USHERING 2020 in Kuala Lumpur as an emcee for Bookxcess seemed like a good sign, BUT somewhere in November 2019, a clairvoyant friend whispered to me that by 2020, half or quarter of the world’s population will be wiped out! That sounded very scary, though simultaneously, we laughed and giggled about toilet rolls being scrambled in a certain foreign country at the end of January 2020.
Finally, by the middle of March it was announced and we were just 'Dua Kali Lima' compared to the earlier situation that we laughed at. Even worse Malaysians scrambled for bread, rice, flour, and toilet roll, too... Weird, scary, and throbbing looking down at George Town City from the windowpane of my flat, it appeared like Zombie town (silence, no traffic, eerie). We tried to be positive: my partner took a week's leave before starting work again, a certain life-shift is needed apart from planning the food stock and necessities. Without words, we just wanted to stay calm, avoiding panic. Most of my quarter-year stage engagements and income sources were cancelled, up till today.
14 days of MCO1 provided the luxury of time as a space for self-reflection. Alhamdulillah, the internet system was still in order. The head, then, begins to formulate – what, after all, is there to regret? I have always been of the interior kind, confined at home, cooking, reading, writing, painting, and crafting. Right after MCO1, I dared to walk to Taman Armenian to feed my eight beloved stray cats (they are a little skinny but looking at the remnants of kibble left by good samaritans assured me that love is still in the air).
Silently, I kept wondering what HE had in store?
Earlier corona stories were confronted courageously. Whether real or fake news, with or without scientific explanation. In the stillness of these many nights I often wondered, when will it end?
Many jaw-dropping stories started rolling on the social media:
- Disobeying SOPs during the MCO. Fines, and public judgement, with the added spice of political attitudes.
- Children/students stuck in their dormitories – we felt sorry and worried for them
- Cluster blaming – We humans are 'Kemaruk' to be socially in interaction or are we simply bored?
- Refugees arriving at our shores even as our fingers point here and there
- The frontliners: it must be really hard on them
- Talk of money – donation drives, EPF, financial moratoriums …
- Pop artistes? Their fights, and irritating chronologies. Attention seekers, indeed.
- Generous NGOs and Malaysian philanthropists – Thank God, we possess so many of them.
- And not forgetting those with ADHD, anxiety, bipolar, Germaphobic issues, and all kinds of other worries vented on social media.
- MHO and the daily press conference plus the rising and declining numbers of victims – we were indeed obsessed, and why not?
- Ordinary and well-known people seizing opportunities, and suddenly we were all great cooks with the added burden of escalating weight.
By December 2020, I have lost count of how many stages of MCOs and New Normals were required to cross state borders. Time to time, I appreciate the few little allowances provided for in the New Normal, admiring the art of face masks, saluting friends who were struggling but creatively generating incomes, bingeing on movies, on Netflix, still afraid of huge gatherings and calmly training my mind, body and soul about the uncertainties of the future. After all, even in ordinary times – previous years, months, weeks, days: nothing was ever certain. A precious lesson.
“Thank god we are stuck in a heaven of our own. I really mean it. (Imagine being locked down somewhere else that was boring… – Oh yes! There are plenty of terrible settings with malicious people in this world).” A reminder to all of my children who are fortunate enough to be able to still count their blessings.
National and religious celebrations were strangely weird this time around. But we pacify ourselves that we are not alone to a whole world dancing to the same tune. – The Vibes, December 26, 2020
Regina Ibrahim is an author, painter and a stage performer who loves being at home in her golden age. MCO allowed her ample time to be friendlier on social media.
