Tag Archives: COVID 19

Day 01: Covid Positive

After 2 years of Covid-19 pandemic, I have also strike the lottery today. For people with acute respiratory infection (ARI) symptoms like fever, flu or sore throat need to visit a swab and send home (SASH) clinic. The other clinics will not accept you and request you to look for a SASH clinic to see a doctor. You can use the following link to find the SASH Clinic:

https://flu.gowhere.gov.sg

Note: The information is correct as of the posting date. Covid-19 regulations are changing periodically to meet the latest protection for Singapore residents.

COVID-19 POSITIVE HOME BASED RECOVERY DAY 09

My mum is recovering well from Covid-19 with no medical complications. The Silver Generation Office continue to call and check on her medical situation. Her SPO2 remains at above 97%. It is not easily task to isolate in a single room. This is something that the Ministry of Health staffs will not know given there are are more than 3 persons in a household living in either HDB or Condo.

The Home Based Recovery will help the government to save money and avoid additional up front costs. This will ensure that they do not need to draw money on reserves. As for ordinary residents of Singapore, we just need the medical and mental support as we assist our family members to ride through this difficult period.

Today is Day 09, the Discharge Memo had been delivered through SMS. She will be discharge of her Isolation Order tomorrow at 12pm. I encourage the rest of you with family members on HBR to ride through the period with all the support they required.

COVID-19 POSITIVE HOME BASED RECOVERY DAY 06

The doctor had called to check the condition of the Covid-19 patient. My mum condition is stable with cough and phlegm. The SIlver Generation Office has also called in to check on her condition. Multiple government agencies are aware of her condition. Her recovery looks smooth and she is now just 4 days away from ending her isolation order.

My daughter also has high fever after her Covid-19 booster jab. Another patient to take care of my house.

Covid-19 can blood oxygen levels to drop and checking the oxygen saturation (SPO2) can help to detect early signs of deterioration in health. The SPO2 must be above 95% to stay in optimum health condition.

COVID-19 POSITIVE HOME BASED RECOVERY DAY 04

The health buddy call to check on my mother condition. SPO2 level is still above 97% but the cough still persist. The resident committee also send the Care Pack for my mum. The Care Pack consist of face mask, Antigen Rapid Testing (ART), vitamin C, Strepsil and wet wipes. It becomes an opportunity for the MP to show care for their Covid-19 resident.

We cannot don the PPE to care for the patient but only use normal surgical mask. Household members do carry a risk of contracting the virus or spread to the community or colleagues. We are just like the virus transporter which is why the community spread cannot be eliminated,

COVID-19 POSITIVE HOME BASED RECOVERY DAY 03

My mum condition is stable and the SPO2 level is also above 97%. It is not easy for a senior citizen to perform the home based recovery. It means isolating within her room for most of the day.

The Home Base Buddy staff contact me to inquire my mum condition. The staff also provides me a 24 hour contact number for us to call if help is required or any queries on the Home Base Recovery Program.

Home Recovery Program: 6874 4939

Household members with Health Risk Warning (HRW) can leave the house if the Antigen Rapid Testing (ART) is negative. We can still continue with our daily activities and minimize any social interactions.

Covid-19 Positive day 01

My mum had ARI symptoms and visited the NHG Woodlands Polyclinic for assessment. There is a special area to assess these suspect patients. The doctor was in full PPE and access my mum conditions accordingly. She prescribe the medication and arrange for ART and PCR Swab to be carry out.

I did not received the ART result after 30 minutes as mention by the duty staff. The PCR swab positive message was sent in the evening to my phone and my mum.

We immediately isolated her in the room and followed the instruction listed on the sms.

Air purifiers

Most of HDB owners will have a air purifier in their house since the out break of haze or COVID-19. The sale of these equipment is expected to peak in the coming weeks.

Tan Tock Seng Hospital is also installing the air purifier in every cubicle of the hospital wards. Facility Management across all hospitals and buildings must share knowledge and resources to work together to bring the COVID-19 under control.

Enhanced SHN

Due to the new Covid 19 strain from UK and South Africa, the border restriction at Singapore is tighter. You now have to undertake 14 days of stay home notice (SHN) at dedicated government facilities plus an additional 7 days of SHN at your place of residence. This is going to affect salary workers as it will wipe out all your leave.

