How this doctor’s 90 sec speech comforted hundreds of foreign workers stuck in the dorms 

There is no denying that foreign workers have made a lot of contributions to Singapore. In many ways – they have literally built Singapore and we rely on them heavily in various sectors. A recent address by PM Lee saw him thanking foreign workers and acknowledging their contributions and echoing that their welfare and livelihood will be taken care of.  

 “If any of their family members watch my video, let me say this to them: We appreciate the work and contributions of your sons, fathers, husbands in Singapore. We feel responsible for their well-being. We will do our best to take care of their health, livelihood and welfare here, and to let them go home, safe and sound, to you. On behalf of all Singaporeans, I wish you well.” 

 -Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong

Even with Covid 19 actively being managed in foreign worker dorms – making sure personal hygiene and safe distancing is adhered to, even separating and moving older workers to seperate dorms, there is bound to still be some anxiety amongst the foreign workers. But this doctor from Sengkang General Hospital melted away the fears of many as he spoke to them.  

Here’s a breakdown of what he said.

He started by introducing himself and re-assuring them that a team of healthcare professions are there for them:  

“𝑀𝑎𝑦 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒? 𝐼 𝑎𝑚 𝐷𝑟. 𝑀𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑟 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑆𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑘𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝐺𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝐻𝑜𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼 𝑎𝑚 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑔𝑢𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝑆𝑜 𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒, 𝑑𝑜 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑑.

𝐴𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐶𝑜𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑟𝑢𝑠 𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑. 𝑈𝑛𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑢𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑦, 𝑖𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑑𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑠 𝑡𝑜𝑜. 𝑆ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑏𝑒 𝑎𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑑? 𝐼 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑎𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑠 𝑤𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑦 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑙𝑙. 𝑊𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑡ℎ.” 

He also made sure to lay out the rules that would help them keep the virus at bay:  

“𝑁𝑜𝑤, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑑𝑜 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑓𝑖𝑡 𝑏𝑜𝑡ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑢𝑠. 𝐹𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑢𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑙𝑦:

1: 𝐴𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑘.

2: 𝑃𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑦 𝑖𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑚𝑠 𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑑𝑜 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑔𝑜 𝑡𝑜 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑚𝑠 𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑟𝑠.

3: 𝑃𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑛. 𝐾𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑏𝑒𝑑𝑠 𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑛.

4: 𝑊𝑎𝑠ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑠𝑜𝑎𝑝 𝑎𝑠 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑠 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒, 𝑎𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑡 4 𝑡𝑜 5 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑎 𝑑𝑎𝑦.

5: 𝑇ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑑𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑦 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑦𝑒𝑟𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑎𝑛 𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑤𝑎𝑠ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑠 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒. 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠.

𝐶𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑘𝑒𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒. 𝐴𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑟𝑢𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑠𝑎𝑓𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛.”

He ended by encouraging them to let doctors know if they are unwell and reaffirmed Singapore’s commitment to take care of the foreign workers as appreciation for their contributions.  

“𝐼𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙 𝑢𝑛𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙, 𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑠 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑒. 𝐷𝑜 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑎𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑎𝑠 𝑤𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝 𝑦𝑜𝑢. 𝑊𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢. 𝑌𝑜𝑢 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑆𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑎𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑒, 𝑦𝑜𝑢 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑢𝑖𝑙𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑢𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑤𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑖𝑛, 𝑦𝑜𝑢 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑢𝑖𝑙𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑑𝑠 𝑤𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑙 𝑢𝑝𝑜𝑛, 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑆𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑎𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑒𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑠. 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑢𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢. 𝐵𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑔, 𝑏𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑓𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡, 𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑓𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠. 𝑊𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢. 𝑆𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑘𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝐺𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝐻𝑜𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑖𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢.”

This gave us the chills:

𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑢𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢. 𝐵𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑔, 𝑏𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑓𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡, 𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑓𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠. 𝑊𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢.

Watch the video below: