It was only January 2020.
A month ago, on or around 4
December 2019, my world cracked a little. A little gap, that would go on to
cost my household some days of sleep and many days of reflection of what could
have happened as well as what’s next.
It hadn’t been easy, considering
that my office has just shifted from a location I professed to be home to a
place I had hardly set foot upon, other than to take the coach to Genting
Highlands. The second half of 2019 had gone by fast; we had begun preparation
for the moving as early as July.
The Concourse office is a
beautiful one. Renovation work had been done quite well and the much smaller
office was still well utilised. There were many new changes especially in the
IT development, all tailored to bring our firm to the next pedestal and moving
along with the need to go more paperless. It was an exciting era and I thought
that the time done in TP would really be helpful, especially with the exposure
in 1 module in how technology will serve the legal industry as the landscape
changes in the near future.
However, I had a mini struggle
inside of me back then. Likewise how I missed my old home at Queensway when I
first shifted to Batok, I was feeling the same when I had to change my journey
to work. Distance is albeit further, but the need to take multiple train
journeys across different rail lines was taxing. I was uncomfortable and
thought perhaps I would need months to get used to.
In January 2020, a new challenge
was dropped on my plate. My portfolio at work was enlarged. I was assigned a
new task and it was something which I had not expected to happen. Within a
week, I was further given another portfolio to manage as well.
Although it was years ago when I
last felt challenged being thrown into an unfamiliar surrounding at work, I felt
the change was timely and invigorated a new surge of energy in me. I thought it
could be a good distraction away from what’s happening at home and a good new
learning opportunity. It was already 2 months from the day when we shifted and
I asked my colleague if they felt at home as they did back in MAS. The loud
affirmative was a resounding beat of the drum that I have to find my own
victory soon.
Shortly after, I then received
news that KW’s uncle, Uncle W has been admitted into a hospice and the solemn
understanding among the Ws was that Uncle W will leave us soon.
It was another boat rock that
made me felt that I was done with the year 2020. I wished for 2020 to be over
soon so that a new year can start afresh without all the baggage that was dragged
into 2020 as well as the new ones which seemed to have appeared all at once.
The CNY festivities as well as
the Bangkok trip which we looked so much forward to suddenly seemed secondary.
They looked pale when lined up with what’s happening at home or at work.
While all these were happening,
we had begun seeing news of a new disease outbreak in China. Seeing it as
another piece of foreign news, it was hardly something I would bother myself
with, considering what was on my plate then.
Uncle W’s condition deteriorated
and in February, just before CNY’s 15th day, he passed away. It
was the most solemn CNY I had ever gone through. There was hardly any mood to
have fun; and I guessed that even if there was intention to create some mood,
it sort of extinguished when you see that the atmosphere around was just not
right at all.
About that time, the disease
which started from China had reached our shores in Singapore as well as the
neighbouring countries. It was a new brand of coronavirus and Singapore, being
experienced from its fight against SARS, was a place where I felt the virus
will not survive long.
Fast forward to 13 February
2020, cases were picking up slowly still. We decided to proceed with the trip
to Bangkok, considering that cases were still in the 1x in Bangkok and
Singapore and we were armed with the masks and sanitizers.
However, the mood in Bangkok had
changed. Upon setting foot in the Suvarnabhumi Airport, there were no long queues of China
tourists. It was quiet. We felt the first hint of what to expect when we hit
the markets.
People in Bangkok were starting
to keep away from touristy places. Crowd at Chatuchak had dropped and it was
significantly quieter even in shopping malls it all adds up when we could find
seats at establishments where we not normally be able to.
We began to buy masks and
sanitizers from every pharmacy we saw in Bangkok. Focus on the usual clothes
and stuff were not our focus. We knew that Singapore was having a
bad shortage and we bought as many as we could such that my fish haul was only
a paltry quantity of 5 fish bags.
When we came back after 5 days
to Changi Airport, things have begun to accelerate at home and overseas. We
were shocked to hear from the taxi driver that crowds are thinning and tourists
numbers are also slowing down to the extent he had to wait 2 hours for a
passenger.
Just a few days after we came
back, Thailand started to announce extra measures in its airport for
Singaporeans due to increase of infected in Singapore. Just before we left for
Bangkok, Singapore had raised to Dorscon Orange, a code used in disasters to
signify the alert code the country is in. Our firm had also
implemented a rotation shift amongst the different banking teams so as to
minimize the danger of the spread of the virus.
At the back of my mind, I
wondered how I would be able to cope with the impending HIP renovation works
for my block by end of April. It was a worry with the constant every changing
situation due to the virus. In fact, it was so much to take in that i felt
nervy trying to balance the number of things on my shaky plate.
First day back in office was
weird. It felt like Thanos had snapped his fingers while I was away in Bangkok.
I then started to feel sad as days of not seeing some of my close colleagues
turned into weeks. We could only communicate via text and there was still so
much adjustment to adhere to.
I felt that it was only February
2020 and there have been so many challenges. Life was still
going as usual, except that we are not supposed to meet our colleagues. Soccer
went on as usual, Friday pa tors as usual. It was until when we went to an
empty cinema that the truth was striking. People were beginning to hide and
play safe from the virus.
In March, cases began to
increase and Singapore had handled seemingly well. Contact tracing was quickly
performed for suspected cases and the task team was able to report if the new
case was linked to previous cluster or a fresh un-linked case. Every night, our
eyes would be glued to see if new case was linked or not.
However, in April, the
government decided that many places will be closed until 2 May 2020. It was
something which we had gradually expected it to happen, considering our
neighbour Malaysia had also started their own lock down earlier.
It was a shock to see shops
closed, restaurants fold their chairs. Places which you never dream they would
close; they did. 4d outlets, Mcdonalds and even bubble tea shops. It was worse
than CNY, the streets have an eerie silence when you walk. Fellow passer-bys
are all just eager to quickly return home after buying food.
Social distancing is the new
norm and as I write, we are still one month away after the lock-down was
extended.
The virus had developed into a
pandemic, where thousands of lives have been lost and hundreds of thousands
infected.
Offices were closed and it was a
sight to see people carrying their computers home at the office lobby on the
last day before the new lock-down started. From what was anticipated as future
steps for our firm to go more digital was hurried within weeks. Right now as I
speak, our entire firm’s staffs are operating 100% from home.
Sports all over the world have
come to a standstill and I cannot help but wonder how the world will pick
itself up as we try to recover. Will soccer ever be the same again?
We began to miss the things we
have taken granted. Families are not allowed to visit as long as they are not
staying under the same roof. No one is allowed to loiter or even seat around
the void deck. Except for food, things have come to near halt.
However, as with all bad things,
the only way left to on the graph is up. Likewise, as with the current Covid,
the only way for the numbers to go eventually is down.
We have many loved ones overseas
and it is not just about reading the news in Singapore. I believe
for all Singaporeans as well as people over the world, the only thing we
anticipate is the time where the news would report on the daily number of new
cases.
This Covid has wrecked many
people’s lives and brought humanity to its knees grinding. We were fortunate to
escape being born in a world war, but the impact on our daily lives is near
similar.
On the other hand, the Covid
situation has also opened our eyes and selves to more things; such as
opportunities to spend more time with loved ones at home. It is something which
everyone will miss once we are back to normalcy before the Covid situation;
although I am not even sure what type of normalcy do we consider normal by then.