BROKERING SOCIAL CAPITAL AMONG THE ELDERLY POOR IN A HDB ESTATE

Abstract

Drawing on insights collected from 12 residents of one-room rental flats in North Bridge Road, this paper will use Putnam (1995; 2002) and Bourdieu’s (1995; 2002) theoretical frameworks to illuminate two forms of social capital (organisational and organic) possessed by elderly Singaporeans in need. Due to the lack of cultural and financial structures in the early days, such as educational institutions and stateprovided subsidies, the Pioneer and Merdeka generation of elderlies in Singapore have been ill-equipped to face the modern realities, relying mainly on social capital to navigate their daily lives. My research has found that formal organisations have allowed the elderly poor to leverage on organisational forms of social capital for their physical and social advantage. Furthermore, organic forms of social capital, which promote mutual assistance and reciprocity among friends, neighbours and colleagues were found to be beneficial not only to the livelihood of seniors, but also their mental wellbeing. Most importantly, this thesis has found the brokerage of capital to be integral in the facilitation of trust, resources and capital among social networks. I argue that more formal structures should be put in place to support the role of brokers within poor communities so as to leverage on their rich social networks. Within the study of social capital, more emphasis should be placed on the role of brokers who are able to straddle the lines of those who possess organic and organisational social capital in order to facilitate the flow of information and resources available within different groups.