A volunteer from the non-profit organization Helping Joy checks on the elderly poor to assist with home tasks, January 22, 2021. Photo: ©Grace Baey

Photo Essay Top News

WHO CARES? COVID-19 DIVIDES IN SOUTHEAST ASIA (Singapore)

By Prof. Dr. Rosalia Sciortino / November 5, 2023
LinkedInPinShares12

One of the richest countries in the world, Singapore gained the reputation of being the “Best Place to be during COVID-19” as an exemplar of administrative efficiency, invested resources and decisiveness. This success, however, did not benefit everybody in equal measure, with low-income people, especially elderly citizens, and migrants excluded from such support

For more than two years and irrespective of their COVID-19 infection status, over 300,000 migrant workers were isolated in their dormitories and subjected to movement restrictions distinct from that of the general population.

Given their often low-paid jobs in the service sector, the elderly working poor also were particularly vulnerable. Furthermore, no support was provided to non-citizen groups, including a majority of generally “unlicensed” entertainment and sex-workers who had no sources of incomes after the closure of karaoke lounges and other venues.

These and other double standards and social protection gaps, were highlighted by non-profit groups and the services which they provided to alleviate widespread needs, but to this day, they still remain to be addressed at the policy level.

Empty streets during the lock down, commonly referred to in Singapore as ‘the circuit breaker’, April 3, 2020.
Photo: ©Grace Baey
The opposition Workers´ Party celebration at Hougang after gaining seats in the Singapore General Elections held during the COVID-19 pandemic, July 11, 2020.
Photo: ©Grace Baey
Tables wrapped up in plastic at the Tekka Market hawker center point to Singapore’s tightening restrictions on mobility during the lockdown, May 16, 2020.
Photo: ©Grace Baey
Cochrane Lodge II, a dormitory for migrant workers on the outskirts of Singapore, is designated as an isolation facility in April 2020.
Photo: ©Grace Baey
Dormitories for migrant workers are sealed off during the COVID-19 pandemic, April 15, 2020.
Photo: ©Grace Baey
The non-profit organization HealthServe runs outreach efforts at designated recreation centres in the proximity of large-scale dormitories for migrant workers, January 22, 2022.
Photo: ©Grace Baey
Migrants isolated in the Cochrane Lodge II dormitory, February 28, 2022.
Photo: ©Grace Baey
Staff members at a Project X Community Drop-In Centre that provides support to sex and entertainment workers severely impacted by COVID-19. Social distancing restrictions and the closure of karaoke and entertainment lounges intensified the already difficult living conditions which many faced as informal sector workers and migrants excluded from social protection and which lasted beyond the lifting of restrictions in early 2022, March 2, 2022.
Photo: ©Grace Baey

This photo essay is part of the photo exhibition “Who Cares? COVID-19 Divides in Southeast Asia”, organized by SEA-Junction and the Institute for Population and Social Research (IPSR) of Mahidol University, in partnership with the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation, the National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT), Silkworm, Khon Thai 4.0 and Bangkok Tribune. (The exhibition is on display from 17 October to 12 November 2023| Curved Wall, 3rd Floor, BACC). For more details, check out at http://seajunction.org/event/photo-exhibition-who-cares-covid-19-divides-in-southeast-asia and https://bkktribune.com/photo-exhibition-who-cares-covid-19-divides-in-southeast-asia/

LinkedInPinShares12