Observations on Covid Vaccines

1. Cross infection of Covid has occured before in quarantine hotels in Sydney and Melbourne - when will authorities learn? 2. Covid infected people can show no symptoms until later in the course of the infection. 3. There is no clarity that Covid vaccinated people cannot get infected, only show no or less symptoms of Covid. I reflect - I still can get infected with the common cold even after getting my dose of the related vaccine. 4. Covid contact tracing can be a useful tool, but can trigger sudden lockdowns, border restrictions and a flurry of more testing in Australian states. 5. Travellers can be caught in ensuing logistical consequences if they find themselves on the wrong side of Australian state borders. 6. The long term side effects, if any, of Covid vaccines are still unknown and yet to play out. Any so called medical or scientific interference with our human bodies take a longer time than these current crop of covid vaccines to be tested. So called "medical experts", bless them, have kept changing their advice and opinions on Covid since the pandemic began. 7. Covid vaccines started to be given out in desperation by governments unable to control the infection spread of Covid - and the need to revive the economy, air travel and consumer spending. 8. No liability is given by the Big Pharmas to us as their vaccines are approved by governments under emergency conditions. In Australia, Sco Mo has committed overly to Astra Zeneca vaccines and now seem to be pushing strongly to use millions of such dosages asap. 8. Governments and medical bureaucrats talk of weighing risks vs benefits of using the vaccines, but they may not be referring to our personal risks. 9. Any successful version of vaccines used in the past against a variety of diseases required a minimum of 5 years to mature. Our current arsenal of Covid vaccines require on going modification to tackle new and mutated strains. 10. Vaccine versions work best after the end of an outbreak, not during the course of a pandemic. The latter versions of vaccines do better manage any evolving mutations and strains of Coronavirus. 11. It can be a hard personal call and judgement to decide taking up these current Covid vaccines - preexisting health issues, our lifestyle exposure, whether we are on the frontline mixing with crowds everyday, whether our government restricts our movements if we are not vaccinated, whether we have Covid vulnerable people in our household, whether Covid infections are spreading in our community, etc. 12. At this stage, I would wait and monitor, never say never, never say yes immediately, we keep on thinking for ourselves. 13. And I am one who has been taking the well tried common cold flu jab every year, but more hesitant about the Covid vaccines. #yongkevthoughts

A Pause to Reflect

Covid19 is now spreading, end of April 2021, to even less equipped rural areas of India, after the tragic scenes news media beamed about what is happening in their cities. 

Under reported is the lack of preparedness and recent Covid case spikes in Nepal. The UK, USA, Brazil, Italy, South Africa and France have in the past 16 months experienced various levels of significant waves of infections - with differentiating and commonly shared levels of cause, reaction and management. What has been learnt for effective action to be taken in India, or has the proverbial horse already bolted there? 

A shared causative factor to accelerate the massive spread of Covid 19 is the interference and prioritisation of politics in several nations over sensible public health management.  The utter disregard for social distancing and the obvious lack of using anti-Covid protective gear, seen in masses of people gathering for election rallies, should have spelt the increased likelihood for the endemic disaster that is to come, or already has passed.  

Politically toned rallies driven on by strong societal and religious beliefs can contribute to outbreaks of infection.  Where such clusters have arisen, the ineffectual and untimely fencing of infection hotspots, for whatever reasons, has encouraged this rather infectious Covid 19 to travel to hitherto unaffected regions, for the spiked organism to continue to roam, chomp and mutate on more human hosts.

Local transmission of cases create so many subsequent pathways of infection in a multiplier effect.  

Another observed Canary in the coal mine syndrome, before cities and countries are engulfed in whatever waves of Covid that come and go, is the continuing and unrectified lack of organisation of authorities that oversee and are responsible for management of the pandemic.  Such utter distractions can be in the power driven arguments between individual States in a  Federation  and the central government - as to who is responsible for whom, what and how.  Another debacle can be seen in the Australian Federal Government since Covid 19 began, leaving many tasks to the various Australian state governments  - and when it took on its current responsibility to roll out vaccinations, it has shown its ineffectualness and lack of ability to even do this.

