Still welcome?

The pandemic puts governments and leaders around the world to the test. Being based in Singapore most of the year I was proud at the rapid response and the fact that there was no need for a lockdown.
Quickly it proved though that the government overlooked homes for the elderly, daycare, (super) markets and tuition centers and most notably housing of foreign workers. The measures taken and the advise to citizens seemed adequate but could simply not be followed by many because of their working and living environment. If you live with 20 people in a 40 sqm room and earn a few hundred dollar a month it’s hard to practise social distancing.

The number of cases exploded and Singapore is now for the 4th week in lockdown which is called a ‘circuit breaker’ locally.

More stringent measures are taken to get the numbers under control but the sheer number of foreign workers makes the issue hard to handle, leaving the migrant workers themselves in a ‘surreal life’ as this article illustrates https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3081538/surreal-life-singapore-covid-19-circuit-breaker-and-migrant

At the same time the iron fist of the law strikes harder and harder as these articles illustrate https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/covid-19-british-national-deported-barred-from-re-entering-12678036  and www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/false-message-facebook-covid-19-coronavirus-man-charged-12678986 

What do you think? We welcome your ideas, links and feedback.
 
The Neighbour