LETTER | The new normal post Covid-19

LETTER | Time really flies. Covid-19 has spread across the world in only half a year after just a few cases were identified and confirmed at its alleged ground zero last December.

It is undeniable that Covid-19 has transformed the lives of humans everywhere. We have been forced to quickly adapt to these 'new norms' due to this pandemic. I will be sharing some views and recommendations on this new normal post-Covid-19.

First, it is essential to realise that no nation is exempt from facing this challenging pandemic that causes a severe rate of fatalities and many citizens are holding their governments accountable for every approach taken in light of the pandemic.

I would like to cite a Greek myth here to address this status quo. In ancient Greece, there were two awful creatures, one was Scylla and the other went by the name of Charybdis. Scylla was a horrible six-headed monster while Charybdis was a whirlpool. Sailors who got stuck between the two of them and had to opt to choose one side to get through. When ships passed close to Scylla, in order to avoid Charybdis, she would seize this chance to wipe out the whole ship, and vice versa.

This story illustrates the situation in which one is caught between two equally unpleasant alternatives or situations. This is what is happening to governments as well. They need to take into consideration people’s wishes and needs as well as finding a fine balance with conflicting interests within the nation. Nevertheless, governments must put the health, safety, and well-being of citizens as primary importance during this time of crisis.

Some notable 'new normal' adapted today are wearing masks, washing hands frequently with hand sanitiser or soap, maintaining social distancing with others, only go out for the purpose of buying necessities. All these practices are really effective in helping to curb Covid-19. If we were to take a retrospective view on this measure, the pandemic would not have taken away hundreds of thousands of lives if citizens had the awareness of practising good hygiene in their daily life. At the end of the day, we are forced to learn it the hard way. Hopefully, every Tom, Dick, and Harry will regard this as an invaluable life lesson and always prioritise personal hygiene in all circumstances even after this pandemic subsides.

Other than that, there are many reasons to believe there is a crucial need to transform most businesses to suit the current circumstances. When Covid-19 struck Malaysia and the Movement Control Order took effect, businesses shut down, employers went bankrupt, there was a large scale of retrenchment and a surge in the unemployment rate. For instance, many bubble tea outlets in SS15 have been forced to shutter. However, brands like Zoom and Tik Tok were not affected by this pandemic. Those platforms are widely used for work and entertainment purposes amid the crisis. This tells us that conventional and traditional businesses should change their modus operandi and make sure they are on par with other modern and high-tech companies. Government agencies like the Ministry of Finance, MITI, the Prime Minister’s Department (Economy), the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation as well as NGOs can co-organise courses to assist businesses to garner information regarding ways to digitalise their businesses and maximise their awareness of consumer trends to ensure the competency and robustness of their mode of business.

The other new normal will revolve around the economic sector. Before Covid-19 shocked the world, consumers would have a great time bonding with family members and friends in public, dining at restaurants. Food delivery apps were not the primary consideration of many when they had the choice of driving to a restaurant themselves or taking public transport or even carpooling as some find it more enjoyable when dining out. But, our life has experienced a sudden change as we could now only take away our food by driving through or queuing at restaurants due to social distancing. Alternately, we would order our food via mobile apps like GrabFood, FoodPanda, and DahMakan. As a result, we can foresee that food delivery apps will thrive and more restaurants will join in the trend to deploy more manpower to conduct food deliveries to survive in the new era.

The highest employment rate of the decade took place in Malaysia and this should be given attention as well. According to the Department of Statistics chief statistician Mohd Uzir, the Malaysian unemployment rate in March 2020 had increased to 3.9 per cent, the highest since June 2010 when the employment rate was at 3.6 per cent. This means many employees are losing their jobs due to this pandemic. Some businesses do allow workers to work from home and they will still receive wages as usual but this isn’t the case for the majority taking into consideration the statistics given. This teaches us to realise the importance of having a side or passive income to better support one's livelihood. Examples of side incomes are rental income, small businesses, investments, etc. One should also allocate a portion of their salary for saving in the bank as preparation for emergency events.

Besides, this pandemic had resulted in the closure of all educational institutions like universities, schools, tuition centers, and nurseries. A more contemporary and advanced method of teaching and learning has been adopted by these institutions. For example, lecturers and teachers are taking learning processes online via platforms such as Zoom, Google Meet, Google Hangout, Microsoft Teams, Telegram, and Whatsapp to ensure students can still have their classes going on as usual in order to complete the syllabus. For example, university students may submit and complete their exams online and submit their respective answers via the university’s designated platform. This pandemic has indeed reshaped our education system, and learning methods in the future may never be the same again. Some students do find it more comfortable learning from home due to its flexibility and students are more active to engage with their lecturers.

All in all, some individuals regard Covid-19 and the year 2020 as disastrous and as if fate is playing a prank with them. On a positive note, we can regard this crisis as a chance for us to better ourselves, be it culinary skills or knowledge gained from reading, and be grateful to be able to spend more quality time with our loved ones, as well as learning some life lessons such as the need to be resilient in any situation. We should also spend some time to be thankful of the immense efforts, sacrifices, dedication, and commitment devoted by the unsung heroes of the nation, i.e. the front-liners either in civil services or healthcare services in dealing with the condition of Covid-19, for the sake of the nation even though their jobs put them at risk. Big kudos and salute to all!

The writer is a student in the Faculty of Law at the University of Malaya.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.