SINGAPORE: Last Friday (Apr 3), Singaporeans sat glued to their screens with bated breath as Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong addressed the nation. By then, rumours about school closure and further movement restrictions had already been circulating.

While PM Lee painted a realistic and slightly bleak picture about the future, he also expressed hope that we as a nation can deal with this pandemic. “If any country can see this through, it is Singapore.”

“Many people have been working tirelessly for the past two months — our nurses and doctors, our contact tracers and healthcare staff …. Now we are all enlisted to join them on the frontline,” he added.

By the time he finished his address, there was a palpable heaviness in the air. Seated in my living room, I had already delivered a dozen shushes to my children just so I could concentrate on his speech.

Instead of jitters and unease, however, what happened next suggested a nation composed, confident, and gearing up for action in the next phase of our fight against COVID-19.

GETTING READY TO STAY IN

While anxiety-fuelled panic-buying may have been the narrative when Singapore first announced a shift into DORCON Orange a few weeks back, the mood has visibly changed.

In the few hours leading up to PM’s announcement, scenes across supermarkets nationwide saw larger crowds and longer queues but people were noticeably calmer, keeping a safe distance from each other and were more polite.

Sure, common items from baby and canned food to everyday essentials like toilet paper, medication, handwashes and sanitisers were snapped up.

There may be tales of reckless behaviour, with some people not observing responsible norms of safe distancing and those few bad apples deserve repudiation.

READ: Commentary: Singaporeans queued for toilet paper and instant noodles – there is no shame in that

READ: Commentary: South Korea succeeded in controlling COVID-19 panic buying, thanks to tracking and surveillance

But by and large, the overarching atmosphere was one of responsible and calculated stockpiling, in ensuring each family unit is self-contained, rather than to hoard because of an acute fear of shortages.

Families were spending time with each other, thoughtfully picking out fresh ingredients for home-cooked meals and trying their best to avoid junk food.

Caregivers were sparing no effort in planning a nutritious mix of fruits and vegetables for elderly parents over the next few weeks.

Similarly, educators in school may have been stockpiling educational resources and sharing them in an ever-expanding list.

A teacher-friend shared her school had prepared an extensive list of science resources, which she could select and tailor for her charges.

LISTEN: Home-based learning: Good, bad, terrible … but mostly good?

Parents likewise have been preparing ahead for school closure. The question, “How will I occupy my children wisely so I can do my own work?” has been ubiquitously on our minds.

Over the previous weekend, malls were filled with parents buying educational toys, assessment books, and electronic goods.

There was a shared sense of purpose among parents who might give each other a knowing smile even as they try to keep a safe distance while in snaking lines outside Popular, IKEA and Courts.

Parents and educators are looking ahead and planning to keep children, who will be home all day, engaged with books, boardgames and more.

READ: Commentary: Japan hasn’t declared a state of emergency over COVID-19. That’s bad news

READ: Commentary: Restrictions on movements in some Southeast Asian countries to fight COVID-19 have been patchy, even scary

In the context of household preparedness, some amount of stockpiling is good, when done in a calm and responsible way.

At the national level, Singapore has been stockpiling food, water, and financial reserves all this while and that is why we have sufficient resources to get us through this crisis.

Corporations, communities and families are even donating to shelters like Home Away from Home to help Malaysian workers sleeping in the rough.

We often think about stockpiling as synonymous with selfishness but COVID-19 is showing us how saving for a rainy day places us in a position to share with those who are more in need.

BECOMING DIGITAL NATIVES OVERNIGHT

It is baffling how a crisis can move people to change overnight what might otherwise have taken years to evolve.

READ: Commentary: We cannot allow COVID-19 to disrupt our relationships too

It began with handwashing, a simple act often taken for granted. Now our nation is fully embracing a work-from-home and study-at-home model.

To be fair, this generation of children has already been raised on a steady diet of digital apps, educational resources, and the Internet. They are no strangers to the world of technology.

While my Primary 1 child may need help logging in and navigating his online Student Learning Space (SLS), my elder two children are adept at handling the tasks on their own.

That said, many parents felt like headless chickens on Day One as they struggled to locate the different platforms – from SLS and Xue Le, to Google Meet and Zoom – their child needed for various tasks and live lessons.

Those with many kids must have felt like a 24-hour IT helpdesk.

A parent in one of my chatgroups voiced a wish for everything to be streamlined on SLS. It garnered many virtual nods.

Over the past two weeks, tens of thousands of educators have stepped up to conduct live lessons over Google Meet, provide pre-recorded lessons on SLS, and make themselves available to answer a never-ending slew of queries from anxious parents.

READ: Commentary: ‘BBC Dad’ has learnt a thing or two about working from home

READ: Commentary: We cannot allow COVID-19 to disrupt our relationships too

More can surely be done to simplify the processes behind home-based learning for everyone to achieve more with less, so our children can manage their learning more independently.

These teething issues will hopefully be resolved in good time. But it is to the credit of educators online learning has taken off here at such breakneck speed.

Enrichment providers and music and tuition teachers have also been forced to pivot at short notice.

Just last week, my daughter had her first Facetime lesson with her violin teacher who is now in Malaysia, and my youngest son had his first drum class over Zoom.

While there may be minor kinks with the online applications, such as the odd patch connection, I am thankful that the children get to continue on their learning journey, and that we have a slice of “normal” in our lives.

Perhaps this learning to respond to the uncertainty over COVID-19 is teaching all of us one of the biggest lessons of our lives.

A TRAINING IN PATIENCE FOR PARENTS

Meanwhile, parenting has undergone a sea-change too.

Having been catapulted into a world where academic content, while still important, take second place to keeping our family safe and sane, we have had to let go of old habits and preoccupations.

From micro-managing every detail of our children’s lives and sending them from class to class, to learning new tricks, like organising Facetime recess meet-ups with their buddies and tapping on high-quality educational resources online, parents too have had to re-examine their priorities.

Interestingly, with the call to stay home, some families now feel they have more time together.

READ: Commentary: How to sabotage your child’s future – five dangerous notions about life, careers and education

READ: Commentary: No ordinary disruption – a rising generation meets the coronavirus

No doubt stress levels can be high for dual-income families caring for their children on top of managing work responsibilities, but bosses and coworkers too are discovering new depths of empathy.

Over the next four weeks, family relationships may come under pressure as being in close quarters throw up new challenges of space and device constraints.

We will all need time to adjust and find a new, and workable, normal.

But so long as we work hand-in-hand – schools with parents, organisations with employees, government with citizens – so long as there is trust, open communication and respect, we might find that we are all more adaptable and resilient than we thought.

