SINGAPORE: More Singaporeans are coming forward to seek help through ComCare, the government's social assistance service for the needy.
The ComCare hotline has seen a 150 per cent spike in calls over the past three years, with 4,616 calls registered in 2010.
20 per cent of these calls were for help for cases such as domestic abuse, gambling, and elderly care.
This is up from seven per cent when ComCare was launched in 2008.
During
a visit to the ComCare call centre at Clemenceau Avenue on Thursday,
Minister of State Halimah Yacob said the call service should be prepared
to handle more cases in light of a looming economic crisis.
Madam
Halimah Yacob said: "The economic situation as we see is weakening, it
takes a bit of time to flow through in terms of the impact on jobs and
families.
"Therefore we need to watch over the next few months
whether there will be a spike in calls. We've been discussing with the
call centre operator, for them to put in more manpower."
Vivien
Ong, manager, ComCare Call, said: "We are actually starting to recruit,
interview and select suitable candidates to be part of ComCare Call, in
anticipation of any possible surge.
"Because the training process is quite lengthy, I want to make sure the operators are trained properly.
"We are also reviewing the system to see how we can make it more robust in the event that there is a surge in calls."
Singaporeans who need help can call the 24-hour hotline at 1800-222-0000.
- CNA/cc/ck