Student gets help for her family and studies

ONE day after school in March, 16- year-old Siti Umairah sank into a chair in a quiet corner outside the teachers' room and began to sob.

Walking by and seeing the girl crying, Kranji Secondary principal Maureen Lee asked her what was wrong.

Out poured Siti's tale. For the previous two weeks, the Secondary Four student had been taking care of her two younger brothers, doing the housework and cooking all their meals - on top of studying for her upcoming O levels.

Their mother, Madam Hamidah Salim, 47, had been admitted to hospital for severe asthma attacks, and doctors had diagnosed her with an oesophageal submucosal tumour - a growth in her throat which could be cancerous.

Madam Hamidah had also been struggling to pay the bills for the past three years. Previously, the divorcee had run a school-canteen mee rebus stall, sewed curtains and arranged flowers, bringing home more than $1,000 a month. She gets no child support.

But by the end of 2005, her asthma had worsened and she had had to shut down the food stall.

To support the family, Madam Hamidah's oldest son Junaidy, then 17, worked the late shift at a Changi Airport cafe while studying precision engineering at the Institute of Technical Education.

The $600-to-$700 he earned each month helped support his mother, three younger siblings and his grandmother. Yet they could not keep up with the $850 monthly payments on their 31/2-room flat. In September last year, the flat was returned to Madam Hamidah's bank, and the family moved to a one-room rental flat.

Siti's principal, Madam Lee, roped in social workers and tapped assistance schemes. The school's parent support group chipped in with food vouchers.

Siti and her two brothers were placed on The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund. The fund and other bursaries, subsidies and assistance help them travel to school, get uniforms and textbooks.

Siti and her brother, Sec 2 student Muhaimin, got $80 a month each from the fund, while her other brother, Primary Six pupil Mursyid, received $45.

But the family lost its sole source of income when Junaidy, now 21, entered national service in July. From his $400-a- month allowance, he gives his mother $50 and tops up their pay-as-you-go electricity meter.

Madam Hamidah now makes handicrafts to supplement the family's income, and Siti works at a fast-food restaurant while she awaits her results.

She hopes to study for a diploma in early childhood education at Ngee Ann Polytechnic. But the fees are $2,100 a year for the three-year course, and she is concerned about finding the money for it.

School counsellor Madam Jeyaletchumi said: 'We told her, 'There are a lot of scholarships available at polytechnics. Just work hard now for your results'.'