A Facebook post from 23 December shed light on the living conditions of an elderly man in Singapore, in today’s world of artificial intelligence, smart homes and modern technology. An 80-year-old man has been living without water, electricity and gas for more than a decade in a one-room rented HDB flat on North Bridge Road.
The calendar hanging on the wall of his room is stuck in 2015. It is as though time has not moved since then.
Time Stopped
It was difficult to enter the old man’s house. The door is half open; there is no space to walk inside. Piles of garbage, old papers and unknown objects are piled up all around. There is no water in the toilet bowl; it is unusable.
The dark room has become even more terrifying due to the lack of electricity. Due to long-term neglect, the flat is no longer a home but a haven for insects.
Daily Struggle
The old man himself says that he does not bathe. He goes to the nearby public toilet to wash his face. He walks in the rain to clean his clothes, then sits in the sun to dry them. However, he walks barefoot and can’t remember the last time he brushed his teeth.
As he doesn’t have a bed inside the house, he sleeps on the floor of the corridor every day. Many volunteers are emotional after hearing this reality.
Horrible Situation
The volunteers faced a terrible experience while cleaning the house. Lizards were falling from the walls and ceiling, and centipedes were running on the floor. Cockroaches were everywhere.
Since there was no water connection, they first had to bring water in buckets from the next flat. Later, the cleaning operation was carried out for six hours using bottled water.
Slowly on the way to help
Initially, the old man did not want to accept help. He did not even accept food and drink. However, with patience and time, the volunteers gained his trust. Currently, he is being assisted by a government agency, and food is being delivered regularly.
Speaking to the media, he said that he has been living in the flat since 1979 and the monthly rent is only 35 Singapore dollars.
At the end of the cleanup, there was no furniture, no wealth—just a skinny old man standing in front of everyone, with a smile on his face. That smile seemed to hurt the volunteers the most
Read the original post here.
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