Back in July 2018, MP Lee Bee Wah recounted the sad tale of an elderly couple that were kicked out of the same house they had given to their son.

Lee advised the couple to file for a Maintenance Order, but acknowledged that many parents were reluctant to resort to going to court against their own families.

HDB does not have numbers of cases

On Oct. 2, Ang Mo Kio MP Intan Azura Mokhtar tabled a Parliamentary question asking how many such cases have been brought to the attention of the Ministry of National Development.

Specifically, she wanted to know the number of cases where elderly parents had been chased out of the homes of their adult children, even if the elderly parents sold their own flats to help their children buy homes in the first place.

In a written reply, Minister Lawrence Wong said the HDB does not have data on this, but offered avenues aggrieved parents can pursue to resolve their situations.

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1) Try mediation first

He advised elderly parents in such a predicament to seek mediation help from Family Service Centres, or the Office of the Commissioner for the Maintenance of Parents.

Despite the lack of exact numbers, the Commissioner's website shows that cases with the Commissioner have been decreasing over the past three years.

In 2017, the number of cases referred to the Commissioner stood at 176, down from 216 in 2016, which in turn saw a decrease from 2015:

Between 2015 and 2017, about 90 per cent of the cases were able to reach a settlement through conciliation — where a third party proposes a solution that both parents and child can accept.

2) Seek maintenance through court tribunal

But if mediation does not work, Wong says parents who are thrown out of their children's homes can still make an application for maintenance at the Tribunal for the Maintenance of Parents.

This is a legal channel for parents to seek financial assistance from their children.

3) HDB can also help

However, if all else fails, elderly folks still can seek help from HDB.

"For elderly parents who are unable to obtain support from their children, HDB looks into their individual circumstances and will allocate a rental flat to those who have no other housing option."

Related story:

Top image from HDB's website.

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