The Singapore spirit flies high … Praise for flight attendant’s offer to help at CC

Singapore – Member of Parliament Sun Xueling praised a ‘Singapore girl’ on social media for volunteering at a community centre.

On Friday (April 3), Ms Sun, who is an MP for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC, took to Facebook to share an unexpected email from a fellow resident requesting an opportunity to volunteer at the CC.

The individual was a Singapore Airlines flight attendant, one of the many in the aviation industry, which has been severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. After seeing the queue for the Temporary Relief Fund, the woman had noticed that “an extra pair of hands could definitely do good”. She offered assistance in queue management, temperature taking and other menial tasks.

The email read:
“Good evening! My name is (blocked), a resident at Punggol under your care. I am also a flight attendant with Singapore Airlines. I am writing to you today to seek an opportunity to volunteer at Punggol CC. I hate to bother you like this, but I was there this afternoon queuing for the Temporary Relief Fund when I noticed that an extra pair of hands could definitely do good.

“Now that I no longer have any flights to operate, I thought it would be best if I could render some kind of help and return to the community. Apart from queue management, temperature taking and other menial tasks, I can also help the elderly and other individuals who require assistance. My days are all free now, so please get in touch if you need a hand. Thank you and take care.”

Ms Sun shared a photo of the email and expressed her deepest appreciation of the woman’s offer. “You don’t know how much it means to receive an email like this,” she said. “SQ (the prefix code for SIA flights) may be down, but the Singapore spirit flies high. This is our ‘Singapore Girl’ at its best.”

There was praise of the Singapore Girl’s offer in the comments on the Facebook page.

Another person made a similar offer at the Nee Soon East Community Club.

Meanwhile, others noted that the long queues forming at CCs posed a risk of infection and suggested an online application process to limit overcrowding.

One person observed that quite a number of elderly people had lined up thinking that cash was being given away. He suggested that someone be deployed to explain the purpose of queues as a measure against the spread of Covid-19.