Malaysia’s lockdown order came fast, furious, and abruptly. This left many Malaysians who work in Singapore with a very short window to decide on their plans for the next 2 weeks.
For those that decided to stay in Singapore and continue working, finding accommodations at the last minute proved to be a challenge.
Thankfully, SMRT and SBS Transit stepped in to help their Malaysian staff and made the socially responsible decision to house them in hotels.
It is tough to have to work in another country to support your family, and it seems SBS Transit understands that.
In their Facebook post yesterday (17 Mar), they thanked their Malaysian bus captains and rail staff for agreeing to stay in Singapore, away from their families.
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A photo in their post shows Malaysian SBS Transit staff travelling to their accommodation in true Singaporean style — via SBS bus.
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Another picture shows staff happily holding keycards. It seems they checked in at a pretty luxurious hotel last night.
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While it hasn’t been specified, staff will presumably be housed in hotels for the next 2 weeks.
Likewise for SMRT, bus captains and technicians were transported to their accommodations via company transport, literally.
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It seems they got to enjoy some delicious goodness in the form of McDonald’s before they turned in for the night.
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It seems that SMRT also housed their staff in hotels, judging from the safe and wall-mounted TV typically found in hotels.
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Although Singaporeans don’t face the same lockdown order, locals understand the enormity of the decision Malaysians working in Singapore had to make. They are hence very thankful for those that decided to stay in Singapore to continue working.
One netizen labelled Malaysians as friends, and thanked them for their selflessness to stay so that life here can go on as per normal.
A Malaysian netizen thanked local public transport operators for looking out for those that decided to stay.
Another netizen thanked not just SMRT or SBS Transit staff, but all Malaysians working in other sectors as well.
Shout-out to all Malaysians that decided to stay in Singapore. It mustn’t be easy to leave your families behind for 2 weeks so suddenly, we thank you for all your sacrifices.
Here’s to wishing the next fortnight goes smoothly for you.
Featured image adapted from Facebook.
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