‘Tis a week of technology news overload for me as I participated in the annual S’pore Fintech Festival. The more I learn, the more amazed I am at where we are heading with new technology. More of that later.
The main topic of my blog today is my hypothesis about Covid. I see the end game in sight and all signs point to it as we near the 2nd anniversary of this deadly once in a hundred years pandemic that turned our lives upside down. There were so many twists and turns during these past 22 months that thinking about it gives me a headache. I had started labelling my weekly blogs since it began and today, we are at week 89…
The vaccines discovery were the fastest in human history and it was not by choice as it was for urgent implementation to prevent more deaths. The massive global rollout since last Dec came with variants hiccups and we are now into our 3rd booster shot. Masks, test kits and toilet paper were in short supply at various times during the numerous lockdowns. Contact tracing became Gestapo like with in-depth interrogations and jail time for guilty parties thrown into the chaos.
Political divides exposed the weaknesses of all countries while the evils of social media developed to the next level. Anti-vaxxers fought back and soon became the minority. Vaccine mandates continue to squeeze the last holdout unvaccinated group by threatening job terminations. The Universal Basic Income (UBI) concept originally expounded Andrew Yang had to be implemented as governments threw money at their citizens while economies collapsed and supply chains froze. Many have now decided to quit their jobs anyway after this virus episode as they question and prioritize their life choices. WFH (Work From Home) became the norm whenever possible.
Technology adaptation timelines were accelerated. Video calls provided a quantum leap in productivity and broadband survived the massive increase in data throughput. Contact tracing via an app and QR codes became a way of life while the world quickly learned to adopt China’s cashless way via epayments using the mobile.
The new normal means that the old ways of doing things pre-2020 will not likely return. Business travel? A big waste of time as clients may not want to see you and a video call will do just nicely. Short 30 mins to an hour calls are to the point and effective to bring the message across business contacts.
I digress from the main topic with my rant above. Why do I see the end in sight? It is the emergence of oral medication to conquer Covid. Merck came out with one a few weeks back and Pfizer just announced one with a success rate of 89% that amazed even themselves. They are basically pills that one will take once we realize that we have contracted the virus. They basically screw up the process where the virus tries to take over the body, handicaping it so that the full-blown effects of Covid19 is minimized to reduce hospitalization and death.
This will be the new Tamiflu of Covid. H1N1 was resolved when Tamiflu was introduced. It became just another common flu that could be treated with a medication course of Tamiflu. The S’pore authorities then bought millions of doses as a strategic reserve in case H1N1 surges back again. In a way, I believe that this might also be the turning point for Covid too.
There will be no need for vaccinations anymore if oral pills are a good and effective alternative to stopping the virus. Then we can stop pushing the vaccine mandates and the political divide will go away naturally. We can then get back to the world of living normally and not in fear of Covid. Children can go back to school without the need for masks.
Sounds workable and logical? I hope that it will happen, just as countries reopen and overseas travel is returning, but with some new protocols in place to lower the risk of imported virus exposure. I am generally an optimistic person that prefers to look at the bright side of things but these past months have been a severe test of all our mental health. Each and every human being on planet earth had been through a virus baptism of fire as we adapt to new ways of life constantly.
The main highlight of the week for me was the S’pore Fintech Festival. I have been attending this annual event since it started a few years ago. For this week, it was a virtual event where I could pick and choose the sessions I want to view at my own time and target. An interactive certification process was also included to allow participants to become more immersed in the event.
The overall theme was Web 3.0 and how it will affect everything that we will do in the future. Blockchain technology that leads to cryptocurrencies was a prominent topic throughout the 5 days event. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) were also touted as the next big thing to tackle real-world problems. It made me smile inside as I just completed the IBM AI course and I believe that I am in the correct life long learning path of these new technologies.
While taking my dad to an annual checkup with the eye specialist on Thursday, I experienced on a first hand basis these technologies at work in the biggest public government hospital. The check-in was efficient and we were only allowed to do so just 15 minutes before the 1st appointment. Using his ID card, a printout showed him the 4 stations he had to visit in succession, one after the other.
There were 4 stations – one for the nurses to do some standard tests, then to the doctor for review. This was followed by the payment counter and then to the pharmacy for medication. All these took less than an hour to complete. TV screens at every station listed the queue status and prompted our assigned reference queue number when it was our turn. It was another lovely morning to spend time with my father, to accompany him to the appointment and then have lunch with my parents later.
Finally, on Friday afternoon, I had a video call with my new mentee to kickstart the annual NUSS Mentorship program. This will be my 4th year of participation with my 4th mentee. It is one of my ways to pay it forward as an alumni of the uni. It is also to get to know and understand a Gen Z youth to enable me to better connect with both my boys since they belong to this cohort. Hopefully, I can share my work life experiences with him and help him develop his career as he goes into the rat race soon after his final year in 2022.
Leave a Reply