“Look at the sky. It’s clear blue!”

“I can hear the birds chirping. Never thought I’d hear it in the city.”

“I have been cooking. All these years I never knew I could do it.”

“Not that difficult to make kuih for Ramadan. I regret wasting money buying them at the bazaar all these while.”

“Love spending time with my children. Definitely going to manage my time better after this.”

“Kinda love staying home. Quite peaceful.”

COMMENT | This Covid-19 pandemic has brought many realisations for many of us. After spending years in auto mode, the universe finally pulled the brakes, forcing us to pause and take a look at ourselves and the lives we live.

The result? Empowerment.

We feel empowered to do things better. We feel empowered knowing that we are capable of so much more than what we give ourselves credit for. We feel empowered to realise that we don’t need a lot of things in life to be happy.

Those who never stepped out of the house without painting their faces in an inch of foundation and makeup are now proudly taking selfies showing off their naked pores. Work-related calls and video conferences are now a bit more personal, everyone’s interested to know how others are coping within their private spaces. Old friends and relatives whom we haven’t heard from in a long time are suddenly getting in touch.

Yeah, for a moment, this pandemic seems like a wakeup call. A blessing really.

But the big question begging to be answered is this – how long will this last?

Isn’t difficult to predict human behaviours.

My neighbour, a carpenter, who has more than a dozen family members under his roof, had to temporarily shut down his business due to the movement control order (MCO). In the second week of MCO, he began receiving carloads of visitors to his home – almost every day. From my observations, he had no qualms about it. In fact, he and his family gleefully receive their visitors with open arms...