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]