Skip to main content

@Lifestyle: Uniquely Freegans In Singapore

Image from : https://freeganinsingapore.wordpress.com

This post discusses the Freegans in Singapore (FIS) differences compared to other countries.

Don’t totally rejects consumerism

FIS doesn’t reject consumerism due to laws and a different mindset compared to other countries’ freegans. Basic human needs like food, shelter and medical are main areas that FIS still have to pay. Even if you can find expired food or vegetables, FIS in general, like me, still spend money on food, like cultured milk drinks, join social gatherings and food that we liked.

It is illegal to pitch tents and living in beaches and parks or any public places. For shelter in land-scarce Singapore, we stay in government flats. Even after paying the loan for the flat, there are also recurring expenses like utilities, taxes and fees.

Medical services are expensive, even with government grants. So FIS pay insurances.

Working Less

Not all freegans in Singapore can stop working. For those who are not working, we are living off our savings or dividends from our investments. Additional government support through schemes for low-income Singaporeans. Most of FIS have a job to pay bills or family to feed, thus we are partial-freegans.

Sharing

Sharing is common in most countries but FIS. FILIPOREAN PROJECT, started by “Freegan in Singapore” founder, Colin Lau. FIS members dumpster dive merchandise to give his 200 Filipino domestic workers. Mostly shipping charges are paid by them or donors. This is the biggest non-official charity in Singapore supporting poor people in Philippines. Smaller WhatsApp or telegram sharing groups are formed by different districts for sharing as well.

Something for nothing

In Singapore, there are public libraries available within each town and they provide the following:

  • Free electricity to charge electronic devices like tablets and laptops.
  • Free public WiFi for Internet Access
  • Free water coolers for drinking.
  • Free books and ebooks for reading and borrowing.
  • Free aircon, especially when weather in Singapore is summer throughout the year.

For some malls and restaurants, free WiFi is also available, similar to other countries. I like to hangout in public libraries, especially during hotter days. Also for free electricity to charge my mobile devices and WiFi, to idle my time away from downloading and reading manga and anime. I also watch Youtube videos as well. Talk about free entertainment. 😁


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Quotes from Zelinski Book : Spend Foolishly

Are you missing all this? People photo created by Racool_studio - www.freepik.com
Post a Comment
Read more

BrainTeasers: Joy Of Giving And Sustainable Charity — Filiporean Project

Giving out the stuff to villagers. Image from:   Giving and Taking Free Stuff Facebook Group You don’t have to be rich to donate. All it takes is having a little compassion and willingness to give. —— Dickson Idlier The “Filiporean Project” is started by Freegans In Singapore co-founder, Colin Lau. The project collects small usable items (details in posts from “ Giving and Taking Free Stuff “ Facebook Group) from public donors or dumpster-dived stuff from Freegans In Singapore (FIS) and donates to Filipino maids in Singapore. The main reason is shipping cost is cheapest to the Philippines. This project has caught up in the news and media in Singapore, so more donations have been pouring in so the maids (numbered to 300) are kept very busy.    Colin saw many usable small items when dumpster-diving around his neighborhood but has no use for them. When he found that Filipino maids wanted these items to bless their family, friends, and neighbors back in their village, he...
Post a Comment
Read more

BrainTeasers: Most bizarre Find

When dumpster diving, you may find interesting stuff as you salvage through the green and blue trash bins and any items people left at the void decks. Here I will show you my most bazzar find. My most bazaar find is ... a Living   11-inch Freshwater Stingray .  My bazzar find live stingray in my 3 ft aquarium The 11 inch freshwater stingray was found in a broken 3ft tank beside the rubbish chute and slightly hidden by some kids' clothes laid on top of the tank. (I suspect the owner doesn't want anyone to notice it) Initially, I was only interested in the kids' clothes until I noticed it inside. When I saw it breathing, it surprised me. I was wondering how can I rescue it. I thought of releasing it in any pond or canals, but none is nearby (luckily as it might be a bad thing to do so). Finally, I decided to bring it home. I used a kids top to hold the tail and put it into a basket that was lying nearby. I carried the basket to my home.  Luckily, after the rough journey hom...
Post a Comment
Read more