On 31 May, if you were to go to Lucky Plaza, you’d have thought that a vaccine was found and there’s no need for any more safe distancing.
Unfortunately, a vaccine is still a pipe dream and we’re in Phase One, the “unofficial extension” of CB.
But that did not stop the more than 1,000 Foreign Domestic Workers (FDW) from turning up at Lucky Plaza to send money back to their families.
STB Sent Enforcement Officers Down To The Scene
The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) said that on 31 May, they deployed enforcement officers and more safe distancing ambassadors to keep the crowd in check.
They conducted temperature checks, made sure everyone is following safe distancing rules and perform crowd control duties.
Anyone caught not complying would have been fined or prosecuted, STB added.
Follow us on Telegram for more informative & easy-to-read articles, or download the Goody Feed app for articles you can’t find on Facebook!
FDWs Were There To Remit Money
An FDW spoken to said that she was there to send money back to her family in the Philippines.
She had changed her mobile number recently and couldn’t use the e-remittance service until the system was updated.
It was added that most FDWs are paid at the end of the month and they typically use their rest day on Sunday to send money back to their families.
Some of her friends did not use e-remittance services because they aren’t given Wifi access at their employers’ homes and did not want to exceed their mobile data bundle.
Employers Encouraged To Introduce FDWs to E-Remittance
TranSwap, a home-grown payments platform, launched its e-remittance service for FDWs and their employers on 6 May but the company said adoption rate from FDWs are low.
The Ministry of Manpower had issued an advisory to ask foreign domestic workers to stay home, even on their rest days.
Employers are also encouraged to introduce their FDWs to e-remittance services such as the POSB Jolly mobile application.
FDWs can set up a CDE-POSB payroll account to e-remit their money and first-time customers do not have to pay a minimum deposit.
So if you have a domestic helper at home, you might want to see how you can help her not have to go out of the house and join crowds during the “remittance period”.
To stay in the loop about news in Singapore, you might want to subscribe to our YouTube channel whereby we’d update you about what’s happening here daily:
Would you be jailed for being half-naked in public? Well, the answer will shock you. Seriously. Watch this to the end and you'll understand:
