Safe to say 2020 isn’t turning out as planned for most people, even if you had not planned anything I don’t suppose you saw this coming.

Currently in CB period imposed as a measure to curb COVID-19 spread in SG (ok this opening statement is just in case I ever forget what CB is, ten years down the road or something but not very likely huh), which was a good thing they did coz the day it took effect was the day the number of cases in SG started blowing up in three digit figures daily and eventually, four digit figures for a few days. Most cases from the worker dorms (sigh I have a lot of thoughts on this) but after a period where interaction between humans are limited, curve had flattened, at least, the community cases have dropped (another topic on why there needs to be differentiation and classification of cases, also have thoughts). But still not allowed to resume daily routines so I suppose we just have to wait and see.

Frankly working from home has turned out way better than I imagined but I don’t think it’s sustainable la. I don’t know how they manage to get the “8 out of 10” prefer to work from home nonsense I am pretty sure parents want their kids in school if that were to happen. A couple of days per week, maybe, but surely not entirely even though we have improved leaps and bounds from when we started in terms of being inventive to make things happen to avoid stagnation of work.

Being the introvert I am the idea of being cooped up at home doesn’t bother me as much and also gives me lots of time for random thoughts to form so I am just gonna keep a running list of those and come back to update from time to time (so this may eventually be a lengthy post).

1. I wonder what CB life would have been, had I not moved out from my rented room in Toa Payoh. Certainly can’t cook so probably landlady would offer to share her meals? Or maybe I will just go out and tapao more often? Would be awkward to order Grabfood and not share with landlady. Being cooped in a house with more space to move around sure beats being cooped up in a room. And imagine WFH on a WiFi that potentially gets disrupted coz someone didn’t pay up sigh.

2. Looks like citizenship application, which already took longer than most people I know, will take even longer now with CB and presumably ICA resources all going towards enforcing SHN and all. Still don’t understand why it needed that 6 month to 1 year timeframe to begin with - what did they need to check? Background check? Checks on my family in Brunei? Stalk my social media profiles (and gasp, this blog)? *shrugs*

3. Speaking of Brunei, not sure when is the next time I will be back. Short term travels in are not allowed at the moment and even if you have a long term pass like a student pass or sth, you are asked to defer for now. It’s not even a case of going in and getting quarantined (at your own cost might I add), you can’t even enter. Or exit the country, for that matter. So yeah it doesn’t look like I can go back for my annual August trip, to be honest I won’t miss the obligatory portion of that annual trip but I will miss home and family and friends.

4. Still on the topic of Brunei, kudos to Brunei for imposing the lockdown early on, does help to control the spread but don’t give me things like “our numbers are low because our govt is transparent and trace every single case”. It’s low because population density is low to begin with, mass gathering hotspots are low to begin with - non-existent PT, shopping malls are never really crowded. So really the only mass gathering spots they can close is masjid, which, I must applaud them for having the balls to do so. And schools *shrugs*. They have been having zero cases for almost a month now I think (save for that couple of days when two random cases crop up) but I don’t quite understand how these two cases, previously undetected, hasn’t gone around and infected others. Got real lucky there..or did they.

5. On the topic of regional situation, still thankful that I managed to squeeze in CNY trip (feeling sorry for the Malays now) and San’s wedding trip before all hell broke loose. To be frank I would not trust all those numbers coming out of places like Thailand, Vietnam, Laos etc because I am sure there’s some form of spread there which is not even being identified? Oh well. Sounded like sour grapes. Because sometimes I look at so called success stories like HK (oh that CCS jibe sure aged well), Taiwan and now Korea, and I still can’t tell what they did differently from us so FOL why did our cases spike. Oh yeah dorms.

6. Don’t get me started about my cancelled Europe trip, which, as I typed these out, I should really be in *checks planned itinerary* Salzburg, Austria. Oh well. Trip cancellation all worked out well in that I get everything refunded/vouchers with long enough expiry date, but still very much bummed that I don’t get my pre-job transition vacation.

7. On the topic of work, totally not sure now how job transition will pan out. For sure not something I imagined. But that deserves a post on its own.

8. WFH sure means there is a bit of flexibility to weave in house chores in the midst of work (heh heh) like cooking lunch, working in pyjamas (a.k.a home wear since I don’t have pjs), comfortably typing out a sarcastic email reply while mermaiding on my sofa (which feels like it’s sinking). Perks which I will miss when I go back to work but, like I said, can do without coz it’s just not sustainable to not be able to meet, walk over to a colleague and explain things, pore over traffic plans and what not, and more recently as I told a colleague, burst into my DD’s room and corner him over what his latest email meant (because he has an unfortunate bad habit of being vague).

9. Speaking of which, traffic conditions now are like a traffic engineer’s wet dream come true. Which is supposed to mean lesser workload but I still find myself needing to be very productive at work to get through workdays. Not sure why. Handing over stuff played a part but still. Hmm.

10. Which is why I can’t stop wondering how people have time to experiment with recipes, bake, binge watch Netflix, and do all sorts of nonsense things in order to pass time. Pass what time? WHY YOU ALL SO FREE ONE? WFH leh, not vacation at home...don’t you all need to work? Latest being a FB post by a staff that said because of CB, he managed to complete a project (his hobby) that he abandoned for a while already due to work, the same staff who had issues at work because he need to monitor his kid’s HBL (which I totally understand and accept because WFH with a kid or a few kids on HBL is just that much harder)..but side projects? Unless the extra time is from weekends which you can no longer go out to meet friends and all...but seriously, that much time? Meanwhile I didn’t even have time to knock out a blog post because my weekends are pretty much spent the same way as pre-CB and I don’t have that many openings to squeeze in an extra book or sth...okay maybe that’s my issue but still.

