SINGAPORE – As a volunteer in charge of managing people placed on stay-home notice (SHN) on returning from overseas, Ms Grace Koh worked long hours and on public holidays in the past few months to ensure they are received properly at designated hotels.

But what proved to be more challenging was managing the emotions of their anxious family members, said the senior manager (Skyrise Greenery) at the National Parks Board on Tuesday (July 28).

She recalled a distraught mother who had missed an opportunity to see her young daughter before she checked into the hotel. The girl, who is in her early teen, had returned to Singapore, unaccompanied.

“At that moment, you just feel helpless, because there’s really nothing you can do, as the mother had missed the moment when she could have seen her daughter alight from the bus that took her from the airport to the hotel.

All I could do was lend an ear and reassure her,” she recounted on Tuesday (July 28).

Ms Koh, 32, one of the many “unsung heroes” who have contributed to Singapore’s fight against Covid-19, will be among the guests invited to attend the National Day ceremony at Kampung Admiralty on Aug 9.

This integrated retirement community development is one of seven locations – besides a scaled-down parade at the Padang – where mini-ceremonies will be held for this year’s National Day Parade (NDP).

They will participate in a concurrent singing of the National Anthem at about 10.30am, known as the “anthem moment”.

At a media briefing on Tuesday, Colonel Cai Dexian, chairman of the home celebrations and engagement committee of the NDP organising committee, described these guests as “unsung heroes that have kept Singapore going in these difficult times”.

Reflecting on her experience, Ms Koh said she was cheered by the way many people from both the public and private sectors had worked together. They range from government officers to hotel staff as well as tour guides and volunteers from the Sentosa Development Corporation.

“I’m really looking forward to participating in the National Anthem moment. To be honest, NDP is one of my favourite times of the year. Since I was young, I’ve been balloting for tickets to attend the parade,” she said.

Another guest, Ms Maslindah Fadzilah, 40, has been helping to manage a government quarantine facility since April.

The hospitality manager at Insead Residences in One-North oversees the quarantine operations there, including making sure those quarantined can contact their families and organising basic exercise sessions for them over video teleconferencing.

She said every National Day, she feels proud to be a Singaporean and is looking forward to to representing her organisation on Aug 9.

Her family, too, is excited, she added. “Every weekend, when the fighter jets are doing their rehearsals, my nine-year-old son will run excitedly to the window.”

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