Life has changed

It is like a heavy rain moving from East to the West starting from China to the United States of America. The rain clouds continue to move westerly crossing the European continent to North America.

This rain analogy is not unlike seeing raining sheets moving from Jurong in a distance coming towards me. It then moves on to Changi. This is what is happening to Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic.

Our lives have changed as a result of Covid-19. For the first time, we are not doing our annual ritual of Qing Ming（ 清明 ）next month. The monastery where my parents’ urns are kept is closed for such an event because of the government directive.

We are advised to stay at home as much as possible so as to minimise our contacts with people. We simply do not know who has the coronavirus and could spread to us. Singapore has not adopted curfew or a complete lockdown like some countries. We can still go out to buy our daily necessities and to eat. When we are sitting down to eat, we are to sit at seats that are not marked against sitting. We have to maintain 1 metre distance between each other. This is safe-distancing from coronavirus passing on to us. Any kind of social gathering must be only 10 or less people. If we were to violate these rules, we can be punished under the Infectious Disease Act.

We have a responsibility to ourselves and to others. Keep ourselves safe, our loved ones and others safe too during this disease pandemic. It is inconvenient and disruptive but do we have a better alternative to fight this Covid-19 coronavirus?