While Singaporeans have always been arrested for sleeping in public, the Singapore Police has allowed Malaysians who chose not to return to Malaysia to sleep at MRT stations and HDB void decks.
At Kranji MRT station 1am last night, police officers only took details of the Malaysian workers sleeping on the floor and no arrest was made. The police officers walked away and allowed the Malaysians to continue sleeping.
Malaysian workers are refusing to return to Malaysia because they do not want to lose 14 days of salaries with their Singapore employers. Most local employers do not care about the plight of their Malaysian workers either, and did not offer accommodation.
The Singapore Ministry of Manpower has offered S$700 to each Malaysian worker who are stuck in Singapore in the two weeks Malaysia closes its borders from Mar 17 to Mar 31. The S$280 million bill will be paid by Singaporean taxes, which triggered anger and protest from Singaporeans.
In contrast to the S$700 welfare offered to Malaysians, the Singapore government issued only S$100 cash to each Singaporean in the recent annual Budget.