RECENTLY, I wrote about the horror of the pandemic unfolding in India in full view of the world watching helplessly, little knowing that we had the perfect recipe heading in the same direction.
Just to recap, in India it was lack of compliance due to ignorance and arrogance of the people, coupled with lack of foresight on the part of the government allowing major festivals and political events, leading to gruesome scenes of death and suffering.
Managing the pandemic is no piece of cake. Every one of us is experiencing something of this magnitude for the first time in our lives. There is no easy trick or solution to address this. It is multipronged and requires gargantuan efforts and big budgets.
In Singapore, the vaccination programme kicked off with a roaring start but sadly it has slowed down, putting the whole plot into an anti-climax. The reality is, the shortage is a global debacle and many nations are up in arms with the promised supplies not being delivered.
According to Bloomberg, some 1.6 billion vaccines have been administered globally across 176 countries, which should cover roughly 10.5% of the world’s population, but with richer countries being able to vaccinate their population some 30 times faster than the poorer counterparts, countries like Malaysia and Singapore are at a distinct disadvantage.
The unequal distribution is also due to global vaccine producers hoarding the supplies and selling them at higher prices to wealthier nations. This is definitely a crime against humanity as it is a life and death contest between the virus and the vaccine. We also know big nations have been storing supplies surpassing their requirements.
Now that our numbers are sinfully high and on an upward trajectory, there were mixed reactions from the ground when a full lockdown was contemplated by the government, but that fear was swept away with a statement from the prime minister’s department that full movement control order will not be.
What next? Testing is going on vigorously but without the supplementary arrangements for quarantine and medical care. I am in no doubt that resources are being optimised but the magic remedy is still in the hands of you and me, the people.
Why do we still have families going out in twos and threes for grocery shopping? Why do we need to shop daily, can we not restrict it to weekly or even fortnightly? Can we not live with basic necessities for a few weeks and learn to cope with whatever we have? Can we discard the gourmet lifestyle some of us have grown accustomed to? Can we undertake not to have or attend gatherings altogether?
Despite road blocks mounted, we still had people who managed to “sneak” out to be with their extended family.
How selfish can we be? The signs are everywhere. The paranoia created by the government constantly warning the rakyat that intensive care unit beds were running out and quarantine facilities were brimming at tipping point had not created the desired alarm in the mind of the average man on the street.
If we keep blaming the government for everything and refuse to take responsibility for being a contributor every time we step out of our home, we will never win this game of life and death. The duplicity in our behaviour and attitude is too obvious.
Covid-19 is not a threat to just an individual, it has the capacity to wipe out an entire family, village and community if we are not careful.
Ask yourself if you are doing justice to yourself, family and community each time you step out for non-essential outings, or you will be sorry with irreversible damage.
The comeuppance may not be far if we keep disregarding the signs around us, and I am all for the government militarising compliance, otherwise, people being people, the selfishness will never end.
Comments: letters@thesundaily.com
