I guess we are, (or at least most of us) are, hoping that normalcy returns.
I want to take a walk at the park, the mall, the supermarket, without the distrustful fear that I will bump into a person who has the virus, or walk past a person who has recovered from the virus, and possibly still infectious. I want the ability to give a hug to family members and close friends, not living in the same household, without lingering doubts of the need to be socially distant.
While I wait for the light at the end of this novel viral tunnel, I cannot help but think the world, or for closeness to my heart, Singapore, will change forever.
I reckon the PAP government has not even a properly thought out plan in place on how to resume after circuit breaker, how to create more jobs for those who have lost them.
Erroneously led Singaporean sheeps think that just by reopening the circuit breaker, the economy, their jobs will be back, the Singapore economy is going to boom again, the stock market will bull to pre Covid-19 levels, the property market will continue its ascent and we all live happily thereafter.
I don't think so. I think that majority of those who lost their jobs aren’t getting their jobs back, and the arduous process of job seeking, especially for those in the mid 20s to early 40s will sap their energies and expectations. There will be a long term rise in social illnesses, from suicides, divorces, to simple family disputes over money, children and care for the elderly.
At present, food centres, coffeeshops, restaurants, (though open for takeaways now), have been ordered to remove or seal their tables so they can keep social distancing. Even after Covid-19 Circuit Breaker is lifted in May (or extended period), most of us will still keep to ourselves, or stay at home as much as possible. How many of us want to or even dare to have gatherings at food centres, coffeeshops or restaurants. Even with limited seatings (most likely to be imposed by the authorities post circuit breaker), many people will still be hesitant. Most restaurants will also require reservations. Food stalls and coffeshop stalls, relying on volume business to keep prices affordable may not see the pre Covid-19 volumes for some time. They will either struggle to survive, either raise prices (to cover up for the volume shortfall) or pack up. Sporting events may not resume as usual. Cinemas, shows and concerts, if allowed to proceed with some social distancing guidelines, will cost a bomb for a ticket as the organisers will no longer to be able to pack the venues for economy of scale. Coupled with lost in income, not many will be able to afford. Organisers might not even want to proceed.
In this forum, I read some of those posts promoting herd immunity with some concern. Why do I say so? Well, the virus is novel. Yes, I agree most will have mild symptoms. Yes, I agree that the seniors have a higher mortality rate.
BUT!
Have you ever thought that the world is dealing with a new coronaviruus? We do not know (at this moment) the long term effects of being infected. Will the virus remain latent in the human bodies after the initial recovery, flared up again in future, affecting some of the major human organs? Will it lie latent for now in the human body and subsequently mutate into some form of chronic illness in a few years? There are simply too little scientific data on long term effects to support such a herd immunity strategy (at least for now).
IMHO, until a vaccine is created, I don’t see much changing.
I also do not believe Singapore, (despite its supposed brightest and higest paid) men and women in the political leadership were prepared for this crisis. PAP was caught grossly unprepared despite all the repeated propaganda justifying that we were getting the best leadership. It lacks decisiveness even when compared to Malaysia (which was caught in the midst of party politics squabbles). PAP has been negligent in the ways dorms were managed, which are now the epicentres of local transmission. I feel seriously shortchanged.
From reasonably foreseeable needs like masks, to strict preventive measures in foreign worker dorms at the start of Covid-19, PAP has spectacularly scored a F9, not even a C6.
It makes one wonder why they are so highly paid in the first place, when countries like Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea, which do not practise such gross "mercenary rewarding" of politicians, are better prepared, for preventive and contingent situations.
Singaporeans need to be thinking about their future, whether it is political leadership, cultural and religious bad habits, mass import of foreign labour with totally no clue or contingency in place in times of crisis, to basic hygiene and consideration for one another in public transport and public spaces. The lax framework of importing foreign PMET talent has to change, otherwise more and more of our local talents will end up as taxi or Grab drivers or food delivery jobs. They will be the most vulnerable in future coronavirus outbreaks.
It will take some time for the world to get a vaccine. We will find most likely find ourselves in this situation over and over, with repeated circuit breakers, that will eventually break some of us. I wish you the best, and do take care of your own health during this challenging period ahead.
I want to take a walk at the park, the mall, the supermarket, without the distrustful fear that I will bump into a person who has the virus, or walk past a person who has recovered from the virus, and possibly still infectious. I want the ability to give a hug to family members and close friends, not living in the same household, without lingering doubts of the need to be socially distant.
While I wait for the light at the end of this novel viral tunnel, I cannot help but think the world, or for closeness to my heart, Singapore, will change forever.
I reckon the PAP government has not even a properly thought out plan in place on how to resume after circuit breaker, how to create more jobs for those who have lost them.
Erroneously led Singaporean sheeps think that just by reopening the circuit breaker, the economy, their jobs will be back, the Singapore economy is going to boom again, the stock market will bull to pre Covid-19 levels, the property market will continue its ascent and we all live happily thereafter.
I don't think so. I think that majority of those who lost their jobs aren’t getting their jobs back, and the arduous process of job seeking, especially for those in the mid 20s to early 40s will sap their energies and expectations. There will be a long term rise in social illnesses, from suicides, divorces, to simple family disputes over money, children and care for the elderly.
At present, food centres, coffeeshops, restaurants, (though open for takeaways now), have been ordered to remove or seal their tables so they can keep social distancing. Even after Covid-19 Circuit Breaker is lifted in May (or extended period), most of us will still keep to ourselves, or stay at home as much as possible. How many of us want to or even dare to have gatherings at food centres, coffeeshops or restaurants. Even with limited seatings (most likely to be imposed by the authorities post circuit breaker), many people will still be hesitant. Most restaurants will also require reservations. Food stalls and coffeshop stalls, relying on volume business to keep prices affordable may not see the pre Covid-19 volumes for some time. They will either struggle to survive, either raise prices (to cover up for the volume shortfall) or pack up. Sporting events may not resume as usual. Cinemas, shows and concerts, if allowed to proceed with some social distancing guidelines, will cost a bomb for a ticket as the organisers will no longer to be able to pack the venues for economy of scale. Coupled with lost in income, not many will be able to afford. Organisers might not even want to proceed.
In this forum, I read some of those posts promoting herd immunity with some concern. Why do I say so? Well, the virus is novel. Yes, I agree most will have mild symptoms. Yes, I agree that the seniors have a higher mortality rate.
BUT!
Have you ever thought that the world is dealing with a new coronaviruus? We do not know (at this moment) the long term effects of being infected. Will the virus remain latent in the human bodies after the initial recovery, flared up again in future, affecting some of the major human organs? Will it lie latent for now in the human body and subsequently mutate into some form of chronic illness in a few years? There are simply too little scientific data on long term effects to support such a herd immunity strategy (at least for now).
IMHO, until a vaccine is created, I don’t see much changing.
I also do not believe Singapore, (despite its supposed brightest and higest paid) men and women in the political leadership were prepared for this crisis. PAP was caught grossly unprepared despite all the repeated propaganda justifying that we were getting the best leadership. It lacks decisiveness even when compared to Malaysia (which was caught in the midst of party politics squabbles). PAP has been negligent in the ways dorms were managed, which are now the epicentres of local transmission. I feel seriously shortchanged.
From reasonably foreseeable needs like masks, to strict preventive measures in foreign worker dorms at the start of Covid-19, PAP has spectacularly scored a F9, not even a C6.
It makes one wonder why they are so highly paid in the first place, when countries like Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea, which do not practise such gross "mercenary rewarding" of politicians, are better prepared, for preventive and contingent situations.
Singaporeans need to be thinking about their future, whether it is political leadership, cultural and religious bad habits, mass import of foreign labour with totally no clue or contingency in place in times of crisis, to basic hygiene and consideration for one another in public transport and public spaces. The lax framework of importing foreign PMET talent has to change, otherwise more and more of our local talents will end up as taxi or Grab drivers or food delivery jobs. They will be the most vulnerable in future coronavirus outbreaks.
It will take some time for the world to get a vaccine. We will find most likely find ourselves in this situation over and over, with repeated circuit breakers, that will eventually break some of us. I wish you the best, and do take care of your own health during this challenging period ahead.
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