THESE are stressful times as the novel coronavirus has brought humanity to its knees. More than 30.55 million people have been reported to be infected by the Covid-19 globally and 951,051 have died, according to a Reuters tally.
Millions of jobs have been lost and businesses closed worldwide. Without a vaccine, the endgame seems distant.
And with the blanket moratorium on loan repayment ending on Sept 30, we expect more businesses to go under and people unable to service their loans.
We can get the latest data on the number of people affected once the proper institutions or agencies have compiled them. The figures will be startling, but we need to look beyond the numbers to see the full picture.
Behind every figure lies a human story. There is a face to the number of suffering and hardship during these trying times.
theSun strives to go behind the data to share these stories. Our first instalment of a regular series called “Straight From The Heart” struck a chord with many readers.
Our report on former stewardess Intan Sharina Khairuddin (pix) enduring two layoffs in five years got the thumbs-up from readers who felt it is significant to go behind the numbers and share the human story.
We also started another regular feature called “A Little Help” on charitable homes and organisations that are helping the less fortunate. Our idea is to get readers to chip in to help these do-gooders who have been feeling the pinch since the movement control order was imposed in March.
Some of them are stretched financially and some are short of hands. A little help from us will go a long way for those in need.
Many cash-strapped individuals are also stressed out. Having purpose and passion will help to handle the strain better.
Co-workers can help each other by sharing the workload instead dumping the load on the more hard working staff.
We are all pushed to the limit and tested by the situation. If we are able to look beyond ourselves, we should be able to see that we are not alone in this.