Maybe this is what education and life is about.

Singapore’s story of COVID-19 has yet to come to an end. But we all have a part in writing its conclusion.

The process might be uncomfortable, but if we stay united as a family and then as a country, we will hopefully be able to mark it in our history books and say, we went through that storm and we overcame.  

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June Yong is a mother of three, an educational therapist and owner of Mama Wear Papa Shirt, a blog that discusses parenting and education in Singapore.

SINGAPORE: Food distribution, cleanliness and hygiene standards at two dormitories were stabilised within 48 hours of them being gazetted as isolation areas, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said on Saturday (Apr 11).

The transition is now smoother with the experiences gleaned from the management of the first three dormitories put in isolation, said the ministry.

“Over the last few days, we were able to replicate … best practices in the management of the first three dormitories, to quickly normalise operations and living conditions at Sungei Tengah Lodge Dormitory and Tampines Dormitory,” said MOM.

Sungei Tengah Lodge and Tampines Dormitory were the two latest migrant worker dormitories to be quarantined this week. S11 Dormitory @ Punggol, Westlite Toh Guan Dormitory and Toh Guan Dormitory were gazetted earlier.

More than 10 such purpose-built worker quarters in Singapore have reported a total of more than 550 COVID-19 cases as of Friday.

READ: COVID-19: Battling fear and boredom, migrant workers grapple with isolation in dormitories

MOM said that the gazetting of dormitories was an “enormous undertaking”, leading to many initial challenges.

Workers had complained of delayed meals, overflowing rubbish bins and unsanitary conditions, as workers now spend the entire day at the dormitories during the circuit breaker period. 

But authorities said that food distribution, cleanliness and hygiene have improved.

For Sungei Tengah Lodge, which has more than 24,000 residents living in 10 blocks, caterers packed the meals by room according to their dietary preferences, which were then delivered directly to the rooms.

More manpower and resources were provided immediately to manage clearing of waste and more frequent cleaning of common facilities.

READ: HDB contractors to temporarily house migrant workers at unused car parks, void decks

At Sungei Tengah Lodge, the dormitory operator tripled the number of cleaners from six per residential block to 18. 

At Tampines Dormitory, which currently houses about 2,000 workers, the dormitory operator has increased the number of cleaning staff from 10 to 12. 

The clearing of trash and cleaning and sanitation of common areas and facilities has gone up to three times a day for both.

Teams with either military or police officers and MOM personnel are now working with the dormitory operators.

Safe distancing measures have been implemented at the quarantined dormitories, MOM added. Dormitory residents are required to stay in their rooms and only leave their rooms to collect food and other supplies, or to use the washroom.

“We will continue to reduce the number of workers in each dormitory in order to implement effective safe distancing measures within the dormitories,” it said. 

BOOKMARK THIS: Our comprehensive coverage of the coronavirus outbreak and its developments

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SINGAPORE: One by one, over the past week, Ponnu has seen his three room-mates falling sick. Now, he is the only one left in their isolation room.

“I told my wife this. She’s crying on the phone,” said the Indian national who was “scared” that he would be next.

Today should be a happy moment for the couple — it is their fifth wedding anniversary. But the COVID-19 pandemic has clouded the occasion. Ponnu said he just heard that his remaining roommate, who was taken to hospital with a fever on Friday, has tested positive for the virus.

“Last year, I (sent) my wife a card. This year, I can’t send anything. I made her a slideshow with pictures,” the 35-year-old said.

It was just over a week ago when two residents on his floor at the S11 Dormitory @ Punggol were diagnosed with COVID-19. All the workers on that level were moved out and isolated. Ponnu found himself accommodated in a room of four, and his fears have been mounting since then.

For some other foreign workers, the anxiety comes in fleeting moments, amid the slow passage of time under isolation.

At Westlite Toh Guan dormitory, Mohana sometimes worries because he hears that “so many” people outside — referring to the country beyond his dormitory — are infected with COVID-19.

So are a number of his dorm-mates. Two days after the dorm was isolated by the authorities, the worksite supervisor heard ambulances “coming and going”. By noon yesterday (Apr 10), the confirmed cases there totalled 69.

The novel coronavirus (Sars-CoV-2), however, is not the only enemy faced by him and other workers across five dormitories — with a total capacity of nearly 75,000 — now declared isolation areas under the Infectious Diseases Act.

READ: Tampines Dormitory declared isolation area under Infectious Diseases Act

‘THE MIND IS STUCK’

Their fight against boredom is just as real as their underlying fears over their health.

“Everybody feels, the (whole) day, there’s nothing to do,” said Rashif, also from Westlite dorm. “Everybody’s on the phone. Without the phone, everybody has nothing to do.”

When they had work, they were busy but their minds were “free”. Now, “the mind is totally stuck”, he tried to explain. “Same place, same thing, always continue.”

The situation is similar in the S11 Dormitory, which has a residential capacity of 13,000 and is the heart of Singapore’s biggest COVID-19 cluster, with 306 cases as of Friday.

Mohammed, who lives there, used to wake up at around 5.15am. Now he is awake about 30 minutes later for his morning prayers. “After that, I eat my breakfast. After breakfast, I call my wife,” recited the 35-year-old.

“Around 11am, we clean our room, then shower again and pray around 1.30pm. After that, we eat our lunch — the whole day inside our room.”

That was his routine the first time CNA Insider spoke to him via Zoom on his phone on Tuesday, to track how life has been inside these dormitories over the course of the week.

It was the same routine the next day, and by Friday, he could not stand being in his room any more. He admitted to sneaking out for a short while below his block within the compound, just to break into a run for exercise.

“But I first checked if, outside, the police (were there) or not,” he said with a nervous laugh. 

Some of the workers get to stretch their legs along the dormitory corridors, as their rooms have no en suite toilet facilities.

But the thing about that is, according to Mohammed, there is only one shower or toilet cubicle for every 18 people, or more, in a time of safe distancing.

IMPROVING CONDITIONS

The workers’ living conditions have come under the spotlight since the first two dormitories were gazetted on Sunday. One report in The Straits Times spoke to cockroaches and unsanitary conditions on the premises.

READ: Crowding, emotional health of migrant workers at dormitories concern employers

Led by an inter-agency task force, however, the cleanliness and sanitation conditions at the dormitories “have vastly improved as enhanced measures and cleaning routines are put in place”, the Manpower Ministry said on Friday.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong spoke of the work being done in the dormitories in his latest address to the nation on the COVID-19 situation.

