The Big Read in short: Ordinary S’poreans spread cheer in the time of Covid-19

Each week, TODAY’s long-running Big Read series delves into the trends and issues that matter. This week, we highlight the efforts of unsung heroes in the community who are on a mission to spread cheer amid the Covid-19 gloom. This is a shortened version of the full feature,​ which can be found here.

• The pandemic and its devastating impact on the economy have affected many people’s lives and livelihoods, casting a gloom over the entire year
• But this has not deterred ordinary Singaporeans from stepping up to bring joy to others
• These community volunteers distribute food, clean up homes, shelter the homeless and spread cheer — all the while navigating the pandemic restrictions
• But the volunteers’ brave front masks the struggles that some of them are going through themselves due to the pandemic
• Yet, to them, doing good gives them great personal satisfaction. Also, they just could not ignore, in good conscience, those who were in an even worse plight than themselves

SINGAPORE — Having decorated her beloved Bedok Reservoir estate without fail for the last nine years, Madam Sandy Goh, 53, initially felt too dejected to do it this year. 

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, she had suffered a huge financial blow to the tentage services firm which she runs with her husband and the couple was running low on savings.

But the elderly residents whom she regularly visits and befriends at the void deck were looking so downcast that she decided to rally over 50 residents in the estate and decorated the area beside the residents’ corner with upcycled Christmas decorations. 

“A lot of the (elderly residents) are getting very sick and tired of sitting at home all day,” said the mother of three kids aged between 17 and 12. “So I thought to myself that we have to go on with it. We have to be the ones to spread the joy.”

Indeed, the show must go on. 

With Covid-19 having thrown everything and everyone off-kilter this year, the demand for community volunteers such as Mdm Goh has grown in the past few months.

They have distributed food, cleaned up homes of elderly residents, sheltered the homeless and spread cheer — all the while navigating the pandemic restrictions, such as social distancing and gathering size limits, which have made their work on the ground that much harder. 

And in a reflection of how the unprecedented crisis has brought out the best in many Singaporeans, they are doing all these even while they are being weighed down by their own problems brought about by Covid-19.

One of them is Mr Firdaus Abdul Hamid, 40, the co-founder of non-profit organisation Human Hearts catering to ex-offenders, whom he deems to be one of the most vulnerable groups during this pandemic. 

But unbeknownst to many, Mr Firdaus — who helps inmates, ex-convicts, families of incarcerated individuals and at-risk youths find support — could do with a helping hand himself. 

The pandemic has cost him his marine engineering job and forced him to take up odd jobs which include cleaning work, on top of having to care for his pregnant wife and three children aged between 14 and 10.

“Yes, of course, it’s difficult for me. But I want to help people who think they can’t be helped. With the resources that I have, it’ll be a waste if I don’t,” he said. 

While these individuals have continued to do volunteer work despite their own less-than-ideal circumstances, they do not see themselves as heroes. 

Some told TODAY they find great personal satisfaction in what they are doing that could not be measured in dollars and cents. Others said they just could not ignore, in good conscience, those who were in an even worse plight than themselves.

Mr Firdaus said: “I’m no hero. I’m just on a mission to raise awareness that former offenders just want to be understood and we can change as long as we are given a chance.” 

As we wind down an extraordinary year, this week’s Big Read highlights the efforts of  unsung heroes in the community who are on a mission to spread cheer — not only during the festive season but in the past months — amid the Covid-19 gloom. 

THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING

Having lived in Bedok Reservoir estate for over 14 years, Mdm Sandy Goh could not let the year end without the usual merrymaking.

For the past nine years, she had been rallying residents in the area to decorate their neighbourhood for Christmas to enhance the festive mood. 

Mdm Goh, who is known to be very popular among residents in the area, also distributes vegetables to about 60 needy families and hot meals to about 75 such families. She does this with a group of other residents at least five days a week. 

When the pandemic hit, Mdm Goh and her husband were not spared. Their firm has suffered huge losses and they are now considering folding the business. 

“There’s no point being sad about it. We have to move on, we have to do other things,” said the spritely woman.  