Increasingly there is also the factor of authorities and governments in denial, about facing head on the realities and challenges of Covid infections breaking out in their respective nations.   Some of it can be attributed to the mindsets of their powerful leaders, like in Brazil.  Other kinds of denial which later go on to bite such governments is their emphasis on economic benefits and financial imperatives, which  I also understand and appreciate.   An interesting scenario is faced by the Japanese Government in delaying and still hanging on the holding of the Tokyo Olympics 2020 in July this year.   The ever changing of deadlines for enhanced air travel can be a persistent game play, dependent on cluster outbreaks, breaches of Covid contamination when quarantine venues are not handled properly and delays in being able able to vaccinate masses of people.

A no brainer, as to why a society faces a situation like India today, is the overwhelming lack of public infrastructure, supply of anti-Covid health antidotes and trained human resources.  We cannot blame developing countries for being stuck with such serious disadvantages on the cusp of a pandemic, but for so called rich nations to have such problems and not rectify them as soon as possible, is unforgiving.

After around sixteen months of battling Covid 19,  the world seems to be overly relying on newly developed and evolving vaccinations as the primary solution.   Most vaccines, if you want them,  have already become commodities which have supplies manipulated and controlled by manufacturers, the developed nations and the politically connected.   What if mutated strains overcome the efficacy and dependency of such vaccines?  

Many nations are focusing treating symptoms instead of putting more resources to find a cure - that is a big ask which takes more than a few years, I do admit.  

The more wealthy in any society have more means of avoiding infected, but the integrated nature of a powerful Coronavirus spread  can also not discriminate.   In nations such as India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand, migrant workers, paid the lowest possible rates per hour, are employed extensively in households, markets, food stalls and restaurants.  The chain of transmission can be strengthened in connection amongst different activities of a day's routine for anyone, rich, middle class or poor.

So when you reflect on your own community or country, what is the score you will give to sense whether a serious outbreak of Covid is coming upon your horizon?

Politicisation above Health

Denial by Leadership

Cultural Imperatives

Organisational Ineptness

Infrastructural Deficiency

Inherent Lack of Relevant Supplies

Lack of Training for Frontliners

Corruption and misuse of public monies

Religious Imperatives

Inconsistent Exemptions to Rules and Policy

Social Structure and Demographics

Mixed and Changing Messaging by Authorities

IN the Asia-Pacific region, are there couplings of neighbouring nations that can be utilised in a beneficial manner to help each other out?   I am referring to possibly Papua New Guinea-Australia, Japan-China and Malaysia-Singapore.   Effective leadership is the common factor required to resolve this Covid crisis.  A good leader trumps over the worst of home politics, culture, poor bureaucracy, lack of resources, corruption, varying medical advice and geopolitics. 

