Each day in the past week, I watched with trepidation what is happening across the South China Sea in Singapore. It was a disaster waiting to happen where migrant workers live in crowded dormitories and the infectious disease spreads like wild fire. I was sorely disappointed with the PM's speech yesterday implying that the "locals" (Singaporeans and Permanent Residents) are still fine with limited cases (less than 50 cases a day) with the majority of Covid-19 cases affecting the migrant workers. The distinction between so-called "locals" and "migrant workers" is too much to stomach and fathom in a public health crisis.
Everyone who resides in Singapore legally has certain rights of protection, including protection from contagious disease. When one knows that within crowded quarters of 8 to 12 people a room (generally poor living conditions) that it is impossible to enforce social distancing and that it is recipe for disaster as we are seeing it today. Action should have been taken much earlier to alleviate the problem of crowded accommodation, perhaps as early as mid-February when the first migrant worker was infected with Covid-19. There must be justice for migrant workers in Singapore and everywhere in the world. Their lives are just as precious as anyone else's and saying or thinking otherwise is simply discrimination at its worst that is costing lives and putting into peril the health of thousands.
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