Community networks also vital in helping tackle social issues

When it comes to addressing social issues such as inequality, financial assistance alone is not enough, said Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, Ms Indranee Rajah.

Building up community networks that can connect people to the help they need and support them where they live is just as important, and is something "we should really seriously consider", she added.

She was speaking to reporters after interacting with Singaporeans at the Kampung Admiralty Hawker Centre during a ministerial community visit to Sembawang GRC yesterday.

Over drinks and food, she chatted with residents and others from nearby areas such as Mr Mohammad Azahari Abdul Razak, 37, who is completing his studies in chemical engineering at Singapore Polytechnic.

A former offender - he had been arrested for trafficking in heroin in 2001 and sentenced to 20 years' jail - Mr Azahari spoke about how his difficult family circumstances had led him to get into bad company.

Asked how someone in his position can be helped, he suggested that families in dire straits sometimes just needed people to befriend and support them.

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Ms Indranee said: "What he said was very insightful for me, which is that when we have families with difficulties, financial support is important, but that is not the key. The key is the moral support and sort of the all-round support in the community."

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While the Government has put in place financial assistance programmes to help those in need, she added, "there is much more room for community networks to be developed and for us to become more sophisticated about it, particularly when you are talking about inequality and helping people to level up".

Such networks can be modelled after the community network for seniors scheme, which involves government bodies, voluntary welfare organisations and volunteers teaming up to visit seniors, suggested Ms Indranee.