Students and staff band together to support the university community
by Junn Loh
Tristan Goh is on a mission to deliver meals to students on a leave of absence because of the novel coronavirus situation. He says he wants “to make a statement”, as he sees it.
“There are plenty of misconceptions surrounding the virus, like how those on a leave of absence are all virus-carrying and must be shunned. But they are not high-risk. By doing this, I’m showing that we’re all the same – we’re all humans,” says the second-year student at the National Institute of Education.
He had just returned from his Lunar New Year break. “I saw how people would keep a distance the moment they heard someone speaking in Chinese at malls and markets in Bangkok,” says the 23-year-old, who is also President of the Trainee Teachers’ Club.
“I didn’t want to see the same happen in NTU. After all, we are an international community.”
He is not alone. An army of student volunteers have been taking turns delivering three meals a day to affected students living on campus.
The 14-day leave of absence is mandatory for NTU students and employees with recent travel history to China and is part of precautionary measures to stem the spread of the virus. The actions of the students have not gone unnoticed.
Both National Development Minister Lawrence Wong and Education Minister Ong Ye Kung lauded the kind gesture, with Mr Wong calling it the “Singapore Spirit” that would enable the country to prevail against the virus. Mr Ong, meanwhile, joined students in delivering welfare and food packs on 3 February. NTU’s leadership team also lent their support to the students.
“I was pleasantly surprised to see so many students step forward to take time out of their busy schedules to volunteer,” says Cheng Si Min, a third-year Art, Design & Media student.
The initiative, which started with only a handful of students in the first week, gained momentum quickly, and received close to 100 sign-ups on Telegram by the second week.
“We know it doesn’t really feel good and it can get lonely staying in the room. So we hope to at least bring some cheer by taking care of their meals during this time,” says Si Min.
It’s really not just about filling bellies this period, but warming hearts too.
This story was published in the Jan-Feb 2020 issue of HEY!. To read it and other stories from this issue in print, click here.
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