Empowering Vulnerable and Marginalised Communities

whenever you hear the word health

or healthcare what’s the first thing

that comes to your mind

is it pandemics vaccines or simply

just medical treatments with the world

availing from the kovid19 crisis

the strength of health systems have come

to the fall

even singapore whose healthcare is

respected for being one of the most

efficient in the world

has quickly fallen from gold standard

tackling a virus

to becoming a cautionary tale as foreign

worker dormitories report

chilling statistics of infections

think about it have we ever cared or

spared a thought

about the health of the poor and the

vulnerable

even during such an unprecedented crisis

like this

we as a society clearly fail when we

neglect

the health of the poor and vulnerable

given this common oversight i hope that

all of us can see

this intricate link between health and

poverty

so that we can approach them in a more

holistic way

the migrant community in singapore is

constantly facing a great risk

of contracting infectious diseases which

becomes a problem

for the whole society this year’s

coronal virus pandemic has highlighted

the massive

inequality gap present in many countries

including singapore many foreign workers

in dormitories have been infected with

the virus

with the virus due to their poor and

overcrowded living conditions with most

of them

being locked up in groups of aids many

of you will think

it’s just a couple of weeks how bad can

it be

however it did not just last a couple of

weeks

nor one to two months some of them have

already been quarantined for up to four

to five months this created a sense of

uncertainty

and anxiety amongst the migrant

community in singapore

imagine if it was you that was uncertain

when you could see your family again

or what if it was you who had to live

through this

same sense of anxiety every single day

not knowing when you will contract the

virus

this quarantine has indeed proved

harmful for the foreign workers in

singapore as there were many cases

of unnatural deaths and self-harm

after being stuck in such a constrained

environment

for long hours every day

not only did it affect them mentally

but this high number of infections have

also affected these workers

psychologically more and more

singaporeans were starting to get

wary in the presence of these

construction workers

as a singaporean it is indeed

heartbreaking

to see so many people ostracize these

workers just because

of how high the number of covet

infections there were

in the dormitories there were many

instances

where i saw parents trying to drag their

children away

from these workers whenever they saw

them on the streets or even

at hdb void decks i vividly there was

i vividly remember there was one

instance

where i heard this mother say to a child

hey the

i was really taken aback by this

statement and i feel that actions like

this

are simply too overbought

as one nation i feel that we could be

more tolerant

and caring towards the foreign workers

and help them to tide over these crises

as one apart from the migrant community

the vulnerable communities in singapore

have also

been greatly affected by this crisis

in this seemingly rich and wealthy

country

with a population of 5.6 million many

will think

that poverty and health will not even be

a problem here

however what if i told you that 378

000 people still live in poverty and 4.1

of singaporeans face food insecurities

every single year china news asia

singapore’s english news channel also

reported that the port often

resort to having snacks as their main

cause

often these are processed foods such as

instant noodles and harsh browns which

in the long term increases their risk

for heart disease stroke and most

commonly

obesity the poor and the vulnerable

communities

are also the ones who are most likely to

get affected

as unemployment rates rise as fellow

singaporeans

we should always try our best to lend a

helping hand

to these people or to those who have

been greatly affected

by this crisis volunteering to

sow more face masks or setting up more

soup kitchens

can be really helpful lastly

when was the last time that you ever

waved to your neighbor

according to the latest graciousness

survey by the singapore kindness

movement

only 23 percent of singaporeans claim

that they wave to their neighbors for at

least three times

a day three times a week

can you believe it even such a simple

gesture can be

so rare in our hd vlogs nowadays as

hubert humphrey

america’s former vice president once

said

the impersonal hand of a government can

never replace

the helping hand of a neighbor

therefore i feel that we should always

try our best to communicate

with our neighbors understand their

problems

and proceed to helping them whenever we

can

there have also been times when i was

simply

shocked and surprised by how much some

families can be affected by

during this crisis as a teacher

my mother gets a chance to interact with

many students of

different backgrounds in school and i

often get the opportunity to listen to

her stories

so there are these ones where one of

students had his myopia degree increased

significantly

throughout the circuit breaker period

but he was unable to do

anything about it as his family did not

have the sufficient amount of money for

him

to make a new pair of glasses as his

firm teacher

she felt that it was her moral

obligation to

help her students in need as she passed

him some money to pay for his glasses

i feel that this is one of the many

instances where we

can help people around us whenever we

can

no matter if they are our neighbors our

friends

or even someone we don’t know

as such we can be more united and help

the vulnerable communities in singapore

overcome

this crisis as one thank you

[Applause]