READ: Cleanliness and sanitation at 4 isolated foreign worker dormitories ‘vastly improved’: MOM

READ: Singapore is paying ‘close attention’ to welfare of foreign workers amid COVID-19 outbreak: PM Lee

“We’re paying close attention to the welfare of the foreign workers. They came to Singapore to work hard for a living, and provide for their families back home. They’ve played an important part building our HDB flats, Changi Airport, MRT lines,” he said on Friday.

“We’ve worked with their employers to make sure they’ll be paid their salaries, and can remit money home. We’ll provide them with the medical care and treatment that they need.

“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’ll do our best to take care of their health, livelihood and welfare.”

Among the workers — mostly from Bangladesh — that CNA Insider spoke to over the phone and via video-conferencing, their rooms look clean. 

But “people make it dirty very fast, because so many people live together”, said Pangkil at Sungei Tengah Lodge, one of the other gazetted dormitories. Pangkil’s name, and those of some residents in this story, have been changed at their request.

“Sometimes I’m very worried because we live with 12 people together — can’t really be one metre apart. I’m worried that the virus will spread.”

Space may be taken up by items such as buckets and cooking utensils. And then there are the double-decker beds, which are “very close” to one another, Rashif pointed out to CNA Insider with his phone.

“If he (lies) here (on one bed), then (he can) touch another person over here (on another bed). It’s not one metre also, but for us, (there’s) no choice,” said the 26-year-old.

Plans are underway to relocate thousands of healthy workers from various dormitories to alternative facilities. Already, more than 5,000 of them in essential services have moved to sites like Singapore Armed Forces camps. From next week, they will also be housed at two floating accommodations.

READ: ‘Dedicated strategy’ to break Covid-19 spread in dormitories, including housing healthy workers in army camps

As of Saturday, the residents contacted by CNA Insider have not seen an impact in the number of people in their own quarters. They are unaware of the situation beyond their own floor.

The workers are aware of the need for personal responsibility, although Pangkil is worried because “we don’t know if someone has any symptoms if they … think it’s normal”.

Rashif’s room-mates have him, a workplace safety and health co-ordinator, to help ensure that their temperatures are taken daily.

If anyone’s reading is on the high side, he gets them to hydrate themselves before doing another check 10 minutes later. If the reading does not come down, “then we report”, he said.

KEEPING UP WITH DEVELOPMENTS

He and his roommates received their masks, thermometers and hand sanitisers the day after their isolation began. “They told us before that it was challenging (to give them out earlier) because there are so many people,” he said.

More support measures have since been put in place in the dormitories, and these include logistics, as well as healthcare provision by the SAF Army Medical Services.

But other than seeing the cleaning and disinfection of common areas being stepped up — to an average of three times a day, according to MOM — residents like Rashif say they are not clued in to some of these moves on the ground.

Residents say they were also taken by surprise when their dormitories were first gazetted as isolation areas. Some of them heard it on the news before they saw ministry officials and police officers in their compounds.

At the Westlite dormitory, the announcement over the PA system came late at night. “Most of the people were going to sleep, or some slept already. Then after (it was) announced, they woke up,” recounted Rashif, whose block was isolated first.

This was followed by notices being given to every room. “They just (said) stay in the room … and all maintain a one-metre distance. Then clean yourself — personal hygiene,” he cited.

When Sungei Tengah Lodge was gazetted on Wednesday, ennui turned to deeper worries among some workers like Pangkil. “Because I saw in the (previous) two days, more than 15 ambulances arrived. I don’t know what’s next,” said the 23-year-old.

The atmosphere there has since become surreal. “Everywhere is silent,” he described. “I feel stressed, but I can accept it. Because I think that’s how animals — birds — stay in enclosed houses (cages) for a long time.”

The workers are not, however, totally cut off from the rest of Singapore: They have been using chat tools, video platforms especially TikTok, and other social media to share news, and not just in the declared isolation areas.

On Thursday night, for example, there was a live-stream on the Migrant Workers Singapore Facebook community page. Hosted by one of the residents, and hampered by patchy Internet connections, participants from various dorms across Singapore shared about how they were coping.

​​​​​​​

THEY’RE NOT ALONE

Migrant worker welfare groups are also working overtime to assist the workers. Project Chulia Street, for example, is providing care packages with hygiene products such as soap, shampoo, toothbrush, toothpaste and masks, said its managing director Lee Shaun Tzen.

As of Friday morning, with donations pouring in, the group had manged to raise S$330,000 to help some 43,000 workers.

A coalition of four groups — Citizen Adventures, Singapore Migrant Friends, ItsRainingRaincoats and MigrantxMe — is planning an online learning portal for the workers where Singaporeans can volunteer to share lessons, from languages to the arts.

READ: NGOs launch initiatives to help migrant workers amid COVID-19 outbreak

The group SDI Academy is even coming up with a mental health app on Android, called Linger.AI, by the end of the week. Besides health resources, it will also offer English lessons and a module on entrepreneurship.

Explaining the reason for such initiatives, Citizen Adventures director Cai Yinzhou said: “(On) day two, people are happy with sitting (and) watching (their phones), but … by day five or six, how many videos can you watch?

“People start getting restless. There’s really nowhere else they can go, unless things change.”

Some of the groups including the Humanitarian Organisation For Migration Economics (HOME) are raising funds, in anticipation that “many workers will experience financial crises raised by COVID-19”, said HOME casework executive Desiree Leong.

A spreadsheet which consolidates all these groups’ efforts, with information on how the public can chip in, has been circulated and has drawn encouraging response.

Some of the workers’ needs, however, have been as simple as getting the right food.

“On the first day, they had food (catered), but it’s not to their liking, and the portions were quite small,” cited human resource manager Tabitha Lim from Jerevin Industrial, which has workers in one of the gazetted dormitories.

“In the group chat, there are also other business owners who mentioned that their workers were given Chinese food, which they can’t eat because some of them are Muslim.”

This is one of the things the task force has been trying to improve. The Manpower Ministry said on Thursday that the caterers have “implemented new measures to ensure timeliness in the distribution of food and quality of the food”.

For example, at Westlite Toh Guan, which has close to 6,700 occupants, the meals now take 90 minutes to be fully distributed, instead of two hours, according to dormitory manager K Dave.

“We also increased manpower, together with the Migrant Workers’ Centre assisting on this part,” he said. “My staff and I are also consuming the same food.”

Asked about his lunch on Thursday, Rashif said via text that it was “50/50”, followed by a disappointed-face emoji.

He also now hears of more workers being taken to hospital. “Very worried,” he texted.

