Bringing Necessities, Easing Anxieties
Amid the pandemic, Krithi Pushpanathan spent many hours at the frontlines to provide assistance and daily essentials to migrant workers
During the circuit breaker period, Krithi Pushpanathan volunteered with Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2) five times a week to help migrant workers affected by the lockdown. She worked with the Small Essential Needs team, contacting workers stuck in the dormitories and bringing them daily necessities to help them cope with the anxiety of their situation.
The Class of 2020 Pharmaceutical Engineering alumnus has also been tutoring primary school children at Cheng San Family Services Centre for the past four years.
When asked why volunteering is such a big part of her life, Krithi replied that she used to feel that she had been living life mostly for herself instead of others. “The basic commitment with TWC2 and tutoring was just one time a week each. I also had a friend who told me stories about what migrant workers were going through, and I felt I wanted to help this vulnerable group of people. So I just tried it, made friends with fellow volunteers who are very passionate, and didn’t look back.”
Krithi is still volunteering with TWC2 today, and another part of her role involves helping with case work, assisting workers to write to the Ministry of Manpower if they have work issues requiring intervention. Her two volunteering activities are balanced together with her work as a Research Engineer in SIT, which involves researching methods of bringing down the cost of expanding T-Cells through development of serum-free media.
When asked how she finds the time to volunteer regularly, Krithi said that it was a matter of finding the right passion for oneself. “When you do have the opportunity to help, it’ll be something you remember easily if you want to do it. You’ll definitely make time for it if it is something that you like. It’s just a matter of finding out what you like to do and how you would like to give back.”
Krithi is a SINDA Excellence Award 2020 winner, SIT Scholar and recipient of the AbbVie Outstanding Student Award in Pharmaceutical Engineering (2020). She will be going to Imperial College London later this year to pursue a Master’s degree in epidemiology.