Social utilities - Water supply pipes were faulty and enormous quantities of water were wasted o Attempts were

made to repair the faulty water system, such as by using Jap POWs to work at the water mains Situation improved - Reservoirs were dirty and filters were in shocking condition o Brits imported chlorine from other countries to treat water so that it was safe for drinking - Gas and electricity supplies and telephone services were disrupted. Streets were dirty, dark, unsafe (especially at night). o Brits used Jap POWs to repair machinery in power stations Situation improved Food - Food shortage (because: 1. rice-producing countries did not have extra rice to sell, 2. the war had destroyed a large number of ships that were used for transporting food, 3. ships that were sunk during the war blocked the harbor, leaving little warehouses for use, 4. rationing and high prices) o Brits cleared the harbor so that ships bringing foodstuffs could enter the port o Brits removed the sunken ships and explosives laid in the sea by the Jap o Wharves were repaired and new warehouses were built to store food brought into the port o Peoples Restaurants were set up to provide meals at affordable prices from 25 to 35 cents o Minimum amounts of sugar and salt were given to each person weekly. o Children were issued one tin of milk per week o Prinsep Street Clinic was set up by the BMA [in some clinics and schools] to provide all children under six years with at least one free meal a day - Rise of a black market (because the scarcity of goods and overwhelming demand meant good profit if one had the goods to sell or the money to buy) o BMA imposed a heavy penalty on offenders on profiteers o BMA set control prices for essential foodstuffs Housing - Overcrowding and squatting o Government built more houses Not successful o Law introduced to forbid landlords from raising rents and forcing tenants out - Bad conditions in houses o Law on rent control was introduced to protect people living in prewar houses Economic ability - Unemployment

o BMA referred hundreds of unemployed people to the Labour Exchange. It matched the skills of the unemployed to needs of the employers 60,000 people found jobs with its help in the first few months after the return of the Brits o Factories were restarted Unemployment still continued well into the 1950s (because of rapid growth of population tough competition for jobs) - Lack of purchasing power (because of the devaluation of Japanese currency and lack of British currency because it was thrown away during the Occupation). Many had to resort to borrowing money to survive o BMA issued special relief grants to the people. Each man who was head of household received $5 a month, each woman $4 and each child $2, the total payment for each household not exceeding $20 a month Ends were met, but those with large families still found it difficult to make ends meet with the small amount of money Health - Increased death rate (malnutrition, smallpox) and lack of health infrastructure (hospital equipment, medicine, furniture, bedding) o Medical centres were set up in different parts of the country o Vaccinations against infectious diseases like tuberculosis were also made available at the centres Steps taken to improve health conditions were inadequate in meeting the needs of a growing population o Singapore Anti-Tuberculosis Association (SATA) was formed by a group of businessmen and doctors Education - Lack of places for over-aged children who received no education during Occupation o ? - Decrease of interest in education by needy students o BMA helped to get children from needy families back in school by announcing that children of parents receiving emergency relief need not pay school fees - Lack of school facilities o Orders for teaching materials and other essentials were placed - {All} By March 1946, about 62,000 children were attending school King Edward Medical College and Raffles College also admitted their first new intakes of students in 1946