Amin, a resident at S11 who has worked in Singapore for six years, cannot help but feel that the coronavirus “is coming” to the rooms on his floor. And when he called his mother yesterday, he broke down, he said.

“All men are scared,” the 25-year-old told CNA Insider. “(Going to toilet) is also scary; every place is also scary. Boredom is no problem. Movies (we) can see, but I’m scared (in terms of) a mentality problem. Tension comes, headache comes.”

Check out this spreadsheet of the efforts to help Singapore’s migrant community to see how you can contribute.

SINGAPORE: A total of 40 fines and more than 3,100 “stern warnings” have been issued to members of the public for not complying with safe distancing measures.

All 40 fines and 2,900 of the warnings were issued on Friday (Apr 10) alone, the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources said in a media release.

One person illegally hawking face masks at Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1 was fined S$1,000 and ordered to stop operations immediately. 

The police also had to be called in for more than 20 cases where members of the public refused to cooperate when asked to leave.

READ: Markets to refuse entry to people not wearing masks from Sunday: NEA

READ: PM Lee appeals to older Singaporeans to stay at home during COVID-19 ‘circuit breaker’ period

A separate enforcement operation by the police found that a beauty salon along Upper Cross Street had provided massage services without a licence during the COVID-19 “circuit breaker” period. 

Police investigations are ongoing, said the ministry.

TAKE MEASURES SERIOUSLY, DO NOT GO ON FAMILY OUTINGS

The start of the long weekend saw a rise in the number of people going out to public spaces such as neighbourhood centres, markets, hawker centres and parks, the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources said.

More than 2,800 enforcement officers and ambassadors were deployed on Friday, the ministry said, adding that National Parks Board (NParks) employees were “out in force” to enforce safe distancing measures at parks, gardens and nature reserves.

READ: Fines, prosecution in court for repeat offenders of ‘circuit breaker’ measures

Across NParks-managed gardens, parks and nature reserves, more than 720 playgrounds and fitness areas, 12 dog runs and eight fishing spots have been closed off to prevent gathering in groups.

To ensure safe distancing during peak hours, NParks also temporarily closed access bridges at the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve and Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park.

The Henderson Waves and MacRitchie TreeTop Walk were also temporarily closed while the Park Connector in Jurong Lake Gardens was temporarily diverted.

READ: Playmade bubble tea shop first establishment fined for flouting COVID-19 safe distancing measures

NParks is also tapping on technology to monitor visitorship, such as using drones in parks and nature areas that are larger with more ground to cover.

“The use of drones also give a better sense of the density of visitors in a specific area. Aerial photographs taken by drones are reviewed every half an hour, and areas experiencing high visitorship levels will be temporarily closed in order to ensure safe distancing,” said the environment ministry.

“Members of public must take the circuit breaker measures seriously, and not embark on family outings during this period. The elderly, who are particularly vulnerable, should stay at home. 

“Please stay home, avoid crowds and observe safe distancing. Failure to comply will result in firm action by our enforcement officers.”

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SINGAPORE: Starting from Sunday (Apr 12), people not wearing face masks will not be allowed to enter the 40 markets managed by the National Environment Agency (NEA) or NEA-appointed operators.

The move is to safeguard the health and well-being of all stallholders and patrons at the 40 markets, which are relatively popular and tend to attract crowds over the weekends, the agency said in a press release on Friday.

The COVID-19 outbreak in Singapore, which has killed seven people and infected more than 2,100, has prompted the Government to put in place safe distancing measures, such as bans on dining-in at food establishments and queue markings to maintain 1m separation between people at markets.

READ: PM Lee appeals to older Singaporeans to stay at home during COVID-19 ‘circuit breaker’ period

Reusable masks are being distributed to all residents and the Government has advised people to wear them if they have to leave their homes.

“With reusable masks being made available to Singapore residents, patrons should don a mask when visiting markets, given the generally crowded and closed-in environment in markets,” said NEA.

These 40 markets have crowd management measures in place, such as controlled entry and exit points. However, several markets – such as the ones at Geylang Serai, 505 Jurong West Street 52 and 104/105 Yishun Ring Road – still attracted big crowds over the weekends, and long queues were seen outside the markets.

Limiting the crowd capacity of markets is necessary to ensure that there is enough space for people to maintain the 1m separation, especially when patrons are at the stalls making their purchase, said NEA. 

People should also return another day if the queue outside the market is too long, it added.

“If the ground situation at these few hotspots does not improve, NEA would consider even stronger measures to reduce crowding both inside and outside these markets.”

READ: Yes, wear a mask but when and why? Here’s what you need to know

READ: NTUC FairPrice urges shoppers to wear face masks

NEA also said patrons should limit their market visits to once a week and on weekdays or non-peak hours on weekends. The elderly are encouraged not to do their own shopping and instead ask for help from their family members or their neighbours.

People should also avoid lingering in the market when buying groceries and to consider visiting a different market other than the 40 popular ones.

68 ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS ON FRIDAY

Since Thursday, NEA officers have started taking down the particulars of anyone found to be breaching safe distancing measures.

A total of 68 enforcement actions were taken against members of the public at markets and cooked food sections of hawker centres on Friday, NEA said.

READ: ICA Building closes for disinfection after COVID-19 cluster reported there

In one case, a market patron claimed to be ignorant of the safe distancing requirements and refused to comply after being told by enforcement officers. In another case, a patron who sat in the cooked food section of a hawker centre while waiting for the spouse became verbally abusive towards an enforcement officer.

In both cases, the police had to be called in, NEA said.

“While most patrons have been observed to be orderly when queueing for takeaways, there are some patrons who were found to disregard the safe distancing measures and even consumed food or drinks at the dining areas,” the agency said.

“All patrons and visitors are reminded to follow the guidance and instructions of NEA officers. Non-compliant patrons and visitors may face enforcement action, including a composition fine of S$300 or prosecution in court.”

“The cooperation of all patrons, as well as stallholders, is required so that further stricter measures will not be necessary beyond the current circuit breaker to halt the transmission of COVID-19 in Singapore,” said NEA.

