As Singapore battles the Covid-19 outbreak, TODAY’s Heroes Unmasked series highlights those who are doing their bit to spread kindness and compassion during this period. In this instalment, we speak to the operators of an Ang Mo Kio chicken rice stall who have been preparing and delivering free meals to healthcare workers at hospitals.

SINGAPORE — After reading news reports on how nurses have been ostracised on public transport due to anxiety over the Covid-19 outbreak, chicken rice stall owner Daniel Tan, 40, decided to deliver free meals to healthcare workers as “an encouragement of love”.

On Feb 10, Mr Tan and his wife, Clara Loh, 40, started an online campaign called ‘Cheer Up’ on their Facebook page, requesting funds to deliver packets of chicken rice from their Ang Mo Kio stall to hospital staff.

The public response has been overwhelming after the campaign went viral. As of Tuesday (Feb 25), about S$26,000 had already been raised in donations to help cover the cost of the meals, though the couple is also using their own money.

“This campaign Cheer Up started because we felt that healthcare people being overworked yet ostracised didn’t sit right with us,” he said.

“The nurses can take leave and hide at home like everyone else and survive, but they do not,” Mr Tan said, adding that they choose to be on the frontline instead and work longer hours.

He also emphasised that this was not a form of charity, but was meant to serve as a sign of encouragement for healthcare workers.

“Some people have been saying that these healthcare workers earn a handsome salary. But this is not a charity campaign and they are not people who need donations. (The deliveries) are an encouragement of love,” he said.

When the campaign started, some hospitals declined to accept the meals as they were concerned about food safety protocols as chicken rice is perishable.

But Mr Tan obtained contacts for management personnel of the hospitals from friends and donors, and the hospitals eventually accepted the offer.

They have delivered meals on weekdays to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore General Hospital and Khoo Teck Puat Hospital since Feb 13. They plan to continue the deliveries until the end of March.

“I am willing to continue (the deliveries) as long as the public is interested and the healthcare workers want it,” Mr Tan said.

Each day, the store prepares 100 packets of chicken rice for lunch and 200 for dinner.

These meals are prepared at their OK Chicken Rice store at Blk 721 at Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8.

Mr Tan and his wife have been forking out about S$1,000 each week out of their own pocket, in addition to the donations, to cover the cost of the meals and other utility bills.

The couple has also started working at the store full-time as their usual three staff are overwhelmed with the deliveries. They usually work part-time at the store.

“We are operating at maximum capacity,” he said. “Usually we make about 80 to 100 meals a day at the store so we are now (producing) three times the usual volume.”

Some of their full-time staff are working up to 14 hours each day to cope with the increased number of meals to prepare.

A part-timer at the store, Ms Sunisa Paladon, 30, said: “I am tired but this is worth it.”

Their parents have also been helping to prepare the food and the family are spending their entire weekends peeling garlic and blending ginger for the meals.

Two members of the public have also volunteered to do the deliveries of the food, and delivery firm GoGoVan has also offered to help.

Mr Tan said that he had received WhatsApp and Facebook messages from nurses or other members of the public who thanked him for the initiative.

The initial donors to the campaign were Mr Tan’s friends, but after posting about the campaign on the OK Chicken Rice Facebook page, other members of the public started chipping in.

Their campaign was later covered on MustShareNews and they went viral.

'DIDN'T EXPECT IT TO GO SO VIRAL'

“We received a contribution every 30 seconds, the phone was going off the hook,” he said.

“I didn’t expect it to go so viral,” he said. “I was expecting friends to chip in maybe S$1,000 to S$1,500 to fund two to three hundred packets.”

Donors contributed S$3 for a meal that retails at S$4 or S$5.90. They can scan a QR code on their Facebook page to donate via Paynow.

One donor Ms Debby Chua, 48, heard about the campaign online after being sent links to articles about the store by her friends and relatives. She has donated a total of S$328 on four separate occasions.

“(The donation) isn’t much but it’s a small gesture to say a big thank you to all these men and women who work tirelessly and unreservedly just so that the disease can be contained and people don’t succumb to it,” she said.

She added that she donated after hearing about reports that healthcare professionals were being shunned in public spaces

“There is a lack of understanding, awareness and sympathy for our healthcare professionals,” she said.

“The negative publicity… made me feel that I want to at least encourage and support their efforts in this fight against the Covid-19.”