Emotional meet-ups for some as they reunite with parents, grandparents post-circuit breaker

SINGAPORE — When the circuit breaker restrictions were eased on June 2, Mr Muhammad Shafiq Abdul Rahman, 25, quickly arranged to see his 84-year-old grandfather whom he had not seen since early April.  

He wanted to do so as soon as possible but with over 10 other relatives who wanted to do the same, the social worker had to “book” a slot in advance instead before dropping by the home of his grandfather, whom he calls “papa”, on Saturday (June 6).

“He did not know I was coming. When I entered his room and greeted him... His face lit up and he had a big smile. I told him that I missed him and it was a beautiful exchange,” said Mr Muhammad Shafiq who felt "emotional" when he went to his grandfather’s home in Clementi at noon. 

“We spent the time catching up and I managed to ask forgiveness from him and gave him duit raya (green packet).”

Like Mr Muhammad Shafiq, many individuals have gone to visit their parents and grandparents since Tuesday when circuit breaker measures were eased and children were allowed to visit parents and grandparents, as long as there were only two visitors per day. 

Between April 7 and June 1, members of different households were not allowed to meet other than to help assist elderly family members with daily needs. 

University graduate Hanis Rahmat, 24, also visited her 79-year-old grandmother who lives alone in Telok Blangah with her younger sister this week after not having been able to do so for Hari Raya Puasa, which fell on May 24 this year.  

“I missed spending the first day of Hari Raya together at her place the most. I missed the ambience, her cooking and the company of my extended family members whom we rarely get to visit,” she said. 

She, however, took the necessary precautions during her hour-long visit on Wednesday. 

“I did not salam her (a Muslim handshake), and I remembered to wash my hands before even touching anything in her house,” she said. 

They bought nasi padang for their grandmother and spent their lunch discussing how their recent Hari Raya Puasa celebrations were different from previous years. 

Eager to see her maternal grandparents “as quickly as possible”, Ms Hillary Pang, a 23-year-old programme coordinator for children’s enrichment programmes, visited her maternal grandparents on June 2.

During the visit, she helped her 76-year-old grandfather trim his hair after he complained that it was too long.

Despite it being the first time she had ever cut his hair, “he was quite pleased” at the result. 

“He sent me a text later to say that he was very satisfied with the cut,” she said.

Mr Jonathan Low, 61, who works as a safety manager in the construction sector, has visited his 91-year-old mother at her flat in Queen's Close twice since the restrictions were eased on June 2. 

While he continued sending her groceries and home-cooked meals during the circuit breaker period, he is relieved that he can now spend more time by her side since she had a fall last week.

"I spent one-and-a-half hours chatting with her and massaging her legs this afternoon as she no longer goes out. I think it's important to spend time talking to her to keep her mind engaged since she has been staying at home," he said.

Civil servant Yeo Tai Yi, 29, said her parents were delighted to be able to see her four-month-old baby daughter on Tuesday. 

During the circuit breaker period, they “missed their first grandchild dearly” and video called daily to see her.

“They were not able to see some of her milestones such as flipping over from lying on her back to her stomach that I had to encourage her to flip to show them through our video calls, which they found very cute,” said Ms Yeo. 

Their reunion, however, was not quite what her parents expected. 

“My daughter didn’t really recognise them... suddenly seeing new faces again was different than seeing them face-to-face. She’s not used to that and sometimes she will cry which makes my parents quite sad,” she said.  

Her parents have seen their grandchild two more times this week to bond with her and will get to see her at least once a week from now on.  

Being able to now get help from her mother to care for her newborn child is also a relief for Ms J Lim, 30, a civil servant. 

Ms Lim delivered her second child in April and had planned for her mother to come over to her house to help out during her confinement, but her parents only managed to see her newborn for the first time on June 6. 

“They were happy to physically hold and carry him after keeping up with his milestones through video calls the past two months,” she said.

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Meanwhile, Ms Tyen Rasif, 24, a personal trainer who hosts exercise videos, told TODAY that she visited her grandparents on Wednesday as she missed them “too much”. 

Since she was a child, Ms Rasif would spend her Sunday afternoons with her grandparents but this routine was disrupted by the pandemic.  

“My grandma is Jewish and makes delicious family trade secret pastries called kaka baba for me every weekend,” said Ms Rasif. 

Over the past two months, Ms Rasif kept in touch with her 76-year-old grandmother through video calls on WhatsApp. 

“I taught my grandma how to video call on WhatsApp. She also watches every single YouTube video I post and calls me right after to tell me she watched it,” she said.

During the reunion over a home-cooked meal, Ms Rasif’s grandmother chatted with her about all the videos which she filmed during the circuit breaker. 

“She told me that she tried to buy the resistance bands I was using in my videos but did not know how to shop online,” Ms Rasif said.

“I also managed to do an 11-minute ‘wall sit’ video in a Tik Tok challenge video and she asked if I cheated.”