Over the last few weeks, even the most cynical amongst us, scarred by the Great Panic Buyout of 7th February and the ensuing fallout, will have seen #SGTogether efforts making the rounds on social media. I’m not referring to top-down calls for calm, but earnest, ground-level initiatives encouraging Singaporeans to look out for each other while the Covid-19 outbreak drags on.

Amongst these are posts calling for donations of masks, hand sanitiser, and vitamin C to be collected and distributed to migrant workers. You might have seen the one put out by itsrainingraincoats, an NGO, or a more recent one by TEDx Singapore.

Unfortunately, the need for such initiatives is as severe as it is obvious. As one of society’s least protected groups, migrant workers are amongst its most vulnerable when the proverbial shit hits the fan (or when coronaviruses savage our respiratory systems).

Despite literally building this country, they aren’t considered part of it. The measures that so many of us take for granted either don’t apply to them, or leave them out altogether.

They didn’t receive free masks from the government. They don’t have the resources to scour pharmacies for hand sanitiser or disinfectant wipes, which many employers haven’t and won’t trouble themselves to provide, given how hard they are to come by.

Construction workers live in massive dormitories that make instructions to ‘avoid crowded places’ completely moot. And between language barriers, financial need, and the fundamental power imbalance associated with their transient status, none of them are in a position to speak up and ask for more help.