The week for me started with a bang, literally… And then it is off to the next project of preparing a new adventure overseas.
On Sunday evening, I had a car accident. A moment of personal misjudgement was all it took for it to happen. I have had only a handful of car mishaps over my 33 years of driving career, though the last few were the other parties’ fault.
This one was different as I had stopped on the leftmost side of the junction and started moving, thinking that the light turned green. I had mistakenly seen the lights of the next junction which was very near and not the one I was in. I moved ahead and something immediately banged into the left side of my car.
A food delivery person on a motorcycle had hit my car. I immediately stopped in the middle of the junction and got out to see what had happened. The front of his motorcycle was severely damaged and he was lying on the road. Luckily, a Cisco car was just behind and they came out to help. 2 ladies crossing the street were also offering to help and call for an ambulance.
Soon the traffic police came over and he took over the situation. He directed the traffic and co-ordinated the steps required. The motorcyclist felt head pains and hence the ambulance people had to put him on a stretcher to put him into the ambulance. The wheel on my car was dented and I needed a tow truck for it.
We immediately went to the required police station to make a police report to the investigating officer. I was still shell shocked by then and everything seems to be like a slow-moving movie. I told my wife that perhaps it gets harder for me to deal with stress as I get older.
I count my blessings that my wife was not injured as the impact was on her side. That it could have been worse if it was a car instead of a motorcycle. I prayed that the person would be alright as they sent him to the A&E ward of SGH. I called the relative using the number he had given me to inform his brother in law of the accident.
That night, the accident kept on playing in my mind. I woke up many times in cold sweat as I replayed the whole accident in my memory. I could not understand why I could have made such a simple error in judgement.
The next morning, I had to go to the repair workshop which the car was towed to, to do the accident paperwork for the insurance claims. I had just renewed the COE for another 10 years for my old car the week before and purchased the road tax and car insurance for another year. Talk about timing…
I went with my younger son to help him bring his things to his new hostel for the beginning of his term in NUS before heading to the workshop. The repair workshop was very efficient as they deal mainly with road accident cases. I called the relative of the accident victim shortly after to enquire about his condition. His sister told me that the doctors had checked on his condition and he was discharged the same night as they felt that he was alright. I felt a sense of relief that he had no serious injury. It is now up to the police to investigate the accident and come up with the report to determine the penalties which I would be given.
Because of Covid19, nations have closed their borders and the whole world stopped moving for months. The after-effects of this once in 100 years event were unprecedented. Millions became unemployed overnight and food supply chains severely tested in this highly interconnected global network. It was every nation for itself and protectionism reared its ugly head. Each country became a case study on what to do or not do during a pandemic. Countries which were initially successful in curbing the virus succumbed to the subsequent waves as it moved from East to West and then back again.
Testing is still the only sure way of slowing down the virus and contact tracing the next step. But in our porous borders, it was inevitable that the virus would return again. The only end game solution will be the development of a vaccine for everyone on planet Earth. A number of firms are racing towards this and there are at least 24 such groups that are currently during vaccine research around the world.
My older son was supposed to start his university course in Oxford in Oct. The school had confirmed his position and he is expected to be there for the school term opening. At the moment, the UK has mandated that a 14 days quarantine period is required for all new overseas visitors from outside the EU.
His college had offered to provide a quarantine service plus meals to him in his dormitory. I will be accompanying him there to help him with the luggage load and to ensure that he settles down well. My wife is working full time now, hence it is not practical for her to join us as we will also need to be quarantined for another 14 days when we are back in S’pore. That would be a total of 28 days quarantine required, which will hinder her work as a country manager.
The situation in the UK is still very fluid at the moment. It had a very bad 1st wave when the PM refused to acknowledge the virus until he got it himself. The irony… Trying very hard to fight it now, it had recently imposed an immediate restriction on Spain when the cases there surged. A lot of British holidaymakers there were affected. Unbelievable that they are still having holidays in a pandemic…
Anyway, I had to start planning for my UK trip now. I have booked a service apartment about 4 km from central Oxford for 2 weeks for the quarantine and then another 2 weeks in the city centre where I will help my son settle down before heading home to another 2 weeks quarantine at a government selected hotel.
The upside to the trip? The top vaccine contender at the moment is actually located in Oxford! We just have to be extra careful when we are there and wear our masks diligently. Though we know more about the virus than 6 months ago, we are nowhere near the finishing line yet. 2020 is certainly turning out to be an annus horribilis of sorts as we cross into Aug today.
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