Transport workers lauded for kind acts
Commended by the public, record 530 staff recognised at National Kindness Award event
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Among the award recipients yesterday are (from left) taxi driver Henry Koh, SMRT assistant station manager Suhaila Ismail and TransitLink customer service officer Zubaidah Ebrahim, who went to a commuter's house to return his lost wallet. They are seen with courtesy icon Singa the Lion. Mr Azhiem Syed Ismail was not at the ceremony.
ST PHOTO: ONG WEE JIN
Taxi driver Henry Koh, 44, was returning to his vehicle after getting coffee in West Coast last June when he was approached by a migrant worker who was clearly agitated.
The worker said his friend was extremely unwell, pointing to another migrant worker on the other side of the carpark who was barely on his feet.
The ComfortDelGro cabby soon learnt that the man was having an acute asthma attack.
Mr Koh immediately helped the sick man into his taxi and sped off to the National University Hospital.
"I was a bit worried at first because there was the Covid-19 outbreak in workers' dormitories then," Mr Koh told The Straits Times.
"But I quickly put that out of my mind and did the right thing."
The cabby was among a record 530 transport service staff who had their kind acts in the past year recognised during the 21st National Kindness Award - Transport Gold ceremony at the Land Transport Authority auditorium in Hampshire Road yesterday.
The award is given to those in the sector commended by members of the public for their kind acts.
Eight commuters were also recognised, including two men who intervened when an SBS Transit bus driver was assaulted in September last year.
Another award winner was SMRT assistant station manager Suhaila Ismail, who was at Bugis MRT station when a pregnant woman suffered acute cramps on the platform.
Unable to contact her husband at the time, the woman was at a loss.
Madam Suhaila, 42, accompanied her to KK Women's and Children's Hospital.
Two weeks ago, she received word that the commuter's seven-month-old boy was healthy and well.
"She came back to the station and said I had probably saved her and her baby's life," said Madam Suhaila.
In a separate incident, assistant station manager Azhiem Syed Ismail, 32, who has worked for SBS Transit for about 2½ years, was on duty at Boon Keng MRT station in October 2019 - not his usual post at Chinatown MRT station - when a man in his 70s fell and hurt himself on the escalator.
A commuter had activated the emergency button to stop the escalator and reported the incident to Mr Azhiem, who tracked down the man outside the station.
The elderly man, who was limping and refused to wait for help, was about 100m away from the station, on his way home with bags of groceries.
Armed with the station's first aid kit, Mr Azhiem bandaged the elderly man's elbow and shin.
Minister for Transport Ong Ye Kung, who was guest of honour at yesterday's ceremony, spoke of the importance of such awards.
He said: "An abundance of good things often goes unnoticed, a small ounce of bad things is disproportionate in impact.
"Because kindness begets kindness, because bad news travels by itself, good deeds need to be broadcast as loudly as possible."
Mr Ong added: "My hope is that in time to come, we will not need to celebrate acts of kindness.
"Kindness should live in each and all of us, and every kind act will not go unnoticed, and will be appreciated."