This week was a time of surprise and happiness since my weekly countdown 4 months ago. The government had swiftly announced a move towards phase 2 of a 3 steps guide to reopening the S’pore economy.
It was earlier than we expected as we were previously primed to only consider that by end Jun at the earliest. We suspect that it was mainly due to the fact that elections are around the corner and that they need to do it faster before the deadline of Apr 2021. Most countries around the world are also slowly opening up, so it would be strange if we do not follow the trend and continue with the lockdown.
It is not a return to normal but an in-between situation before phase 3 – back to where we were before. Phase 3 is conditional on a vaccine being found though. We are never ever returning to the old normal again. The last few months taught us that there is no return to the old ways and a new normal lies ahead of us.
It also has been encouraging news that I see more Pharmas expediting the virus research and some have moved to the next stage of human testing. It seems that a lot of brave young people have signed up as guinea pigs to be infected with Covid19 in order to test the effectiveness of the vaccine. Kudos to these brave souls!
On the personal front, my close group of friends quickly agreed to meet for lunch on Friday, the first day of the restriction relaxation. It was a surreal meeting as we almost have forgotten what it was like to go out for a meal, having been couped up at home for months. The wearing of masks outside is still compulsory, so we didn’t know when we could remove them. We finally decided that it can be removed the moment we opened the first bottle of wine and received our glasses LOL. The food came later but the wine had to be drunk fresh, I guess.
I was looking forward to the weekend as my younger son and I will be celebrating our birthdays together on Sat. The timing of phase 2 reopening seems like an early birthday present for both of us. I am proud that he has also been accepted to NUS Medical school. He will disrupt from his OCS course in NS after next week to begin school in Aug. Our first doctor in the family!
This week was also a busy one for me on the current project I am doing, setting questions for a national financial certification exam. I had submitted the first set of 125 MCQs and received comments for amendment on 52 of them. Hence I was busy spending the whole week trying to rework them to resubmit just before my Fri lunch appointment.
Where are we now on the Covid19 front? The 2nd and 3rd waves have started to pop up around China, South Korea and New Zealand, the golden standards of the world. While aggressive testing is good, it is a poor best choice solution until a vaccine is found. No amount of testing can prevent a slip up of an external infection entering an enclosed country. The inter-connectivity of global trade does not allow a country to be walled off from the world forever. Even opening up a tiny door is a risk that the virus will attack again. It has no emotions and does not discriminate.
Trump is doing his Tulsa rally tonight against all medical advice. It is truly a shit show in the making where 19,000 people packed in an enclosed environment and not wearing masks will be fertile ground for Covid19. I cannot understand the Americans. They equate wearing masks to restricting their 1st amendment, just like the right to carrying a gun. As Arnold “Terminator” Schwarzenegger said yesterday: “Anyone making it a political issue is an absolute moron,” adding that they probably “can’t read.” SAD!
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