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Trust Fund: Applicants Who Need Help Will Be Considered

  • The Straits Times (13 March 2008) : Trust Fund: Applicants Who Need Help Will Be Considered
  • The Straits Times (06 March 2008) : Trust Fund: Some Need Help to Open Account

Trust Fund: Applicants Who Need Help Will Be Considered
- The Straits Times, 13 March 2008

We refer to the letter by Mr Leo Chen Ian, "Trust fund: Some need help to open account" (ST, 6 March 2008).

The trust fund is designed as an affordable avenue for parents who are able to set aside some resources for their disabled children. It is unlike private trust funds which typically require large investments and incur high management fees.

We appreciate that some families may require time to save up to meet the minimum sum. We thank Mr Leo for his suggestion to help these families. Applicants who will benefit from the scheme but need help to join the scheme will be considered on a case-by-case basis. For families from the lower-income bracket, financial assistance schemes and community support services are in place to look after people with disabilities.

CPF LIFE, which Mr Leo referred to, is built upon the principle of self-provision that underpins our CPF system - a member can only spend what he saves. For those who do not work and do not have CPF funds, they will be assisted through other financial assistance schemes.


Trust Fund: Some Need Help to Open Account
- The Straits Times, 06 March 2008

I refer to the reports, 'Disabled to get financial security with new scheme' (Feb 23), and 'New trust fund: 1,000 families likely to sign up' (Feb 25).

The Disabled People's Association appreciates the setting up of a trust-fund scheme that will benefit children with disabilities. The Government's action will help families secure a good future for such children. We are also happy that the scheme is focusing on the middle- and lower-income families. It is reassuring that an endowment fund is being considered to help beneficiaries whose accounts may gradually dry up.

We are concerned that a proposed minimum sum of $5,000 - for parents to open an individual trust account for their child - might be difficult for some families to raise, especially those in the lower- income bracket. We hope that a mechanism will be put in place to help them save small amounts over a period of time to open an account. Also, people with disabilities who belong to Singapore's ageing population need assistance. The new CPF Life annuities scheme seems to cater exclusively to able-bodied workers.