COVID-19 SPECIAL
Meet the 4 siblings fighting Covid-19 on the front lines
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The Surani siblings: (from left) Warrant Officer Firdaus, an operations centre specialist with the SCDF; nurse clinician Fazlina, who works at Tan Tock Seng Hospital; Sergeant Faiz, a paramedic with the SCDF; and Staff Sergeant Sakinah, a ground response officer with the Singapore Police Force. They also have another sister who is a regional branch manager for a food and beverage outlet.
ST PHOTO: JASON QUAH
Shivraj Rajendran
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Four of the five siblings in the Surani family are on the front line every day battling Covid-19.
Two brothers, Warrant Officer (WO) Firdaus, 37, and Sergeant Faiz, 27, serve in the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF). Sister Fazlina, 36, is a nurse clinician with Tan Tock Seng Hospital, while another sister Sakinah, 29, is a staff sergeant and a ground response officer with the Singapore Police Force.
The fifth sibling, a sister, works as a regional branch manager for a food and beverage outlet.
All were encouraged by their parents to pursue careers in public institutions.
Sgt Faiz, who has been with the SCDF for four years, is a paramedic whose duties include responding to medical emergencies and providing pre-hospital care to patients.
Although not much has changed since the outbreak, he said he is now required to wear full personal protective equipment for all calls.
As an operations centre specialist, WO Firdaus is the first point of contact for members of the public when they call the SCDF emergency hotline, 995. He elicits information needed to determine an appropriate response, which now includes medical triaging, or prioritising the order of treatment, for suspected Covid-19 patients. He has been with the SCDF for 15 years.
As operations centre staff communicate with emergency responders on the ground, the brothers occasionally cross paths while working. "It is heart-warming when I get to hear Firdaus' voice at the end of the phone line or on the air," said Sgt Faiz.
WO Firdaus shares his brother's sentiment, adding: "We have to be professional, but it is nice to know that he is there doing his part in the force."
As a police officer, Staff Sgt Sakinah is now regularly deployed to government quarantine facilities to maintain order.
Ms Fazlina, who works in the renal unit, has started performing outpatient dialysis procedures for kidney patients served with home quarantine orders.
The siblings are close-knit, and used to arrange to meet for meals when their work shifts permitted, said Ms Fazlina.
Before the pandemic, the whole family would get together monthly for picnics at East Coast Park or meals at their parents' home in Hougang, where Sgt Faiz and Staff Sgt Sakinah still live. Both WO Firdaus and Ms Fazlina are married and have their own families.
Their father, Mr Surani Kasnan, a 62-year-old welder, said: "I have always been supportive of my children. With the current situation, I'm proud and happy that they can do their part for Singapore."
