Stepping up in a pandemic

FLOATING accommodation that's typically used by offshore sectors as dormitories or living quarters for their employees while working out at sea was converted to "makeshift homes" for migrant workers in Singapore when the pandemic struck last year. Chief executive of Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), Quah Ley Hoon, said the public service agency recognised it was crucial to support Singapore's efforts to take care of the migrant workers' safety, needs and well-being. Hence, in late March last year, after the plan was conceived, an operational team within MPA was formed and activated within 2 days to jumpstart the project and manage the operations.

The organisation then worked with multiple partners to get ready the floating accommodation. "We received our first intake of migrant workers on April 13, 2020, but there were several challenges," said Quah. "First, we needed to ensure that the migrant workers could be properly taken care of, especially in terms of their medical needs. So, we worked closely with our partners, such as Fullerton Health, AETOS, and SCDF, to put in place proper standards of procedures. We even converted an unused workshop ashore into a medical centre for them.

"Second, we had to ensure the well-being of the workers. We were fortunate to partner with The Ascott, and they helped to provide catered meals for workers, and recreation activities, among others. PSA Singapore was instrumental in setting up Tanjong Pagar Terminal (TPT) for the entire operation. Water, electricity and even Wi-Fi had to be reactivated."

Timeline was also of the essence as some of the workers stayed for several months while others only for days, depending on the readiness of their dormitories to take them back, she added. At one stage, there were 7 floating accommodation berthed at the port, with more than 2,600 beds to house the migrant workers.

MPA, established 25 years ago, was recently acknowledged on Oct 11 at the President's Volunteerism & Philanthropy Awards 2021 (PVPA 2021) for its efforts. It was among the 5 winners under the Organisations of Good Award Category.

Tan Hoe Soon, assistant chief executive (corporate) of MPA, said: "The recognition has encouraged MPA and motivated our staff to continue their efforts to contribute to society. In fact, an increasing number of our charity efforts were ground-up initiatives from our staff and supported by our senior management. Most recently, we worked with our adopted charities MINDS and REACH to create an artwork for our 25th Anniversary."

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Such ground-up initiatives are usually spearheaded by MPA's Care Team, which was established in 2010 and made up of staff volunteers. The artwork, The Voyage, consists of 4 quilt sails - which symbolise MPA embarking on a journey for the next 25 years.

Another example of an MPA-led tripartite initiative is crew change for international seafarers, who were left stranded at sea or unemployed at home due to the restrictions worldwide. "Some of them have worked several months beyond their contracts or could not board the ships to work. All these have had implications for the global supply chain, as shipping is responsible for more than 80 per cent of the world trade.

"MPA thus established the Singapore Shipping Tripartite Alliance Resilience (SG-STAR) Fund with our tripartite partners. It is the first global ground-up tripartite initiative that brings together like-minded international partners from the industry, unions, and the government to work with stakeholders in seafaring nations on solutions for a safe crew change," said Quah.

MPA has facilitated 180,000 crew changes since March 2020, on top of giving to Seafarers' Missions an annual grant of S$150,000. "With the grant, we hope to do our part to provide support to workers and sailors at the port in terms of facilities, food, a clubhouse and counselling services," added Quah.

Tan said: "As a public service agency, doing good adds good value to our organisation, and we hope to provide the platform for our staff to do that. Our aim is also to grow and spread such good acts."

That aim is also in line with FoodXervices Inc, another company that was recognised under the Organisations of Good Award Category at the PVPA 2021.

The company was started in May 2007 by siblings Nichol and Nicholas Ng, to take over the food trading business started by their grandfather more than 80 years ago. It is now a leading distributor of over 5,000 products catering to a wide variety of F&B and hospitality establishments. While embracing the passion of what their grandfather started, the siblings realised that the business needed some modernisation - including the use of technology and making sustainability the core of what they do.

Nichol Ng said: "At FoodXervices Inc, our motto is si (or "think" in Chinese) - to put a thought into everything that we do for our customers, partners and team members. We also understand the need to reduce food wastage holistically by redistributing unsold or excess food."

Therefore, after observing the food industry for more than a decade, the siblings started The Food Bank Singapore (FBSG), which is a registered charity that aims to end food insecurity of all forms in Singapore.

FoodXervices Inc works closely with FBSG by connecting the NGO to its network of traders. The lower wholesale price allows for FBSG to stretch the donors' dollar further as compared to buying from retailers.

FoodXervices Inc also provides additional ad-hoc logistics when the FBSG team is short on manpower. This was especially needed when the charity had to rapidly expand its operations and feeding capacity in order to ensure no one went hungry during the different Covid-19 phases.

For example, during Covid-19, the company allocated staff members to assist in doing delivery of packed food to households. Hunger in Singapore has only worsened since the pandemic. During the Phase 2 (Heightened Alert), FBSG noted a 40 per cent increase in requests for emergency bundles by beneficiaries compared to its "business as usual" period after the circuit breaker, said the CEO of FoodXervices Inc. "Our worry is that with each tightening, the need is nearly immediate for food. This clearly shows that something is not quite right with the system and there is a gap in it."

Nichol Ng, who is also the CEO of the X-Inc group, which includes FoodXervices Inc and other food distribution related companies, admitted that the frequent changes in rules have resulted in a confusing landscape for its F&B clients. "Therefore, as the co-founder of FBSG, we thought of how we could also feed the hungry while supporting our network of F&B clients, which is why we came up with Feed The City 2.0 during circuit breaker last year. Making use of our food network ... we hope to support our business partners through providing meals to the underprivileged, and we hope that the industry will continue to feel a sense of hope and positivity.

She added that this was the same reason why they have stepped up and improved on the Feed The City programme this year through digitisation and empowering the underprivileged to choose what they want to eat, when they want to eat. Through the Tap-A-Meal merchant app, beneficiaries can redeem meals at various F&B establishments by using a Food Bank Card.

"We are hoping to on board 1,000 F&B establishments (to the programme) in 2022. As business people, we have more power than just a regular ground-up initiative because we have the knowledge and connections to possibly make things happen and more businesses should look at flexing their muscles to do good. It's beyond just giving money or volunteering time."

On being acknowledged at the PVPA 2021, Nichol Ng said that it has definitely has given the FBSG team a boost of confidence last year "that while we are a small charity, FBSG still managed to make a difference with our innovation, creativity and out-of-the-box thinking".

"For FoodXervices Inc, this year's acknowledgement is a testimony to our own team at X-Inc group that with our hearts in the right place, there is a lot more that we can do as a team despite the turmoil that our F&B industry is facing. It will only strengthen our belief that ESG was already at the core of many of the decisions that we make in our company, and giving back will continue to be our way forward."

• Company of Good connects organisations to do good strategically, sustainably and impactfully. Make goodness the business of your organisation at www.companyofgood.sg