Popular YouTuber Ghib Ojisan shared his happy video reunion with the Bangladeshi friend and collaborator he’s been unable to meet since all worker dormitories were locked down due to COVID-19.
In the Japanese expat’s latest episode, he listens as Likhon Khan tells him how he emerged from months of pandemic lockdown healthy and employed but remains concerned about his elderly parents back home.
“A lot of my viewers were asking me how my Bangladeshi bro is doing. Is he doing OK? I know he’s doing great and [is] healthy, but I haven’t called him for a while so I thought I’ll call him right now,” Ojisan, who’s kept his real name secret, says in the video My Bangladeshi Bro Still Cannot Come Outside 4 Months of Quarantine.
The duo had appeared in multiple YouTube videos exploring Singapore, including Khan’s first time dining on sushi. Their last video together was posted in April when containment measures were in place.
It’s not clear when they could meet in person again. Even as the authorities begin to relax containment measures for migrant workers, many are still not allowed to roam Singapore freely.
“Currently I can only go to work and come back to my room. Sometimes I can visit nearby places outside my dormitory,” Khan tells Ojisan in the video. But very far places using the MRT, [I] cannot go. Because foreign workers cannot really go anywhere. Mostly, just work and dormitory only,”.
More than 160,000 people are subscribed to Ojisan’s channel, where he has posted clips of him and Khan exploring Sentosa, Paya Lebar, and Orchard, where they had sushi together.
Khan is among thousands of migrant workers deemed healthy and allowed to resume work. Last month, the Manpower Ministry said 180,000 of the 300,000-plus workers in dormitories were cleared to resume work in sectors including construction and shipyards.
“After 4 months of not working, it was so hard to adjust. Then the next day I cannot wake up,” Khan said, without disclosing his job.
Khan said that a blood test confirmed he was not infected. The dormitory roommates he was living with were also healthy, he said.
Khan did not reveal the dorm’s name but gave a glimpse of its green buildings and empty common areas in the video call.
With a mask on his face, Khan also mentioned that he once received a warning for not wearing face protection, which carries a S$100 fine.
Asked about his family, Khan said: “Yes, my family [is] ok. I’m very worried about my parents. That’s why sometimes I think too much [because] my father and mother [are] very old.”
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