Singapore Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) said on Monday that the Jurong East sports hall that sheltered Malaysian workers is closed now following Malaysia's partial lockdown of borders.
MSF stated that the facility was no longer necessary after the "groundswell of community support to house these workers" as well as the Ministry of Manpower's (MOM) efforts to assist employers in terms of providing accommodation for them.
Malaysian workers in Singapore
Around 30 workers from Malaysia have been in the facility in the last week since the MSF arranged it on Tuesday, March 17 following Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin's announcement about the lockdown the night before. During the week, Singapore authorities and police stepped up to check on Malaysian workers sleeping in the public and called their employers to ensure accommodation for them.
Singapore and Malaysia governments agreed on Monday that around 300,000 Malaysian workers can continue to work in the Republic during the partial lockdown that is expected to last till March 31. During this time Singapore agreed to provide the workers with housing for two weeks and monitor their health conditions before they return to Malaysia.
It should be noted that on Thursday, March 19 an MOM official stated that around 2,000 Singapore-based employers and 10,000 Malaysian workers had been helped by the Singaporean authorities to find accommodation. On Monday, MOM said that the employers who failed to do so will be taken to task and may be restricted from hiring foreign workers.
If there is any Malaysian worker who hasn't found accommodation can contact the ministry at mom_qops@mom.gov.sg to seek help.
