Life in the time of COVID-19 : 5 Apr 2020

Since dining in hawkers will be temporarily prohibited for a month starting Tuesday, the husband and I went to the coffee shop downstairs for breakfast. Safe distancing is implemented of course.

Fishball noodle and kopi ka C

I spoke to my Mother on FB Messenger to catch up. I told her that work will also be suspended here starting Tuesday and that only essential services will operate.  She advised us to buy supplies for the week but I assured her that we still have enough.  She then asked if we have relief goods to which I said none and she wondered why. I said because generally, people have money to buy food. 

I told my husband about it.  Born and bred in Singapore, the term relief goods didn't register to him. Such a first hand illustration of the differences in our societies.

Over the course of the day, images of the long queue in Ikea was circulating on social media.  The headline says couch is apparently essential.  One of my friends was there last Friday to buy a desk because like everyone else, she will be working from home.  Another friend meanwhile shared with me about people flocking to electronic shops because parents are buying laptops for their kids who will be shifting 100% to online learning.  My husband pointed out the level of disposable income Singaporeans have.

This made me tear up. In a first world country like Singapore, days before a lockdown means people flocking to stores to buy what they would need to sustain them for the duration of that situation.  Back home, people worry about surviving.

Don't get me wrong. A certain percentage of the population also worry about survival.  However, the level of survival is different.  One worries about drying up their savings.  The other does not even have savings to talk about and worry about not having food to eat the next day.

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In the evening, we went to collect the masks issued by the government. It was a breeze. There was no one in the queue probably because it's almost closing time. The guy at the temperature screening pointed his thermometer on my forehead. I knew it was a standard procedure but it was a bit awkward. I thought of movie scenes where someone points a gun on your head.

After checking our IDs, they gave us the masks. One per person.

I was surprised when I saw what's inside. A foamish material that looked unfinished. 

Oh well, it's PM 2.5. Also, it's assembled in Singapore so it must have passed quality control