 #yongkevthoughts

The Bonds That Bind

When we look at the map of the world, at times we can see certain patterns emerging in the affairs of geopolitics and society relationships. Here we look at twinning bondships between entities destined to be related by culture, history and geography. Canada and the USA were born from the age of conquest, colonialism and search for resources. Their borders are almost a straight clean cut line between their two territories. Yet they share a past of intense French and British rivalries, the stampede across Indigenous lands and culture, plus the westward push of settlement by adventurers and economic driven migrants. In the 21st century, Canadians have a distinct character from Americans - and yet they are intertwined on the world stage as part of the Five Eyes Alliance boosted by Washington D.C. to counter the rising powers of Russia and China. Britain oversaw an Empire where the sun did not set, but now has a reduced political, military and economic influence, with only 16 nations still recognising the British Monarch in their governance Constitutions. Its hitherto dominant future with continental Europe has hence changed with Brexit. The English Channel no longer unites but separates. Millennials love the previous rather easy access of entry either way between the EU and the UK, whether for weekend jaunts, jobs or Jamon ham, but alas this is no more. Britain may next have to pay more attention to citizens of other countries still loyal to the Crown, like Australia, Canada, New Zealand and small islands in the South Pacific, Carribean and Indian Oceans. Malaysia and Singapore are siblings who have gone so many separate ways. Both entities were born in the cauldron of colonialism, spice trade and geopolitics. The demographics in both nations consist of similar races but only in different numbers. Singapore is an island republic vulnerable to socio-political developments in constitutional monarchy Malaysia, from which it is separated by two short causeways. One nation has no natural resources but is a key shipping and aviation hub. The other has resources that stretch across Asia's southern most peninsular and the island of Borneo. Their separate histories since political independence is a minefield of contrasts in population management, macro economic dynamics and building of sovereign wealth. Australia and New Zealand continue to be the cradles of unpolluted produce, useful commodities and key minerals in demand. Both nations in the Antipodes still have Governor-Generals representing Queen Elizabeth II. One has a formalised treaty with its Indigenous peoples, the other still has a long road to go. The farmer, the herder and the miner are the heroes who established the foundations of each country. The government of Aetorea positions itself with a more independent stance in world politics, taking care of the unique intetests of an essentially small nation. The governments of Australia has followed the lead of the USA since the Pacific War, although the nation has a land size not much less than America, although hugely underpopulated. The ocean between these two countries is fondly referred to as the Ditch. The population of either Melbourne or Sydney can encompass the whole of New Zealand. Denizens of both nations share many common values and traits, but also differ on finer nuances. Both economies have in the past 20 years built up an inherent over trade and economic dependence on a rising China, but with their government leaders reacting with different sophistication levels. Taiwan lies off the mainland Fujian coast of China. This island was less significant in Chinese imperial history, until the Ming Dynasty and the arrival of the Portugese and Dutch seafarers and missionaries. It was colonised by Japan until the end of the Second World War and the arrival of the Chinese Nationalist Kuomintang escaping from the Communist victory in China in 1949. The USA has maintained a strong strategic interest in Taiwan as the island industralised and boomed economically as one of the Asian economic tigers. The spectacular financial, trade and economic growth of mainland China has since surpassed that of Taiwan. Pakistan and contemporary India were carved out of bureaucratic decisions made out of London in the late 1940s, but each continue to suffer the religious, social and political consequences to this very day. The land evolved from Hindu traditions and experienced significant Buddhist, Aryan, Persian and Mughal culture before succumbing to British imperialism. A base of a major civilisation, the two countries have been courted by conflicting world powers and each of its governments seem to fortify behind its different primary religious emphasis. Yet it has its people migrated overseas, making discernible and acknowledged impacts on medicine, politics and technology in western countries. #yongkevthoughts

The Giants of the Silo Trail - Victoria

Panda Yum Cha, North Ryde NSW

 

I was given a real treat in joining friends for a Cantonese Yum Cha (drink tea) or Dian Xin (Touch of the Heart)
at my old stomping ground of the Macquarie Shopping Centre, near Macquarie University.

Panda Yum Cha, North Ryde NSW

Steamed choices can be more healthy.  The Siew Mai or Prawn-Pork dumplings on the right stood in a class of its own here. Forefront of photo are bundles of glutinous rice, with shrimp and pork bits, wrapped in lotus leaves before they are steamed in their bamboo cradles.

Fong Chau or Phoenix Claws - they are really braised chicken feet cooked with chili black beans and a Char Siew sauce, amongst other things. An item of a definite acquired taste, but this dish boosts immunity, restores our own skin regeneration, strengthens our bodily joints and moderates blood pressure.

The success of a Yum Cha dish is in its texture of bite, flavour and choice of fresh ingredients.

My top preferred dishes, all small serve, at yum cha sessions generally are:

1. Siew Mai (steamed prawn pork dainty dumplings).

2. Char Siew So (Baked pork buns with lovely pastry).

3.  Stir fried flat noodles with caramelised wok heat with tender meat slices of your choice.

4.   Roast duck slices served with thin bread sliders and 

garnished with sauce and veg.

5.  Fish maw steamed in wrapped soy bean rolls.

Katoomba Revisited

The Blue Mountains in New South Wales, over a two hours drive one way west inland from the Sydney Harbour Bridge, has been a consistent tourist destination for both domestic and overseas visitors.  Its main hub, Katoomba, seem to have its buildings frozen in time, especially in the town centre.

