Well, it's been a while since my last lockdown update, though I guess there hasn't been much going on that's noteworthy enough for me to write about. I suppose that title's a bit misleading, since it's been bit more than 101 days since lockdown was imposed back on March 18th, but it would've been less poetic in that case. Also, we did have some fun, smiles, and moments of laughter even though the feel of sunlight and fresh air is no more stranger to us, than Count Dracula.
To add to that, it does appear as though the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic has softened significantly here in Malaysia. The lockdown, or what we call the "movement control order" (MCO) here has proved rather successful in containing the spread, and we've had only single-digit cases. The curve is not only flattening, but we're beginning to see a descent as well. Since it all started, we've gone through the CMCO, C for Conditional - when the easing steadily began. Now, we're under the RMCO, R for Recovery - as we're easing even more, with our lives returning to somewhat normality.
A Return To Old Times?
Credits to: Pavelas Laptevas - GIPHY 1, 2
It doesn't even seem like a lockdown anymore, as people are now continuing to go about their day as in the old times. From my experiences of journeying into the, ... shudders ... The outdoors, I can still see an excess of face masks, temperature scanners, hand-sanitisers and log-books for some old-school contract tracing. They're placed in most of the premises that I've visited, and these are definitely good things, mind.
Even the traffic is picking up even more, becoming similarly hectic and disorganised as I remembered it from what appears to be a faint memory, cars honking and mopes whizzing around. Soon, come July 1st, schools will re-open, with priorities given to those that need to sit for their examinations. Having gone through these tense moments myself, slowly entering the exam hall after a night's procrastinating, I can only wish the best of luck on the arduous times to come.
However, it looks like not all institutions are re-opening that quickly, as my little brother can attest to after his first two-weeks of studying for his Diploma. For some varsity students, especially if they're in the field of sciences or medicine that can help out with fighting the virus, their attendance is crucial. For other majors, like my brother's programme on Media and Broadcasting, it looks like those lecture halls will likely be empty until next year. Until then, I guess my brother and his mates will just have to get used to group-sessions on Google Meet, and Discord.
Credits to: Bing Covid Tracker | We're just about to #flattenthecurve.
In all, I think it's safe to say that Malaysia's handling of the pandemic, with its subsequent lockdown has faired better than I expected, though no doubt, some of the consequences are very heavy to bear. We might have very few cases nowadays, and with many people recovering well, I still can't help but remember of those that died along the way, caught unawares by a virus they can't feel until it's too late.
More to that, it can't be ignored that there's great suffering elsewhere, as nearly 10,000,000 people around the world have been infected, with nearly 500,000 deaths. While the curve has flattened here, they're skyrocketing over there. I was about to take solace in the fact that while many have died, the successes of saving lives along the way proved that their loss was not in vain, that we've accomplished something. Yet, it seems as though the ignorance of others would catapult this into nothingness, potentially putting more imbalance on humanity's ever perilous tight-rope walk.
Is My Home Your Home, Too?
Credits to: Bing Covid Tracker | See that massive spike? One of many when crackdowns against foreigners begin.
There are also other, socially-impactive side-effects to the lockdown - xenophobia. Though perhaps that's a bit too overstated in the sense of what's going on in Malaysia, so I'll just narrow it down to 'anti-immigrant'. Back to those tell-tale charts again, Malaysia's confirmed cases have been dropping steadily over the last month or so. But if you look here, you can see that there are anomalies in the form of massive spikes every now and then.
These spikes happen every time a government agency, be it Police, Army, or Customs decide to raid an immigrant's housing complex, or a compound hosting refugees. In those instances, foreigners consist of over 90% of the daily cases, while domestic infections count for nothing. This disproportionate statistic has ignited a furious sentiment of, "Hey, it's those foreigners that are bringing the virus over here", and the, "If they weren't here, it wouldn't have been so bad".
