3 years

Tomorrow the last of the COVID restrictions in Singapore will be lifted. Most of the social distancing restrictions are already lifted but mask-wearing on public transport stuck around. Tomorrow, we hit 100%. The inter-ministry work team is also disbanded. A signal that normalcy is back.

For good.

The first COVID case in Singapore was reported on Jan 23, 2020. So we’ve just passed 3 years.

THREE EFFING YEARS.

If you’re reading this—anyone reading this; breaking the fourth wall here—well done, you. We survived.

And I thought it’s important to acknowledge you—whoever you are reading this—because of this line I chanced upon:

“I wasn’t myself for months and no one noticed”

I felt that. It really resonated. Hard. Personal story.

We were all not ourselves for months and nobody noticed. Because everyone was struggling. No one was spared. The virus was totally democratic and affects everyone, young and old, rich and poor, happy or sad.

Some days I walk around in town, and everyone seems happy and going about lives in a normalcy we craved so badly for just 2 years ago, and I get a sense of disconnect. Are we supposed to just move on like that? After all that collective trauma and hardship?

If you’ve never been acknowledged for surviving and perservering through, I want to do that for you now.

I see you. You did it.

We did it.

It’s okay now.

We’re fine now. You’re fine now.