I understand this clever native fauna comes to have fast food as lunch almost every day along Katoomba Street.

It is interesting to come across Malaysian street food in Katoomba.  Above is a serve of the Nasi Lemak, with coconut milk flavoured steamed rice, accompanied by yummy Rendang chicken curry, peanuts and other garnishings.  You can have your feed at the Unique Patisserie, formerly owned by Chinese from Malaysia but now run by a Vietnamese couple, Mr and Mrs Phan.   Do try their Bak Kut Teh but avoid their Char Koay Teow.  On the day of our visit, their Tamarind Laksa was over sourish and the pastry of their pies not encouraging on the bite.   

There was a crowd waiting in front of this cafe restaurant, which cleverly has only eight items on its hybrid menu which includes Chinese slider Baos, Bali fried rice and other offerings like a scene from a backpacker and hipster's shared memories.

 Over the railway bridge, Katoomba harks back to another era in its feel, architecture and size.   Not far away are the Three Sisters at Echo Point and the iconic view of primeval cliffs that epitomise our perception of the Blue Mountains in their natural glory.

What Is Your National Vulnerability?

 

The Republic of Singapore is significantly reinforcing the need to review reliability and diversity in supplies of its imports, food and foreign worker availability. The period after Covid 19 arrived has changed many assumptions in cross border travel, trade and mobility of talent.

Accessibility to niche and common ingredients has affected its restaurants.  Eggs had to be imported from Poland.  Special cuts of beef from Australia dwindled.
Prices of imported items in deli supermarkets doubled.

The links of globalisation have been disrupted. An island nation that relies so much on air travel has been jolted off a key pillar of its usual economic drivers.

What kind of vital security does your society cannot afford to lose?

No one nation has everything covered in socio-economic needs.  It is not only a pandemic that brings to greater focus a country's vulnerabilities, but war, natural disasters and technological change.

South Korean society prefers peace time security to continue its impressive economic growth.  Saddled geographically between North Korea, China and Japan, it has more geopolitical risks than most other countries. 

South Africa can yearn for social and economic cohesion security.  In a rainbow nation with several languages, cultures and internal economic disparity, unique challenges arise from its dramatic past in order to fulfil its future potential.

The USA has recently experienced continuing racial divisiveness, declining public infrastructure issues,  polarisation of political beliefs and actions, mayhem from widespread gun ownership use, mismanagement of an epidemic and public safety problems. Together the various States and the Union face a critical problem in society restoration security.

Corruption, deepening social divides based on racial and religious differences plus political upheavals plague the Federation of Malaysia.   This multi-ethnic nation lacks a united cohesion security in order to put its house in order.

Myanmar and Thailand  have strong cultural and national identities ruled by governments with military backgrounds.  Recent street protests suggest differences in agreement of governance security.

Australia has back up petroleum  reserves stored in another country.  Its long term dependence on coal driven sources and mineral resources of its rich lodes can be facing changes.  Its domestic manufacturing base has been sadly whittled away.  This continental nation has an economy so dependent on foreign buyers, markets and political sentiment.  Australia does face a lack of a self sufficient, independent and resilient security.

Scandinavian and Baltic nations continue to live in the political, economic and geographical hinterland of both Russia and Germany.  Most important to these less populated and culturally different countries is embedding a stronger geopolitical security.

The island nations of the South Pacific are vulnerable to rising sea levels, micro economic disruptions and political influences from bigger nations.  They yearn for climate change and geopolitical security.

The United Kingdom continues to evolve in a downsized manner, moving on from days of the Industrial Revolution, Empire, the European Union and worldwide influence.  The make up of its society has changed in demographics, economy and flavour of political union.  The UK seeks a significant purpose and future role security.

New Zealand, seemingly always at the edge of the World, continues to have ground breaking leadership in the way she conducts herself.   This nation asserts its more independent stance in world affairs even if she can viewed as part of the Five Eyes as concocted by the USA.   Her indigenous Maoris perhaps have the highest degree of governance participation for any so called Western nation.   A society and nation also so in touch with Mother Earth, she perhaps yearns for better natural disaster management security.