Below is the list of the 40 markets with crowd management measures:

1.    Tiong Bahru Market

2.    Bukit Timah Market

3.    Tanglin Halt Market

4.    Geylang Serai Market

5.    Taman Jurong Market & Food Centre

6.    North Bridge Road Market & Food Centre

7.    Beo Crescent Market

8.    Kallang Estate Market

9.    409 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10

10.  505 Jurong West Street 52

11.  13/14 Haig Road

12.  4A Eunos Crescent

13.  104/105 Yishun Ring Road

14.  137 Tampines Street 11

15.  630 Bedok Reservoir Road

16.  209 Hougang Street 21

17.  453A Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10

18.  527 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10

19.  628 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 4

20.  341 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1

21.  20 Ghim Moh Road

22.  29 Bendemeer Road

23.  49 Sims Place

24.  254 Jurong East Street 24

25.  448 Clementi Avenue 3

26.  50A Marine Terrace

27.  160/162 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 4

28.  115 Bukit Merah View

29.  726 Clementi Street 2

30.  79 Redhill Lane

31.  105 Hougang Avenue 1

32.  16 Bedok South Road

33.  216 Bedok North Street 1

34.  58 New Upp Changi Road

35.  335 Smith Street

36.  347 Jurong East Avenue 1

37.  20/21 Marsiling Lane

38.  665 Buffalo Road

39.  221 A/B Boon Lay Place

40.  127 Toa Payoh Lorong 1

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SINGAPORE: Unless you own shares in Zoom or Netflix, it’s hard to see even the faintest silver lining to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. 

There have been a staggering 60,000 deaths worldwide, the global economy has ground to a halt and everyday life has been profoundly altered.

But as a science communicator there has been at least one positive effect of COVID-19, the first of which is an unprecedented interest in science.

A FINE DAY FOR SCIENCE

Up until this point, it seemed as though fighting scientific misinformation was a fool’s errand, a brave but ultimately futile quest against trolls and well-meaning relatives alike. I had long given up telling people that drinking lemon water in the morning probably does nothing to ‘boost’ their immunity, only speaking up if the things they wanted to try actually sounded dangerous.

But all of a sudden, my social media feeds were filled with science: infographics about how SARS-CoV-2 spreads and charts explaining the difference between linear versus exponential growth; even links to primary research papers.

As someone whose professional goal is making scientific research accessible to a wider audience, I was heartened to see this surge of information rising up to displace rumours about COVID-19 and how it spreads. 

READ: Commentary: The joys and frustrations of home-based learning

Many international news organisations have put out visually-appealing and interactive infographics to help readers understand the rapidly evolving outbreak.

Other publications, such as the online science magazine Undark, have held COVID-19-related Ask Me Anything sessions, while the World Health Organization launched its first TikTok campaign.

For our part at Asian Scientist Magazine, in addition to our regular coverage of scientific research across Asia, we have started a series called #stopcovidiots to share bite-sized facts about COVID-19 specifically. 

Since February, COVID-19 related articles have boosted traffic on our site by 40 per cent, reflecting the hunger for more scientifically-backed information.

SPEED AND THE SEARCH FOR TRUTH

Scientists have been working at a frenetic pace to answer some of the most pressing questions about the novel coronavirus: is it mutating? What does it bind to? Can existing drugs be used to stop it? But the speed with which everyone is jumping on the bandwagon also adds to the complexity of understanding the issue at hand.

Searching ‘COVID-19’ on the medical search engine PubMed turns up no less than 2,500 research papers, all of them published in just the last two months.

In fact, so many papers on COVID-19 have been published in journals and released as pre-prints that researchers have built a 29,000 paper-strong database so that artificial intelligence can help them make sense of it. 

Even experts are struggling to drink from the firehose of COVID-19 research being pushed out at the moment.

Another issue with speed is that it short circuits the process of peer review, which, for all its flaws, attempts to prevent weak research from entering the scientific literature.

READ: Commentary: COVID-19 and the rise of the pandemic economy

Sharing information as quickly as possible is crucial to containing the virus, but ensuring that the information is accurate is even more important than ever, as taking personal and policy decisions based on faulty information can have dire consequences.

When a research group in India put out a pre-print suggesting that the similarities between SARS-CoV-2 and HIV were “uncanny,” it sparked panic and was shared thousands of times before being retracted.

It turns out that the similarities the team—not virologists but experts in protein biology—had noticed are actually found in many other viruses, and do not in themselves suggest anything particularly dangerous about SARS-CoV-2.

In other cases, sample sizes are small and patient populations unique, making the findings difficult to generalise. Because of this, reports often contradict each other, turning evidence-based decision-making even more challenging.

My worry as a science communicator is that this apparent conflict might erode the public’s trust in science, when in fact scientists know that this seeming lack of consensus is a feature and not a bug in the scientific process.

READ: Commentary: No room for BS in the time of coronavirus

This is precisely how science is supposed to work; we test different hypotheses and reach conclusions full of caveats that are not truth itself but approximations of the truth. Unfortunately, this is not the certainty that most people are looking for.

So while it is great that people are sharing research articles on WhatsApp, all information needs to be evaluated critically, no matter how ‘scientific’ or ‘official’ it looks.

A good place to start would be to understand the distinction between a peer-reviewed article and a pre-print, and secondly to consider whether the expertise of the research group is relevant to the topic at hand.

Just as you wouldn’t trust your accountant to do your plumbing, discipline matters when it comes to whether or not to trust an authority figure.

THE LONG GAME: TRUST

While the increased interest in scientific papers from the general public is welcomed, there is still a need for contextualisation and analysis of the research findings. This is a job for science communicators like myself, who try to explain the implications of research to the public but also highlight the limitations as well.

While we are working hard right now—digesting the information being put out, conducting interviews with experts and writing up articles about COVID-19 – our work will continue even when the virus is eventually contained and the spike in interest dies down.

READ: Commentary: Five considerations for a clear-minded coronavirus response

That is because our long-term goal is to build two-way trust between science and the public: for scientists to trust that lay people will not misunderstand their work and for the public to trust the integrity of the scientific process and research.

In a 2015 survey of nearly 1,000 Singaporeans, we found that while most people agreed that science was important and relevant to their everyday life, the level of scientific literacy was uneven, with many still being confused, for example, about the inability of antibiotics to treat viral infections.

What COVID-19 has showed me, however, is that people can grasp scientific concepts very readily—when motivated to do so.

To my amazement, terms like “basic reproduction number” and “epidemiology” have now become part of everyday parlance. The hope is that as readers expose themselves to more science news, they become more comfortable with it and better able to discern which sources are reliable.

As more people turn to science for answers, I hope that trust in scientists will be deepened and that scientifically-backed policy advice will be heeded. It is our only hope.​​​​​​​

BOOKMARK THIS: Our comprehensive coverage of the novel coronavirus and its developments

Download our app or subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak: https://cna.asia/telegram

Dr Rebecca Tan is the editor-in-chief of Asian Scientist Magazine.

