Emotional reunions after lifting of circuit breaker

After 60 days of separation due to the circuit breaker, grandparents Yeo Khee Soon and Lee Siam Hiang were over the moon yesterday morning to be able to see and hug their two grandsons.

"It's been such a long time, look how you've grown," they chorused, calling the names of the boys, aged two and five, repeatedly.

Owing to social distancing measures, the couple, both aged 70, are among many who have not had face-to-face interaction with their loved ones.

But yesterday, with the lifting of some circuit breaker measures, many people turned up at the door of their parents and grandparents.

All households, however, can receive at most two visitors once a day, and the visitors have to reside at the same address.

The elderly couple's son, Mr Yeo Chengrong, a teacher, said that while his boys were usually less vocal, they were visibly excited to be visiting their grandparents.

The 38-year-old said: "Usually, we leave the house a bit later, and even then they would be sleepy or dozing off. But this morning, they were wide awake and ready to go."

He added that his parents were brimming with emotion upon seeing his children. Madam Lee was ready to feed them their favourite food: fried fish.

Mr Yeo, whose wife is also a teacher, said the separation had made him realise how his parents' support in taking care of his sons had given him peace of mind at work.

He also missed his mother's cooking. "When you eat out, at first it is fun and exciting, but after a while, all you want is to eat some home-cooked food."

Mr Hafiz Samsudin, 31, a freelancer in the media industry, will be visiting his grandparents, who are in their 80s and 90s, to celebrate Hari Raya Puasa, which they could not do on May 24.

"Usually, we all would spend the first day with them, but this year, all we could do was drop off some food and money at their home.

"We were all quite emotional when we heard them say they wished we could just step into their home. I had to tell them I could not, it was against the law and it was for their own sake. It was all very sad."