used a community water well and had an outhouse.<\/p>\n
On the other side of our rural neighborhood were huge beautiful concrete homes with indoor plumbing, huge bathtubs, ceramic tiles, and beautiful landscaped yards. These homes were usually occupied by foreign executives or foreign journalists based in Singapore.<\/p>\n
When fire burnt our attap house down, we had to relocate.<\/p>\n
We moved into this Lengkok Bahru flat below..\u00a0The\u00a0unit\u00a0was very small – a living room, one bedroom, a small\u00a0cooking area\u00a0and\u00a0one bathroom. It was probably about 700 square feet. It was a corner unit on the fifth floor. The eleven of us moved into that cement block.\u00a0It was a big adjustment for us.<\/p>\n
![\"lengkok-bahru-b-61\"](\"http:\/\/countrytalkstory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Lengkok-Bahru-B-61-470x284.png\")
(This building has always been well maintained. The elevator shaft is a new addition. This is at\u00a0least 45 years old.)<\/p>\n
My assigned sleeping space was on the back open \u201cpatio\u201d where my sisters and I slept on the concrete floor. I remember growing out of it when my feet and my head eventually touched the ends of that patio\u00a0space.<\/p>\n
The rent was very\u00a0cheap; I believe it was 25% or less\u00a0than what my mother earned as a washerwoman.<\/p>\n
The Singapore government provided inexpensive units like these to provide public housing. Singapore was transforming from a third world country then.<\/p>\n
Although it was congested; we made do. My mother focused on our education. Although my father was an alcoholic and chain-smoker, none of us emulated him. She took charge of her children’s welfare.<\/p>\n
None of us\u00a0dared to misbehave or become delinquent because she was strict, supervised us, and expected much of us. While other neighbors sent their children to work at hawker stalls or other minimal wage jobs; she sent us to schools. We participated fully in the public school extra-curricular activities. We were avid readers. One of my favorite memories was receiving free reading materials from the American Embassy in Singapore. The printed materials ranged from biographies of\u00a0American Presidents to Will Rogers to Chief Sitting Bull.<\/p>\n
My brothers and sisters all became educated. My first and second brother did not pursue university education so they could support their younger siblings. They became a public school teacher and policeman respectively. The rest went to college and obtained professions like Human Resource Executive with a top American firm; a top executive of the biggest firm in Singapore; a Navy Captain; television business news editor and so forth.<\/p>\n
I spent a chunk of my childhood years at the public housing (about ten years) till I left Singapore at the age of seventeen to attend college in Hawaii.<\/p>\n
Why am I sharing this personal story?<\/p>\n
Life would have been so much more difficult for\u00a0our family\u00a0if we did not have an affordable\u00a0and safe roof over our heads.<\/p>\n
We never had to worry about having a roof over our heads. We never had to\u00a0worry whether the police or county workers will seize our tents or personal papers at 2:00 in the morning.\u00a0 Although it was congested living;\u00a0our housing\u00a0was safe and sanitary. That little unit allowed us to feel secure and\u00a0focus on other pursuits that bettered our\u00a0lives and allowed us to\u00a0contribute to society.<\/p>\n
\u00a0![\"caldwell-homeless-raids-aclu\"](\"http:\/\/countrytalkstory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Caldwell-homeless-raids-ACLU-470x353.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
There is\u00a0obviously\u00a0no one silver bullet to solve homelessness in a mostly “cash” economy.<\/p>\n
![\"OLYMPUS](\"http:\/\/countrytalkstory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/homelessness-on-Beretania-470x353.jpg\")
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Homelessness is a complicated and multi-faceted issue. Other various solutions, such as counseling, educational and social support are also\u00a0needed to address this.<\/p>\n
But, we urgently need honest and efficient\u00a0leadership<\/a> at City Hall. Incumbent Mayor Kirk Caldwell is failing. There is too much politics and “pay to play” involved.<\/p>\n
![\"caldwell-homeless-bench\"](\"http:\/\/countrytalkstory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Caldwell-homeless-bench-470x353.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"caldwell-honolulu-homeless__large\"](\"http:\/\/countrytalkstory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/CALDWELL-honolulu-homeless__large-470x238.jpg\")
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