This is the Chinese New Year weekend and to those celebrating the lunar new year, Gong Xi Fa Cai, Xin Nian Kuai Le!

Because of the long weekend, it’s been a very quiet week, both at home and at work. Actually things have changed a lot in the last decade or so in Singapore, especially during Chinese New Year or CNY. I remember when GG & BB were younger, the country used to pretty much be shut down during this period, especially the first two days. I remember only the ethnic enclaves of Little India and Kampong Glam used to be open at full strength and we used to stock up on groceries and other essentials so that we don’t need to make a trip down to the stores. On the third day, some supermarkets used to open with limited opening hours and limited, non-Chinese staff. But today, even on the first day, most supermarkets and stores are open, even if it is on a limited basis.

Here’s this week’s positive thought. It’s from Paulo Cohelo and is something we should all do. Positivity breeds positivity and so let’s be enthusiastic about what we do so we all can have a positive energy surrounding us at all times.

As of yesterday, world over, there were about 110 million cases in total with about twenty-five million active cases, of which slightly over 99 thousand or 0.4% of active cases are critical and of the more than 83 million closed cases, 97% or more than 80 million cases have recovered and two million cases or 3% of all cases died.

Many countries have ramped up vaccinations and are steadily vaccinating their population starting with essential and healthcare workers and then the elderly and the vulnerable. The most popular vaccine seems to be the Pfizer/ BioNTech with 57 countries currently administering the vaccine followed by Oxford/AstraZeneca in 34 countries and Moderna in 27 countries.

Most of the world looks to be fully vaccinated by late 2022 and hopefully everyone in the planet who needs a vaccine will be protected by early 2023 when life will finally go back to a semblance of normalcy. Till then, we owe it to ourselves, our families and loved ones and the elderly and vulnerable in our homes and communities to protect ourselves by masking up, practicing hygiene and safe distancing.

Stay safe people!