'It's to repay her for her hard work': Boss foots $10,000 bill for staff's funeral

She had only worked at his company for a year, but her boss cared for her, even after her death.

Liu Fenni, an employee of U Stars Supermarket, died of cardiac arrest last Monday (Sept 12) at Singapore General Hospital. She was 39.

And to thank her for her hard work, her boss contributed $10,000 to her funeral expenses, 8World reported.  

Liu had ill health in recent years, her mum Cai Meiling said.

She suffered a stroke in 2020 and was found to have late-stage kidney failure. Despite being on medication and undergoing dialysis last year, Liu's condition continued to deteriorate.

"Before she died, my daughter told me that she might not be able to make it through the night," Cai said.

"I comforted her and told her not to think too much. I didn't expect to receive a call from the hospital the following morning saying she had died."

Cai, 57, regretted not being there with her daughter when she died. 

Caring boss

Before joining U Stars Supermarket, Liu had worked at another supermarket. 

While there, her current boss, who was impressed by her work attitude, invited her to work at U Star Supermarket's Choa Chu Kang branch.

Worried about Liu's heavy workload there, he later transferred her to the Punggol outlet. He also showed concern for Liu's health during the time she worked at the supermarket, Cai said.

When the man offered to foot the $10,000 bill for Liu's funeral, she wanted to turn down the offer. 

But he told the grieving mum "it was to repay her daughter for her hard work".

Cai eventually accepted the kind gesture, saying she was grateful that he recognised her daughter's contributions to the company. 

Kampung spirit

Sheng Siong's management similarly contributed money to funerals, but they extended the help to complete strangers.  

During the circuit breaker in 2020, the bereaved family's relatives saw one of the staff discreetly slip $200 into the collection box at the wake. 

When asked, the man confessed that he was instructed by the supermarket's management to walk around the estate and look for wakes to make donations. 

A Sheng Siong spokesperson told AsiaOne then that it had been a company tradition for over 30 years. 

"This is Sheng Siong’s way of keeping the 'kampung spirit' alive," he explained. 

 melissateo@asiaone.com