Community Heroes: We visit tissue-paper peddlers weekly to offer support. Their stories changed our lives

We often walk past them, the "uncles" and "aunties" who sit in wheelchairs or on cardboard sheets along pedestrian walkways, or beside convenience stores.

Often, they hold up packets of tissue paper or sell small trinkets.

My name is Hazeem, and I never really thought much about them, until one day when my friends and I decided to talk to some of them around our neighbourhood.

It was a spur of the moment decision — driven by the realisation that I was familiar with their faces, but not their stories.

The very first peddler we spoke to, Uncle Jasni, had a tumultuous history with alcohol and cigarettes.

Yet, over the years, he struggled and cleanly broke his habits. He often jokes about how much money he saved after quitting alcohol, though the temptation is always there.

There was a huge scare when we did not see him for a year.

Then, one day, when another peddler invited us to her place for homemade chai (tea), she mentioned a “new” peddler who fit Uncle Jasni’s description.

The next day, we were elated to find him at a completely different spot.

To preserve his stories, we interviewed him about his life and hopes for the future with The Birthday Collective. It is an initiative that publishes books containing stories about people from all walks of life in Singapore.

It was through these conversations that we realised that there were gaps we could fill by supporting these peddlers such as by helping them to access emails.

The Signpost Project was founded in 2019 to address these gaps, but importantly, it was to build trust with our peddler friends, and offer them safety, assurance and the support they needed.

Since then, we have expanded from just one residential district, Clementi, to conducting weekly walkabouts in 12, including Bedok, Hougang and Toa Payoh.

We are also a founding member of the Ministry of Social and Family Development’s Vulnerable-in-Community Network — a network that befriends and assists vulnerable individuals such as tissue-paper peddlers, as well as tin and cardboard collectors.

We partner with schools and community agencies to provide support not just for peddlers, but also for the vulnerable elders in these communities.

What began as curiosity about why someone might sit outdoors and sell tissue-paper packets led to a deep exploration of the diverse needs and inner world of these peddlers — from their financial or healthcare anxieties to feelings of isolation.

Money aside, a common reason that tissue-paper peddlers sell is the fear that if anything were to happen at home alone, no one could help them, so they head out to the streets.

Others see it as an escape from family tensions or cramped conditions at home.

The more interesting challenges arise from territorial disputes between peddlers. Sometimes, I would get a phone call: “Ah Boi, this uncle causing me so much trouble. Please come.”

The peddler community is dynamic. Barring the sporadic disputes, it’s easier for us as volunteers to check on everyone’s well-being when many of the peddlers look out for one another.

We sometimes find out that a peddler is hospitalised through another peddler and visit them knowing that they live alone and have lost contact with their family members.

Unfortunately, we do get cases of a peddler passing on and we do our best to support their immediate family — be it raising money or providing emotional support.

Even though we have been operating for five years, the stories we come across are all unique.

This poses a challenge because we must personalise our services for them.

On occasion, we may help a wheelchair-bound peddler do some spring-cleaning; other times, we may help them file taxes or liaise with relevant parties for financial support.

Importantly, the bedrock of our organisation is to be a reliable source of support for the peddlers.

As much as I would like to think that we have helped transform their lives, in truth, they have changed ours as well.

For example, “Uncle Ben” was sharing with us his struggles of being a sole breadwinner.

He had to support his school-going children and his wife, who was laid off during the Covid-19 pandemic. My mind was already whirring with the different support schemes available when he turned to me and said, “You’re one of the only friends I can talk to about this.”

At this point, I knew the importance of simply lending an ear.

As for me, Augustine, I met Auntie Lim early in my journey with The Signpost Project.

Speaking to her in Mandarin, I could only ask her whether she had eaten.

But with the help of a Hokkien-speaking teammate, we heard about how she had lost her siblings one by one, and about the difficulties she faced being wheelchair-bound.

Ensuring linguistic diversity is one of the reasons we travel in a team of four.

Auntie Lim's resilience, and her quiet strength in facing her own battles, revealed to me the universality of struggle and the importance of empathy.

I began to see that my journey was not just about my own story, but to treasure the diverse forms of strength and courage that exist in the most vulnerable.

Just by showing up and listening to them, we become a small but significant part of their stories, and they become a part of ours.

ABOUT THE WRITERS:

Hazeem Nasser, 25, is the founder of The Signpost Project and was previously at Yale-NUS College. He is now pursuing a master's degree in public policy and a master of science degree in sociology at the University of Oxford. He started The Signpost Project in 2019 to focus on providing care and support for tissue-paper sellers in Singapore. He is passionate about building communities where everyone of all ages can feel supported. In his free time, he loves listening to music from Japanese animation house Studio Ghibli.

Augustine Chan, 19, is vice-president of The Signpost Project. Now serving his National Service, he is an alumnus of Raffles Institution. Passionate about helping those in difficult circumstances, he aims to cultivate a more compassionate society by empowering youth to serve others. He also has a strange addiction to Microsoft Excel software.

If you have an experience to share or know someone who wishes to contribute to this series, write to voices [at] mediacorp.com.sg with your full name, address and phone number.