LEADERS
DIGEST
BY DIANA MARIE
BY DIANA MARIE
Gosh. What a year it has been. 2020 is a year for the history books. Which memories from this momentous year will we be talking about to future generations? How was it for you? This news shocked me. In late February of 2020, The World Health Organization increased its risk assessment of the novel coronavirus to its highest level. The virus, first reported in Wuhan, China in December 2019, had by that point spread to dozens of countries, killing more than 500,000 people (John Hopkins University of Medicine, Coronavirus Resource Centre). The novel coronavirus has put much of the world on hold. People were asked to avoid crowds and limit their travel. Air travel scaled back dramatically. The use of face masks has become ubiquitous in many countries. Many governments including us in Sarawak have issued stay-at-home orders. Many of the State Civil Service employees began the new normal of working remotely. Undoubtedly there were day when what’s left behind was an eerie silence and emptiness. For Malaysia it all began in March when the whole country, every single person was told to stay home, it was the only way to stay safe. That was the beginning of the Movement Control Order. Was I afraid? Of course. How long will this go on? That was the question I had, apart from the day-to-day fear of the danger of COVID-19 itself. When will I see my parents again? Will I be able to travel and see other parts of the world again? Yes, MCO ended, three months later. As the world is reshaped by COVID-19, it is clear that this will be a year for historians to make sense of. How will people tell the story of the tumultuous times that we’re living in today? One thing for sure, with coronavirus isolation, digital media has become enormously important for our interactions with colleagues, friends and loved ones. In a matter of weeks, the pandemic turned video conferencing into the backbone of our lives and it was not just for work. The New York Times explained that Zoom’s daily meeting participants in the United States went from 10 million in December to 300 million in April and citizens scrolled through social media feeds before bed. “The virus changed the way we internet.” I would like to share with you, thoughts from an article I read, written by a physician cum blogger Dr Christina Lau which talks about impacts from the pandemic and 2020 in general. If anything, perhaps these are some life lessons to take away from 2020.
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Issue 46 I December 2020
