See this island, every grain of sand

Life before the pandemic? For me, definitely more hotel beds and airplane seats compared to the now cozy blankie and home office chair. Back then, packing my jet bag sets me on auto pilot and I could possibly do it with my eyes closed.

I had more walks across airport terminals and radiation therapy departments than around my HDB block (local housing apartments in Singapore). When I do get a breather from the work travels, my husband and I will book a bus ride back to Malacca, our hometown. All via a few mouse clicks on the booking platform and a 4-hour road trip.

Everything became a standstill in March 2020. We boarded the bus back to Singapore after a long break with our parents and it was just before both nations went into lockdown. Guess someone decided to pull the plug on all this action.

When COVID-19 hit our region, it started out slow for some and accelerated for others. I don’t think anyone of us were prepared for what was to come.

Pandemic life for me? Planned work trips and on-site meetings got cancelled, postponed indefinitely. Zooming became the new norm for both work and work-outs, grocery shopping became a lot easier (and more frustrating – argh, broken eggs again!) and who knew, surgical masks would become a fashion statement?

On the brighter side, I got some ‘life’ back and spent more time with my husband in all my 3 travel years put together. But oh, how we both miss family.

As the world battled the unseen enemy, every country had their own battlefronts. During the earlier days of the pandemic in March 2020, numbers of positive cases in the island climbed, and peaked at a scale of over 10,000 cases daily towards the end of April that year. Our family back home could only look over, worry and send their best wishes. Fast forward to this time in writing, looks like our roles have switched and we could only worry and hope for the best for our friends and family back home and the front-liners battling the daily numbers of over the 20Ks.

This write-up, is but my personal and humble experience here on this island where our encounters have been nothing but positive despite the adversities that we are facing during these pandemic times.

Social media being the more ‘efficient’ reporter during our day and age – it saddens us to see the White Flag campaign in our home country but we are also proud of our fellow Malaysians who stood up and volunteered to reach out to the needy, all while putting themselves at risk of exposure to the virus when the numbers are so rampant in the country. In contrast, it warms our heart to see that this ‘kampung spirit’ or the Singapore Spirit shines through during these challenging times when local home bakers, volunteers and kind netizens reaching out to both healthcare and foreign workers.

Rules on the island are strict but necessary, with multiple circuit breakers and heightened alerts to control and contain the spread of the virus within the community. We won’t deny the delight when announcements come for open dining and leisure activities. Our first stops are Hai Di Lao, conveyer belt sushis and the usual cinema runs. Nevertheless, we cannot say we feel the same for our family back home. We constantly worry for them, and as much as we hope we could do more, now, we can only watch and wait.

Another heart-warming situation which we’ve observed here on this island is how quickly the locals respond to a ‘cry for help’. For that, we also thank Social Media. Older generation who operates F&B establishments, lose out during these pandemic times if they are not tech savvy. Time and time again, netizens will come to the rescue with a simple Facebook post of the location, operation hours and a call for support. Before you know it, we see long lines of supporters the next day at this said locations on our Facebook feed.

Honestly, things like this just blow my mind. If I may add another Malaysian hashtag saying to this is that here in Singapore, there is definitely the #kitajagakita (looking after one another) spirit going on too.

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I asked my husband if he had any thoughts about going through the pandemic in Singapore and he penned the poem below;

There lives a cynic inside of me, 
Made strong by hurt and grief, 
Fed on a diet of incompetency, 
And a lifetime of beggared belief. 

Yet the past few months may prove to be fatal, 
To that cynic within my heart, 
For it witnessed a people conquer a great hill, 
With everyone playing their part. 

This nation, a palette of unimaginable colours, 
A mosaic of the brave, the bold, the scared. 
Doing what's right for the good of others, 
Knowing the dark clouds above us are shared. 

Facing forward with iron in our veins, 
The numbers have begun to taper. 
Many have suffered, many are still in pain, 
To get us here, to help make us safer.

Life forever changes its shape, 
Like crashing waves turning into foam.
The cynic in me is losing to faith, 
In this island I now call my home.

- Leon Lim 7th August 2021

Happy 56th Birthday Singapore!

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Artwork Credit: Original Art Featured on this blog by Ms. Elize Hsien