11. That said, I still managed to experiment with a couple of new dishes. One of the things I look forward to now is meal planning for the week, which will be followed up with grocery runs which is now done weekly because it’s a good reason to go out. Would very much liked to bake but firstly I have no oven (though air fryer works maybe and I can do those no-bake recipes) and secondly I would have to finish everything myself which probably isn’t great for weight. Bubble tea used to be on the agenda of every grocery trip until it got shut down as part of extended CB measures oh well.

12. Forced to go out to run instead of camping in the gym and hoarding the treadmill and it’s another thing that turned out better than I expected. As usual it’s the inertia that stopped me from making changes to routine and it took circumstances like this to force a change. Now it’s a routine which I will probably continue even after CB (y’all can have your treadmill back heh) though it’s very much weather dependent.

13. Pretty pissed at keyboard warriors who chimed in at dorms “poor living conditions”, then, in the words of an article I can totally relate to, “go back to being their usual racist selves”, one that would refuse to sit next to a FW on a train, one that points at them and tell their kids that if they don’t study they will grow up to become one of them, one that will probably start a petition if govt were to spend taxpayers money to improve living conditions of FWs. Yeah fight me. Because the govt position on this all this while is pretty balanced considering your racist sentiments (article puts it as the reason dorms are even built to house FWs to begin with) and you have the cheek to come out and act all righteous?

14. Unpopular opinion but most of them do have a different view, culture and practices from the rest of the population. Have you even started looking from their point of view before forcing yours down theirs and declaring your dismay at their supposedly inhumane treatment? Help them all you can/capable of, but don’t even pretend that you understand them enough to speak up for them just to, I don’t know, feel less guilty or something. And best part of it all - those who even think of pointing this out is branded as racist oh look who’s talking.

15. On the classification of cases - ditto. You can scream about how this reflects them as another class of residents, discrimination blah blah - but it’s the most logical way of doing it considering they are all locked down in their dorms now and effectively not mingling with the rest of the population (drawing comparisons with the earlier cruise ship cases). And face it while you scream you are also oddly comforted by the fact that most of the new cases have nothing to do with you, isn’t it. Yet another balanced move considering the sentiments of the general population.

16. Oh and I forgot that bullshit take I read on some countries doing better in this situation because their leaders are female. Last I checked Sultan is a male, not female. Feminists you can do better than trying this hard to back up your stance. Give these leaders all the due credit they surely deserve, but don’t say it’s because they are female how is that even a logical conclusion?

Ok verbal diarrhea ending for now. Will be back for more.

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17. Here’s a thought - maybe senior citizens still insist on going out amidst all the advisories targeting senior citizens because...they 不认老 or didn’t like being labeled as old and frail (advisories literally said elderly are frail and more susceptible) and didn’t think the advisories apply to them, so maybe we should just change the advisories to “everybody is advised not to go out”. Or maybe they are just, stubborn (surprise!).

18. It really made a lot of sense to donate that $600 if you are still receiving your salary as usual and didn’t need to spend extra because of WFH (like buying a new laptop for your kid’s HBL, etc). I didn’t receive that payment, but donated anyway (Giving.sg is a good discovery).

19. What if the low rate of discharged cases is because recovering ones are not isolated from each other? I mean, yes they are recovering and their bodies can fight the virus without major complications, but they are still being exposed to it and keep having to fight virus that newly enter their system, hence they kept testing positive for trace amounts of it in their body? *layman view*

20. “You don’t realize how much of an antisocial person you are until a pandemic sets in and you don’t notice any visible changes to your lifestyle” owhhhh

21. Remembered another issue I had views on early on during CB - the whole thing about food delivery platforms supposedly taking most of FnB businesses’ profits just by being...them. Well you made the decision to sign up on the platform didn’t you. And come off it - most of you jack up prices by the same percentage to pass on the cost to us consumers so idk what you are talking about/acting all pitiful about. They offered a unified platform (well it does come with competition but then again there’s already competition even if you are not using it) and delivery personnel for you guys and you all think that that percentage is absurd? Fine, don’t sign up with them then. Meanwhile, as a consumer, if the FnB business did not jack up prices on food delivery platform, I can justify doing a bit more and order directly from the business + pick up myself. Otherwise, I don’t see why I should get off the platform just because you don’t know your math.

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22. The way some citizens behave when facing BBT closures and McDonalds reopening...there’s no description that’s more apt than “sia suay”.

23. Numbers out by 4pm each day, including number of SC/PR - so why not release the full set of info then? Additional info that are released late at night don’t seem to be something that can only be confirmed after that.

24. The one time I agree with anything Donald says - totally don’t trust the numbers coming out from China.

25. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with phased approach to reopen businesses. It’s just inconsistent application of policy against beverage (read: BBT) shops - still waiting for the explanation why they are more at risk than other takeaway shops, to the extent that they are still not allowed to open. And the other poor beverage shops like Boost who got unfairly dragged into this just because they are of the same classification.

26. Hidden reservoir of cases in the community seems very real. But they may well be there forever. And if they can stay hidden for that long without causing spikes in cases..meaning most people‘s body can deal with it without intervention and we should go back to the “protect the vulnerable only” approach?

27. The same stubborn old uncles and aunties who are refusing to wear masks out of inconvenience - may similarly find it inconvenient to wash reusable masks, buy new masks etc...so how sure are we that they are clean? Upping personal hygiene game is really the only way out.

28. Also, temp taking seem pointless? A person may be asymptomatic bah. It’s a first cut I guess, but I think most people are already responsible enough to not go out if they have a fever.

29. Similarly, contactless delivery feels like a gimmick. The person delivering, could have left behind traces on the package itself and even if you are not in direct contact with him, it can still be transmitted to you via the package. Just saying..upping personal hygiene would have stopped this.

Labels: COVID, thoughts