I Choose to Be Happy

Letting ourselves choose to be happy..... I can hear the pitter patter of an increasingly heavy rain downpour. Now, in the hour after sunset, nestled between the hills to the west and the ocean to the east. I choose to smell the refreshing moisture in the air. I choose to slowly unfurl at this hour to close the day. Soaking in water reinvigorates the body. I choose to anticipate the toast I am having for breakfast, uhm, tomorrow. I choose what uplifts me. I relish in getting my body break in sweat running up that hill - or soaking in the salty winds along the beach. I put my fingers to run over the bark of stately trees that stand like a sentinel of a friend looking over me - or breathe in the oxygen exuded by leaves as they make their chlorophyll. Tucked in bed, in a totally darkened space, my eyes look at the emerging stars across our Great Southern Sky. There is a lack of reflected artificial light, so the Universe up there becomes so much easier to discern and enjoy a view of. I choose to make more sense of all the episodes and incidents paraded in society, to find a more meaningful thread to explain such things. I choose to recognise causes rather than symptoms. I choose to ride on beneficial outcomes out from roadblocks and irritations, no matter how big or small they are. For example, looking for a safety pin made me more organised as to where to easily find a stand by first aid pack. Movement restrictions imposed by authorities made me more focused and less distracted. Misinformation led me to realise the truth. What looked like deprivation, disrespect and dissolution initially can lead to true personal liberation. I choose to see what can be, rather than what cannot. I choose to laugh, even if I may hurt. I choose to understand, even if there is nothing to start with. I choose to try. I choose to continue, towards where I want to go. I choose to go forward. I choose to continue heading to where I am meant for.

The Arrival of Omicron

With the arrival of another C19 mutation, Omicron, it looks like an increasing case of deja vu. Flight arrivals from the first hotspot nations are banned. There is a dearth of knowledge amongst experts, bureaucrats and politicians on how a new mutation will play out. Infections are confirmed amongst individuals who arrived from hotspot nations, but they arrived before any arrival bans. Such individuals had total freedom of movement when they visited what are now called exposure spots in the local community, before feeling unwell and testing positive. Will there be breaches at the control points of disembarkation and quarantine accommodation? Citizens and PRs of destination countries, coming from hotspot nations, are isolated for 14 days after arrival, but we are no longer told where exactly they are quarantined. The word "hotels" is no longer mentioned. The playbook in response by authorities looks amazingly familiar. After two years, there are seemingly no new ideas, except perhaps to take comfort in a high population percentage who have offered to be jabbed seemingly three times within 12 months. The first reaction upon hearing the arrival of Omicron is to promote booster shots. The difference this time, is significantly, that most nations tell their denizens that they have to live with the Coronavirus, so that the economy can bounce back. Even when air travel is opened up more than ever, the range of process just to get on a commercial aircraft to a foreign destination and return to the home country - testing, insurance and more - can be a most inconvenient one. The biggest challenge to us as individuals is the potential growth in uncertainty, just when our mindsets and expectations have moved to more certainty. Not again! is my first thought. Once the proverbial cockroach breaches our international border sentries, authorities have to decide whether the old regime of mass testing, varying levels of lockdowns, scanning QR codes, face masking, ensuring social distancing, hospitalisations and the lot - are back in force, or do they have to come up with more innovative approaches? Unsavoury authorities can still continue to hide behind the excuse of Omicron to implement more of their dark agendas - hopefully not. Are we facing a scenario of accepting more infections, downplaying specific risks, allowing more personal freedoms and deemphasising the collateral damage to society and individuals? The arrival of Omicron and the intent of many governments to want us to learn to live with Delta and any future mutations, now dovetails to a critical stage. Not enough is known about Omicron today, so will it fizzle out to nothing or will it step up the complexity for us and our rulers? #yongkevthoughts

October 2021 - Singapore Embraces Covid

 

In transition between different and significant approaches in managing Covid, Singapore is at the cross roads. The journey so far for Europe is swinging from lockdowns to freedom and now back to lockdowns. No economy can endure lockdowns on and off, especially for one like Singapore, but the question is "at what price?". Here are key quotes from a televised address by the Singapore Prime Minister, Lee Hsien-loong, to his nation on 3 October 2021. "Singapore cannot stay locked down indefinitely." "We are shifting to home recovery" "No more complicated flow charts." "Knowing what to do makes Covid not a scary disease." "Sooner or later, everyone of us will meet the virus." "Keeping connected to supply chains will help ensure Singapore's hub status." "We must ensure for Singapore's health systen and health workers, which is our last line of defence." "We must be our nation's first line of defence, to help protect our health system." "We may yet have to tap on the brakes, in order not to free up too fast." "How will we know when we have arrived at the New Normal?"