Curry Puffs and a Jail term

I believe that Ms Robiah Lia Caniago deserves the punishment that she is getting. This is because, although she may be short on cash to feed her family, the way she is trying to earn money is illegal and should be condone. She could have opt to instead receive help from the government but because of her self-professed "proud Batak woman" pride she did not do so. Hence I feel that because of this she has indirectly brought onto herself this tragic situation. 

Ms Robiah Lia Caniago could opt to apply for the ComCare Short-to-Medium Term Assistance Scheme and the ComCare Urgent Financial Assistance Scheme which can help her in terms of monetary benefits and also employment and/or job-training. She can also approach any Family Service Centres for help and she will be attended to. There are many schemes in Singapore that she can apply seeing that her husband is Singaporean, if she would put aside her pride, she would not be in such a sorry state.

Reading this story, I have come to realise that migrant workers and foreigners alike have such great pride in their country and nation. This is far different from A Singaporean's non-existent pride. I understand why Ms Robiah does not want to ask for help from the government because i myself would not be able to put aside my pride as a Malaysian and ask for help from a government that is not my own. However, i feel that she is being very selfish for not seeking for other ways to get help. This is because she has to think of a children. As a mother her first priority should be to take care of her children and that means ensuring that they are well-fed, educated and well-groomed. If she cares more about her pride instead, she is compromising the well-being of her children and i believed that that is wrong. I also think however that it was honourable of her to receive her punishment without complaint as this shows that she knows that she has done something illegal and is not fighting for a way to get out of it but instead facing the music. 

While researching on ways that Ms Robiah can get help, i have noticed that there are not enough policies and assistance i place to aid the families of offenders whereby they are the sole breadwinners if they are foreigners. This shows that the Singapore government has failed to address the needs of all the people who live here despite the fact that these foreigners contribute greatly to the income of Singapore as a whole.

What can we do now that we know this?

Signing off,

Abigail Fernandez