It was a normal day, heading out to buy lunch. I headed down the lift with just a 10 dollar bill in my hand. When the doors of the lift opened, I was greeted with the sight of an elderly gentleman in his 70s sitting down on the public bench of the lift lobby with his arms on his walking frame. This was a time of social distancing and avoiding patronising public common spaces, where usage of public places are frowned upon. Yet, sometimes things are not what it seems.

As I walked out of the lift and nearer towards him, he was gesturing to me to come forward and also spoke out to me in Mandarin - "Can you send me to the hospital?". Immediately I went forward towards him and started to ask what was wrong and how I could help. Apparently, he had sprained his back and had difficulty with walking and moving but he was not in any immediate medical danger. I reassured him and asked him to remain in the most comfortable position. So it was, I was holding on to my 10 dollar bill with no phone to call for an ambulance. I thought that at that time, the most important thing was to stay with him and to hopefully borrow a phone from anyone passing by. 

Pacing and looking around, eventually, a lady came down from another lift. I went up to her and explained the situation quickly. Likewise, it was reflex action for her to lend me her phone and we quickly got into contact with getting an ambulance arranged for him. I thanked her on behalf of the elderly gentleman. 

The ambulance arrived soon after and the paramedics took over and he was safely escorted to the nearest hospital.  

It has been a challenging time for people from all walks of life in Singapore. Especially so are the migrant workers who are staying in the dormitories where the outbreak of Covid has spiralled down the path of multiplication and infective spread. 

Weeks has passed since I first joined in the fight at the dormitories. The same PPE is donned by all the healthcare workers and auxillary support staff, working for hours in each shift. The amount of sweat that comes out from each shift due to the heat always drenches the pants down to knees. If all of us who are stepping up in an effort to stem the outbreak can endure the hours with full PPE, definitely, every one of us as an individual can do our part to wear a mask and practise good social distancing in Singapore. 

Even if you are going for an exercise, make it a point to wear a mask when going down or up the lift. This virus spreads the worse in confined spaces and closed air circulation. The mask is ultimately meant to protect ourselves and our family. 
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Let all of us stand in our individual capacity, but united as one Singapore, to overcome these challenging times!