Deafening sounds of silence

In Little India, jewellers that could count on five-digit takings each weekend are struggling to hold on, while a previously vibrant community space that drew Bangladeshi workers from across the island no longer pulses with fellowship.

In Geylang, Internet cafes once lit with neon and filled with night owls seeking respite from their weekday grind have gone dark.

Enclaves that once drew their energies from and were the go-to weekend haunts for migrant worker communities here have been markedly changed since Covid-19 restrictions were implemented in March last year and dormitories locked down in April last year.

Eighteen months later, there is finally light as a long-awaited pilot scheme for workers to return to the larger community begins this week, but many businesses are on their last legs – if they have not already called it quits.

In November 2018, AKM Mohsin took over Swaad, a vegetarian restaurant in Desker Road, in hopes of offsetting expenses for his work with the Bengali migrant worker community.

Little did he know the pandemic would ravage his business by up to 80%, even though the restaurant was largely patronised by Indian Singaporeans and tourists, who never returned as they avoided the area out of fear of being infected by foreign workers.

Despite rental relief of four months, two by the government and two by his landlord, he had no choice but to close the restaurant.

“I had planned for the restaurant to help support Banglar Kantha and Dibashram, but it became a burden,” said Mohsin, 57.

Banglar Kantha is a Bengali-language newspaper that Mohsin is editor of, and Dibashram – Bengali for daycare – is a cultural and activity centre he started to cater to Bengali migrant workers in Singapore.

Before the pandemic, Dibashram was a vibrant space that saw migrant workers coming together to socialise, read and jam.

Now, physical activities have all but stopped, replaced instead with online discussions that are a pale imitation of the vibrant atmosphere of the Desker Road shophouse that houses Dibashram.

Mohsin’s struggle is a familiar one throughout Little India, a regular haunt of migrant workers from both India and Bangladesh, many of whom live in dormitories.

Following the restrictions imposed on those living in dormitories last March, businesses in Little India have struggled to make ends meet, much more than other migrant worker enclaves.

Ruthirapathy, 52, honorary secretary of the Little India Shopkeepers and Heritage Association, estimates a 50% drop in footfall compared with before the pandemic. This, he said, translated to falls in revenue of up to 80% for some shopkeepers.

M. Rakkapan, director of Satya Jewellery, said the store used to make about S$30,000 (RM92,970) on weekends alone, accounting for about two-thirds of the monthly revenue.

Almost all of its Sunday takings have dried up since last March.

“I still have to pay my monthly rental and my staff,” said Rakkapan, adding he has survived only with the weekly patronage of some of the Malaysian workers who are unable to travel out of Singapore.

He said he appreciated the government’s assistance with wages and rents during the circuit breaker from April to June last year, but said these were not enough to save every business in the area.

Sirajul Islam, 56, can attest to that. His wholesale business, Costkom, which imports groceries from Bangladesh and distributes them to minimarts and dormitories here, had to shut down last year.

“The business went down to zero, as all the minimarts had to close during the circuit breaker, so I had to throw away my entire last shipment from December 2019.

“I don’t know how to survive,” he said. — The Straits Times/ANN