SINGAPORE: When the Ministry of Education (MOE) announced a one-day trial for home-based learning (HBL), it was tough for everyone – the system had issues, parents were confused with conflicting information and those who had to work and watch their children all but threw their computers (and their kids) out the window.

Looking back, that appeared to be a precursor for a more serious “circuit breaker” when the ministry announced on Apr 3 that everyone will go on HBL until early May.

Among my teacher friends, there is a lot of angst. “Don’t use HBL, it’s a bad word!” said one in a group chat. Others struggled with all sorts of tech issues – setting up and figuring out how Microsoft Teams works, if Zoom is safe enough, how to get around weak wireless access or secure networks and so on.

Even before the full roll-out on Apr 8, there were many issues to sort out – like how to deal with students who do not have internet access or laptops, arranging loan equipment and sorting out IDs and passwords.

LISTEN: Home-based learning: Good, bad, terrible … but mostly good?

Commentary: The joys and frustrations of home-based learning

COVID-19 DISHES OUT SOME LASTING LESSONS

COVID-19 has forced everyone’s hand in the area of education technology and this is a good thing. When everyone comes out of this storm, perhaps some lasting lessons on how to use technology to learn can be found. After all, the world has moved at such a pace, to teach using primarily the chalk-and-talk way was not sustainable in the long run anyway.

To say that we haven’t been paying attention to Information and Communication Technology (ICT) would not be a fair description of what was going on in schools and Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs).

Since 1997, MOE has been rolling out regular five-year blueprints for all schools to integrate technology into the classroom. Its fourth ICT plan was launched in 2015 and schools were already converting face-to-face lessons and adding more digital elements into their lessons.

Selected schools have piloted the use of digital tools and online learning and the move has gained pace throughout the entire education spectrum.

Commentary: E-learning sees no smooth sailing in Malaysia and Indonesia

But what we are dealing with today is a completely different scenario. There is no time for proposals, meetings or structured plans that take time to implement.

In the US and in Europe, millions of students were forced out of schools literally overnight. They have found themselves in exceptional circumstances that leave no time but to adapt and roll out lessons online, some in just 24 hours.

One such school was the International School of Monza, in the Lombardy region of Italy, which was badly hit. The lockdown of the city was rushed and so the principal Iain Sachdev hunkered down with his teachers over 48 days to come up a plan to continue lessons for 270 students.

They called on their networks of schools who had done this before and started with simple video conferencing software. There are daily check-ins and suggested activities for students to do. Teachers are available throughout the school day to take questions.

Commentary: The big shift towards e-learning as US universities move classes online amid coronavirus fears

Commentary: Italy’s struggle with coronavirus threatens all of Europe

Before the start of online lessons, Mr Sachdev spoke to everyone in a video address, saying that his teachers had done their very best and students need to do their part.

In interviews with the media, Mr Sachdev said his wasn’t a “techie school” but they managed to do it successfully, even organising social gatherings online where students can share poems, play music and sing to each other.

This school in Italy shows us that terrible times foist challenges that seem overwhelming but a nimble, can-do spirit is often the best way out.

LEARNING TO LET GO OF OLD IDEAS

Last year, when I was teaching in a polytechnic, there was a plan to create one e-learning lesson for all modules as a way to test out the system.

Commentary: No ordinary disruption – a rising generation meets the coronavirus

The instruction was simple – just convert your current face-to-face delivery slides and make it accessible for the online content management system. There is a huge difference when the teacher is present in class. So putting ourselves in the shoes of the learner helped.

If you don’t have a teacher present, what do you need? Clear instructions, a way to deliver concepts interactively and an avenue for you to ask questions if you didn’t understand something. Based on these criteria, we went to work and after a few drafts, a lesson plan was ready.

It was time to think quite radically out of the box. For a start, to shed the idea that a teacher has to read the slides for a student to know what’s going on.

Our slides had to have enough information to get the gist of the lesson and links for reading more if they didn’t understand. We used videos, infographics and pictures to explain concepts instead of sticking only to words.

Commentary: Look beyond state-of-the-art campuses for what matters in education

Commentary: The rise of the digital economy – and how education may be transformed

YouTube videos became essential – the topic we taught had ready material, so it was easier. The challenge is for teachers who need to make their own videos from scratch but today, there are so many products on the market to help teachers with simple videos.

In our case, we ended up using very basic tools we were already familiar with – like Telegram, Kahoot, Mentimeter, Padlet and Skype. Of course our phones were buzzing all hours of the day – the strict separation of work contact and personal contact went out the window.

Despite some glitches (mostly technical), I found the experience to be just as rewarding as being in a classroom.

The faster kids completed their work, handed in their assignments and scored well on the final quiz. The ones that needed more help took longer and needed more digital hand-holding.

It was interesting to me that the students who caught on faster, jumped in to explain to their teammates in their group chat. In the final exam, everyone did well for this topic, including the weaker kids. Plus, I discovered very useful stickers I could use on Telegram.

Commentary: Three smarter ways to use screen time while kids are at home

There is a very big caveat here: My ex-colleagues and I were developing lessons for 18-year-olds who are adept at self-directed learning. But creating an online lesson for an eight-year-old who needs a firmer guiding hand is another matter altogether.

This is why parents are struggling too. There are no clean answers but this is a good time as any to find out what works and what doesn’t.

WHAT TEACHERS AND PARENTS NEED

We are at an inflection point in the way we educate our children and how we assess them (did anyone imagine doing away with all mid-year exams?). Now is a good time as any to start asking some radical questions – do all subjects need paper exams for instance?

Can some assessments be done differently without compromising the standards Singapore is known for?

Commentary: What the uncertainty after receiving A-Level results can teach you about adulting

Commentary: Junior college or polytechnic after O-Levels – does it matter?

Studies show that students can be more engaged and self-directed to find solutions to problems when tech tools are utilised in their lessons but this depends heavily on two things.

One, teachers need to be given resources to develop good online lessons that do not compromise on content but are also not so overproduced that they lose their value of being accessible and easy to understand.

They should be given the freedom to adapt and tweak or change if something doesn’t work. In other words, have a checklist instead of a prescriptive template on how things must be done.

Subjects vary in depth and scope, meaning science can be taught online so much more differently from math for instance. So giving teachers agency may go some way in making the most out of this forced experiment.

Commentary: Teachers love their jobs and feel valued but face immense challenges

Two, parents need to try their best to let go. Such a new way of education can only work if the most important partner in this endeavour understands what makes it effective.

I know this is tough for very young primary school children who may need more help – but try asking them to figure something out first before you jump in. Any child above 10 should be able to sort a digital problem faster than you (unless you work in IT).

