By ACC Delen
This time last year, my biggest concern was whether my cousin and I would be able to book our tickets in time for our multi-country vacation come December. Mundane as it sounds now, the holidays too were what occupied many of my colleagues’ minds; their travel plans during winter break and for my local co-workers, the upcoming Chinese New Year heralding 2020. None of us had an inkling of the looming pandemic about to turn life as we knew it into a totally new, almost unrecognizable reality and that is even putting it mildly.
Now, almost a year to the day, the thought of travel for Christmas has not entered my mind at all. Hence the news of travel restrictions even within China where I am at the moment didn’t bother me. In the same token that the recent announcements from the government announcing the possibility of travel with the caveat of doing it so in low risk areas caused nary a ripple in my otherwise calm and low-key existence. Nevertheless, I do understand the excitement of those who were locked in the country during the border closing. They have not been able to go to other places, let alone their own countries. I can just imagine them having cabin fever but at a whole new level. After all, even during those times when there was a loosening of restrictions, people in Shanghai, my city of residence for the past decade, run the risk of having to do a 14-day quarantine coming back from outside the city regardless of how long you were out. And if you happen to be an expat, who is only here for work, that quarantine period can significantly affect your livelihood. Ergo, there really wasn’t any choice but stay within the city limits.
What then are people’s biggest concerns at present one might ask? I can only speak for myself and it definitely is NOT travel though it still is one of my more important goals but realistically speaking, it will have to be relegated to the lower rungs of my bucket list for the next year and possibly the year after that. Because, if there is one positive thing about the pandemic, it is the not so gentle reminder that for some, myself included, priorities need to be rearranged.
What is painful to see though is that there still are others whose realities remained unmoved despite what has happened and continue to happen. One only has to read news from home to know this. Greed still run rampant in government, with the corrupt continuing to be corrupt and the common people suffering the consequences. The Philippines, where I am not at the moment, has become one of the worst countries to be in, during this pandemic.
Even as I wrote the last line in the previous paragraph, I was bracing myself for a possible crap storm that’d rain on me for stating a painful truth. And, while we are on the topic of pain and truth…here’s another. A lot of expats who are now working/living in China feel safer to be here than anywhere else. This doesn’t mean that we are abandoning our home countries. On the contrary, we are praying for those left behind and hoping that things will improve. For people to get their heads out of the sand and get their act together before things get worse than they already are. Call it “survivor’s” guilt but I actually feel guilty for being able to go out without wearing a mask or a face shield except when taking public transportation. I feel guilty for having the option to travel should I decide to do so. I feel guilty for feeling safer and freer here than I would in my own country. There’s so much more… **
