Bukit Merah Hawkers & Shops to Receive $250 Cash After Their Businesses Were Affected by TB Screening

If you didn’t already know, Bukit Merah recently underwent a mass tuberculosis screening after several active tuberculosis infections emerged in the Bukit Merah area.

As a result of the screening, most started avoiding the area — even more than you’d try to avoid your ex. And, of course, with reduced human traffic, hawkers and shops in the Bukit Merah area saw a drop in their businesses.

The good news is this: affected businesses will receive $250 in cash assistance.

$250 Cash Assistance for Businesses in Bukit Merah Affected By MOH Tuberculosis Screening

On 16 February (Friday), Eric Chua Swee Leong, Member of Parliament (MP) for Tanjong Pagar GRC (which includes the affected area), shared that a one-off grant will be given to businesses affected by the recent tuberculosis screening.

Specifically, a $250 cash grant will be given to stalls at ABC Brickworks Market and Food Centre and shops at Blocks 1, 2 and 7 Jalan Bukit Merah, whose businesses have been affected by the screening.

Blocks 1, 2 and 7… Hmm, it looks like it’s time to buy Toto.

The cash grant, a joint effort by the Queenstown Citizens Consultative Committee and the Central Singapore Community Development Council, will be disbursed by the end of February.

Discussions on rental and conservancy rebates for affected businesses are also in the works.

Drastic Fall in Business Since Tuberculosis Screening

It’s not difficult to scare Singaporeans into avoiding a place.

COVID-19 cluster? Avoid.

Ex-girlfriend’s house? Avoid.

Area being screened for tuberculosis? Avoid.

When the tuberculosis screening was announced earlier in January, for fear of being infected, many Singaporeans started to avoid the Bukit Merah area — ABC Brickworks Food Centre, for one.

Thanks to that, business dropped drastically, with one particular hawker at a braised duck rice stall at ABC Brickworks sharing that business fell by up to 50%.

Not very heng, ong, huat.

Even with the conclusion of the tuberculosis screening, hawkers and shop operators report that business is still not where it used to be.

A kueh stall owner at ABC Brickworks shared that only 10% of the stalls at the food centre still had queues.

Ignorance about How Tuberculosis Works

One of the critical reasons for the drop in business appears to be a complete misunderstanding of how tuberculosis works. In other words, certain Singaporeans’ ignorance.

So, let’s dispel some misunderstandings, shall we?

Tuberculosis is only a problem if the tuberculosis bacteria is active. This means it’ll be an infectious case and must be appropriately treated.

However, you’ll often find that tuberculosis infections are latent — meaning that the bacteria are not active and you’re not infectious.

Out of the approximately 2,500 people screened at the Bukit Merah tuberculosis screenings, only two were infectious cases. On the other hand, 322 people were diagnosed with latent tuberculosis infection — meaning they were not infectious and could not spread the disease.

This means that there actually isn’t much to worry about if you visit ABC Brickworks to makan. You likely won’t catch an infectious case of tuberculosis.

Goody Feed’s Blue Cat explains it in greater detail in this video: