It’s only been two and a half months into 2020, and the world is already in turmoil.
The new year quite literally kicked off in flames, with wildfires tearing through vast swathes of Australia in January. Just as fresh images of singed, bewildered koalas began to fade from our minds, Malaysia’s barely 24-month-old liberal government was toppled by a rebellion from within. And before the political drama of the Sheraton Move could even settle, the world was hit with something far worse—a once-in-a-generation global pandemic that broke out in March.
Suddenly, everyone outside of China woke up to the fact that a deadly novel coronavirus had been spreading within their borders, infecting thousands. Now, I have plenty to say about all of these events. But it’s the last one that really boils my blood.
In December 2019, Cheryl, the kids and I were (unknowingly at the time) in a country on the brink of an unprecedented lockdown. We first heard about a local flu-like disease in the local news during our carefree holidays in Shanghai. But the disease– now named COVID-19– then made global headlines in early January as a mysterious pneumonia affecting a cluster of people in Wuhan. The initial assumption? That it was caused by a novel coronavirus, likely an animal-to-human jump, with no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission.
But the news didn’t fade– it snowballed. More cases emerged. Then came reports of exponential daily increases. When a doctor warned that the virus was spreading through airborne droplets, the alarm bells rang louder. Then came the deaths. And as the number of infections skyrocketed, China went into overdrive to contain it.
The Western media had a field day. Reports dripped with schadenfreude:
- “It’s a Chinese virus caused by people eating bats!”
- “Dystopian authoritarian regime using the outbreak as an excuse for brutal lockdowns!”
- “Beijing’s cover-up caused delays in global response!”
Governments followed suit. The U.S. (and soon the rest of the world) imposed travel bans. Borders slammed shut.
But viruses don’t care about borders. They don’t need passports. And soon enough, the virus hit our shores.
Malaysia was vigilant, but not China-level vigilant. And so, by March 18, 2020, the inevitable happened—our country went into full lockdown.
Meanwhile, the rest of the world had ample time to react. Daily infections in their own communities were still relatively low, but instead of preparing, they wasted the opportunity.
- The U.S. politicized the virus.
- Europe decided it was fine to keep partying.
- South America dismissed it as someone else’s problem.
- India and Indonesia—both with massive populations—had no idea what to do.
And here we are.
I have no idea how long this will last. But one thing’s for sure– the world isn’t going to be the same when we get through it.