LETTER | As an expatriate in Malaysia, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Malaysian government and the Health Ministry for making my seven-day quarantine experience the smoothest experience one could hope for.
I immediately jumped to the worst assumptions when I found out that in order to enter Malaysia, I had to be quarantined for at least seven days. The thought of being separated from loved ones for another seven days, the loss of freedom and anxiety caused by a confined space all comes into one’s mind when the word quarantine comes up.
However, I was extremely impressed at how the quarantine actually made me feel the polar opposite - calm, collected and at peace.
As soon as we touched down in Malaysia and had undergone the smooth immigration process, a bus awaited to ferry us to Hotel Istana Kuala Lumpur, a five-star hotel with the most magnificent view of the Petronas Twin Towers.
We were asked to join a WhatsApp group for those quarantined in order to get the latest updates. It also served as a support group for all those quarantined which made the experience a far less lonely one.
Every morning at around 7am, we were served breakfast which awaited us at our front door, the Ministry of Health followed all the right protocols when delivering the food. They would ring our bell and leave the food on a chair outside in order to avoid any physical contact.
The same rules applied when delivering our lunch and dinner. For many, the food was scrumptious and had all the nutrients we needed to keep our body energised but for some foreign nationals, it wasn’t up to par.
Bearing this in mind, we were allowed to order food from outside either through Grab or from the hotel's food menu. We were not short of any necessities and the experience was indeed a five-star experience.
Being apart from loved ones and feeling restricted can have an extremely negative toll on our mental health but the Ministry of Health in Malaysia made sure that we were all taken care of by providing us with everything we could possibly need and for that, thank you.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.
