The headline in The Straits Times was a grim reminder of the pandemic with the news that the world death toll will cross a million deaths over this weekend. It was such a sobering reminder to what is happening across the world and according to the World Health Organisation, it is possible that the final tally may even be close to or exceed the 2 million mark. The total infections tally as of yesterday is more than 32 million with the top four countries comprising of the United States, India, Brazil and Russia accounting for nearly 60% of all infected cases.

Many European countries are reporting a second surge which is worrying. India has been reporting the highest daily cases, again another worrying trend. What this pandemic has done to the world economy, most people already know. Economists say the economic repurcussions is about three times as bad as the global financial crisis of 2008 in terms of GDP decline on an annual basis. Though its not as bad as the Great Depression of the 1930s, but it is the worst downturn in the world since then. However, all is not lost. Changes will be made and this will not only accelerate technology adoption and usage, but also a turn towards a more green economy.

In other news, both GG & BB got their first semester results this week. GG did very well and hopefully should continue her good streak. BB on the other hand, did really badly, barely passing all his subjects. Hopefully this is a wake-up call for him and he can work hard for the remaining semesters and pull up his cumulative GPA. Without this kick in the backside, he was getting to be overconfident, so it’s better perhaps that this happened now and not later. He does need to buck up and fast if he wants a place in a local university in the course of study of his choice.

That’s all from us this week. We are going to be in the last quarter for the year and I have to start my planning for 2021 which I hope is a much better year for all compared to 2020. Stay safe people!