Malaysians in Singapore host students for new year

As many Malaysian workers and students are stranded in Singapore over the Lunar New Year, unable to travel home due to travel restrictions, one association called on people to host students for a meal in their homes to celebrate the start of the Year of the Ox. The Malaysian Association in Singapore matched 25 students to ten hosts.

One of them invited four Malaysian students over for lunch at her apartment. 31-year-old Malaysian woman Chan Jit Yen lives in Singapore with her husband, she was unable to visit her family in Kuala Lumpur due to the travel restrictions imposed to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Instead she opened her doors to four Malaysian students.

During lunch, they discussed university life, work prospects, and their favorite Malaysian cities and dishes. The Association made sure to match people sharing the same interests and with similar backgrounds. Chan, who has a civil and mechanical engineer background, celebrated with four engineering students.

Under strict pandemic rules households in Singapore, which has a handful of coronavirus cases reported daily, can welcome up to eight visitors a day. Students welcomed the initiatives, saying it was a way to meeting people from Malaysia in Singapore and explore other ways of celebrating the new Lunar Year.

Many Malaysians will be staying in Singapore over the Lunar New Year, some are spending the festivities abroad for the first time to avoid two-week quarantine requirements, although the two countries are joined by bridges. The city-state is home to Malaysia's largest diaspora community.