Content warning
This page discusses suicide and self-harm. If you are struggling right now, support is available at any hour.
The support exists and it is not hard to reach. What stops people is usually not knowing which of several similar-sounding organisations does what, and a reluctance to be the person asking.
If you cannot cover essentials right now
ComCare, run by the Ministry of Social and Family Development, is the main government assistance scheme. It has several tracks: short-to-medium-term assistance, long-term assistance for people permanently unable to work, interim assistance for urgent situations, and help with childcare and student care fees.
Apply through SupportGoWhere, or call the ComCare hotline on 1800 222 0000. Your local Social Service Office is the walk-in point and the place a caseworker picks it up.
Under Budget 2026, announced 12 February 2026 with a further package on 29 July 2026, interim assistance was enhanced to at least $250 a month for up to three months with more flexible eligibility, running August to December 2026.
If the problem is debt rather than income
Credit Counselling Singapore is an independent non-profit established in 2004. Its debt management talks are free, and they are the sensible first step even if you go no further.
Its debt management programme consolidates unsecured debt across creditors into a single repayment schedule. It is designed for people with at least $10,000 of unsecured debt owed to two or more creditors, with the capacity to repay by age 70. Two things to understand before entering: your existing credit facilities are cancelled for the duration, and participation is reported to Credit Bureau Singapore.
If both are happening at once
A Family Service Centre is usually the best single door. They handle financial casework and counselling in the same place, which saves you explaining the situation twice. There are 49 of them across the island and they take walk-ins.
Ethnic self-help groups provide supplementary assistance alongside this: CDAC, Yayasan MENDAKI, SINDA, the Eurasian Association and AMP.
Saying the other part out loud
If the money worry has turned into not sleeping, not eating, or thoughts about not being here, tell the caseworker. The Ministry of Social and Family Development’s Family Assist intake already screens for mental health risk, including thoughts of self-harm, at the point of a financial application, and routes people onward. You are not going off-topic; the route is already built.
For the other half of it, national mindline 1771 operates 24 hours, and Community Intervention Teams under the Agency for Integrated Care provide counselling at no cost through the wayfinding tool at aic.sg.