Mr Aloysius Lee used to only transport passengers for Grab, but with more people staying at home because of the coronavirus, he joined the firm’s food and parcel delivery services in April.
The 33-year-old is also a driver for GrabCare, a service dedicated to ferrying healthcare professionals to and from hospitals.
Congenitally deaf, Mr Lee communicates with passengers by typing on a screen or through simple gestures. This has led to heart-warming moments, such as when he ferried a nurse from near Singapore General Hospital to Woodlands.
“When we reached her destination, her husband came down and gave me a can of orange juice,” he recalls. “They thanked me using sign language, and the nurse also lipped ‘Have a safe drive!’.
His decision to ferry healthcare staff has put him close to the front line of Singapore’s COVID-19 efforts, but he says he is not worried, as the nurses and doctors he drives “are professionals and know how to best keep themselves and the people around them safe”.
As he lives with his elderly parents, aged 61 and 64, Mr Lee makes sure to practise contactless pickup and delivery for food and parcels. He also takes his temperature and regularly sanitises his hands.
He says he has received more tips from passengers during this period, despite the general economic hardship.
“Singaporeans are much more appreciative of the little things now. I know friends who do food deliveries who receive food and drinks from customers. I hope this appreciation for our job continues, even as we go back to normal.”
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Source: The Straits Times, 9 August 2020