Experts also say it is not practical to have a very young child sit in front of the computer or do something for anything more than two hours. “Lessons” can be learnt from building things, playing a game, baking, gardening and the like.

I can imagine the time it takes to supervise these things but a parent or adult tag-team system may work. I hope parents can share ideas on social media to help each other out.

Commentary: How to sabotage your child’s future – five dangerous notions about life, careers and education

Commentary: Parents, working from home need not be a hair-splitting experience

There’s no way around this – it is a tough time for everyone. Teachers are exhausted, parents are anxious and students are caught in the middle of it all.

But through this pain that is COVID-19, I believe there will be lasting change – both for educators who are now forced to pick up valuable digital skills (without having to spend a single SkillsFuture dollar) and for students who can harness the best that technology has to offer so as to deepen their learning.

The change was coming but COVID-19 gave it one final push so everyone has no choice but to jump into this new edtech sea.

BOOKMARK THIS: Our comprehensive coverage of the coronavirus outbreak and its developments

Download our app or subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest updates on the COVID-19 outbreak: https://cna.asia/telegram

Crispina Robert is an editor at CNA Digital News where she oversees podcasts. Previously, she was a media lecturer for 12 years at a local polytechnic.

SINGAPORE: What started as a hunger pang for parent Andre Lim ended with him creating a building made of “Lego sushi” with his two sons. 

The 33-year-old said that he wanted to make sushi, but without an oshibako – a wooden mould for pressing rice and sushi toppings – he had to improvise.

“I’m stuck at home so there’s no way we can get the wooden box, so I thought, ‘What’s the next special thing we can do?’” he told CNA.

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While Mr Lim prepared the saba fish and sushi rice for the dish, his children, aged five and three, started making the oshibako with Lego blocks – complete with a lid. 

After lining the improvised box with cling wrap, Mr Lim taught his two boys how to make sushi, the way he saw it done in Japan on his travels there. 

READ: COVID-19: Singapore makes ‘decisive move’ to close most workplaces and impose full home-based learning for schools, says PM Lee

“Kids already love playing with food so they really enjoyed it,” he said.

Mr Lim, a consultant, said that the circuit breaker is a chance to start on “grand ideas” with his family he never had the time to do before. 

“I work very, very long hours, my wife is a stay-at-home mum so she spends more time with the kids. But there are certain things the kids want to do with their dad, so this is the opportunity.”

He started working from home before the circuit breaker measures were implemented on Apr 7, as Singapore embarked on an attempt to halt the spread of COVID-19 infections by getting non-essential workplaces to close and implementing strict safe-distancing measures.

However, in the initial stages Mr Lim’s family didn’t see much difference in him working from home, as he was not spending much time with his children. He was working 16 hours a day as a consultant to a client who provides an essential service and therefore is operating during this period.

“My wife and I decided we had to find a way to balance ourselves and get the kids involved. It’s about setting boundaries – I’m not perfect at it but we try.”

READ: Day 2 of COVID-19 ‘circuit breaker’ sees more than 3,000 breaches of safe distancing measures

Next on the list of activities for him and his children to embark on together are hydroponics and herbal teas. 

“It’s quite fun, the circuit breaker is giving us to do crazy things as a family. We tend to do crazy things together but being stuck together all the time now, you have to get more creative,” he said. 

Ms Teena See, a former early childhood educator who is currently a stay-at-home mother, is also using the time to bond with her three-year-old son through fun activities.

“I’ve been trying out different activities with him. Previously I was working as a pre-school educator so didn’t have much time for him, but I’m kind of making up for the ‘lost time’ now,” she said.

Among their activities – creating artificial snow and building a petrol kiosk. 

All it took to make the snow were baking soda and white hair conditioner, and her son Kyler was one happy child. 

“At this age, children love things which are sensorial. And the artificial snow is very soft and is quite cooling when he touches it,” she said.

The snow also brought Kyler fond memories of Olaf, the snowman character from the Disney movie Frozen, who he loves.

Kyler’s other love is cars, and he has a mini electric car, Ms See said. Now, he has a petrol kiosk to drive it into. 

Ms See and her husband built the kiosk out of recycled cardboard boxes and construction paper after drawing inspiration from online. 

PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES FOR CHILDREN

Others are building different environments at home so their children can get moving without going out.

Ms Ng Pei Ru created an obstacle course for her three-and-a-half-year-old daughter which involves climbing over chairs and swinging. Her one-and-half-year-old son has tried to follow the action.

Her children have always been physically active, spending weekday evenings at the playground and weekends at parks, she said. Her daughter Enya is also learning karate at Ms Ng’s father’s academy. Ms Ng herself, a karate black belt herself, is practising with Enya at home, now that the academy is closed during the circuit breaker period.

“It is to entertain them. They have so much energy, it’s to exhaust them so they can sleep,” said the account director at a public relations agency, laughing.

The activities have brought about a bonus, time for her and her husband to bond with their children, as they are now both working from home. 

“Spending more time with them has made us realise that they are growing up so fast, and it’s good to make use of this time with them,” she said. 

Ms Lin Jieying used to take her children to the playground every day, but now that it is out of bounds, she decided to get creative at home.

With her four-and-a-half-year-old son, she stuck rope onto the walls in her hallway. Her son named it an “indoor playground”.

“He was so involved in creating it. He wanted to paste the rope in a certain way so he could have more fun,” she said.  She also created tunnels with paper through which her children could roll balls. 

Her son and his two-year-old younger sister are also getting to spend more time together, she said. 

“He took his own initiative to read stories to her before nap time and styled her hair for her. It’s a good time for them to bond,” said the small business owner.

She also came up with a routine with her son so that he could have ownership over what he does in a day, and said that it has helped him stop doing things he usually likes, like watching television, without getting upset. 

DIY KITS FOR FAMILY FUN

Companies are also helping parents come up with activities, with DIY kits that involve children. 

Butter Studio, a bakery, has made available DIY kits for unicorn and mermaid cupcakes.

“As Butter Studio is known for our Instagrammable cakes and cupcakes, we wanted to bring that fun, celebratory Butter Studio experience to the homes of our customers,” a spokesperson for the bakery said. 

Lele Bakery has come up with DIY cake kits, which includes a four-inch cake, three types of decorations, three different-coloured piping in bags and two bags of sprinkles. 

Ms Ruby Liang, who bought the set, said that it was a good way for her to spend time with her two sons aged three and five. They both love cake, and because it was hands-on, they enjoyed the whole process, she said. 

