Can you tell us a little about what you do at work and how COVID-19 has changed your typical day at work?
The Health Promotion Board (HPB) has been my first and only workplace since graduating as a Psychology major in 2015. I spent the first 2.5 years in the Mental Health Education (MHE) department overseeing the mental wellbeing programme for children and youths. In September 2017, I joined the Strategic Planning and Collaborations (SPC) department and have been there ever since.
When people ask me what I do in SPC, I will usually tell them that I am HPB’s storyteller. My job involves understanding everything that goes on in HPB, and developing storylines to achieve HPB’s vision of ‘A Nation of Healthy People’. For example, I spent a good part of 2019 with my team to develop HPB’s storyline for the next 5 years (HPB’s 5-year Strategic Plan). That was probably the most intense period of my working life. We spent countless days and nights reviewing years of data and consulting with internal divisions, our senior management, and the Ministry of Health (MOH). After more than 30 versions, we finalised on a storyline that could guide HPB’s work moving forward.
Little did I know that far greater challenges would await me in 2020. In end April, HPB was designated as the National Agency to support COVID-19 testing in Singapore. With a one-day notice, HPB had to set up the HPB Swab Ops Working Group to develop and operationalise a national plan to scale up the country’s testing capabilities so that Singapore could open up its economy confidently through ongoing surveillance and rapid response to outbreaks.
Overnight, I was tasked to drop my existing ‘business as usual’ (BAU) work and drafted into the secretariat team supporting the working group. My first brief was that I had to work seven days a week, with no specific end date. My supervisor explained that there was no clear plan yet and we had to figure things out as we go. Days felt like an eternity as we forged on to clarify HPB’s mission and to develop our operations plan. It was a do-or-die situation as we only had a short time before the circuit breaker would end, and the economy would open up. If we failed in our mission, children would not be able to return to school safely and adults would not be able to resume business and work.
Tell us about your experience being part of HPB’s secretariat team supporting the country's effort in this nation-wide COVID-19 testing. Any interesting stories to share?
There was no doubt that the country was fighting a war (both figuratively and literally). Peace time protocols were laid aside as the country had to move quickly to curb the spread of COVID-19. In HPB, we were operating like an infantry battalion, led by our CEO who is also an NS Colonel in the army. We had to adhere to a daily cadence or “battle procedure” and were issued warning and tasking orders. We were also working with officers from the Ministry of Defence who had stepped in to support MOH. The stakes were real and lives would be affected.
As a Battalion Signal Officer (BSO) in an infantry battalion, I felt right at home. My role in army was to enable my commanding officer to exercise command and control by ensuring that communications was established with higher HQ as well as troops on the ground. As part of the secretariat, my role was similar. We were tasked to maintain the oversight of the HPB’s plans and ensure that there was a good line of communication to internal and external stakeholders. Once, I even drew a radio-net diagram to illustrate the command and control structure within the working group.
I consider myself privileged to be in this role. The best reward of the job is being able to appreciate the overwhelming effort coming from every single person involved, from our policy makers to the volunteers who joined the swabbing workforce. I have heard about the hardship that the swab workforce had to endure, such as flooded sites, rats and cockroaches, and heat exhaustion from having to wear their full PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) under a tentage for a full day. I have also been in meetings where leaders of various roles have broken down and shared their vulnerabilities.
I have also heard about the amazing resilience of colleagues who have given their all to this national fight. Many of our school health nurses and dental therapists who were earlier deployed to serve quarantine orders and care for patients at the community care facilities continue to volunteer in other frontline roles instead of returning to their usual work. There was also the heartening story of a ‘swabber’ who would write a different positive phrase on his PPE gown everyday while conducting swab tests at the dormitories, to encourage those coming in for their swabs as well as fellow ‘swabbers’.
While I am not in a position to speak about future plans, I can attest to the rigor and thoroughness of the planning and assessment that go into the development of policies and execution of operations. Given the uncertainty, there will be imperfections. Nonetheless, I am confident that the sacrificial efforts of the thousands in service across both the private and public sectors will help us win this war.
What are some challenges that you are facing in uncertain times like this, both at work and in your personal life? What keeps you going?
This period has been physically and emotionally challenging. In addition to the daily stress of COVID-19 work and lack of sleep, there was the added pressure of having to postpone my wedding that was scheduled for 23 May 2020. I was plagued by the guilt of having to leave matters pertaining to the postponement to my fiancée, on top of not being able to see her or speak to her due to the circuit breaker and my crazy work schedule. There were times when I seriously wondered if I had made the wrong decision to join the Swab Ops Working Group. When I had some free moments, I dreamt of a parallel universe without COVID-19, where I would be happily married and preparing for my honeymoon.
Then, I recalled a HPB Director who said this at her lowest point: ‘if I had a choice, I would do it all again.’ I could not agree more. I like watching war movies, and I often picture myself in scenes in those movies, wondering if I would be able to make the right decisions and protect my loved ones. Through this stint in helping to fight the pandemic, I know I have contributed in a very tangible way, to safeguard the wellbeing of others and my loved ones.
I have also been blessed with a fun-loving team at work! We call ourselves “Cheddars”, a reference to Captain Holt’s Corgi in Brooklyn Nine-Nine (an American comedy series). Many a time, it feels like we are just scurrying around with our short legs and taking orders from our commanders. We spend our breaks doing impressions of others, and other initiatives such as tracking the daily schedule of the safety distancing officers.
What positive things have you noticed emerging out of this global crisis?
It is amazing how much can be accomplished when we are faced with a global crisis. At HPB, we spend years and years trying to shift health behaviours. Singapore even declared a War on Diabetes in a whole-of-society effort to help Singaporeans adopt healthier habits. However, these pale in comparison to the effect that COVID-19 had on the population’s behaviour. Within a matter of months, the entire country adopted and adhered to the new safety measures. It is perhaps useful to do a comparison between the War on Diabetes and this War against COVID-19 to understand the conditions by which we could influence social norms to better promote the health of Singaporeans.
What advice would you like to give to our USP community and the Class of 2020 graduates?
Be comfortable with uncertainty.
If there is one thing that this experience taught me, it would be that uncertainty is part and parcel of life. While we try to control our lives and our environment, there will always be unexpected scenarios or outcomes that cause a dent in our perfect plans. I would never have guessed that my wedding would be abruptly postponed after all the meticulous planning and resources that we had put into it.
There are also times where action must be taken without perfect knowledge. The COVID-19 crisis was a great example of this. When faced with the unknown enemy, we have to act with the expectation that it is an iterative process and mistakes will be made along the way. It is okay to fail or make mistakes, so long as we humble ourselves and learn quickly from them. No one knows all the answers all the time.