Background

Mdm Norah*, 43 years old, is a resilient single mother to two children who are 20 and 23 years old. Originally from Bangladesh, she came to Singapore in 1996, 4 years after marrying her Singaporean husband in 1992. Mdm Norah comes from a small and rural village in Bangladesh and married her Singaporean husband in an arranged marriage at a young age of 16 years old. Due to the customs in her village, she left school after completing primary school.

The Struggle

Her life in Singapore has been difficult. Mdm Norah informs us that her husband was physically abusive towards her and did not provide for her and their children who are PR Citizens. In 2011, after many years of abuse and neglect, her husband walked out on them and till today, he barely has any contact with his children and does not provide for them financially.

Mdm Norah is currently working full time in a small handphone shop in Little India selling Handphone cards to construction workers. Her salary of S$1,200 is insufficient to provide for her two children as they are PR Citizens. Both her children are currently schooling, and their fees are not subsidized. She has outstanding arrears with SP and is currently struggling to pay off the arrears. Mdm Norah and her two children suffer from asthma and skin eczema. Her daughter who is 20 years old suffers from severe skin eczema however, due to financial constraints, she is not receiving treatment.

Help Needed – Give Hope

Mdm Norah is trying her hardest to put her two children to school. With a salary of only S$1,200, she currently struggles with not only her children’s education but also her SP and groceries expenses. Ray of Hope would, therefore, like to raise S$1,000 to defray the following expenses for four months:

Electricity, SP (S$150 x 4 months)

Groceries Expenses (S$100 x 4 months)

Ray of Hope will be paying SP directly and the groceries expenses will be converted to NTUC vouchers. Please give hope to Mdm Norah!

* Name has been changed to protect the identity of Mdm Norah as she was a victim of domestic violence