Social distancing is staying away from people not from your purpose.
― Amit Kalantri, author
Long before Covid-19 outbreak, I have been practising physical distancing by giving a wide berth to places and people who are likely to emit foul smells. Trapped in a lift, I would hold my breath when I detected body odour or stink from clothes that were not fully dried.
I took to my heels when someone nearby sneezed or coughed out at full blast. Some people coughed to assure themselves when nervous. The most disgusting were those who nonchalantly coughed out loud in the presence of others without making any attempt to cover their mouths.
I avoided direct contact with things touched by many people such as door handles, doorknobs especially those in toilets, elevator buttons and escalator rubber handrails. After picking up a spoon or pair of chopsticks from many, I would wash or wipe them with a tissue before using.
I preferred restaurants that provide hot water to rinse bowls, chopsticks, plates, forks and spoons, and serviettes to wipe them dry. Having taken much precaution, I have never suffered from food poisoning or infected by communicable disease.
But this highly contagious coronavirus is a different kettle of fish altogether. Anyone can easily be infected because many carriers are asymptomatic and therefore show no symptom. Not knowing they are infected, these Covid-19 carriers moved about freely infecting many others.
Hence, the need for movement control order (MCO) for people to stay home as much as possible and avoid mixing with others. If they must go out to buy food, they should keep a safe distance away from others, but this is usually not practised by those impatient or ignorant.
At crowded places like wet markets and supermarkets, wearing face mask is a must. However, residents taking a brisk walk or jog within the compound of a condominium should exercise alone and not wear a mask to breath in fresh air, unless the air is choked with haze.
The recent case of 24 seminarians caught playing football in Penang had stirred lively debates and proved once again that communication and understanding can be tricky. “Just stay at home” may sound simple enough but is more complicated.
One must realise that a house is not a home. Home is where parents, spouse or children live but members of a family may be staying apart, such as university students. Right before and during MCO, it would be disastrous for many people to travel en masse just to stay at home.
It should mean staying inside a residence regardless of the number of people but only one is permitted to go out to buy food or other essentials. The objective of the MCO is avoiding or reducing contact with people not living together and restricting movement is the method.
As for the seminarians, if they were living together within a private institution, and playing football in their own private grounds, there is no need to arrest them. But if they were living separately elsewhere and had gathered to play or pray, then they ought to be punished.
As for social distancing, it is the new buzzword for the world under pandemic. It means maintaining a physical distance of minimum two metres to avoid close contact with others or gathering in large groups for prayer, sport, leisure, entertainment or business.
Before Covid-19, I have been practising social media distancing. I use only WhatsApp to communicate with others and recently exited from many chat groups. I have never posted anything in Facebook, Instagram or Twitter as I don’t have any business to promote.
Although I had been using handphones for 27 years, the first was a Motorola MicroTAC costing RM3,600 in 1993, I can live happily without one. All I need is a laptop with Wi-Fi connection to have a window to the world and a channel for my thoughts.
Many contents forwarded over WhatsApp are trash or fake, especially conspiracy theories. Anyone spending too much time feeding on rubbish will reproduce more of the same, similar to the concept of garbage in, garbage out as in computer science.
When conducting brainstorming sessions and group discussions, I encouraged participants to speak up by entertaining every comment, including the silliest, by immediately pointing out how they might possibly work, before sharing my ideas later.
But I would not sit down with one or more persons to gossip for hours. Unlike most people, engaging in long chatter with relatives, friends or strangers is not my cup of tea. Long before MCO, I have been practising social distancing.
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the New Sarawak Tribune.
