When Shahril heard the news of border closure during Circuit Breaker, he made the difficult decision to enter Singapore at midnight, amidst all the uncertainty. He has not been able to return to his family since.
Shahril has been working at Grocery Logistics of Singapore (GLS) since 2018. He’s the proud owner of 3 licences, and is able to drive lorries, cars and vans. These licences were sponsored by GLS in recognition of his great work ethics, allowing him to be a senior driver with much more opportunities.
Every day, Shahril comes into work at 7.30am and awaits his supervisor’s delegation of delivery routes. He does the loading and unloading of goods, on top of delivery. With 5 out of 12 of his team members still in Malaysia, they are understaffed and constantly busy. Shahril works tirelessly for long hours, at times through the middle of the night, to deliver pallets of goods to various FairPrice stores islandwide. His hard work and dedication towards the company have earned high praises from his superiors & colleagues.
“Shahril is one of the senior drivers here and he has really earned all his sponsorships. He’s reliable and consistent,” Azril, Shahril’s supervisor, shares.
Shahril is a father of a 6-month old baby, still with his wife today in Malaysia. He spends a lot of his free time calling his wife and child, and laments that he misses spending time with them.
“They are far away and there’s not much I can do but to call. I used to go home everyday, so I’m really not used to it,” Shahril shares, “However, if I had to make this difficult decision again, I would.”
Providing for his family is high priority for Shahril and he is willing to go through adversity to ensure there’s food on the table. He’s grateful that FairPrice has assisted him through these difficult times by providing a place to stay for the first 2 weeks of Circuit Breaker, with allowances.
Shahril adores playing soccer, but with most of his friends and family in Malaysia, he spends his free time resting at home and playing mobile soccer games on his phone instead.
“It’s hard to find someone to play with here, so I just stick to mobile games” he laughs, “I would love to meet my friends again for a friendly game. My team members are unavailable because we work different shifts to cover all the routes.”
Shahril is thankful for kind colleagues and the bonds he has formed living with them. Often he would do some light shopping for ingredients to make his favourite dish for sharing: chicken soup! It brightens up the day and warms the bellies of his colleagues as they come and go from work.
He can’t wait until the borders open again so he can see his family. He would love to bring them over to Singapore too, to visit Universal Studios Singapore and Gardens by the Bay. Until then, Shahril will continue to provide for his family.
