A 64-year-old hunchbacked uncle who worked as a GrabFood delivery man has garnered wide attention from netizens.
According to Zaobao, the uncle used to work as a cleaner, but he became a food delivery man a few months ago.
The elderly have opted to deliver food on foot or by using public transport as he has no other means of doing so. As such, delivery usually takes an hour or so, hence there were not many orders assigned to him.
Even though he receives limited food delivery orders every day, he still chooses to be self-reliant and will wait for orders to be assigned to him near restaurants.
A reporter from Shin Min Daily News found the hunchbacked uncle, whose surname is Wang, at the stairs outside Choa Chu Kang MRT station on 15 February.
During the interview, Uncle Wang told the reporter that he is single and currently lives in the Bukit Panjang area. He often takes the LRT to Choa Chu Kang MRT station to deliver food, and he has been doing so for several months now.
The hunchbacked uncle is reported to be a very soft-spoken man who doesn’t talk much, but he only wants to reveal that he used to work as a cleaner in Redhill area for more than 10 years. He later moved on to become a GrabFood delivery man after he left his job as a cleaner.
Uncle Wang mentioned that he uses the trolley which he usually uses when he buys food to deliver the food. When he receives an order, he would go pick up the food and then walk or take the public transport to deliver the food. This will usually take him at least an hour to do so.
No transportation = lesser delivery order
According to Shin Min Daily News, because Uncle Wang has no other means of transportation and can only deliver meals by walking or taking public transport, there are not many orders allocated by the food delivery system.
Shin Min Daily News added that Uncle Wang became hunchbacked after having to bend over very often in his previous work, which resulted in being hunchbacked today.
Bought a smartphone to become a food delivery man
Uncle Wang revealed that to become a food delivery man, he spent about $200 to buy a smartphone, and register as a food delivery walker.
He said he had to gradually adapt and learn how to operate the mobile application of the food delivery platform.
“I start my delivery after I had my breakfast. After finishing delivery at around noon yesterday, I went back to the MRT station to wait for the next order, and went home at about 5pm,” said Uncle Wang.
He was reluctant to reveal how many orders he gets in a day but only said, “There’s more if I do more, there’s less if I do less”.
The reporter waited with Uncle Wang for an hour and saw him glancing at his phone as if he was concerned that he might have missed an order coming in. But eventually, he did not receive any order to deliver during the time the reporter was there.
Received help from other food delivery riders
The other food delivery riders have also reached out and taught Uncle Wang how to use the app.
One food delivery rider who happened to be in the vicinity told the reporter that at first, she asked Uncle Wang why did he become a food delivery man, but he didn’t say a word, and hence she stopped asking.
She also revealed that Uncle Wang doesn’t come every day. He goes to the MRT station three or four times a week. Initially, Uncle Wang doesn’t know anything, and he is also not aware of how to use the food delivery app.
When she and other food delivery riders knew of it, they would take the initiative to help him, including assisting Uncle Wang to transfer his earnings from his food delivery app account to his bank account.
Uncle Wang will deliver food even on rainy days
A newspaper seller in the Choa Chu Kang MRT station vicinity said told the reporter in an interview that has seen Uncle Wang deliver food in a raincoat when it was raining heavily.
She pointed out that on one occasion, she saw Uncle Wang walking slowly across the pedestrian crossing and failed to make it all the way across by the time the red man came on. But vehicles waited for Uncle Wang to cross patiently before proceeding.
This story about Uncle Wang is very motivating leh! You see ah, despite Uncle Wang’s physical condition, he still continues to work and earn his own living. Steady lah Uncle, hats off to you!
Many times hor, it is not just about giving these elderly people outrightly because we want to help them. Give money, very easy one mah right? But maybe these elderly people also got 自尊心 (dignity) and they want to earn their own keep instead of just taking money people from people leh?
More importantly is how we, as a society, employers lah, workers lah, unions lah, and the Gahmen, be a little bit more understanding and respectful and also give older people a chance to learn! Like what that NTUC deputy secretary-general Heng Chee How said recently.
Do you think more support should be provided for the vulnerable workers in our workforce?
Who say old people cannot take on new roles and new opportunities? Who say older people cannot learn how to use a smartphone? You see Uncle Wang also managed to learn, with the help of other riders, and now he managed to do food delivery on his own what! Old is not equal to useless ok, is whether or not people are willing to be patient and teach them or not!
And lastly, lao niang want to say the community of Food Delivery riders is also sibei loves! It is so heartwarming to see them helping each other out, especially the vulnerable ones among them! Steady lah, salute you all!!!
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