Chairman of the Singapore People’s Party, Jose Raymond, took to his Facebook on Thursday (16 April) to announce that the senior Singaporean woman who had been stuck in Johor Bahru since last month will be finally returning to Singapore on 22 April.
In an earlier post, Mr Raymond explained about the situation which caused his ex-classmate, Noria Akip Steinheart, to be stuck in Malaysia with her 76-year-old wheelchair-bound mother and an Indonesian caregiver after the country implemented the Movement Control Order (MCO) to curb the spread of COVID-19.
As such, this resulted in them being held back in the neighbouring country as they could not find any transport that would bring them back to Singapore.
In his latest post, Mr Raymond thanked everyone who played a part to bring the Singaporeans back to their home country after almost a month.
“A huge thank you to everyone who pitched in and helped and especially the Singapore Consulate and Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) for making the necessary arrangements and providing the support to bring Noria Akip Steinheart and her mum back home to Singapore on 22 April,” he wrote.
He also thanked everyone who shared his earlier post and did everything that they could to support the Singaporeans. He also expressed his appreciation towards TOC for writing about his plea to help his friend and her mother.
“Together we are stronger. Always. Looking forward to having my classmate and her mother back home soon,” he said.
Isolated in Malaysia after MCO
In Mr Raymond’s earlier post on 14 April, he stated that Ms Steinheart was looking for someone who will be able to provide transport for the three of them to enter Singapore between 20 to 22 April.
The request was specifically asking for a Singaporean with a Singapore-registered car who will be returning to Singapore via Woodlands or Tuas checkpoint. To broaden the request, he said they are also requesting help from Malaysians with an approval letter to re-enter Singapore.
Ms Steinhart’s elderly mother and her caregiver had been isolated in Johor Bahru since 18 March after they did not have access to transport after Malaysia imposed its MCO. Ms Steinheart joined the isolation starting 22 March onwards.
Despite trying their best to contact the Singapore Consulate since 23 March, the trio could not get the help they needed due to the elderly mother’s mobility issue. Other than that, the caregiver did not have an approval letter to enter Singapore as her application was rejected three times.
Following the rejections, they were finally given the green light to enter Singapore after making a direct appeal to Manpower Minister Josephine Teo. The caregiver will be allowed to come into Singapore between 20 to 22 April.
It was said that the senior Singaporean suffers from various health issues like diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hyperlipidaemia, chronic urticaria, ischemic heart disease, chronic kidney disease, spinal stenosis as well as bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome.
Due to this, she could not board a bus to return back to Singapore, which is why Mr Raymond requested help from anyone from the ICA to assist these ladies.