'THEY HAVE THEIR POLICIES, I HAVE MY WAYS’: WORKING FOR ONE’S WELFARE IN SINGAPORE.

Abstract

The Short-To-Medium-Term Assistance (SMTA) is a state program in Singapore providing financial, employment and other assistance to individuals in financial need. SMTA frames the resources that it provides as a temporary form of support that applicants should use to regain their financial self-reliance through stable employment. Drawing on eleven months of ethnographic fieldwork, this article identifies two forms of self-reliance which differ from the objective of the program. First, my informants worked to receive assistance by convincing Social Service Office (SSO) officers of their financial need; they further approached their Members of Parliament (MPs) to enhance the approval of their assistance. Second, my informants worked to find jobs on their own rather than accept the jobs recommended by SSO officers and career consultants. The different forms of self-reliance displayed by my informants are attributed to aspects of the SMTA application process and the context of wage stagnation in low-wage jobs.