“From the bitterness of diseases, Man learns the sweetness of health” – Catalan Proverb.
This post has been long overdue. I have been wanting to type a new post for some time now, as my last post was too way back. However life got in the way as is said, and at times I lacked the simple motivation and discipline to sit and write this post out. It is now early September 2020. The world as we know it has changed in countless ways. I know that this may seem like the beginning dialogue in many zombie apocalypse movies, but I can assure you, the situation the world has been facing since the end of last year has required such a line to be used.
COVID-19. The disease that changed the world, that changed humanity. The disease that caused humanity to go into hiding. Practices changed, jobs that one could have never heard of were created, thousands of jobs that people thought would be their rice bowl till the end were lost. But worst of it all, millions have been infected and hundreds of thousands of lives have been lost around the world.
Current statistics based on WHO reports as of 7 September 2020:
Worldwide
Confirmed Cases: 27,032,617
Confirmed Deaths: 881,464
Singapore
Confirmed Cases: 57,022
Confirmed Deaths: 27
The data above shows the adversity of the situation. No one country was spared and the worst part is that it is still going on. In some countries due to effective and efficient measures that were put in place by them, the disease has been controlled and contained. However, in some countries (also due to leaders who do not seem to fathom the adversity of the situation), the numbers keep increasing and do not seem to be getting better in any way. On the other hand, the countries that seemed to have an handle on containing the disease, are seeing a second wave hitting them as well.
Being a small country ourselves, Singapore is no stranger to adversities from our humble beginnings. However, this has quickly evolved into something that far worst than anything else that we have faced. Having mentioned all the data and having updated till the current situation that the world is facing, this brings me to the beginning of the next part of this post.
A COVID-19 world from my perspective
As stated above, I believe that this is one disease that has truly changed the world as all of us knew it. Our very essence of life has changed. People have become more conscious of their surroundings, and many have started becoming more health conscious (some overdoing it even). However, the true change that has affected this disease has brought about is within humanity itself. I believe that this is the main topic of discussion from my point of view. There are polar opposite changes in this aspect.
ASPECT 1: Many have become kinder and more appreciative.
This is true among many people that I have seen. The disease has had the tremendous power of bringing many people together and bringing humanity closer, much more than what technology could have hoped to achieve. Yes, there might be those with another school of thought, stating that technology brought people from all around the world closer. But at the end of the day, (again this is my perspective), technology is merely a tool. The emotions that erupted due to this virus made people use that tool more to bring the world closer.
I saw this evidently within my own life. Not just this disease, but I guess diseases in general. People who had been fighting for years on end, came together and began to talk like old friends. People who you barely knew, from Grab drivers to food delivery riders to even passers-by on the streets began to carry around extra sets of masks and hand sanitizers to give to people who needed them. This showed the ways that humanity progressed within a short span of time. A sense of humanity that had gone missing for a long time. I saw this with my own eyes and this really gave me a new hope for humanity. I saw many healthcare workers and frontline staff put their own health and safety at risk to care for people with Covid-19. People who we passed by daily, such as Migrant workers began to become the centre of attention as more cases began to hit their dormitories. Many Singaporeans came forward to help out and aid them during their times of need as many of these MWs began to get hit by the virus. Not just their health, but also their jobs and for many their mental well-being as well. I, myself saw this from a first hand perspective. (I will cover more on this in my next blog post.) However, with this being said, there was another polar opposite perspective which I also saw.
Aspect 2: Many became more distanced, from others & from humanity.
With no pun being intended, social distancing was only to ensure that people were not standing too close together to aid in controlling the spread of the disease. However, this distancing took a different turn for many. Many began to distance themselves from the very aspect of humanity itself. People became more unkind. Especially online, with the number of “keyboard warriors” already relatively high before the whole birth of Covid-19, it became to reach even greater heights with the disease. With many countries, including Singapore, going through their own Circuit Breaker phases, many who were sitting at home began to exercise their “free speech rights” through the net. Negativity started spreading widely. This, sadly, was not just true online. It was also striking in reality, with many becoming overly sensitive, even when one pulled down their mask to take a sip of water.
I believe that things will get better one day. Whether that one day will come in the matter of weeks, months or years, is a whole other matter. But I remain optimistic that things will get better. However, one thing is for sure. Things will never go back to normal. This new normal that we are experiencing is something that will become intertwined in all of our daily lives. We have already become accustomed to living with it and even when a vaccine is found and even if the disease disappears after some time, the scars will remain for a long time to come. In Singapore, we used to talk about how SARS affected us in many ways. But now it will be a Pre-Covid and Post-Covid world that we will live in.
I hope and pray that everyone always remains safe and never, ever forgets their humanity. When thinking about these thoughts, one speech comes to my mind. Especially one part of the whole speech. I will leave the link for the video at the bottom, but the main aspect is that it comes from a person who entertained the world without speaking a single word. –
“I should like to help everyone if possible. Jew, Gentile, Black Man, White, we all want to help one another, human beings are like that. We want to live by each other’s happiness, not by each other’s misery. We don’t want to hate and despise one another. And this world has room for everyone, and the good Earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way. Greed has poisoned men’s souls, has barricaded the world with hate, has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical, our cleverness hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery, we need humanity. More than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities life will be violent, and all will be lost”
– Charlie Chaplin
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