Duck rice distribution at Potong Pasir on 4.08.2015

The duck rice stall at Blk 120 in Potong Pasir is relatively well known. The owner of the stall, Ah Seng, is actually a friendly man with a serious look. That evening, together with the volunteers from Project Awareness and Happy People, I visited a few blocks in Potong Pasir to distribute duck rice supplied by Ah Seng.

 

The rice was very well received and a few families told us of their problems. One resident needed a job and there are 9 people, including 4 young children, living in her 3 room flat. Another needed help to clear out their second-hand goods which were stocked up in their flat. They were dealing in second hand goods but their deteriorating health no longer permits them to do so. The husband has suffered a stroke and is semi-paralyzed whilst the wife has bent legs. Further, they could not sell their stocks at Sungei Road anymore. After the stocks are cleared out, they plan to rent out their rooms to receive some income.

One resident shared with us the plight of another resident who lives in a block that was not covered in our food distribution tonight. A father of 2 young children and a pregnant wife, this other resident recently landed himself in some trouble involving a foreign construction worker who had accosted his wife when she was alone in the flat. 

He had spent the day in court and I visited him in his flat. He told me what happened and looked deeply worried. I noticed that his house was in disarray and began to ask about his family situation. His two young boys, one in k2 and the other still in nursery, were bouncing on their rundown sofa as we spoke. He does not hold a steady job and works as a super-relief taxi-driver earning about $80 per day but he does not always get a taxi to drive. Previously he was working as a disaster relief cleaner with long irregular hours. These couple of days, he was not able to get a taxi to drive because many taxis are undergoing repairs. That means he has absolutely no income for the time being.

His pregnant wife was standing beside me as we talked and she brought their unpaid utility bills when I asked to see them. The flat belongs to his parents and his surviving aged mother was alone in a room. I enquired about her as I learned she suffered a stroke three years ago. He invited me to see her and I saw that her room was completely dark. He then switched on the room light and explained to me that his mother was born blind. Huddled in a blanket with a tube inserted into her nose, she was sitting at the edge of her bed and staring in one direction, constantly keeping her body in mild rocking motion. I greeted her and she responded.

He explains that he needed to bring his mother for physiotherapy everyday and she needs a certain medication and a special milk formula for her dyspepsia or a swallowing disorder due to her stroke. These items were costly. I could see that he was too embarrassed to ask for help and sensed his deep inner frustration. He seemed to me at the verge of breaking point, repeatedly trying to force back his tears. 

I arranged for some rations to be brought to his family immediately. A cash cheque for a sum of $150 was presented to him to help him tide over from the founder of Project Awareness Elson Soh. His smile on receiving the cash donation told me that a huge load has just been taken off his shoulders and that he has been pulled back from the brink of a nervous breakdown.

The volunteers will be back on another day to help him clean up his flat which was in a total mess. It was a distress signal that has gone unnoticed for some time and I was glad that we were there in the nick of time. Giving him more assurance that help is always at hand, I arranged for him to see me in my office so that I could help to look into to his legal trouble.

Everyone needs someone. There are people who are suffering quietly and dare not ask for help. Your timely gesture may just bring a ray of hope to someone in desperation.