Covid-19 Pandemic

In light of the recent outbreak of the Covid-19, it has to a certain extent, negatively impacted and shaken up the whole of Singapore. After the Government raised the Dorscon level from Yellow to Orange, it lead to issues such as panic buying and discrimination from fellow Singaporeans. 

The change in the Dorscon levels drove Singaporeans into a chaotic mess, with people panic buying, and clearing shelves in local grocery stores, which was an irony. It completely contradicted what the Singapore government has strongly advised, which was to avoid crowded places and to stay at home as much as possible. However, people were seen wiping out aisles, hoarding multiple items that they themselves might not even need, just for the sake of safety precaution, as and when the Singapore government decides to raise the Dorscon level to red. This irresponsible act has resulted in the unavailability of products for those people who needed it more than others, such as alcohol swabs for diabetic people. In addition, the ridiculous snaking lines have also caused many shoppers to wait for hours due to the mass number of items inside one’s shopping trolley. A handful of them displayed inconsiderate behavior, abandoning their carts and baskets full of perishable food near checkout stations after they became impatient and frustrated with the long wait. This further made the entire situation worse. It added hassle for the workers as they had to now deal with clearing the items discarded by shoppers and constantly replenishing new stocks. After seeing the damage that was done by shoppers due to the panic buying frenzy, a local supermarket, NTUC FairPrice, imposed a limitation on paper products, rice, and instant noodles. Shoppers were restricted to purchasing only up to packs of paper products, two bags of rice, and four bundle packs of instant noodles per paying customer from the 9th of February 2020 (Ang, 2020).

A queue at the NTUC FairPrice outlet in Woodlands Civic Centre (Today Singapore, 2020).

Secondly, as an opportunity to earn a quick buck amidst the outbreak, a handful of Singaporeans and a local retailer exhibited distasteful behavior as they took advantage of the situation and inflated the prices of masks. Profiteering sales from the epidemic is not only a thoughtless act but also irresponsible. Due to the rise in demands for masks, while company sales might increase from profiteering, this, however, disrupts and affects Singapore’s global economy market value. According to The Ministry of Trade and Industry, “Profiteering is a highly inconsiderate and damaging act. We urge all retailers to practice corporate social responsibility and not take advantage of the increased demand to raise prices unreasonably,”. A local retailer, 3 stars, was caught up-selling and had to explain their hike in mask prices following complaints from members of the public (Novel, 2020). 4 Singaporeans were also running masks scams using online platforms where they claim to purchase and import masks in bulk from overseas retailers. However, once money was transferred to them, they disappeared, leaving many Singaporeans livid and cheated off their blood sweat money. Thankfully, they were subsequently arrested by the Singapore Police Force for preying on the vulnerable for their monetary gains.

Lastly, in times of our needs, our healthcare professionals, working on the frontline have been slogging day and night, putting their health at risk for the betterment of our country, with hopes to win the battle against Covid-19. However, the disease is not the only thing that our healthcare professionals are fighting. In spite of their long working hours as well as the psychological and emotional levy that our healthcare professionals have to compromise with, there have been several instances of discrimination against them that they have to take in. This revealed how tactless and obnoxious some members of our society can be. There have been many accounts where private taxi drivers cancel, avoid and refuse to send or pickup healthcare workers to and from hospitals, making their journey to work a hassle that could have been avoided if people were more understanding and gracious. Fear from the public eyes has also been induced, as many nurses are now afraid of going into public spaces, especially in the Mass Rapid Transit which is also one of the most common commutes in Singapore, in their work uniform. Many of them have taken the extra step of changing out of their uniforms after there are done with their shift to reduce the possibility of the people making snarky and disrespectful comments towards them. Singapore’s Minister of Health urged the public to come together and show support for our healthcare workers, so they continue to take care of our patients, families, and our loved ones (The New Paper, 2020). The fact that our Minister of Health had to release a press conference targeted at fellow Singaporeans and encourage them to express their support, depicted how bad the discrimination against our healthcare professionals was. Instead of shunning and ostracizing them from our society, we should be inclusive of the healthcare professionals and provide them with moral support. Something as small as a compliment or encouragement goes a very long way for them, and could make their day feel a little better.

However, not all hope is lost. Some Singaporeans have actually taken up the initiative and stepped up in helping out one another during times in need while battling against Covid-19, displaying “Kampong Spirit”. There have been a few examples where parents have been taking this outbreak as an opportunity to teach their children. They use it as a lesson on instilling good moral values and behaviors while roping their kids in to distribute hand sanitizers around their Housing Development Board block’s lift for the residents to use. When news broke that hand sanitizers were out of stock nationwide due to the panic buying frenzy that happened over the course of the weekend, a group of mothers, called “Super Mummies”, took up the initiative to handmake hand sanitizers from scratch by sourcing the correct and various ingredients as well as collecting recycled bottles to contain the disinfectant.

There has also been another good example where a couple and their friends chipped in money from their own pockets to purchase masks in bulk that were out of stock in Singapore, from an overseas distributor. They then started to hand pack the masks into smaller quantities and went out to public places such as nearby neighborhoods and heartland malls to distribute them out for free to the general public. There have also been instances where “Mask Vigilantes” of Singapore such as local companies have surfaced and were seen giving out free masks to the public. With that being said, while there are groups of helpful Singaporeans trying their best to make a difference for our people through their own means and methods, however, if the vast majority of people still portray distasteful and selfish behaviors, such efforts that these individuals have made and are making, will be in vain and waste.

In conclusion, in such tumultuous times where we will continue to battle against Covid-19, it is extremely important and necessary for Singaporeans to understand the importance of responsibility and to give our support and encouragement to our healthcare professionals. It is also absolutely necessary that we practice good hygiene, and precaution as well as not take things for granted. If we continue our haywire habits of extreme panic buying, our economy will definitely be badly affected. This may result in a lack of supply in local grocery stores which will eventually lead to more excessive panic buying and become a toxic cycle. In addition, if Singaporeans were to continue displaying all these negative behaviors, we will be thus be labeled as “third-world citizens” in a “first-world country”. Hence, it is times like this, when we as Singaporeans should stand strong together, set exemplary behavior, and be united as a nation.

Written as a Argumentative Paper at the University at Buffalo, 2020.