Ms Nur Hasanna Kamsan, founder of LittleArtducated, said that before the COVID-19 pandemic situation, her firm ran art workshops and events outdoors for children and adults. 

“However, since the Covid-19 restrictions, we’ve been trying our best to reach out to children and parents to continue and encourage creative learning at home.” The solution? A superhero art starter kit.

“We wanted to keep the spirits up and we believe being a superhero means we will go through any obstacles that come to us – even if it’s from home,” she said. 

The superhero kits come with a satin cape, glue, a mask, glitter, foam paper of different colours, stickers, adhesive foam shapes and colour pages. 

One child-turned-superhero is five-year-old Muhammad Aufa. His mother, childcare teacher Nur Aien, said she used to send him to the firm’s art activities and classes.

“He’s into superheroes so I decided to purchase it. He was so excited to wear the cape after putting it together. His favourite superhero changes from day to day and this is his first time transforming into a superhero,” she said. 

Sociologist Professor Paulin Straughan from Singapore Management University said that it is important to have family bonding time so that children can think back on this period and have pleasant memories.

She also said that it is an important time for mums and dads to take stock of their parenting outcome, given that many children go to childcare while their parents are at work. 

She said that while they spend time together as a family, parents should also remember to take care of themselves.

“It is a good time for parents to put in place meaningful discipline. It is important to help children understand that they don’t have to be entertained all the time,” she said. 

For Mr Lim, he sees the circuit breaker as an opportunity even in this testing time. 

“Time with kids is how you build families and families can become much stronger through this circuit breaker,” he said. 

READ: ‘Right time’ to close schools now, says Education Minister Ong Ye Kung

READ: COVID-19: Singapore makes ‘decisive move’ to close most workplaces and impose full home-based learning for schools, says PM Lee

BOOKMARK THIS: Our comprehensive coverage of the coronavirus outbreak and its developments

Download our app or subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak: https://cna.asia/telegram

SINGAPORE: It was a moment of pure elation for the family of Oscar Saxelby-Lee – the six-year-old has finally been discharged from hospital after staying cancer-free for nearly three months.

The British boy has been battling acute lymphoblastic leukaemia since December 2018, and arrived in Singapore for experimental treatment at the National University Hospital (NUH) that only one other child in the world has received.

Doctors in the UK said that they had exhausted all conventional treatment and that there was only palliative care left for Oscar. The family was told to prepare for the worst.

But after arriving in Singapore in November and starting treatment on Christmas Eve, Oscar has remained MRD (minimal residue disease) negative – which means no cancer cells are detected – for nearly three months.

He was discharged from hospital on Thursday (Apr 9) and will go back for check-ups every few days.

His mum Olivia told CNA it is the longest period her only son has remained cancer-free since he was diagnosed.

“Oscar is defeating the odds. After being told end-of-life care was the only option left for Oscar about eight months ago, he has shown that miracles really do happen,” she said.

“He is the best he has been in a very long time – full of life, living life and enjoying life again.

“It has been a huge learning curve, and no doubt will continue to be, but we are grateful. Grateful for this chance, grateful for the team saving Oscar’s life and also grateful for the experience.

“It still feels a little like a dream. We just can’t believe it. NUH has saved Oscar’s life!”

READ: British boy, 5, in Singapore for experimental treatment for ‘uncontrollable’ cancer

NUH TREATMENT WAS OSCAR’S LAST HOPE

The treatment in Singapore was Oscar’s last hope. All other treatments had failed to rid him of the cancer – he was still MRD positive after a stem cell transplant and rounds of chemotherapy.

The little boy from Worcester, England flew to Singapore after the family crowdfunded £500,000 (S$885,000) for a new form of treatment, in which immune cells from a patient’s blood is drawn and equipped with a Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR-T).

The receptor binds itself to a specific protein on the cancer cell and activates the CAR-T cells to kill the cancer cells.

This particular form of CAR-T treatment is different and more difficult because the leukaemia cells resemble Oscar’s immunity system, Associate Professor Allen Yeoh, head of paediatric oncology at NUH, explained previously.

This is compassionate treatment, which means it is not even in the medical trial stage yet.

By the time he arrived in Singapore, Oscar was weak from the months in hospital isolation and from battling the rare blood cancer.

He got stronger and doctors started treatment on Christmas Eve. On Jan 15, his parents were told he was MRD negative – but that was just the first major step towards a full recovery.

READ: No cancer cells detected: First major step to recovery for British boy in Singapore for experimental treatment

Over the last three months, Oscar has battled several conditions as a result of complications and undergone more surgeries and transplants.

He was diagnosed with both Graft versus host disease (GvHD) and Thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) that caused him shaking spells, pain and weakness.

“WE NEEDED MUM HERE”

Over the last five months, Oscar’s family has remained in Singapore – far from their loved ones in the UK.

Shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, Oscar’s grandmother Oomar travelled to Singapore to be with her grandson.

“We needed her with us after such a long haul of trauma. She flew knowing of the risks (of contracting COVID-19) and was very worried,” Olivia said.

Oomar completed her 14-day stay-home notice and was allowed to see Oscar just as he was overcoming the worst of the TMA.

This was the moment Oscar saw his grandmother for the first time in months:

“Oscar’s life instantly became better, he was ecstatic,” said Olivia.

“She has been a huge lift for us all, for me especially as well. We all need our mums at times. An extra pair of hands, loving support and someone else to talk to.”

The family will remain in Singapore and keep Oscar isolated at the apartment where they’ve been staying as his immunity system is still recovering, and he will make frequent trips to outpatient clinics in hospital, his mum said.

“He isn’t out of the woods yet. Being post-transplant puts him even more at risk, and very vulnerable to not just COVID-19, but any cold or illness,” she explained.

“That’s nearly a year and a half of complete isolation and even in the future, we will have to be very vigilant.”

“SINGAPORE IS AN AMAZING COUNTRY”

With the COVID-19 outbreak affecting countries around the world, including the UK and Singapore, the family will stay in Singapore until Oscar has been given the all-clear to fly home.

“We all miss home. We miss our friends, our family, our society, our community,” Olivia said.

“We are really homesick, but we are safe, and we believe we are in the safest place. Singapore is an amazing country, and we feel privileged to be here, even at this difficult time.

“We have met so many wonderful people here, from friends, to medics … each has been an incredible support for us as a family.

“Our lives have changed greatly.

“The support has been so heartwarming. The well wishes and prayers truly mean so much to us. We are touched by people’s generosity, care and compassion for us as a family and cannot thank everyone both here and back home enough.

“It’s been one heck of a journey, and I’m sure will continue to be, but the support makes it all that little easier.”