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Camping in East Coast Park

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bgd
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Camping in East Coast Park

Post by bgd » Wed, 03 Dec 2014 11:54 am

Every morning I walk in East Coast Park. Every morning I see regular campers, same tents, same faces, same place. These are not visitors, they are living in the Park.

One older lady fascinates me. Her tent is tiny but expertly erected. Each morning she packs up, loads her belongings onto a small trolley and disappears for the day. She may work somewhere. I prefer to imagine she likes a break from a crowded household.

Many years ago I was briefly homeless between property moves. I spent a lovely couple of days in a picturesque camping ground.

I’m thinking of picking up a cheap tent. :)

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nakatago
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Re: Camping in East Coast Park

Post by nakatago » Wed, 03 Dec 2014 11:57 am

bgd wrote:Every morning I walk in East Coast Park. Every morning I see regular campers, same tents, same faces, same place. These are not visitors, they are living in the Park.

One older lady fascinates me. Her tent is tiny but expertly erected. Each morning she packs up, loads her belongings onto a small trolley and disappears for the day. She may work somewhere. I prefer to imagine she likes a break from a crowded household.

Many years ago I was briefly homeless between property moves. I spent a lovely couple of days in a picturesque camping ground.

I’m thinking of picking up a cheap tent. :)

I read an article somewhere that some homeless Singaporeans actually live in parks.

Not many people know about those who fell through the cracks.
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ecureilx
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Re: Camping in East Coast Park

Post by ecureilx » Wed, 03 Dec 2014 12:07 pm

nakatago wrote:[]


I read an article somewhere that some homeless Singaporeans actually live in parks.

Not many people know about those who fell through the cracks.
Fell through?

Not so sure

I know a case where the guy was given a one room flat, the fellow rented it out and was sleeping in the void deck .. that's despite his monthly subsistence allowance over 800$ plus food ration etc

And another was in the news for being given a shared apartment, but he refused to stay with the other guy and moved out to a tent ...

And years ago a family was in Al Jazeera news, for living on the street, though they forgot to mention they got to the street speculating on property ... till they were in a condo and owned a HDB before it all unravelled

Touchy subject ...

And recently there was a famous lost-in-translation case of a group of non Singaporeans who understand very little mandarin decided a guy apparently living on the street needed help and started a campaign, till the man's wife who owned the shop nearby threatened the do-gooders to leave the family alone!!

Apparently he liked to sit nearby and the sparsely mandarin speaking guys decided to interview him and misunderstood everything ...or so a non-MSM media corrected the issue ...

Though in east coast park I saw my former retrenched colleague in a tent, and he initially joked he lost his house and then told me he camps out at times, as he loves night fishing !!

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ecureilx
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Re: Camping in East Coast Park

Post by ecureilx » Wed, 03 Dec 2014 12:09 pm

bgd wrote: I’m thinking of picking up a cheap tent. :)
Make sure you camp in designated camping area ;) or you will be evicted by NPARKS!

And where required get the appropriate permit, via AXS machine :D

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taxico
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Re: Camping in East Coast Park

Post by taxico » Wed, 03 Dec 2014 6:00 pm

as i understand it, permits are mandatory and to a limit of 4 days/month/person.

NParks has been stepping up in enforcement at camp sites.
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bgd
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Re: Camping in East Coast Park

Post by bgd » Thu, 04 Dec 2014 9:30 am

These guys are in the same area day after day and in full view. There are about 5. Campsites are tidy and they don't cause any issues. I'd like to think that even in Sg there is a little flexibility for this sort of thing. Tents do appear and disappear here regularly so perhaps they are hidden in plain view.

Anyway rethinking my tenting idea this morning. Might need to spend a little more to keep out the rain. :)

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nakatago
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Re: Camping in East Coast Park

Post by nakatago » Thu, 04 Dec 2014 10:30 am

ecureilx wrote:
nakatago wrote:[]


I read an article somewhere that some homeless Singaporeans actually live in parks.

Not many people know about those who fell through the cracks.
Fell through?

Not so sure
Just because you know instances who didn't, it doesn't mean none did. I didn't say that all those who live in parks are homeless. I just said some homeless live in parks.
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zzm9980
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Re: Camping in East Coast Park

Post by zzm9980 » Thu, 04 Dec 2014 2:22 pm

I used to see (and post photos here) of what looked like rather permanent little tent-villages in ECP. One of them was just west of the McDonalds/Jumbo/etc cluster of restaurants. They were doing laundry, sending kids to fill up dozens of jugs with water from the public restroom, the tents were double or triple covered, etc.

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ecureilx
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Re: Camping in East Coast Park

Post by ecureilx » Thu, 04 Dec 2014 9:50 pm

If you see something, do something !

they are not gonna get picked up and be locked up ..

http://app.msf.gov.sg/Press-Room/Number ... ss-persons

Individuals and families facing housing difficulties can get help early by calling the 24-hour ComCare Hotline at 1800 222 0000. The hotline also caters to those who speak dialects. The public is encouraged to call this hotline if they see anyone who needs assistance. - See more at: http://app.msf.gov.sg/Press-Room/Number ... qh1bS.dpuf

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