Fight the virus, not each other

"We're all going to die, all of us, what a circus! That alone should make us love each other but it doesn't. We are terrorized and flattened by trivialities, we are eaten up by nothing." - Charles Bukowski

AMID the new normal of deserted streets, long queues at supermarkets and empty shelves, no one is spared from the fervid accusations of online vigilantes. "Stall owner at a hawker centre is eating at the table. If all other stall owners follow suit... what is the lockdown for?" "I see people hanging out at my neighbour's place. What is the number to call to report?"

Of course, it's not wrong to report people who flagrantly flout the circuit breaker rules; we all need to do our part to flatten the curve. But when does the seemingly altruistic intention take a turn from one of civic-mindedness, to just plain kaypoh-ness, or worse, a snitch with a schadenfreude attitude?

Ong Pei Ching, Partner, Litigation & Dispute Resolution, TSMP Law Corporation, says: "The enemy is the virus, not one another. Before posting anything on social media, we should ask ourselves... Is your post of a "Covidiot" meant to raise awareness, or just a channel for your pent-up anger and frustration at the movement-control measures? Of course, we also have to consider whether our posts may have legal consequences, such as being breaches of anti-doxxing laws, or are defamation lawsuits in the making.

"On the other hand, we have a right to, and the authorities are even encouraging us to, make reports if we see contraventions of the Covid-19 related laws. This is especially so for people who flagrantly breached the law and put others in danger. Perhaps the only question to ask yourself before making a report is whether the alleged breach is so trivial that you may be wasting law enforcers' time and resources. After all, there is a qualitative difference in both culpability and public health risks between a young child momentarily pulling his mask off versus a group of adults hosting a house party."

Georgina Chin, counselling psychologist from The Counselling Clinic says: "There are two ways in which people respond to a crisis. People adapt by modifying their lifestyles as they attempt to cope and make meaning of the situation.

"For some, that results in an overly opportunistic approach, to find ways to benefit themselves and others, whilst for other individuals, there is a new motivation to hunker down, stay in line and keep others in line as well.

"As human beings, we all desire some form of control in our lives. That is why we have schedules, routines and rhythms. We are all seeking and hoping to return to normalcy, a state of comfort and familiarity, and this desire, when taken to the extreme, causes social norms and conventions to be overturned for the sake of the end goal."

In such a situation, frontliners like hawkers and delivery workers become easy targets. Melvin Chew, owner of Jin Ji Teochew Braised Duck & Kway Chap stall at Chinatown Complex Food Centre, says the requirements of social distancing and other coronavirus-related rules were a lot to process in a short time.

The 42-year-old founder of Hawkers United - Daobao 2020, a Facebook group providing an online platform for hawkers, says: "During this period, sometimes, orders may arrive late, or may be taken wrongly. Soup may spill out of the packet during delivery, or someone may forget to pack your chilli. These scenarios can and will happen, but how we react will keep us sane (or not). Kindness and compassion to one another are imperative to get through this period together."

Of those who turn aggressive when told they are breaking the law, Mrs Chin says: "I would encourage all of us - even in these situations - to not be reactive, and to recognise that if a person is unwilling to engage, that may be indicative of their inability to cope with the nature of the current situation.

"Perhaps this individual is experiencing psychological distress. Don't push them, it won't help. Behaviour is always indicative of one's ability to cope - if someone is behaving irrationally, they're likely struggling. So I would like to encourage all of us to take time, look at one another as individuals. We are all struggling, we are all feeling anxious we are all doing our best to cope in these difficult times. Let's ride the wave of this pandemic, together, because that is the only way we'll get through this, together as one."