For the past three years, Madam Mai Thi Thien Thanh and her 50-year-old husband Kang Eng Hiang – a couple who run a small stall at Geylang Serai Market – have opened their modest Marsiling Housing Board flat to Vietnamese families with children who are seeking medical help here. They even provide them with home-cooked Vietnamese meals.
And all for free.
“Some come to Singapore for treatment, even though they are not sure where they are going to stay or how they are going to get by,” the 35-year-old, who is a Singapore permanent resident, said in Vietnamese. “But they don’t have a choice. If not, their kids might die.”
Madam Thien Thanh decided to open the doors of her home in 2015 after realising that these families have nowhere else to go.
Since then, Vietnamese families facing similar dilemmas have sought her help through social media.
“It is expensive for them to have treatment here and many don’t have enough money to stay in a hotel for long. If we can help, why not?” said Madam Thien Thanh, who moved here from Vietnam’s Ba Ria province after marrying her Singaporean husband 10 years ago.
Over the years, the eighth-floor flat has become a shelter for at least 60 Vietnamese families who have stayed for periods from a few days to a couple of months.
Most arrive with children who need treatment for cancer, eye complications or brain abnormalities.
Madam Thien Thanh cooks Vietnamese comfort food for her guests while her children, aged seven and 10, help to look after the other kids, even comforting crying babies.
Her family occupies one bedroom while visitors sleep on thin mattresses in the rest of the flat.
Madam Thien Thanh and her husband dip into their own savings to house their guests.
The couple work six days a week, collecting fresh seafood at Jurong as early as 5am before selling it at Geylang Serai market.
After closing the stall at 1pm, Madam Thien Thanh visits the children who are warded in hospital. “Sometimes, I feel tired. But I can’t stop, because they need my help,” she said.
“I just hope to help as many children as possible.”
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Source: The Straits Times, 10 December 2018