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/all-travellers-need-to-take-pcr-test-upon-arrival-in-singapore?utm_campaign=stfb&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR13fZarK9CI0SzzEWUAV0IiQ4YN3QWhnVJr8pp6KlMEav662ZLR_SBKn5s

Quarantine Malaysia 24 July 2020

Extracted from FB
LATEST UPDATE: PROCEDURE FOR 14 DAYS MANDATORY QUARANTINE AT QUARANTINE CENTRE IN MALAYSIA EFFECTIVE 24 JULY 2020 (BY AIR AND LAND)

1) Download the Letter of Undertaking (LoU) from any of these websites:

  • www.kln.gov.my / www.nadma.gov.my / www.imi.gov.my / www.moh.gov.my / www.mot.gov.my / www.motac.gov.my

2) Email the LoU to High Commission of Malaysia in Singapore at stmsg@mhc.org.sg three (3) days before travel date. In the email, please state your name, passport and date of travel (and your dependants as well).
*for those who travel on 24, 25 and 26 July 2020, please email the LoU today.

3) If a child is 18 years of age and above, he/she must sign a separate LoU. Wife/husband and father/mother is also required to sign a separate LoU.

4) Travel Note will be issued by the High Commission of Malaysia in Singapore via email to the applicant.

5) Present the Travel Note to airlines / Immigration Malaysia (before travel and upon arrival).

*Please note that the Travel Note is NOT A GUARANTEE LETTER TO ENTER MALAYSIA. It is only an agreement to bear the cost of quarantine at the quarantine centre. Entry to Malaysia is still subject to the immigration rules and regulations which can be referred to the Immigration Department website at www.imi.gov.my or +603-8888 2010.

6) Don’t forget to download the MySejahtera apps.

7) It is not compulsory to do the COVID-19 swab test three (3) days before travel as well as the Fit to Travel letter. Swab test will be done once you arrived in Malaysia.

8) For swab test and quarantine procedure in Malaysia, please refer to the attached flow chart.

Thanks and stay safe,

High Commission of Malaysia
SINGAPORE

Lesson on Ge2020

The GE2020 are over and PAP had formed the government with 83 seats and 10 seats went to the opposition. WP had raised the occasion and apologised for their team mate in SengKang. Singaporean accepted it and put their decisive vote to send WP into the parliament.

The below is an extract from Violet Lim from Lunch Actually who share her view on the life lesson learn from this GE2020.

[7 Business and Life Lessons Learnt from GE2020]

Last night, as a first time voter, it was exciting watching the results come in last night knowing that I have done my civic duty.

This morning, as I woke up and reflected, I realised that there are many life and business lessons to be learnt from this general election.

== 1. What got you here will not get you there.

It’s important to stay relevant and change the playbook regularly. Just because it has worked for 30, 40 and 50 years does not mean that it will work for the future. We are dealing with people with different life experiences, at different life stages, who have different reference points. If we keep repeating the same old formula, we will just be stuck at the same spot or worse, decline.

I have learnt this the hard way and I am now conscious that I have to constantly revisit my business strategy, my team composition and even my execution plan to make sure I stay relevant.

== 2. It is ok to admit your mistake and say “I’m sorry!”

People are looking for leaders who are willing to take responsibility and accountability. I have learnt that if I have made a mistake, the best thing to do is to come out and say, “I am wrong, I can do better, let me fix it.” Even when I did not make the mistake and someone in my team did, it has worked best when I said, “I apologise on his/her behalf. Let me look into this urgently. I will do my best to solve the problem ASAP.”

If you throw your team member under the bus, it looks bad both externally and internally. We all want leaders who have our back, not leaders who leave us to fend for ourselves in times of trouble.

== 3. If you work hard, you truly care and you are genuine, it pays off.

Tin Pei Ling won with one of the biggest margins. And she totally deserved the win. Some might say it’s because she was not going against WP or PSP. However, I am confident even if she has gone against one of these 2, she would still have done well. Why? Because she has worked the ground for many years, she is sincere, she has given not just 100% but a lot more. Her constituency knows this, loves her and rewarded her for it. The same effect is observed at the single member constituencies (SMCs) helmed by Grace Fu, Patrick Tay and Lim Biow Chuan.

== 4. Optics and presentation matters.

