The Isolation Journals Week #5

The Isolation Journals is a weekly post on life during the unofficial lockdown or Restricted Movement Order (RMO). The journal will be updated every Wednesday. This is the journal for Week 5.

By Farhira Farudin

I can't tell if writing this journal is still relevant or not. 

Since the government announced Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO), people have been going out as per usual. Many of us are afraid and anxious still, but it's difficult to ignore the reality that some people just simply don't care enough about the dire situation of our world to stay at home. It's almost incomprehensible to me how people are going out freely and daily for the most mundane activities. Eating out with your entire family (bringing kids especially) is not necessary. Going shopping for new clothes is not necessary. Getting that boba drinks you've been craving for is not necessary. I saw a couple of guys on TikTok going to thrift stores, and this is anything but necessary. For me personally, going out is only needed if you're doing it to survive. There's a viral tweet the other day showing people queuing up in front of a pawn shop on the first day CMCO is announced. It's heartbreaking to see what people would do in order to survive, and yet some of us would freely go out to malls thinking we are back to normal. News flash: we are far from going back to normal. 

I understand if people are craving for their normal lives. Trust me, the whole world wants the same thing too. But as of now, it's not safe yet to announce that freedom is ours. I am slightly relieved to see the number of new cases are decreasing, although it fluctuates from triple to double digits daily, but to think that the virus is far from being gone should make you want to stay at home. I wish we had better planning on how we can balance the economy while still able to flatten the curve to the ground without risking both the economy and the lives of our own people, but the reality is more strenuous than we had imagined. Eventually, I believe that flattening the curve and thus saving people's lives is far more important than anything else right now. The whole world is in crisis but I believe there are ways we can save the economy in a more humane way. There's no need to risk the lives of thousands of people just to keep the economy going. If we are lucky enough to survive the economic situation, what happens to those who lost their families in the battle? What about those who lost their mental health along the way? People believe that in life you win some and you lose some, but right now people's lives shouldn't be the one that's losing. 

CMCO is understandably a choice needed to make by the government. It's also a scary one. Many of us are losing hope and yet many are still clueless on how severe the situation is. The virus is deadly but the only thing that could make it worse is our own ignorance. At trying times like this, I hope people would make rational and selfless choices to help to flatten the curve. The war is far from over and we all are apart of this to win the battle. Stay at home, everyone.