SINGAPORE, March 18 — For the 18 hours after Malaysia ordered a nationwide lockdown starting from today to end of March, all that Amos Kng could do was to contact every available accommodation service provider. He was trying to find temporary housing for 150 of his Malaysian workers who make the daily commute across the Causeway. 

The chief executive officer of security firm Security Risk and Solutions, who said he slept just three hours the day before, told TODAY: “It was helter-skelter from last night till about 4.30pm… I had a whole team just calling (home-sharing site) Airbnb, hotels, dormitories.”

Kng was just one of the many business owners in Singapore who spent most of yesterday trying to look for alternative housing arrangements for their Malaysian workers affected by the lockdown. 

Malaysia’s immigration chief further confirmed yesterday that the lockdown also applies to Malaysians who travel across the Causeway daily to work in Singapore, effectively barring 400,000 people from making their daily commute across the land checkpoints of both countries. 

TODAY has learnt from interviews with 10 companies that larger companies were shelling out cash as they sought temporary accommodation for their Malaysian workers at hotels, while the owners of some smaller companies were even opening up their own homes to house their workers.

Manpower Minister Josephine Teo said during a press briefing yesterday that about 10,000 Malaysian workers who have chosen to stay in Singapore have been matched to temporary accommodations here. 

A last-minute rush

It was a logistical nightmare for Tan Heng Kian, the executive director of cleaning company Clean Solutions, who has to house 150 of his Malaysian workers temporarily in Singapore at such short notice. 

While he managed to find enough space within the company’s existing dormitory, Tan said that the whole operation was rather frantic. 

“(At the) last minute, have to look for bed, look for towel, toothbrush, all sorts of things. We also have to convince workers, ‘Please don’t go back’,” Tan said. 

His company also had to reconfigure the existing sleep arrangements of its workers in the dormitory to ensure that there is separation between male and female workers.

“When we depend too much on Malaysians, that’s the price we pay,” Tan added.

The experience for Toby Koh, the group managing director of security firm Ademco Security, was less hectic. 

He managed to find two hotels to house about 30 of his Malaysian workers who make the daily commute, while the rest managed to find lodging with fellow colleagues or friends. 

“The reason why we managed to find (accommodation) is because we were prepared to pay,” Koh said. 

Added costs for companies

The average cost of a hotel room would cost Koh S$110 to S$120 (RM334.49 to RM364.89) a night. This translates to an extra cost of about S$46,000 for the company. 

“My concern is more of trying to make sure that service is undisrupted for my clients. It’s still a small price to pay,” he said, adding that this will hit the company’s bottomline but it is an “unforeseen expense”. 

As for Kng of Security Risk and Solutions, the financial costs incurred over the next two weeks is an estimated S$50,000. However, some of his clients said that they would bear at least half or even the full cost. 

Teo said yesterday that the Government will be providing S$50 for each worker a day — capped at 14 days — to support employers which may have to incur added costs due to the new measures imposed by Malaysia.

Relatives, friends and co-workers

For smaller companies who hire a fewer number of Malaysian workers, many relied on personal favours, such as asking their relatives to lease a room to their staff members.

For Peter Peng, owner of cleaning company Abba Maintenance, he is opening up his own home to about three of his Malaysian workers, out of a total of 10 who had to commute between Singapore and Malaysia daily. 

The rest are either staying at their relatives’ or friends’ homes, or have decided to stay in Malaysia. 

Peng said that he will also be giving some subsidies to those workers who have to stay in Singapore over the next two weeks, to offset the higher cost of living here, compared to their hometown of Johor Baru. 

“A lot of them work here and go back to Malaysia. They don’t spend much in Singapore or don’t spend at all,” he said. 

Janice Lee, assistant director for restaurant Sushi Tei, said that she will be hosting two of her female colleagues from Malaysia temporarily since she has a spare room. 

When TODAY was interviewing her over the phone around 7pm, Lee was buying mattresses and pillows at a mall. 

“My spare room is a workstation, so it’s not proper to house them. I have to rush at the last minute to buy these things. I also do preparation for them and sanitise the room,” she said. 

Lee declined to reveal how many Malaysian workers at Sushi Tei were affected by the travel restrictions, except to say that it was fewer than 100. 

Most of these employees managed to find alternative accommodation by bunking in with their co-workers who have a place in Singapore. The company needed to house just one couple at a hotel because they could not find a place to stay.

For Bernard Tay, founder of food-and-beverage outlet Jinjja Chicken, he managed to secure housing arrangements at a cheap rate for two of his staff members by renting a room in an apartment that belongs to the relative of his business partner.

He is also giving the two workers a subsidy of S$150 each every month. 

Another two Malaysian staff members will be temporarily staying in a hostel at Bugis because it is nearer to their workplace. 

“This morning, we were making calls. Oh, it was crazy,” Tay recalled.

Bus drivers put up at hotels

At NTUC FairPrice, there are about 1,300 Malaysian workers employed by the supermarket chain. Labour chief Ng Chee Meng said that they would be given free accommodation and some allowance to help with daily necessities. 

More than 2,500 workers hired by the four public transport operators in Singapore — namely SBS Transit, SMRT, Tower Transit Singapore and Go Ahead Singapore — are going to be affected by the partial lockdown as well.

Singapore’s Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan said in a Facebook post on Tuesday that the Government’s priority is to ensure that buses and trains continue to move as normal.

The companies are thus taking care of all their bus drivers from Malaysia who wish to continue to work and stay in Singapore during this period.

Melvin Yong, executive secretary of the National Transport Workers’ Union (NTWU), said in a Facebook post on Tuesday that the union has worked with the Land Transport Authority to secure hotel accommodation for these workers or drivers for the next two weeks.

“(They) will also be given a daily allowance to defray some of the unexpected living expenses that they might incur.

“To further support our public transport workers during this challenging time, the union is planning to provide subsidised meals to our members at our NTWU canteens across the island,” Yong said. — TODAY