Russia spans so wide across its breadth, has a heritage of a rich and yet convulsive history, plus being so different in its political bearing after the fall of its royalty.   It is a behemoth of a civilisation yearning for better economic management and social order security.

India can be a multitude of people, cultures and economic variety.  Its Hindu core is emphasised by the contemporary Government, even if the land has had various waves of influences from the Persians, Arabs,Moghuls and British, amongst others.  This ancient land continues the need for economic, food and political cohesion security.

China has had thousands of years developing its own culture, philosophy and traditions.  Its meteoric rise in economic, technological and national purpose over the past 30 years has changed the character of the chess board of the world stage.  Yet it continues to battle the challenges of getting better security in international acceptance, population management and self reliance.

#yongkevthoughts

We Will Carry On

 

How many club memberships, living in Australia, have you chalked up over the years?  I am not referring to exclusive country or city clubs where you network with the rich, politically connected and inner sanctum of useful contacts.   The prevalence of these other clubs I am talking about here, across the many suburbs of this Great Land, often depend on turnover, a huge but cheap membership base, gaming machines, a bistro of varying quality and some measure of community activities.

Increasingly significant is the local barista.  Over many years, so many blends of coffee beans have come out of Australia, establishing Aussie brands in this space with a strong reputation beyond its shores.  The routine of having brunch or breakky has contributed to the new styled cafes mushrooming with new fangled food recipes accompanying the beverage.  Tea has nevertheless not lost its embedded loyalty, together with other penchants for avocado smash, sourdough toasts, Granola mixes and sauteed mushrooms.

Beer craft and wine appreciation communions now express themselves in watering holes not just in the cities, but also in populated regional hubs.  The accompanying pizzas,  burgers and randomly performing local musician adds extra zest and layers of attraction to visit such venues.  The traditional Aussie pub though still stands tall, but can face challenges without the tribes gathering pre and post footy games, the family gathering for a wholesome Aussie roast and its truly vital role in the fabric of its local community.

And then in capital cities, Asian run bistros seem to be a  contemporary cornerstone of those RSLs and comparable clubs.  Vietnamese and Chinese operators provide alternative menus to pasta, Wellingtons, schnitzels and salads.

Migrant food has also been hipsterised and hybridised with fusion offerings, contemporary presentations and more use of alternative ingredients.  Outlets offering  such experiences are evolving a unique trend in the development of what foreigners increasingly acknowledge as uniquely Australian.  Drop by a new styled bakery run by Koreans, French and Japanese  here - while we still have access to traditional stuff from the Italians, Lebanese and our grandmother's Aussie cookbooks.

The roadhouse is so important for many remote communities, truckers and tourists out in the Woop-Woop.  It is a petrol station, sandwich bar, souvenir shop, grocery outlet, cafe, toilet stop, rest area and contact point for many both enduring and enjoying the vast, seemingly empty land that is Australia.

Our borders with other countries has been closed for so many months, but we still enjoy the Long Drive within our own state or when varying governments permit, across to other states on this continental island.  Straight roads for many kilometres delightfully surprise our visitors - and also coastal scenic drives, sojourns across farmlands, adventures across deserts or Alpine country.   What most of us agree upon is to avoid traffic jammed scenarios in our capital cities during the so called rush hour - or the increasing high tolls on roads labelled as Connex.

The water source, whether it is a constructed indoor or outdoor pool in suburban hubs, lake or a rock pool along one of our countless beaches, beckons many and perpetuates the influence of water in the life of many Aussies.

Most Aussies still reside within 100 km of its magnificient coasts. Swimming and surfing are anchor sports, whether competitive, recreational or
for exercise, in the fabric of this Great Southern Land.   Not many activities are as physically wholesome, mentally refreshing and rewarding as interacting with water.

Expressing one's self, taking part in public protests and telling a yarn also run through the veins of Aussie history.   At times, the giving of opinions, as overly encouraged by social media channels, politics and so called democratic freedoms, can lead to no action and just talk. The contemporary disease of mixing of facts with diverse views, manipulation of selective truth and aggressive marketing agendas by strong vested interests, has however thrown more than a spanner in this unrelenting confusing cauldron.

