A group of more than 10 Bukit Timah residents spent their Sunday morning helping to trim some 1.5 hectures of overgrown grass around the Housing Board blocks in Toh Yi.
Many were newcomers – migrant workers who are housed at the former Ngee Ann Polytechnic staff apartments at 90, 92 and 94 Kismis Avenue – who had moved in just two months ago and had hoped to show their appreciation for the warm welcome their new neighbours had given them.
One of them was Mr Natesan Muniaiah, 32, a worker from India who has been in Singapore for eight years. His employer, Woh Hup, had agreed to the initiative, as had King Wan Construction, which employs some of the other workers.
“It is a Sunday, but we are very happy to volunteer to do this as we are living in the area.”
Some 1,030 migrant workers in essential services moved into the apartments in early May. They were greeted with care packs from local residents who have since continued to gift them food and other supplies.
Upon seeing the workers toiling under the sun near her home in Block 8 Toh Yi Drive, residents such as Ms Nancy Tan came out with offerings of water and chilled drinks.
As a survivor of dengue fever, Ms Tan said she was worried that overgrown grass could gather water and become a breeding ground for mosquitoes.
Senior Minister of State Sim Ann shared that the initiative was prioritised especially as the Toh Yi area was a cluster of 22 dengue cases, one of seven clusters in her Bukit Timah ward which together have over 40 cases.
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Source: The Straits Times, 20 July 2020