70 Days ago our lives have been paused by Covid-19 and now Francien, Marcella and I slowly find a way to push the play button again. Kuala Lumpur had fallen silent. After the first relaxation of the lockdown three weeks ago the city initially remained quiet, much to our surprise. It was then when Francien and I had our first run in the nearby city park. We had expected many people, but not so. It was eerily quiet. Our first lunch in the city, bar from one other person, Francien and I were the only customers. Our first dinner at a restaurant with friends. Same experience. This time it was great to meet real people, but sad to hear how the owner and his team struggled to keep his business going. The first time since the lockdown began, we drove in our car. It felt strange driving on deserted, normally packed, highways, flyovers, traffic junctions, toll plazas. The ride to our favorite bakery took about half the normal time. But if the empty roads seemed strange, the parking in front of the always busy shop was spookily empty. Usually teeming with people, now quiet. Runners did not spill into the parks, people did not flock to the streets, shops and restaurants as some had expected. Few people walked the streets and traffic jams remained a thing of the pre-corona past.
I am scratching my head in confusion. Really, why is that?
Here is the thing: people have fears to be infected. They worry the virus will return and force a renewed full lockdown. After being at home so long, people are still apprehensive, worried, to go back to crowded places like restaurants. Friends and family we talked to for the most part want to stay at home.
And those people who venture out on the streets seem to behave a bit different. One afternoon Francien and I walked to the grocery shop and past a friend. However, we did not recognize him behind his mask until he shouted from a distance: ‘Hi, Frank and Francien, how are you doing?’ A few people in the parks and the shops stared at us, indicating not to come too close! Unfortunately, there are also those who throw their used face masks on the streets. Yes, we keep face masks, antibacterial wipes and hand-sanitizer at hand. When I walk outside in the tropical heat, the bite of my mask around my nose starts to take hold after a while. Luckily, I learned how to stop my glasses fogging up. Social distancing procedures makes going out unpleasant. All malls, shops and restaurants provide sanitizers, hand-held and remote temperature scanners, ID and mobile number registration for tracking. But the procedures are not consistent. Before entering some stores, we must write down our names, passport numbers and telephone numbers and then our body temperatures are scanned. Others use QR codes to help you enter these data electronically. Sometimes only our temperatures are scanned and we have to write down our names. But apart from making this all a cumbersome affair, we feel uncomfortable with handing out these personal data. How are these handled? Does this really help the authorities in case they need to track us down? Will we be forced to take Covid-19 tests if they do? Alas, many questions.
This past week crowds and traffic in Kuala Lumpur markedly increased, causing even the occasional traffic jam. The city is becoming much livelier, which is a good thing. We are bouncing back. For now, Francien and I feel save, because everyone is still focused on avoiding the spread of the virus. However, the situation of many locked-out people across the world becomes increasingly dire.
Here is the story of our friends Susan and Gert:
‘We are going for two weeks on holiday to South Africa, ONLY TWO WEEKS, what do you think will happen in two weeks?”. Gert and I (both working expatriates in Kuala Lumpur) are currently stuck in South Africa and are “locked out” from returning to our home in Malaysia. Well, actually a lot happened. The two weeks became more than two months and still counting. Gert and I did have a wonderful vacation until things started to look suspicious…….. countries started introducing lockdowns. We changed our return flights to an earlier date at an exorbitant cost and then it still happened: Malaysia introduced a lockdown, banning even people with residency permission to enter the country. On top of that, Emirates Airlines wrote us a less-than-welcome email that they cancelled all flights until further notice.Two days later South Africa followed, with a two days’ notice for total lockdown.
With our two suitcases and two bicycles we then moved into a holiday home. Our landlord and –lady have a small garden and we have been put in charge of feeding the fish and the birds. These birds and fish are now our best friends. We did a few emergency purchases, which included a new laptop, a headset and lots of internet data from Cell C. Gert and I started sharing a dining room table as an office. It is working well, except when we have scheduled meetings at the same time. The one who starts last, then grabs his or her laptop and headset, runs into either the garden or the lounge, so that the meetings can continue in peace. The dining room is just too small for two meetings happening simultaneously. Gert just said: ‘give me a grocery list’. That sounds much easier than done….. Assuming the lockdown was for only two weeks, what do you cook so that by the end you have little left. Answer: you do not cook – you braai (BBQ) and eat salad. Simple fair, but in a country where people are queuing for daily food parcels, we eat like kings.
And now the seasons are changing here and it is getting cold. Our two suitcases held little warm clothing, so we wash frequently. I still work back to Malaysia and start at 07h00 in the mornings to share as much day as possible with my colleagues in Kuala Lumpur. Work hours for Gert, who works remotely to Ireland has improved vastly being now in a similar time zone. From 1st May, some non-essential services in South Africa have opened up and people are allowed to exercise between 06h00 and 09h00 in the morning. It is then when the streets, which were deserted for the past five weeks, have become alive with the sound of people walking and running, the swishing of bicycle tires and the yelping of dogs.
Nevertheless, I am homesick. We are staying 10000 kilometres from home! I want to experience again the Malaysian heat, I want to swim in a tepid swimming pool, I want to see the faces of the people working for me, I want to tell them we survive this also, and that we have learned that we do not have to be with each other in order to be a kick-butting team, I want to eat Nasi Lemak. I am also scared: I am scared for the people who did not have an income for the past weeks and who need to feed families, I am scared for the unlucky families who got split in the lockdown periods, I am scared for those business-owners who now need to tell their people there is no longer a business and I am scared of those giant corporates which also need to close down-size.
Whilst I was standing in a line to enter a shop, I was thinking that this is almost like a war, queuing for food. The difference is that we are not fighting a seen enemy with guns and mortars, but a small little thing with no feelings, which does not discriminate, but which has taken away the dignity and self-respect of so many people, across the world. And I felt sorry for the world leaders, who in this time will never make a right decision, because the consequence of any decision is an unknown.
Susan
Let’s hope they can return back to Kuala Lumpur soon. Global border closings are a kind of de-globalization, but no country has been safe for this pandemic. We are only safe when all countries are safe. We have to do this globally! Until a few weeks ago, Asian tourists in Europe and USA were the only mask-wearers. Just my observation: in Asia people are used to wear face masks and the number of infections is much lower than in Europe or USA: is that a coincidence? Widespread mask use in the East may explain the slowing progression of the disease compared with the West. There was always this deep cultural resistance against wearing face masks. Yes, even a stigma in the rest of the world. That cultural taboo seems to be broken. An example of how we can learn from each other.
Francien and I are not yet allowed to travel outside the city limits. But that will come again. Our travel horizon will be determined by how well this coronavirus is being contained. For me, the big knock-on effect of this pandemic is that we will be traveling even more responsibly and consciously. It makes our next trip all the more sweet, whenever that may be.
Dare I say it: Your work and family life has been altered in the last ten weeks. It baffles me how quick people get used to bad news. Only eight weeks ago it was inconceivable to think half of the world population would be forced to stay inside their homes, but now we take that just as an observation. If the adage that it takes two months to form a habit holds, the way we will be living in the future will be different. You and I know that and talk about this new normal, but it is anybody's guess what it will look like! Some unpredictable months lie ahead, I am looking forward to them.
Hand me that hand-sanitizer!