By Ramesh Subbaraman
This year, the May Day Partnership Awards will recognise and honour exemplary individuals and companies for their breakthroughs and contributions which demonstrated acts of caring for, being fair to and growing with the Singaporean workforce.
One of the recipients for the awards this year is HealthServe, which has been working on the Geylang Food Project, in collaboration with the Migrant Workers’ Centre (MWC).
The project helps distressed and destitute migrant workers from China who are awaiting the outcome of employment claims or who are out of work due to a recovery from an injury.
Geylang is one area where many of them stay.
The Beginnings
According to HealthServe Director Dr Wei-Leong Goh, the Geylang Food Project started nearly ten years ago. It first began with medical consultations for foreign workers in the Geylang area.
Dr Goh, who provided the consultations, said that after the visits some of them would share that they had not eaten for days and that they had no money.
“When I asked them where they get their food, they would tell me they would have to borrow money from their friends. So I began to think, if I just did medicine alone I can’t meet all these needs. That is how we got into a more holistic approach,” said Dr Goh.
The Process
In 2011, HealthServe explored with MWC on ways to provide meals to the affected workers.
“When we got involved, there was a Soup Kitchen for the Indian and Bangladeshi workers. There really wasn’t a solution to the Chinese workers. We wanted to make sure we have a multitude of channels by which workers could reach us so that we could get a complete view of the situation at any one time,” said MWC Executive Director Bernard Menon.
HealthServe’s Manager for Partnership Development Jeffrey Chua explained that while the food project was started mainly for the Chinese workers, they welcome other nationalities to dine there too.
He added that when workers are injured, some companies will cancel their work permits and place them on Special Pass. Those on Special Pass are allowed to have this meal.
The Beneficiaries
Chinese nationals 41-year-old Yang Bin and 38-year-old Ding Yong Bin have been beneficiaries of the Geylang Food Project.
Both of them are out of work due to leg injuries and they found out about HealthServe’s assistance through other friends who had joined the scheme. Both of them gave the project a thumbs up.
HealthServe is dedicating the May Day Model Partnership award to all those who have received their help as it feels each one of them is now its ambassador to spread the word both in Singapore and back in China about the work of the organisation.
