In the wake of the emotional grief borne in the tragic MRT accident than killed two young SMRT staffers, folks felt moved to help out their next of kin, who’ve remained patient and gracious the face of public spotlight.
26-year-old Nasrulhudin Najumudin and 24-year-old Muhammad Asyraf Ahmad Buhari were struck and killed by an oncoming train while walking on the tracks to carry out maintenance work near Pasir Ris MRT station. SMRT’s investigations revealed that the fatal accident was preventable — lapses in safety protocols were observed during that incident.
It was even more tragic to know that the two young men had just joined the company in January, and were undergoing hands-on training when the accident transpired. Muhammad Asyraf’s parents received the dismal news of their sons death overseas in Mecca, while they were performing their umrah pilgrimage. Nasrulhudin’s father — who works at SMRT too — was one of the staffers who responded to the incident, and saw the body of his own son on site.
As the supremely heartbreaking story unfolded over the days, Shariff Rafi called on the help of his friend Aseem K Thakur — co-founder of crowdfunding site GIVE.asia — and initiated a public fundraising drive. Donations have been coming in swiftly too — as of writing, over $5,000 have been raised for the victims’ families so far. As much as $200 have even been donated by some kind souls, bless their hearts.
“For many of us, we may not know them personally, but as a fellow Singaporean and as a person, I’m sure we all feel for the tragic loss of our fallen brothers who ultimately put their lives on the line for us,” Shariff wrote on the campaign page.
“While we know nothing can replace their sudden passing away, aside from our thoughts and prayers, we hope this little gesture will help ease the families burden in some way”.
Aseem has assured that at the end of the fundraiser (unclear when this’ll be) the donated funds will be sent to SMRT for them to distribute to the two families. You too can contribute on the page here.
