Appreciation in the time of pandemic

The scene of thousands of migrant workers in Mumbai struggling to get onto buses to return to the countryside when India announced a 21 day lockdown is heart wrenching. Trapped without a job and facing hunger, many are walking hundreds of miles home with their families to escape hunger. The bus stations thronged with people can be the perfect breeding grounds for the Covid 19 virus and may well spread to the countryside. PM Modi's unprecedented announcement drew a lot of criticism over its lack of planning. The government seemed to have been caught off guard by the exodus.

Taking a world view of this Covid 19 crisis, I can really appreciate the painstaking planning and implementation policies undertaken by our own government. The scene of minister Lawrence Wong (who co chairs the task force to tackle the outbreak) fighting back tears when paying tribute to front line workers moved me immensely. Never have I been so overtaken with appreciation.

The government has plans for a a General Election even before the pandemic is over, and understandably so. It has garnered great trust and respect from the way it is tackling the outbreak. So, strike when the iron is hot. The social distancing measures will certainly limit the opposition parties' outreach efforts.

I question myself. If our government has done so well, does it make sense to vote for the opposition?
Will I be ungrateful to do that?

Now to be objective I have to recall the reasons for my support of the opposition Workers Party

-WP's objective is to secure one third seats so that the ruling party can not change the constitution as it wishes or passes bills without careful deliberation. This is particularly important because a one party government perpetuates group think and does not tolerate different opinion or arguments arising from different perspectives.

- Although politics is inevitably dirty, we can not allow the ruling party to implement policies that  tantamount to bullying the opposition parties like gerrymandering and suing political opponents.

- The ruling party needs constant reminders from an opposition party that a system based on meritocracy, self reliance and rejection of social welfare has dire consequences and that many are feeling that the system is not working for them.

This coming GE won't be a no brainer for me.

A Flower and a speck of dust

My friend whatsapp a photo taken at Gardens by the Bay which is celebrating the Cherry Blossom festival. I pulled out my photo taken at the same place a week ago and sent to the chat group. I was so tickled by the contrast. Both pictures have the beautiful cherry blossom trees as the backgroud, but one lady spent time to adorn herself to blend with the scene while the other woman did injustice to the beauty of the garden with her shabby outfit. My husband described the contrast as "An aunty vs a princess".

My friend wore a red cheongsam collared Chinese blouse draped with a flowery pink silk shawl complete with a straw hat topped with pink and red flowers. She looked really gorgeous against the dense cherry blossom trees. I wore a loose T shirt draped with an ill matching cheap looking shawl, a pair of ill fitting knee length pants and sports shoes. I was even holding a small shopping bag.

We had a good laugh. I told her she did the organisers proud and worth their effort.  Another friend suggested that she sent her photo to GBTB. In contrast I was disrespectful to the venue and the beautiful flowers. In jest she replied she was vain and took the trouble to dress up for taking nice photos. To be fair my visit was at the spur of the moment when my husband miraculously agreed to go with me. Now that is just an excuse.

My friend's behaviour reminds me of IKIGAI, a Japanese word which essentially means ' a reason for living' or 'value in being'. It is living with an intention in even the most mundane task. The 'reason' in living encompasses finding worth in each task.

This is quite typical of my friend's behaviour. She is never in a rush and is always very present as if deliberately slowing down to live each moment. I always feel very relaxed in her presencce.

On reflecting the GBTB visits, I am quite positive she took more out of the experience than I had. Not only that she honours the effort of the organisers. She celebrates with them. If the flowers have a soul (and who knows ) they will remember her as one who was with them, while I was a just a speck of floating dust.

A new beginning ?

Had it not been for the Covid 19 outbreak my husband and I would probably be either travelling or at least preparing or planning for a trip. Facebook reminds me I was in Japan a year ago. Now that I am stuck at home with all activities suspended I begin to wonder how my mum spent her retirement.

Other than an occasional trip with my aunties on package tours to China, she pretty much stayed at home with my father, especially after she found it difficult to step onto a public bus. Newspaper and TV were the only source of media and entertainment. I do remember she spent a lot of time on the telephone (using direct home line) with my aunties, friends and children. Though my mum was a good conversationalist I still wonder what she and my aunties talked about over the phone so often.

Trend forecaster Li Edelkoort says the Coronavirus epidemic offers " a blank page for a new beginning" that will allow the world "to reset its values" following a deep recession. As the epidemic disrupts supply line and inhibits transportation and travel, people will learn to live with consuming less. She calls it a "consumption quarantine". She remarked that the air above China is evidently cleaner with the two month suspension of production and people will learn to appreciate that.

I feel that for people to appreciate a different lifestyle apart from travel and indulging in consumption choices the disruption has to be very prolonged. Only then will people embrace a new way of living. Forced into social distancing and being holed up at home for a long period of time, people will have to resort to spending time with family members, trying new recipe, playing  music, reading, writing, gardening, being with nature and soul searching, basically a bit back to basics and self introspection.

When people discover and get used to a fuller and freer way of life, a 'post consumerism' world may emerge where addictive consumerism and high speed existence is no longer appealing. I have often wondered about an alternative to the growth economy model which our world functions on.

A wishful Utopian Dream? Maybe not. A phoenix may rise from the ashes.

Behind the toilet paper fiasco

With the Covid 19 virus outbreak spreading around the world, one common phenomena is the rush to stock up toilet paper. It is reported that toilet rolls are flying off the shelves in many countries.

I thought it rather irrational but on further thought hoarding toilet paper can be some form of emotional projection. Maybe it is a psychological defence mechanism, an essential item to wipe away something abhorrent, detested and threatening. My husband goes a step further. He thinks more toilet paper is needed because of the constant emotional urge to pass out unwanted and unwelcomed material.

Both of us are probably too imaginative. From a practical point of view, toilet paper unlike other essentials has no substitutes. A psychologist opines that making sure there is sufficient toilet paper gives people a sense of control. It addresses the feeling of helplessness in times of threat and uncertainty. Another professor thinks that people are so accustomed to wide consumer choices that the thought of scarcity derails them.

To try and understand more deeply such behaviour, I imagine what I will do if I really run out of toilet paper. Yes it will be inconvenient but certainly won't be catastrophic. as long as we still have newspaper and water supply that is. It really boils down to deviating from habitual practices of modern living. Perhaps then toilet paper is a necessary symbol of 'life as usual' and any disruption of toilet habits can be nerve racking. People have to cling to it as a minimum standard of normalcy.

Well, an Australian newspaper has reserved 8 pages of print with perforated toilet paper for their readers!