Singapore—The family of a Malaysian man who met with an accident on his daily commute to work in Singapore expressed their gratefulness that their crowdfunding goal of raising S$50,000 to pay for his medical bills had been met.
Putra Affandi Ambiah had met with an accident earlier this month on the Seletar Expressway (SLE).
Reaching the goal must have been especially worthwhile for the family, considering that they had been the target of unkind and negative remarks after they started their crowdfunding campaign.
Putra Affandi remains gravely ill, although he was moved from Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH) in Yishun to Johor Bahru’s Sultan Aminah Hospital on Monday, November 18.
The crowdfunding page Mr Affandi’s family set up on give.asia says that the Malaysian got into an accident on November 10 when he lost control over his motorbike and was flung from it, as he was driving home on the SLE after his night shift.
He was then brought to KTPH in Yishun, where he underwent surgery.
Although the type of work he did was not specified, Mr Affandi was said to be travelling to Singapore daily for work and supporting a family of five.
By November 18, Mr Affandi’s hospital bills had reached approximately S$50,000, which the family has no means of paying. They had even attempted to have him transferred to a hospital as this would be less financially taxing for them, but was initially turned down due to the gravity of his condition.
Later, his relative wrote, “Doctors are putting him into an induced coma so that his condition can be stabilised and his recovery will likely be faster, so they can transfer him back to Malaysia for his further treatment.”
The family decided to appeal to the kindness of strangers as there were no subsidies to help with Mr Affandi’s medical bills since he is a foreigner. The family was also told by the company where Mr Affandi worked that coverage from insurance would not foot the total bill.
To add insult to injury, there were commenters on social media who surmised that Mr Affandi had been working in Singapore without a proper work permit, that “taxpayer money” had been used for his treatment, and that reckless driving was the reason for his accident.
In an update on his crowdfunding page, his family clarified the matter.
“Affandi holds a valid WORK PERMIT and is currently employed by a company in Singapore.
As he is a foreigner, his medical bills are not subsidised (he has to pay the FULL rate WITHOUT any subsidy). His company has already reach out to us that the group insurance for him will he activated HOWEVER the amount for disbursement is not made known until the hospital has finalised the bill.
We appreciate that members of the public has been trying to reach us with positive and negative/harsh/insensitive comments. We, on the other hand, are trying our best to get assistance as much as we can. Right from the very beginning we tried to contact the Malaysia Embassy in Singapore but no financial aids have been rendered to us. So please do not accused us of using “taxpayer” money whereby each donation that sums up from this campaign will go DIRECTLY to the hospital and not the family.
We welcome any media enquiry or anyone to contact us should you require further clarifications. Do not assume as though you know what went wrong. We have CCTV footages that showed what exactly happened on that faithful day. It has nothing to do with reckless riding just because he is a Malaysian (as most people assumed in the article).” -/TISG