Dear COVID-19,
Thank you for bringing humanity back to my people again.
Your sudden appearance in the world and your unprecedented descent into our lives have brought the best and worst out of people around me and in society.
You have brought out the mettle in my government, the benefits of policies set by the predecessors, the efficiencies in our public systems and most importantly, the multitude of relief that is given to the people in a time of need.
With that, you have drowned the haters, silenced the posers and weeded out the aggressors living amongst us. A fun watch I must say, entertaining those straddled with homestay.
You have also successfully maimed my industry, bled my support systems out and crippled my revenue streams. I lost men to necessary policies, made my shareholders go on high alert and have forced the remnants of my men to dig deep and stay awake in constant fear of when your next wave of shrapnel would hit.
With that, you have brought out the resilience in my industry, that doggedness that we learnt whilst grinding at the bottom of the chain, that need to innovate and reposition, and most importantly, segregated the landlords, business partners, customers and “aficionados” – to the ones who care and the ones who could not find that minute to stop and stare.
Last but not least, you have given us the time to take stock, to remember others, to build and mend relationships, the opportunity to catch up on personal goals and most amusingly, bear witness to unknown home skills that surfaced in calamity.
With that, we see friends who lost family to your deathly embrace, we remember why some relationships are broken and most beguilingly, how the mundaneness of our lives are limited to the stagnation of our minds.
I look beyond the silence of my city to the ever-emerging bright lights of my phone and I wonder how long you will continue being around in my life. I hate how you have destroyed lives but I also mutter silent thanks for bringing new “life” to many more.
I will breathe a sigh of relief for humanity when you leave and I will miss this love-hate relationship that you give. But in the meantime...
Thank you for bringing humanity back to my people again.