Heng Swee Keat is highly intelligent, has done well as finance minister and is probably one of the best men if not the best man to plan and execute the Singapore’s 5 years plan, 10 years plan, 20 years plan. Unfortunately, with his Parliamentary debate against WP and his recent nomination speech about the East Coast Plan, many are now concerned about him representing Singapore on a global stage.

Is it fair? Probably not. But fairly or unfairly, optics and presentation matters.

I was so impressed by Ong Ye Kung’s TV debate in Mandarin that I have been inspired to spend more time brushing up on my Mandarin so that I can one day converse at that level. I was equally blown away by Vivian Balakrishnan’s masterful debating skills and he came across as a wise, measured and respected statesman.

And look at Jamus Lim. His 60 mins of fame on national TV where he showcased his intelligence, quick wit and debating skills is probably one of the key contributing factors that tipped the swing voters over. And that has helped the WP team win Sengkang GRC and warmed the cockles of their hearts.

== 5. Strong storytelling makes a difference.

Have you watched Nicole Seah’s video about her making her own Teh C Kosong? If you have not, I highly recommend you do. The video was well-executed from the start to the end – the messaging, the pace, the cinematography, the script. I was emotionally engaged right from the start. Did it make me warm up to Nicole and know her better as a person? Definitely!

WP has done a remarkable job with their videos as compared to many of the campaigning videos that have been painstakingly put together but are often mind-numbingly boring which I admittedly switched off after the first 10 seconds.

== 6. Give people what they want.

The ground wants Tharman as PM. The PAP supporters want him. The opposition supporters want him. The cab drivers I have spoken to want him too. This is reflected in his constituency winning with one of the highest margins in this and last election.

I understand that we cannot become a populist government who panders to the citizens’ every whim and fancy. However, the people’s choice of Tharman as PM is not unsound or unwarranted for. Similar to the sentiments shared by many, I too believe that PAP would probably have a much better showing in this election if Tharman is the PM in waiting.

== 7. Have a clear strategy and a compelling message and stick to it.

My last lesson learnt and perhaps the most important one. Hats off to Low Thia Khiang, Pritam Singh and their team for their clear strategy and compelling message. First World Parliament (2011) followed by Do Not Give Them a Blank Cheque (2020) is brilliant. It is something that PAP can never fight against effectively. And it is a compelling message that would sway the 30-40% swing voters. The 12 NCMP seats for the opposition even though well-intended simply does not inspire and does not sway votes.

WP had a crystal clear strategy and the team just kept hitting the same message over and over again like a broken record. And of course it worked like a charm!


Now that GE 2020 is done and dusted, whether we are PAP or opposition supporters, let us all close ranks and work together as Singaporeans. To build a Singapore that we will be proud of to pass on to our children.

Majulah Singapura! ??

Both the PAP and WP shall work together to guide Singapore out of Covid 19 and revived the economy. The government must daring to admit their mistake and say SORRY. We are not perfect but will learned from it.

BCA COVID Safe restart

Many companies especially non-construction sector may have been overload with the procedures to restart. You will still need to apply with BCA if you have work permit holders (WPH) tag to construction category. Your company maybe in a non-construction sector but yet you may have many work permit holders tagged to the construction category.

Please do not ignore else your operations will be disrupted if your WPH access code turn red and may not go to work. Visit BCA website to read up the FAQ and restart criteria.

I will share with you the BCA webinar link which was conducted recently to exchange information with the industry peoples.

https://www.bcaa.edu.sg/covidsafe

Stay safe and ensure you comply to the latest regulation so that your operations will not be disrupted. If WPH access code turn red on any working days, this will have a big impact to your business operations. You need to be ready so that your business continuity plan will work during the COVID 19.

Work from home a reality?

The COVID 19 had proven that work from home (WFH) can be a reality for many companies in Singapore or globally. This is going to challenge the management to change the way we work. But are the company ready for this CHANGE?

The company has setup the available resources to ensure that employees can work from home effectively. One of the critical resources is to have the company data available on cloud services. Many companies in Singapore had subscribed to Google services by storing their data on My Drive. But there are company who are sceptical on the security of their data.

In fact, during this WFH we need to pay our own utility in order to support our work activity. This means that we will not be able to recoup this cost from the company even though this cost is minimum.

The company also need to pay for teleconference account in order to ensure workers can meet virtually. This is only required for those meetings that will run more than 40 minutes or above. For meeting, less than 40 minutes it is generally free for all users. Hence, this is easily solve for WFH workers.

