With husband in jail, wife and 2 kids rely on handouts

When her Singaporean husband was jailed for drug offences three years ago, Madam Siti became head of the household and sole carer of their two sons.

“It’s not easy,” said the 36-year- old Indonesian. “Every day, I am busy cooking, cleaning and taking my children to school.”

Without her husband’s $1,700 monthly income from his job as a driver, the family has to rely on about $900 a month, given by the Community Development Council, the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore and her mother-in-law.