Mdm Goh and her husband are currently living off their savings while they look for other jobs. 

Quickly switching the subject to this year’s Christmas trees for her estate, Mdm Goh said the project was the combined effort of nearly 50 residents and was completed in two weeks.

They had upcycled items donated by residents — such as broken frisbees, leftover paint and torn mittens — instead of splurging on new ornaments.

“It’s not as good as the one you see at Orchard Road,” she joked. “But it means a lot to many residents here who are staying at home and didn’t get the chance to see Christmas lights because of Covid-19.”

HELPING THOSE ON THE FRINGES

While Covid-19 has left hardly anyone unscathed, there are some groups who need more help than others — but are often not on the radar of the general public, such as former offenders and sex workers.

Mr Firdaus Abdul Hamid from Human Hearts said he helped find homes for three ex-convicts who had nowhere to go in the last three months. Since the circuit breaker ended, the organisation has seen about two people coming in to seek its help each week.

Mr Firdaus, who had been in and out of prison five times for various offences, said he has seen many ex-convicts relapsing and going back to their old vices as they become isolated from society due to the pandemic restrictions. It does not help that many of them are unemployed and some even have nowhere to go.

“Sometimes I would get a call at 2 or 3am asking for this and that. I tell them to come to our centre, where there will always be someone who will take them in,” he said. 

Mr Firdaus recalled a visit he made to a beneficiary’s home, which was lit by candles as the electricity was cut off. 

“He told me that it’s okay and that he didn’t need help. And I said ‘how can that be? You surely need help if you’re sitting in a house that has no electricity’,” said Mr Firdaus. 

Many are ashamed to share their circumstances with him, he said. “Maybe they think I cannot relate to them,” he chuckled. 

Mr Firdaus, who lost his job at the height of the pandemic, said when the organisation’s funds dried up in July, he and four other members pooled their own money to keep the education centre at 3 Queens Road running.

He puts aside at least S$200 each month to fund the cause, which goes to food for the 12 full-time volunteers there, supplies for their education centre and miscellaneous items such as cartridges for printers and stationery. 

LOSS OF LIVELIHOOD NO OBSTACLE TO DOING GOOD

Shortly before Deepavali, Madam Komala Devi Ramiah, 49, who had been handing out festive hampers to families in need for the last three years, was worried whether she could continue with the practice this year.

Apart from having to avoid meeting the 72 families she supports face-to-face due to the pandemic restrictions, Ms Komala was not sure if she would have enough money to sponsor them. Having lost her job last year, she had just enough savings left for her own needs then. 

But the mother of two children, aged 16 and 20, who recently found a new job in the shipping industry, said: “I was more worried about the people who lost their jobs this year and could not afford to celebrate Deepavali. I went through that so I can imagine how they were feeling.”

To make sure she could proceed with the hampers’ project, Ms Komala cut back on shopping and eating at expensive restaurants. In the end, she managed to raise enough money with contributions from family and friends.

She spent about S$1,000 of her own money to buy some of the hampers.  

For Mr Arifin Mohd Rahim, 50, whose catering business has suffered more than 50 per cent in losses, volunteering has shown him a side of society that he was not familiar with.

After his sales flatlined, he changed his business strategy and took small orders through Facebook. 

Along with Mr Goh, Mr Arifin distributes 100 packets of food every Friday to those living in rental flats islandwide  — majority of which were paid by monetary donations from friends and customers.

His most unforgettable experience was meeting a family — a woman with two children, one of them physically disabled — living in a rental flat Bukit Panjang.

“There was only one bed and one portable cooker in their house. The children told me that if they run out of money, they will go to their grandmother’s house in Bukit Batok to eat,” Mr Arifin recalled, adding that the incident reminded him of his own children. 

Mr Arifin said his problems pale in comparison to those of the residents he met during his food distribution rounds. 

“Some houses were totally empty. No furniture, no TV… I didn’t know there were people this poor in Singapore,” he said. “Frankly, I don’t want any returns, I just hope they cherish what they have and pay it forward.”