Being away from loved ones is always challenging, especially during special occasions.
This Ramadan, many Muslims living in Singapore are unable to celebrate with their family across the Causeway.
As a tribute to their challenging life situations, McDonald’s Singapore introduced an initiative, My Happy Table, with a heartwarming video featuring their Malaysian workers.
The video, which went viral with over 4,600 shares on Facebook, details the stories of Malaysian staff who get to ‘reunite’ with their families over a video call.
At the start of the video, we get to know McDonald’s food delivery rider from Malaysia called Samsuri.
Since the borders closed, he has been here for over a year.
This year, he would not be able to spend Ramadan with his loved ones like his wife, his daughter who’s turning 2 this year, as well as his 7 siblings.
He speaks about how moments like breaking fast with his family will be dearly missed as he spends Ramadan alone in Singapore.
Samsuri then shared that he thought of returning to Malaysia, especially after hearing that his family has been going through trying times. His father had suffered a stroke.
However, he eventually stayed to fulfil his commitments so that he can continue to support his family from afar.
Samsuri isn’t the only person on this arduous journey.
He has close friends in Singapore who are also in the same situation as him. They have learnt to become each other’s pillar of support.
The video then shows us another McDonald’s employee, Rozaini.
She has worked in Singapore for the past 11 years but still, she said, 3 months away from her family feels like 3 years.
She wishes that she could simply return to Malaysia and give her family a hug.
But she believes that above all, responsibility is more important than her wishes, so she perseveres.
The video also features another staff, Anas, who used to travel across the Causeway everyday but is now unable to.
In the next scene, the wall beside each McDonald’s employee illuminates with a projection of their family, waving at them.
Family members get emotional as they see their loved ones in what seemed like precious moments of bittersweet happiness.
They then ‘share a meal’ over the video call, catching up, and introducing friends to one another.
You can watch the full video here.
More about McDonald’s My Happy Table will be revealed on Monday (19 Apr).
But for now, kudos to them for acknowledging the sacrifices of their staff who are away from their loved ones during such a special time.
It is certainly a bittersweet affair to ‘reunite’ in such a way.
Hopefully, as both Singapore and Malaysia get the pandemic under control, these families will soon be able to truly reunite in person.
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Featured image adapted from Facebook.
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