Everyday heroes put out Whampoa coffeeshop fire
When a fire broke out at Whampoa Makan Place on 23 February, bystanders did not stand around waiting for the SCDF to arrive.
Instead of using eye power to stare down the air duct fire, members of the public bravely stepped up to battle the flames with hoses and extinguishers. The blaze had started at the Hi Leskmi Nasi Lemak stall during lunch hour.
In a dramatic video that was uploaded to Facebook, three people were seen attempting to put out the fire with a water hose and fire extinguishers. Their effort saw the blaze extinguished before the firefighters arrived on the scene. Thankfully, no injuries were reported.
Forget the Oscars, foreign workers enjoy award-winning dormitories
Noise. Overcrowding. Fights. With problems like these in their dormitories, it’s no surprise that some migrant workers endure sleepless nights.
Not so if you’re working for Kwan Yong Construction. At Kwan Yong’s new dormitories, workers enjoy free Wi-Fi, laundry services, volleyball courts and even a mini-gym. At the inaugural Dormitory Awards organised by the Ministry of Manpower, it was one of eleven companies lauded for improving its workers’ living conditions
Assassin’s Creed director takes down abusive Starhub customer
Justin A. Farren is the hero we need. In early February, an angry customer was seen berating a female employee at a Starhub shop, creating a scene at the Tiong Bahru Plaza outlet.
In stepped the Ubisoft creative director, who defended the female staff while trying to calm the abusive customer. In a video that quickly went viral, the customer could be heard yelling profanities and appeared to spit on Farren. The latter held his cool and admirably, even went on social media to urge netizens to forgive the aggressor’s behaviour.
He explained what prompted him to take action in a chat with the Singapore Kindness Movement.
This Lions Befriender marks 30 years of caring for lonely elders
When the Ministry of Community Development sought volunteers to befriend needy senior citizens some 30 years ago, Mr. Soh Swee Kiat was the only member of his church who signed up.
Today, the long-serving Lions Befrienders volunteer is still at it. On a day-to-day basis, he tends to a group of elderly citizens who live without family or friends, visiting their homes, making phone calls and helping them to understand new government regulations.
However, he’s no longer the lone hero. Lions Befrienders now serves 5,800 elderly folks with its 1,000 or so base of volunteers.
It takes a kampung to save a kitten
It takes a village to raise a child… and to rescue a cat.
When a kitten climbed up a five-storey tall tree and remained stuck for a few days, the good people of Sembawang rallied to save her. They deployed a crane to reach the cat and volunteers held out blankets to break her fall.
In a video of the rescue, the panicked kitten tried to wiggle free of her rescuer. For a few harrowing seconds, we see a small lump falling from height and people rushing forward to make the dramatic catch.
Luckily, the kitten emerged unscathed. Nevertheless, she was taken to the vet for a thorough check-up just to be sure.