Like I say not all companies are ready. Healthcare sector is one of them where data are stored on their own cloud network instead of third party service providers. These workers will not have access to the intranet data when they are working at home. Thus, it is more difficult for them to work effectively. They will need to synchronised their data when they are back at work.

Singapore to Malaysia during mco

I am sharing another experience by FB, Loh Hor Leong where he travel from Singapore to Malaysia during the movement control order (MCO).

Sharing my detailed walkthrough and info during my way back today, from Sg to Msia. Hope it can use as a guide and help for those going to travel back soon.

?Documents required:
A) Hicom letter – print or screen shot.
B) Passport & Msia IC.
C¹) Work Permit, Company letter & Exit Declaration (home leave).
C²) Company letter & Exit Declaration (resigned).
C³) SPR IC
D¹) For your own convenient and faster process at certain counters, best prepare this on a paper (written/print):

  • Msia local address (place to go after quarantine)
  • your phone no.
  • emergency contact phone no, name, ic & address (if different)
  • company name, phone & address
  • address of place of stay in Sg (hotel/house)
    E) ✍️Bring along a pen ! (optional)

?Departure from Singapore:

  • [7:40am] Enter departure hall officer will check for passport/WP/SPR/Hicom letter.
  • proceed for immigration counter(WP)/thumbprint(SPR)

?Crossing the Causeway [7:50am]:

  • try go early as the sun? is not too hot and less crowd.
    (Can check-in hotel early & less waiting time)
  • ?bring enough water.
  • if can, bring less luggage.
    (you need to lift it when walk the stair and a long uphill walk home).
  • ?make sure your luggage wheel still in tip top condition.
    (saw many broken wheel on the way back).

?Arriving Malaysia (standby all documents):
1) [8:30am] 1st counter Saringan – ??temperature check & update your local address and phone contact (self and emergency contact).

2) 2nd counter – Imigresen check and update on passport.?

3) 3rd counter – KKM. Confirm your local address and advice to quarantine. * Here they will only keep your passport.

4) 4th counter – ? Kastam check bag and luggage.

5) [8:50am] Go to holding zone wait for transfer.

  • Here you can request with the official-in-charge to go buy things at kastam mini mart (snack, drink, roti, rokok?). Need to give them your IC as safe keeping.
  • ? [9:30am] Get passport by batch and take bus transfer to Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies Johor (Marsah) beside Johor Zoo. (All sit individually in bus, max: 22persons).

6) [9:50am] arrived and need to fill up registration form (at Marsah) and wait for bus transfer to hotel.
*saw the 1stq batch bus transfer to hotel at 10:20am.

7) ? [11:20am] Me on 2nd batch transfer to designated hotel. (All sit individually in bus, max 22persons).

8) ? [11:45am] Arrived at hotel. Briefing by KKM staff ⛑️ and hotel manager ??‍?. Bag and luggage disinfection by frontliner.

  • Fill up personal health declaration and contact form.
  • Temperature check and attend by doctor ??‍⚕️.
  • After done, take room card key (and lunch).
  • Check-in self quarantine room for 14days.

9) This final step is the most important & that everyone will do. Time to update friends and families on your hotel stay. *Until lunch pun lupa makan!??‍♂️

??‍♂️Lastly not forgotten, salute to all the frontliners. As what I’m going through on each process & location, they have done it diligently & professionally.?

(Disclaimer: I share whatever I have see & experienced, but no guarantee it will be same as yours).

staysafe #stayhealthy #ThanksToAllFrontliner

15 days to end of circuit breaker

15 days more to the end of the circuit break. The COVID 19 community infection had drop to less than 10 cases ove rthe past weeks. Dormority infection had been controlled with the swab isolation facility used to test the workers. They will be transfer to the community care facility to recover as most of them are healthy.

We are going to come to an end of the circuit breaker. But we must not let down out defences as the infection of this disease is high. Let’s us continue to wear our mask and safe distancing. This will ensure we can start to recover our economy in the most safe manner .

Let’s all of us stay prepare as this COVID 19 is not going to end overnight unlike SARS. The world shall eliminate this disease if we work together as a global team.

