Since her mother died last year, 74-year-old Lim Yeo Hong has been living alone in a flat on the outskirts of Singapore, scavenging for cardboard scraps which she sells for a living.

The only time she meets anyone is once a month when she collects food from a charity.

"There's nothing else I can do at home, I watch TV," the frail woman said, taking a break from pushing her cart full of cardboard around an industrial estate on the 5.6 million-strong island nation.