Coronavirus pandemic

Thanking town council cleaners with kindness packs

Cleaners from Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC with their Raya Kindness Packs. The packs, containing items like festive cookies and a thermal bag, were also given to cleaners in Tanjong Pagar GRC and Jalan Besar GRC.
Cleaners from Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC with their Raya Kindness Packs. The packs, containing items like festive cookies and a thermal bag, were also given to cleaners in Tanjong Pagar GRC and Jalan Besar GRC. PHOTO: COURTESY OF ROSES OF PEACE

In an effort to thank town council cleaners for keeping the community clean amid the Covid-19 outbreak, two groups banded together to distribute appreciation packs ahead of Hari Raya Puasa.

Interfaith organisation Roses of Peace and youth ground-up initiative IM Collective came up with the Raya Kindness Pack initiative last week and gathered enough resources to put together 1,000 packs.

The packs were distributed over the past week to town council cleaners in Tanjong Pagar GRC, Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC and Jalan Besar GRC.

Roses of Peace founder and president Mohamed Irshad said: "There is a sizeable number working as cleaners day to day and on the front line, but not as much is being done for them."

In the spirit of Hari Raya, items such as festive cookies, murukku and biscuits were included.

Each pack also contained a thermal bag, a T-shirt with a Singapore-themed design, a towel, a sarong as well as a roll-on perfume.

Mr Irshad, who is also a Nominated MP, added that the vast majority of cleaners are Bangladeshi, but the packs were given out regardless of race or religion.

"I hope the Raya Kindness Pack will bring festive cheer and a morale boost to our essential front-line cleaners in various town councils. Our cleaners are our unsung heroes," he said.

The items were funded by Our Singapore Fund under the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, as well as the Singapore Kindness Movement and religious education outfit SimplyIslam. Our Singapore Fund, announced in 2016, supports projects in the social and community domains initiated by citizens.

"This is an important period for us to show our support and gratitude towards our migrant workers, who will be spending this festive period in a very different way this year," said IM Collective president Fahima Farha.

"We hope the kindness packs will put a smile on their faces, making them feel more appreciated for all their hard work in building Singapore and keeping it clean and green."

One cleaner, Mr Hossain Nazir, 37, said he was thankful for the kindness pack and that he liked the T-shirt in particular.

Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.

A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on May 25, 2020, with the headline Thanking town council cleaners with kindness packs. Subscribe