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.