Another week and we’re all in the grip of Covid-19. WHO has officially declared it a panademic and the world is really freaking out! Many countries have closed borders and I am sure the economy of the world is taking a beating.

India has stopped issuing tourist visas for pretty much everyone until mid-April. Even those with OCI status, an immigration status that confers visa-free travel to India can’t travel to India until April 15. This visa ban does not apply to diplomatic, official, UN/international organizations, employment, project visas” visa holders. However, if you have a genuine need to travel, you can reach out to your nearest embassy or High Commission and speak with consular officers.

When I first read about this, I was quite concerned. I have elderly parents living alone in India and if touchwood, something happens to them, I will be unable to reach them. But I guess this will come under the exceptional circumstances, so I should be able to travel, should the need arise.

The children are quite bummed as because of Covid-19, their respective polytechnic orientations have been cancelled. We have no idea how the polys will be doing the orientation this year, but GG was complaining that she feels deprived of an experience she was looking forward to enjoying. But as I told her, it’s better to be safe than sorry! C’est la vie!

As always, stay safe folks! Wash your hands often and use hand sanitisers when you don’t have access to soap and water. Refrain from touching your face and minimise contact with others.

Today is the International Women’s Day. To all my women (and the men who support their women) readers, here’s wishing you a Happy Women’s Day!

Let’s all strive for the equality that women deserve so that, hopefully in our lives, there is no need for a single day to celebrate women. Instead we celebrate women and their equality with men in all spheres of lives every single day!

Spring in the air, but things are not so good in the ground. On Friday, Singapore recorded the largest spike in Covid-19 cases, most of which came from a single cluster. This cluster came from someone close to a previous patient who went for a private dinner where cutlery was shared.

This has led to Singapore announcing new standards of public hygiene which includes not shaking hands, using serving spoons while dining communally, eating from trays in public dining places as well as adopting good personal hygiene habits such as washing hands frequently, using a tissue when sneezing or coughing and keeping public toilets clean and dry.

When I read this, I actually thought of Indian practices which actually follow what Singapore is now advocating. The traditional Indian way of greeting is the Namaste which means “I bow to the divine in you”. Indians also usually dine together and when we eat, we never double dip our spoons into the pot containing the dish. There is always a serving spoon which is also not allowed to touch the plate of the person it is being served to. This is also because of the concept of Jhoota which means not allowing food which been contaminated by someone else’s saliva or inside their mouth to be touched by another person. This is usually very strictly enforced even in the most lax and liberal households.

So people, if you are Indian, go back to your roots and follow the practices which our ancestors did, they had some reasons for the same which we have disregarded today because we wanted to be modern, but this is not really true. For others, please be careful and stay safe!

In other news, life goes on as usual with us being mostly at home trying to stay safe.

Its a new week and we are in month three of 2020. To be honest, even though we are now in the grip of the panademic Covid-19, the months seem to be flying!

Speaking of Covid-19, Singapore has now crossed a hundred cases, but luckily there has not been any fatalities so far. Touchwood and we hope this continues. This panademic has now spread to 50 countries world-wide and things are expected to get much worse before we start to see any improvements. The World Health Organisation has now raised it’s assessment of the epidemic on a global impact to “very high”. Hopefully scientists who are working on a vaccine will find one soon and things will get back to a new normal in a couple of months.

As for us, it’s the same. In fact this week, I went for a meeting at one of the hotels in the Singapore business district and found the malls and even the hotel empty. People have cancelled all events and even malls are seeing lesser foot falls. The tourism industry, which is one of the mainstays in Singapore has also been hit badly and I am guessing recovery will take a while till things comes back to a healthy state.

Next week looks to be the same, so stay healthy and safe folks!

Yet another week where we were housebound. The children are now climbing the walls because they are so bored. Some of their friends have started school and from those who are waiting to enter poly, their parents like me don’t want them to meet in malls and other crowded places, hence the boredom.

Things have become slightly better this week and I am hopeful that the virus will blow off in a few more weeks and life becomes more normal.

I didn’t do much reading this week, it was one of those weeks where I didn’t really feel like doing much, so I am still stuck where I was last week.

I am also seriously thinking of expanding my little business. Since the children are now in tertiary education, I have more time in my hands, and so can now start working on a full-time basis. I have mentioned this to my major client and if they pass me working for them on a full-time basis (I am currently working part-time for them), then it’s time to network and make new contacts and see where this leads me to.

Stay safe folks and have a great week! We’re ending month two of 2020 and spring is on the horizon!

Another week and we are all still housebound due to the Covid-19 virus. Singapore now has around 70+ cases and this is surely a local community spread now. But, thanks to quick diagnosis and treament, we don’t have any deaths yet. So there is still hope.

Since all large scale gatherings have been stopped, we are at home all the time, leaving the house just to get groceries and essentials. As I mentioned earlier, now reading has become essential, so I am going to the library often and sometimes binge reading.

The children are getting antsy now because they are housebound, but there is nothing really to be done. Some of their friends who started junior college have started lessons, while for them, they need to wait till April. Hopefully, by then we would have the spread of the virus starting to wane and things would be a little bit more normal.

That’s all for our week now! Stay safe and healthy folks and have a great week!