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Coronavirus pandemic hits home for poly student as mum is told she's lost her job

The seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic hit home hard for student Loh Miao Xin after she learnt that her mother was about to lose her job.

Miao Xin's mother works at a Thai food hawker stall in Tampines that will close permanently at the end of the month due to poor business. The news rocked her family, who live in a one-room Housing Board flat in Bedok.

"I was just shocked. Before that, I didn't really think the coronavirus was a serious thing, I didn't know it would come to a point where it would affect my family," said the 17-year-old first-year Singapore Polytechnic student taking a common engineering programme.

Her brother, Loh Khim San, 12, is a Secondary 1 student. Their parents are divorced.

Miao Xin is now searching for part-time work for herself as well as a new job for her mother. She had been working as a waitress at banquet events, but that income stream dried up as events were cancelled.

She has given the cash she gets from The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund (STSPMF) to her mother to help out with household expenses and for emergencies. "The pocket money is not important to me now, I'm not going to school or going out," she said.

Before the Covid-19 outbreak, the money from the fund helped to pay for ez-link card top-ups so she would not have to ask her mum for cash, said Miao Xin.

"I'm worried now that after my mum loses her job, we won't be able to pay our bills and that she cannot find another job since most people are not hiring," she added.

In the meantime, she helps out around the house, doing laundry, cleaning the flat and taking care of her brother. She is also doing some studying ahead of the start of the school term on April 20.

She said the song collaboration between music veteran Clement Chow and The Straits Times is a good idea. The song parodies Mr Chow's beloved piece Count On Me, Singapore, changing it to Stay At Home, Singapore. The campaign also hopes to encourage Singaporeans to donate to the STSPMF and The Business Times Budding Artists Fund.

Miao Xin said: "It's good because it will raise awareness about these funds and help the people who need help. Also since it is funny, it will definitely catch people's attention."

The Straits Times © Singapore Press Holdings Limited. Reproduced with permission.