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SINGAPORE: Corporal (NS) Muhammad Sufian Supardi was overseeing COVID-19 swabbing operations in the Blue Stars bedroom in June when he received a phone call from his pregnant wife.
He had expected the call, but the message was a surprise.
“He told me that the doctor said that the baby is in good health and that everything is fine,” recalled the 27-year-old.
“And she said, ‘Guess what? We’re going to have a girl. ‘ I was surprised, shocked and happy at the same time. “
Corporal (NS) Muhammad Sufian Supardi volunteered to be part of the FAST team deployed to the Blue Stars dormitory.
Normally, CPL Sufian could have been with his wife at the checkup.
But the member of the National Police Service (PNSman) decided to stay temporarily away from his family for health and safety reasons, given that he had responded to the call of volunteers to be part of a Forward Assurance & Support Team (FAST) in the bedroom.
“Sometimes I felt like I was away from my family and maybe she needs me and I need her to be there,” said CPL Sufian. “But when I think and relax (reminding myself) … that this situation will not last that long.”
READ: The long and challenging journey to control COVID-19 in migrant worker dormitories
FAST teams, comprised of officers from the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and the National Team, were established and deployed to migrant workers’ dormitories in early April as the cases of COVID-19 in those homes increased.
The Home Team, in particular, oversaw the management of 21 purpose-built dormitories and two settling sites that housed more than 160,000 migrant workers. Their duties include serving the essential needs of workers, implementing safe living measures and facilitating testing.
“(It’s) something new and I wanted to learn more about it and do my best to contribute,” said CPL Sufian, who works as a coach.
“I am the type of person who loves to face challenges. My mind was like, okay, this is something I can contribute to, what I can do to help the people there … So I didn’t think so much and I did “
With the creation of MOM’s Assurance, Care and Engagement (ACE) group, Home Team officers withdrew from their deployment on Tuesday (September 15).
READ: New MOM division to support migrant workers, dormitory operators
READ: How MOM’s New ACE Group Tries to Fight COVID-19 Infections in Previously Cleared Bedrooms
During the 50 days that CPL Sufian was involved in the operations of the FAST team, he returned home once a week for a few hours, but made sure not to have physical contact with his loved ones.
Her mother-in-law is a dialysis patient.
“For her (my wife), health is also important, because she knows that it is not only her, but also her mother. So she agrees with what I did, ”said CPL Sufian.
“She was a bit sad, but as time went by, she got used to it and was very supportive … She could understand that this is something that once in a lifetime could contribute to the nation. So, she was okay with that. “
‘PHYSICAL AND MENTALLY CHALLENGE’
Station Inspector (SI) Sheik Ismail Mohamed Ashad was part of a different FAST team deployed to dormitory S11 @ Punggol, which was Singapore’s largest COVID-19 group.
“Sometime in early April, my management informed me that they needed volunteers for COVID-19 related operations in the dormitories. And I thought it would be voluntary because it was a national crisis and I wanted to do my part, ”he said.
“I understood the health risk… (also) considering the fact that I am staying with my parents and they are elderly, and that I may have the possibility of contracting the virus and transmitting it to my closest relatives at home.
“But I also thought I needed to do this, because I felt the urgency that this is something that I must do for the nation.”
The Station Inspector (SI), Sheikh Ismail Mohamed Ashad, was sent to dormitory S11 in Punggol after volunteering to be part of the FAST team.
Describing the job as “physically and mentally challenging”, SI Ismail recalled how things weren’t easy in the initial stages.
“The first weeks were quite exhausting because we had to work long hours, sometimes up to 16 hours every day until we had more men join us. And then we started working in shifts, one day on work and one day off. “
Since he could speak Tamil, SI Ismail was able to connect with some of the workers.
“I felt like I could earn their trust … (During) my deployment, I could see more and more workers coming up to me and telling me about their problems and concerns and what help they needed,” said SI Ismail.
READ: COVID 19: No increase in number of migrant worker suicides, says MOM
Some of the workers’ concerns included salary issues and their job prospects, he added.
“They are concerned if they would continue to work in Singapore, because … no one knows what is going to happen and when they will start working again,” said SI Ismail.
“There are companies that close and everything, they have doubts about whether they will be able to work, whether they will be able to return to their country and they are also worried about their relatives.”
SI Ismail was also able to draw on his experience as a Senior Investigative Officer in the Singapore Police Department of Business Affairs when he assisted a worker who fell victim to a bank phishing scam.
Having spent a total of about three months for two stints as a member of the FAST team in dorm S11, SI Ismail considers some of the workers there as friends.
“I am still in contact with some workers. Even last week, one of them called me just to see how I was and to tell me how you are, and he was telling me how things are, ”he said.
One particular case that remains close to SI Ismail’s heart was when a migrant worker gave the team some Bangladeshi sweets at Hari Raya Haji.
Said SI Ismail: “It was very moving, it made me feel that people appreciate the effort we have been doing there.”
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