The unique spirit of being a larrakin still is very much alive in the Australian character.   However, this can be challenged by some aspects of a rising trend of political correctness which can at times lose this essential quality of humour and humaneness in negotiations, dealings  and various transactions of society.

Australia has always thought itself as the Land of the Fair Go.   Building upon layers of viable cultures, philosophies and traditions, we and our society have special routines, daily regimes and refreshing attitudes, when we zoom in on the beneficial and positive ones.  In the course of a day, each of us can find opportunity to have that healthy breakky, soak in a rewarding outdoor activity, press on with that work challenge, catch up with mates and try that unusual dish down the road.

#yongkevthoughts

Sixteen Months On

 

I remember for many weeks after Covid arrived on our shores in 2020, Aussies were advised it was not necessary to wear face masks by the leading medical bureaucrats and elected political leaders in Canberra.

The same people were stating it was okay to receive Astra Zeneca anti-Covid vaccines as recently as the first week of April 2021.  Now they have changed their minds.

For many months, both State and Federal leaders in Australia have regularly sought refuge in their repeated statements "according to our best medical advice" .

The public by now cannot be that patient with possible wool pulled over our eyes.  Changing positions on significant Covid related matters by our medical and political "leaders" can undermine our long suffering patience, trust and belief in their varying pronouncements.

There was wavering uncertainty on how the Coronavirus spreads from human to human - aerosal spray projectiles or they remaining on surfaces?

As Covid 19 raged through our Earth, it is evident that authorities in various nations are not sure of several perspectives in controlling this pandemic, or of how the Coronavirus will do next, or of how far the selected vaccines can mitigate this problem.

It will be refreshing if authorities tell us they do not  really know or not sure - and we will respect them for this.

Currently available anti-Covid vaccines promise minimising the risks  of having symptoms of Covid, but do not mean those vaccinated cannot still catch the infection. 

If the push for mass vaccination is to build up effective herd immunity for society, such vaccination roll outs must occur within a short frame of time and the percentage of completed jabs must reach a majority of the population.  Any reasons for a much delayed process in completing target vaccinations reduce the chances of achieving such herd immunity.
Herd immunity to me is just the Coronavirus no longer finding sufficient human hosts to replicate, a necessary step in our battle with Covid 19.

The public will appreciate that economy, business and financial activity is paramount, along efforts to minimise the spread of Covid 19.
However, vaccinations are not manna to resolve the matter - they are only one of a set of mindful measures still required to be practised by vaccinated people, like social distancing and face mask wearing in crowds, plus the simple practice of washing hands when coming home.

Even when I receive my annual common flu jab, I accept that I can still catch this kind of cold, only with lowered risks, but I am aware that I can still spread the flu to others who are in close contact with me. So I am mindful to sneeze in the small of my left elbow.

In our so called tolerant society, we also respect individuals who, for various reasons, choose not to be vaccinated.  There can be a disturbing trend when governments impose restrictions in movements for those not vaccinated, like not being able to fly, join in certain community activities or enter selected venues.  People who are vaccinated or not vaccinated can all still be infected with Covid 19 and be infectious.

Most of the anti-Covid vaccinations available today require two doses.  This points to an urgent need in Australia (as opposed to the UK) to improve the process of mass vaccinating people as encouraged by the government.

Yet we cannot deny that the science and technology of most of these vaccines are new.  These vaccines have been introduced under emergency health conditions - and not being subject to longer due diligence periods.

Covid 19 will continue to mutate its strains - just like for the common flu, I require an upgraded vaccine every year to counter this development.

Governments must emphasise improving the mass jabbing procedures for Covid 19 on a timely basis if it is required to be carried out every year.

Maybe future anti-Covid vaccinations can be intranasal or oral instead of getting the conventional shot in the arm.

Finally I have a lingering unanswered question - how did the so called Spanish Flu virus die out, even with no applicable vaccines?

#yongkevthoughts