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SINGAPORE – A day after Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong made a special appeal to Singapore’s seniors to stay home during the coronavirus outbreak, many senior citizens were still doing their weekend shopping in the markets on Saturday (April 11).
Elderly shoppers Straits Times spoke to explained that they live alone and are reluctant to ask their children for help running errands, as they may also be susceptible to the coronavirus.
A number said they were taking precautions such as wearing masks and staying away from others, so they didn’t think it was a problem for them to be outside.
At the Ghim Moh Market and Food Center, many customers there at 8 am were elderly people who were shopping alone.
Most older adults wore surgical or cloth masks, although some of them had removed or pulled the masks.
A handful were accompanied by maids, who pushed them in wheelchairs in the market, which did not appear to be too crowded or out of it. Compliance officers were seen on and off the market to guide customers and remind them to keep a safe distance from each other.
Hawkers said older customers often visit the market earlier in the morning, around 6 a.m., when there are fewer people.
Retired Lim Kam Buay, 66, who lives in Dover, was visiting the market with a friend. They were both wearing masks and exercise equipment and had gone to the nearby channel to exercise at 5.30 in the morning before buying groceries.
Madame Lim agreed that older people should stay home, especially those who are very old or have health problems.
“But for us, we are active and have been running every day for 20 years,” he said. “We just went out to exercise, then we bought groceries and started at 5.30 in the morning. At that time it is very quiet and there are not many people.”
She added that she does not want to depend on her children to help them with purchases, since they live in different areas of it. Also, they have their own families to look after and are busier now as they have to take care of their children, who are learning at home.
“Why would I want to disturb you when I am fit and can walk and move alone?”
Similarly, housewife Choo Sue Chuam, 66, said her children live far from her, in Bukit Batok and Punggol, and that they also have to care for their own children.
“It is not practical to ask my children for help. It would not make sense,” said Madam Choo, who added that she wears a mask and tries to complete her activities quickly when she goes out to buy groceries two or three times a day. week.
Public official Adeline Ong, 64, said: “Young people can also be vulnerable to the virus, so we don’t want to send them to do things for us and put them in danger.”
She added that she has stocked her freezer with frozen food so she doesn’t have to go out too often to buy groceries.
Similarly, the retired S. H. Chew, 78, said he still walks and buys food.
“I am not married and I live with my brother and sister, who are also single and elderly, so we have no choice but to go out and buy food for ourselves,” said Chew, who was wearing a surgical mask and had just bought some donuts. of dough to accompany a pot of congee that had been cooked in the morning. Her brother is 67 years old, while her sister is 74.
On Saturday, Prime Minister Lee used part of an online video address on the coronavirus situation to speak directly to the elderly, a group deemed more vulnerable to the virus.
“I am one of you, so I know how you feel. When we are locked up at home, we feel restless and frustrated, “said Prime Minister Lee, 68.” But please understand. We are telling you to stay home for your own safety. Older people are more vulnerable to the virus. If we catch Covid-19, it’s serious business. “
As he had done in previous directions on the outbreak, Prime Minister Lee spoke clearly about the risks: “Our chances of dying are much greater, and if we catch the virus and pass it on to our friends our age, or bring the virus to home”. our families, then we put them in grave danger. “
With the death of an 86-year-old woman announced on Saturday, seven people died in Singapore due to the coronavirus, aged between 64 and 88.
Meanwhile, restrictions were put in place to regulate the movement of visitors to the wet market on Pasir Ris Drive 6. A queue of 25 people had sneaked in around one of the market entrances around 7:30 a.m. Almost everyone who queued outside the market wore a mask, and customers generally kept a safe distance of 1 meter from others.
The queue was fast and people could generally enter the market in 10 minutes. Maintaining a safe distance within the market was more difficult, by observation, although the market was not too congested due to efforts to control the entry of visitors.
Outside the market, there were short lines in front of the food stalls as people kept a safe distance while waiting to buy breakfast.
Retired children’s clothing vendor Audrey Ho, 70, was queuing to buy fried bees for her family at a nearby coffee shop before buying groceries at the market.
“There is a system to restrict the flow of crowds and I am not overly concerned. I take precautions for both the public and my five-year-old grandson,” said Madam Ho, who was wearing a mask.
Other older adults have devised a strategy for their grocery shopping.
Retired Anthony Tam, 62, drags his marketing cart behind him so people don’t follow him too closely.
“I look dirty, but I don’t care. Keep your distance,” he said with a laugh, speaking through his surgical mask on the way home after buying fresh vegetables, pork and eggs from the market.
Tam has been trying to avoid the market, but made the supermarket trip on Saturday because she had run out of fresh food, she said.
“We are not a society that takes frozen food. My daughter lives in the United States and orders things from Costco. But we do not have that culture here,” he said, referring to the American big box retailer.
He noted that it is difficult to maintain a safe distance within the market, as some stalls are more popular, although there are now fewer people due to restrictions on the influx of customers.
A similar scene of crowd management was seen at the Bukit Timah Food Market and Center. The market was closed with duct tape, with only one entry and exit point, but there were no customer queues from 7.30am to 9am.
Officials from the National Environment Agency (NEA) patrolled both the wet market downstairs and the hawker center upstairs.
Several customers who were not wearing masks were allowed in the market. Starting Sunday, those who do not wear masks will be rejected in the 40 NEA-managed markets or NEA-designated operators.
Shoppers who weren’t wearing masks said they had not heard of the new rule, which was announced Saturday night.
Many customers in the market kept a safe distance of 1m and others complied on the few occasions that NEA officials reminded them to do so.
An elderly woman, who declined to be identified, said she visited the market later than usual, at approximately 8:30 a.m., to avoid the crowds. She lives alone and did not want to disturb her children to buy her, she said.
A fishmonger said the market was not as full as Friday, a holiday, adding that he had fewer customers on Saturday than the day before. “I think what Prime Minister Lee said has had an effect. And compared to Saturday mornings during normal business hours, the difference (in business) is like this between heaven and earth,” he said.
Elsewhere in the Marsiling Lane Market and Food Center, it was packed with people not keeping a safe distance of 1m, before compliance officers arrived at 7am to regulate customer entry.
Some older people were seen in the crowd buying vegetables and meat.
At a supermarket in Great World City, it was also crowded, but there were visibly fewer older people in the store than in the wet markets, and many shoppers were younger adults trying to keep their distance from other shoppers.
Meanwhile, the Singapore Botanic Garden was less crowded than usual on Saturday morning, with many visitors consisting of couples or families, few older adults, and no group of people.
Some families played on the grass, but appeared to be from the same home, and law enforcement officers, who patrolled the park, did nothing to stop them.
An officer told ST that he needs to take a photo and update his supervisors on whether there is a crowd every half hour.
Another official, who declined to be named, said many of the gardens’ foreign visitors visit to stroll with families, while locals tend to jog there and not stay long.
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