This made my day: Woman gives out ginger tea with surgical masks – and other kind acts during virus outbreak

In between registering residents and giving out surgical masks, 42-year-old Sukkuriya dashed home to make and serve ginger tea to her fellow volunteers and neighbourhood committee members on Saturday (Feb 1).

Even though she wasn't able to collect any surgical masks for herself, the single mother doesn't mind.

"It's not that urgent for me, the other residents can collect them first," she told Lianhe Zaobao. "I made tea for everyone to drink, it can help boost their immune system."

In the face of the novel coronavirus outbreak, certain ugly behaviour might have made the headlines but several unsung heroes in Singapore have been quietly working behind the scenes to help their fellow countrymen.

Sukkuriya wasn't the only one running around Henderson-Dawson ward, ensuring residents received their government-allocated masks.

Other volunteers, stationed in one of the three stations in the same ward, made announcements in different languages informing residents to collect their free masks using loudhailers.

"The residents here are mostly the elderly, so we've got to work hard to let more people know there are free masks for collection," a 40-year-old volunteer told the Chinese daily.

Other kind acts by locals also came under the spotlight on social media over the past few days.

[embed]https://www.facebook.com/thewanderingwasp/photos/a.799635330101860/2720658244666216/?type=3&theatre[/embed]

On Facebook page The Wandering Wasp, a bottle of hand sanitiser was seen in a lift with the note "Use what you need. Stay Safe!" stuck onto the wall behind it.

The message was signed off by an anonymous resident, who according to the page owner, was a resident of 665B Punggol Drive.

Reddit user Lazerite also shared how a neighbour had gone around giving out packs of surgical masks of their own accord.

Meanwhile, several Carousell users have posted listings offering to give away free surgical masks to those in need, as long as they can meet up at the lister's convenience.

[embed]https://www.instagram.com/p/B8AiuJcnM3m/?utm_source=ig_embed[/embed]

A Carousell spokesperson told AsiaOne: "We are heartened by our Carousell users coming together to list free masks and help one another — these transactions remind us what the power of a community marketplace like Carousell can bring."

In order to support these users, Carousell has also created a free items category through which those in need can contact them.

"We believe that these selfless, small acts of kindness by individuals will help us build a stronger and win-win community for all."

For the latest updates on the Wuhan virus, visit here.

rainercheung@asiaone.com