Another Circuit Breaker Lockdown week has passed. We seemed to have gotten used to the New Normal and each day passes with a now regular routine for me. Life will never go back to the way we used to know just a few months ago. Everything has been turned upside down on their heads.
Electronic payments had advanced faster in the last 3 months than the last 3 years. Tech has caught up and enabled the ability to work from home or anywhere as stronger video conference apps make everything possible. We are even more wired than ever before and the interconnectivity, either on a business or personal front, is even better now.
All countries have been looking to reopening their economies but at various phases. Most are mindful of the 2nd wave, but yet some are just forcing the opening to salvage their economies. The playbook for Covid19 is still being written and the whole world is going through a global social experiment to understand the virus.
Looking at the death statistics, it seems that the majority had a pre-existing condition which the virus exacerbated and made it fatal. That is why an older age group has been hit harder. Should we have a lockdown of the most vulnerable groups and allow the rest to return to normal and eventual herd immunity? Some are asking if all should suffer the shutdown and risk destroying the economy. No one has the answers yet.
We had quite a few distractions this week besides Covid19. First was Hong Kong. China had decided that it is time that they had tougher laws to control the unruly chaotic situation that the demonstrators have created last year. They will ramp through the required legislature to effect this soon.
I am not surprised by this move. China has wanted to do it earlier in the year but the virus caught everyone by surprise, hence the delay. They had probably figured that the demonstrators, with the help of outside forces, were already hell-bent on destroying HK. With their unrealistic demands and uncompromising attitude, China would have to control the disobedient child. If it results in a weaker HK, so be it since that was already the demonstrators’ intention anyway.
So sad to see the misguided youths fighting for freedom and asking for more than what the UK had to their forefathers, pre-1997. China has a bigger country at stake and will sacrifice HK if need too, to bring them back in line. As I said before, the crux of the issue is inequality and the Gini coefficient is getting worse. The gap between the rich and the poor continues to widen.
Over the last 23 years since breaking away from the UK, the HK government had failed to close this inequality gap. They have continuously sided with the property Hongs and ignored the general population. Selling limited land to the property tycoons instead of building more public housing makes the citizens even angrier. The benefits of these land sales have not benefited all citizens.
This leaves China no choice but to wield the big stick now. Using the carrot approach obviously did not work. By leaving them alone since 1997, China had allowed this festering problem to grow. It will need to address this problem head-on and stamp out the rioting with outside help once and for all.
US trying to come in to “defend” HK with more sanctions is totally hypocritical on their part. Where were they for Ukraine when Russia invaded Crimea? Many times before, it was their self-interest placed beforehand rather than for acting as a magnanimous global policeman. How many wars have they created in the Middle East in the name of defeating the perceived enemy? A pot cannot call the kettle black. Must they always interfere with every country’s internal affairs?
And now to the other story that links back to America. Another black person dying horrifically in the hands of the police. The video filmed by a bystander was so difficult to watch. The man pleading for his life but was slowly choked to death. The aftermath of the anger being released was overwhelming as riots erupted all over the country. It is a cumulation of the “Black lives matter” movement as we see incident after incident of brutality against black people, mostly in the hands of the police.
And Trump continues to talk rubbish with fake bravado, concentrating his efforts on of all things, his new war against Twitter in the midst of the Covid19 pandemic and the new racial riots. This man has no shame or empathy at all. It’s always I, me and myself only. Just when you think he hits a new low, he will prove you wrong and do something even stupider. SAD!
On the personal front, I had a good regular monthly meeting with the Myanmar team. The month of May is looking to be better than expected amidst the lockdown. We are still cautiously moving forward into June. The difficult decision now – whether we should disburse new loans. The future economic condition until the end of the year looks like it is only going to get worse.
Signed my new 2 months project work contract this week and started work on Wed. It is to provide new questions/answers for a nationally run financial services exam certification process. I have to spend a few hours every day to think up of at least 10 new multiple-choice questions on various topics. Not as easy as it looks, but at least it will keep me occupied for now and provide some new income.
We are discovering more about Covid19 every day. While the fear remains high, it is off its peak as we get used to the lockdown and getting to understand the invisible enemy better. Maybe a year from now, we will look back to this period of time in history and reminisce: “How did we manage to get through that crazy period?”
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