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Flawed eligibility criteria for Silver Support Scheme

I am disappointed that Budget 2016 will exclude five-room-flat owners from the Silver Support Scheme (“Over 140,000 seniors to get Silver Support payouts this year”; March 25).

I am disappointed that Budget 2016 will exclude five-room-flat owners from the Silver Support Scheme (“Over 140,000 seniors to get Silver Support payouts this year”; March 25).

Basing eligibility for help on the type of home owned is flawed and gives consideration to the flat’s economic value rather than the actual financial status or needs of an elderly person.

Such a system has its demerits; it adopts a generalised view that all five-room-flat owners are of better financial status than the rest.

The reality is that most seniors bought their flat in their younger days at a lower price. The flat’s economic value will not add up to anything for its owner unless it is sold.

But the choice to sell or downgrade seems remote, since a fair majority would wish to live out their lives in these flats, in their so-called kampung. Using one’s Central Provident Fund contributions to determine eligibility is a better yardstick.

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