How would NSP define the poverty line?

Cartoonist Leslie Chew drew a cartoon exclusively for our last publication of North Star newspaper. Recently, we posted this cartoon on our Facebook. Responding to this Facebook post, a resident of Choa Chu Kang wrote to us asking how the National Solidarity Party would define poverty line.

We reproduce here the email from this resident and our response to him.

—Resident’s email—

Dear sir,

I saw your post regarding the government denying a poverty line exist.

I think it would be constructive for you to post how you would define the poverty line. Or reply my mail.

I am a voter in yew tee, under the choa chu kang grc. Thank you.

Regards
Desmond XXX

—Our Response to Desmond—

Dear Mr Desmond XXX

Thanks for reading our posts on NSP FB. You are referring to the cartoon by Mr Leslie Chew which he contributed to NSP’s print edition of the North Star Newspaper (March 2014), and which we recently reproduced on NSP FB as our print version of the North Star has run out.

Firstly, we wish to clarify that Mr Leslie Chew is not a member of NSP and his views do not necessarily represent the views of the North Star Editorial Board.

That said, we do agree that it is useful to call attention to the fact that Singapore does not have an official poverty line.

In November 2013, the Lien Centre for Social Innovation and SMU School of Social Sciences issued a report which called for an official definition of poverty and one not based solely on monetary terms.

According to this report, a definition of the poverty line “will result in greater recognition of existing needs within our community and the scale of inequality and its impact on Singapore society as a whole. Most importantly a deeper understanding of poverty can inform interventions to support those most in need, and provide a basis for accurately tracking the impact of these efforts.” (source: https://centres.smu.edu.sg/lien/files/2013/11/SocialSpace2013-2014_SanushkaMudaliar.pdf)