Besides, our neighbouring fellows in Indonesia, and Singapore - which is just one bridge across - have, or had seen rapid growth of the outbreak. Objectively then, it's not a far-fetched imagination to think that if Malaysia locked down completely, enclosed to and from the outside world, we'd be safer. In a most recent Ipsos poll, a staggering 82% of Malaysians want the borders closed - one of the highest in the world right now - and double to what measured just one year ago, at 43%.
Credits to: MalayMail, and Reuters | Rohingya targeted in Malaysia as coronavirus stokes xenophobia.
But should we be surprised, given how poorly we've treated immigrants over the years, they who've been working for us as construction workers, security guards, cooks, and the like? It might be fair for me to say that we've shown an underappreciation for those immigrants that have done all the dangerous, dirty, and difficult jobs that we're unwilling to do. More to that, we've not been able to take care of them just as well, with little rights made available. This, mind you, is a call to many nations in the world, not just Malaysia.
Have we forgotten our common humanity, in that while they come from different societies, and practice differing customs, they're still human, just like us? While this pandemic targets everyone without prejudice, the lifestyle of the poorer communities mean that they're most likely to be hit hardest. If you've seen the living conditions for immigrants here in Malaysia, then would you really wonder as to why Covid-19 has spread so rapidly amongst them? There's a general lack of hygiene, with living quarters being squashed together with hundreds of people.
We'll Get Through This.
Credits to: Pavelas Laptevas - GIPHY | Yep, I've used this GIF before, and I love it.
Nevertheless, such is the woes of mankind, and what we giveth, we taketh away. The Black Lives Matter movement has highlighted how important it is to look at a person beyond the colour of their skin, and beyond what they are. It shows how important it is to treat all persons fairly, and choose to love, not hate. Inside of every one of us, there's a mutual humankind, yearning for understanding and compassion. Before we judge, ask ourselves this, if we were in the position of an immigrant, how would we want to be treated?
If we had lost everything of our home in the old country, with only the necessities to survive, and our families starving, how would we want others to treat us? Mind you, there are others suffering greater anguish, with nothing at all to strive for. Be fair, kind, and do no harm. Only through our love for one another can we make it through these troubled times, better and stronger than ever before. Alternatively, we could allow this plague to divide and conquer us, leaving with no soul left to care for. It's our choice.
I gave up bothering to count the days at day 80, last week. Here in South Africa we are down from level 5 hard lockdown to level 3 mild lockdown, but much freer, so I'm over the hype of the whole thing. I know our schools etc may still be under the restrictions though.
And here the poorer people are locals, not even migrants, and their conditions are bad enough to also make them more vulnerable. International borders are the one thing still closed of course, though we have such porous borders up north, that Africans keep pouring in so the situation is weak here regarding security. I was in Malaysia for a week in 2017 on my Thailand tour, staying in Kuala Lumpur at a backpackers, and appreciating the Petronas Tower.
Ah, cheers for the lovely comment, mate. And greetings to South Africa :-D
I guess it's a sweet-sour situation there as well, eh? It's certainly good to know that in general, lockdown is easing and life seems to be heading back to normality sooner rather than later. Then again, it doesn't seem the outbreak is showing much signs of slowing down. The plight of the poorer communities, be it foreigners or domestic, is pretty sad to read about.
While I'm an advocate for free and open movement, I do strongly feel that closing borders and locking down movement is a crucial, and needed step to containing the virus, albeit a painful one. Hopefully, the SA government will be able to contain that huge movement of people across the border like that, at least with some quarantine measures in place.
Stay safe, and take care :-)
!ENGAGE 20
Ah, cheers for that, mate :-D
ENGAGEtokens.!ENGAGE 20
ENGAGEtokens.I hope life can go back to normal as soon as possible and also hope every country has learned something from the global pandemic that can prepare us better for future such disasters.
Too right, here's hoping! I had thought that earlier outbreak of Ebola, H1N1 and SARS would've prepared us already to better contain, and react against Covid-19. Though then again, I guess this is a scale of disaster we've not seen since the Spanish Flu. Hopefully we'll learn from this one, and we could counter the next one in the coming century, eh?
Here's my Twitter #POSH link :-D
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