Thankfully, changes came soon. In late April, Minister of State for Manpower at the time Zaqy Mohamad acknowledged the issues in a Facebook post and stated that things were going to improve, with MOM beginning to work closer with workers, dormitories and caterers to ensure that food standards were reworked. The scale of the distribution of food, on time delivery and the accommodation to dietary preferences had all posed as challenges for caterers. After the announcement, food quality had indeed begun to change for the better, with foreign workers now enjoying their edible, even tasty, food and thanking MOM for the action taken.

Living Conditions
Improvements to the living conditions of foreign workers were soon announced by the government, with them working closely with dorm operators and employers to ensure that both short term and long term beneficial changes are implemented. Some of the improvements planned are:

Currently: At 4.5 sqm per resident (including shared facilities)
Improvement: Living space per resident—>at least 6 sqm (not including shared facilities)

 
Currently: There are no limits on the occupancy per room. In practice, dormitories typically have 12-16 beds per room, with mostly double decker beds.
Improvement: Maximum of 10 beds per room, where only single deck beds will be used with 1m spacing between the beds.

 

Currently: One toilet, bathroom and sink to every 15 beds
Improvement: One toilet, bathroom and sink to every 5 beds 

 

Currently: Requirement of just one sick bay bed per 1,000 bed spaces.
Improvement: More sick bay beds – at least 15 per 1,000 bed spaces. 

Improvement: The Government is considering and studying the possibility on whether to develop the purpose-built dormitories on a different, less commercial model compared to the present, bid-based system.

Overall
Although the government eventually brought improvements to foreign worker dormitories, it was too little too late. Dormitories were already hot spots for COVID-19 and, at the time, were still contributing hundreds of cases to Singapore's daily case count.

The outbreak seemed obvious, considering the many issues present with foreign worker dormitories. Did the government realise that they were, as said by Professor Tommy Koh, "a time bomb waiting to explode"? The answer is yes - the issue had previously been brought up by NGOs and other politicians in debates before, however very little concrete action had been taken.
This was not just the government's fault, but the public's as well. Prior to the rapid spread of COVID-19 in dormitories, many in the Singaporean public resisted possible initiatives posed by the government to improve the situation of foreign workers, taking on a selfish 'Not In My Backyard' attitude towards them.

Issues with foreign worker housing are not new. These same problems were present even before COVID-19, ignored by most media outlets and, unfortunately, most Singaporeans. It is only when these conditions expedited the spread of COVID-19 that we paid attention and brought change with us.
This experience shows us all that, even though poor planning might not affect us at a certain point in time, it is best to be proactive and resolve it then, rather than waiting until it hurts us, such as during a crisis. This is why building a Sustainable City matters.

Sources:
Upper Left: https://mustsharenews.com/dorm-meals/
Lower Left: https://www.facebook.com/theonlinecitizen/videos/josephine-teos-response-when-asked-if-the-government-would-consider-issuing-an-a/2598640030375209/
Right: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/covid-19-singapore-new-dormitories-foreign-workers-conditions-12792538