May 05, 2008	Monday	Rabi-us-Sani 28, 1429

SINGAPORE: He cuts a lonely figure, sitting at the last table having lunch in a corner of the huge eating hall at the Singapore Buddhist Lodge, which serves daily free vegetarian meals.For Tay Soon Kin, a cleaner, the meals dished up by temple volunteers have been a much-needed helping hand as soaring food prices hit Singapore’s poor.

Singapore is one of the Asia’s wealthiest nations, with per capita income of $28,730, but Tay earns just $515 a month.

It is barely enough to feed his family of five, he says.

For the last few months Tay has been walking to the temple at least three times a week, he says, from the nearby office building where he works. Eating the free food helps him save whatever he can for his family, which includes three children.

“I earn only $700 and it is not enough. Every cent that I can save from my lunch helps a lot,” he said after finishing a simple meal of rice, stir-fried vegetables and watermelon for dessert.

“Prices have gone up, including food. How to survive on my salary alone?” he said with a rueful smile.

With inflation at a 26-year high, charities say more people are joining queues for free meals.

Latest government figures showed inflation in March rose by an annual 6.7 per cent, pushed in part by higher food prices which increased 7.6 per cent during the month.

Singapore’s inflation averaged 0.7 per cent over the past decade but it has soared since the first half of last year when it was 0.8 per cent.

The Singapore Buddhist Lodge says it has seen an increase of more than 30 per cent in the number of people turning up for free breakfast, lunch and dinner.

“Wages have gone up but so has the cost of living so they are not earning enough,” said lodge president Lee Bock Guan.

“They try to save as much as they can so where there are free meals, they will go, as every bit of savings means a lot to them,” he said.

The temple now cooks about 100kgs of rice daily but on weekends the figure rises to 300-400kgs when the lodge caters to about 5,000 people.

That compares with 3,000 people three months ago, Lee said, adding that they are cooking 40 per cent more food, on average.

The island nation of Singapore relies on imports for virtually all of its food needs. At a time of sharp increases in global commodity prices, especially the local staple rice, the financial burden of Singapore’s lower income group has worsened, analysts said.

Figures show income disparities are widening.

The Gini coefficient, which measures income inequality, increased to 0.485 in 2007 from 0.472 in 2006, according to Singapore’s Department of Statistics.

The scale ranges from zero to one, with zero regarded as perfect income equality.

Alvin Liew, an economist with Standard Chartered Bank, said the price of agricultural commodities will continue to weigh heavily on inflation levels.—AFP