It’s easy to read and share stories of how F&B eateries are sending free food to the needy lah, or how people are helping each other during this trying period.

But if you’ve been on the ground, you’d know that the world is not a bed of roses, and the Internet is just made up of people trying to look good.

Case in point?

Meet 63-year-old Xu Tong Yan, who used to work as a dishwasher in a restaurant.

63YO Ex-Dishwasher Had Only 1 Meal a Day After His Employer Ghosted Him During Circuit Breaker Period

In a heartbreaking report (with a happy ending, by the way) by Wanbao, it’s revealed that Mr Xu has to support both his parents even at his old age.

His parents are both 93, and his mother is a stroke patient. Early this year, they moved in to live with his sister, and Mr Xu send her some money monthly to support their early parents.

He worked in an eatery as a dishwasher and earned $1,800 a month.

However, when the Circuit Breaker hit, he became redundant immediately; there were no dishes for him to wash. It’s unknown whether the eatery he worked in has remained open for takeaway and delivery.

Mr Xu was told not to go back to work but he did not know the arrangement—he didn’t even know if he’d be paid that month.

And well, we all know that one month became three months (hopefully).

Mr Xu waited patiently at home for updates, but there wasn’t any. He then called his employer and no one answered.

In other words, he was

He said, “It was initially just one month, then it became two months, and now, we don’t even know when this will end. So I save up by having just one meal a day instead of three meals.”

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So if you’ve been posting comments on Facebook, saying that the authorities should extend the Circuit Breaker because it’s “not safe” when the truth is that you’ve not been affected, time to delete your post, Mr Social Justice Warrior.

Reader Bao: I never said that. I just said that for the good for everyone, we should—

Right, for the good for everyone, Mr Social Justice Bao. WFH has been very goody for you, hasn’t it?

But thankfully, there’s a happy ending for Mr Xu.

Neighbour Helped Out

To curb his hunger, Mr Xu would just down plain water in the morning and have one meal at about 1pm.

One day, he saw his neighbour at a bus stop.

Fortunately, the neighbour didn’t buy bread for him, take an image of him with his bread and posted on Facebook about how we should help each other in this trying period.

Instead, she did the right thing without even going online; she referred him to social workers, who immediately provided Mr Xu with three meals. He also finally managed to contact his employer on 15 May 2020, though it’s unknown if the social workers had helped in contacting them.

However, the employer is only giving him $500 a month.

So the social workers helped to find a temporary job for him to tide over this period.

Mr Xu is thankful to the social workers, and is a happy man now, saying, “I’m thankful that I met the social workers. Actually, the main goal is to have a job, and hopefully this COVID-19 outbreak will be over so that we can revert to our original lives.”

In the meantime…let’s also thank the unnamed neighbour. She has made such a big sacrifice—she could have earned millions of praises from millions of people for buying bread for an elderly one leh.

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