Be kind and offer help to others for a dopamine and serotonin high, and lower blood pressure

Performing acts of kindness benefits the recipient but also improves our emotional well-being by triggering feelings of pleasure and satisfaction

Being altruistic is good for physical health too – it relieves pain, improves cardiovascular health and lowers stress. ‘Be kind whenever you can,’ a giver says

4-MIN READ4-MIN

Photographer Mita Kelder organised donations of food and toiletries for Singapore’s migrant workers when their dormitories were forced into lockdown during the coronavirus pandemic. Performing acts of kindness like this can improve our mental and emotional well-being. Photo: Mita Kelder

Published: 5:15pm, 29 Aug 2020Updated: 10:32pm, 30 Aug 2020

When the coronavirus pandemic hit Singapore, the virus found its way into many of its dormitories for foreign workers, where it infected thousands of labourers from countries including Bangladesh, Thailand and Myanmar.

While the migrant workers were given food and other necessities after their dorms went into lockdown, Mita Kelder knew that more could be done to help them.

The photographer, who was born in Thailand but has called Singapore home for nearly 20 years, had previously assisted Thais living in the city state through the non-profit Thai Association of Singapore, and was now determined to help those who were confined day and night to their sleeping quarters.

She went from helping 300 workers in the first week to about 4,000 in two months. To date, she has helped about 8,000, from Thailand and elsewhere.

Migrant workers queue to receive food at the Tuas South dormitory in Singapore after it was placed under government lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Photo: AFP

“I called out for donations of instant noodles, canned fish, canned vegetables, condiments, and toiletries like soap, shampoo and toothpaste. Then I organised trucks to transport hundreds of boxes of these items to the dorms,” Kelder says.