As Singaporeans band together to fight the Covid-19 virus, residents in the western part of the island have put together various initiatives to show their gratitude and encouragement to our frontline heroes – the healthcare workers and cleaning personnel.
On March 1, Families for Life (FFL), which champions and promotes resilient families, gathered several families at Jurong Spring to pack FFLShareThe Care baskets to show appreciation for cleaners and hawkers in the community. Mr Desmond Lee, Minister for Social & Family Development and Member of Parliament of Jurong GRC, who attended the event, said we should gather our families and the wider community to bond and support each other in such trying times.
To show our appreciation to GP workers, hawkers and estate cleaners for working harder during the Covid-19 period, pre-schoolers at Jurong Spring division also drew “thank you” cards , while the grassroots community contributed hand-wash, Dettol, vitamins and handmade flowers on February 17.
At Yuan Ching Secondary School, everyone got together to write various encouraging messages to support frontline workers. In one of them, Secondary One student Bethany Wong thanked the healthcare workers for risking their own lives to help virus-stricken patients.
Residents from Clementi and children from the Children’s Wishing Well also sent messages of encouragement. In a Facebook post, Mr Tan Wu Meng, Senior Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Trade and Industry, and Member of Parliament for Jurong GRC, said: “All our hearts are in this together amid the coronavirus challenge. Together we can and we will overcome this.”
At Yuhua division, an appreciation dinner was held for 50 town council cleaners on February 25, who also received “thank you” cards from Crest Secondary School and a $20 voucher from Yuhua Community Club. Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, and Adviser to Yuhua Grassroots Organisations, Ms Grace Fu, who hosted the dinner, also sought to assure and support these workers in the midst of the Covid-19 outbreak as the community was feeling anxious and worried after several Bangladeshi workers were infected. “I taught them how to protect themselves and assured them that they will be given proper supplies and medical care should they require them. I also helped them to understand the statistics, including the high number of discharged cases and gave them the assurance that we are managing the outbreak well,” wrote Ms Fu in a Facebook post.
On 29 February, Ms Fu and teachers from Crest Secondary School visited Public Health Preparedness Clinics (PHPC) in Yuhua, to thank healthcare staff for helping the community combat COVID-19. Ms Fu also visited the Ng Teng Fong General Hospital to present tokens of appreciation from Crest Secondary School and Yuhua PCF Sparkletots Preschool. Al- Mukminin Mosque also presented a “thank you” note and chocolates to cheer the healthcare staff as they continue to strive to contain the outbreak.
Bukit Batok community leaders also hosted a cleaners’ appreciation lunch and presented them with care packages. Mr Murali Pillai, Member of Parliament for Bukit Batok SMC and Grassroots Adviser, acknowledged their hard work and said the event allowed our migrant conservancy workers to better understand how Singapore is tackling the viral outbreak and the steps to be taken so everyone can remain safe and healthy.
Meanwhile, the Jurong Central division made an appeal for residents to take part in a community art project titled “SG Healthcare Heroes” by submitting artworks to motivate healthcare workers. This initiative by People’s Association and Tan Tock Seng Hospital will see all the artworks sent to the hospital.