Great eastern insurance update

Dear Client, it has been a while since we caught up. Hope you and your family are safe and coping well with the current circuit breaker extension. Just to let you know that you are not alone and below is what GE is currently helping with for our policyholders:

  1. Covid-19 Customer Care Fund https://sbr.com.sg/financial-services/news/great-eastern-supplement-customers-insurance-amidst-covid-19
  2. Reassuring you on your Coverages and Benefits of your existing Great Eastern policies admist Covid-19 situation
    https://www.greateasternlife.com/sg/en/personal-insurance/our-promotions-and-events/2020/coronavirus-coverage/benefits-and-coverage.html
  3. COVID-19 Deferment of Premium Payment Programme https://www.greateasternlife.com/sg/en/about-us/media-centre/media-releases/great-eastern-extends-a-six-month-grace-period-for-premium-payme/six-month-grace-period-for-premium-payment.html

Stay safe and healthy during this difficult time and should you have any enquiry on your current insurance or financial Services or updates, i am only a phone call or message away.

Sharing from my GE Agent, Shi Ying

Stay home and do our part so that the circuit breaker will end in June 2020.

Cicuit Breaker Day 15

The number of infected patients had maintain at above 1,000 cases for the past 2 days. This had trigger the task force and the SIngapore Prime Minister to take on drastic measures.

The Circuit Breaker had been extended to 01 Jun (inclusive). This include more drastic measure and tightening of essential services.

The circuit breaker had been further extended to 01 Jun (inclusive) and going to affect the livihood of more people with more business going to close down. This is really a historic moment that we always remember in our life.

Circuit breaker day 11

The trains had increased their frequency during the peak hours which is a bad move. This represent how the government and train companies senior management are out of the touch with the grounds. The increase of frequency should only be after peak hours where the passenger traffic are thin. This lead to the breaking of the safe distancing on the train today. Prior to today, safe distancing can be maintain on trains during peak hours.

Circuit Breaker Day 09

I have completed my night duty officer at the hospital command centre. We are still seeing three digits growth for the COVID 19. Ever since after my national service, this is my duty to serving Singapore once again. I am a Facilities Management staff in the hospital and together with my other colleagues, we play a critical part in this battle. We are scare just like others but I look forward to working there to help the community.

I am able to have the luxury to find seat on the train ever since the start of the circuit breaker. There is no issue of locating a seat even with social distancing on off peak hours. Anywhere the train will be increasing its frequency due to the drop in the ridership.

After the circuit breaker end, there will be a strain on the system if we continue need to practice social distancing on the train. With this rate, trains frequency need to shorten to 2 minute in order to meet the passengers demand.

Circuit Breaker Day 06

Everyone have started to get use to the safe distancing to get access to the supermarket and wet market. You also need to don a mask in order to enter it or get rejected from entering it. The rules will be follow by the obedient residents generally. But there is a small portion of people who always want to challenge or override the rule. Hence, in Singapore the government always made it into a law to ensure people follow.

There is an issue on the eating allowable places for essential staffs on the move especially in hospital. There is no sufficient pantry to cater to the huge amount of staffs to take a meal at a safe distancing of 1 metres. We need to spill these staffs to open areas with chair at a distance of 1 metres. FM will innovate and create short term dinning places for our frontline staffs to enjoy their meal during their break.

FM always try our best to help our frontline staffs to solve the backend issues so that they have more time to concentrate on fighting the COVID 19. We may not get the honour after this pandemic end as FM is just one of the backend support group working silently. But this is our national duty especially for local helming the fort.

An update of today situation in Singapore battle grounds:

[Sent by Gov.sg]

COVID-19: 12 Apr update

New cases: 233

– Imported: 0

– Local cases (linked): 66 (linked to known clusters/cases)

– Pending contact tracing: 167 (16 are S’pore citizens/PRs; 10 are Work Pass/Long Term Pass holders; 141 are Work Permit holders mostly residing in dorms, work sites)

Total cases: 2,532

– Hospitalised: 976 (31 in ICU)

– In community facilities: 988

– Fatalities: 8

– Total discharged: 560 (Discharged today: 32)

More: go.gov.sg/moh12apr

Help our contact tracers

?? Keep your taxi receipts for one month to help identify close contacts, should you or your driver get infected

? Download TraceTogether App to help determine if you’ve been exposed to the virus, even between strangers. Make sure the app is active when you go out, esp in meetings and crowded places.

More: Go.gov.sg/tracetogether

It is everyone duty to do safe distancing and stay at home to fight the COVID 19. Let us do our part for the total defence in Singapore.