MARCH 19 — The virus is not airborne, but everyone can smell the fear in the air. There are worried people out there. And you can’t blame them.
Therefore, it’s time to rely on Malaysia’s greatest gift to get through this disease season, the willingness to laugh at everything, not the least, ourselves.
And don’t worry, this column won’t pass down vital information about the “restricted movement” we are all enduring presently or facts about Covid-19 — transmission, treatment, statistics and prevention.
There are volumes elsewhere, and I’d strongly encourage people to read from source and authority rather than from passed on WhatsApp messages which begin with “this is important information” and are filled with exclamation marks.
That said, my WhatsApp has never been busier. And that was Day One.
Let’s be clear, just because Malaysians can randomly laugh at the corniest jokes and stereotypes doesn’t mean we are not taking the situation seriously. It’s a coping mechanism, not a method to escape reality.
In a dysfunctional society oversubscribed to control influences, laughing at the ridiculousness of it all seems the sane thing to do.
Perhaps slightly to the morbid end of things, but the Malaysian passion for laughs do not underestimate.
One of my early favourites is a notice stuck at the front door of a police station. There was much confusion on the eve of the restriction period start, as the minutes inched to midnight.
Why? Interstate travel was to be barred subject to written police approval, which forced people to swarm stations.
Police rescinded the order, when realising the scale of the matter and the damage their good intention produced.
Some constable tongue in cheek typed up a note and posted it on the door to say that no police permission is necessary for cross-state travel and that the people were free to return home to the village to infect their loved one with the virus.
Sure enough, the note has gone viral. An important caution now made clear to millions.
Look, we have not had a nationwide “restriction” since probably the early years of communist-forced emergency in the 1950s. Even during May 13, 1969, it was limited to town areas, and the military was involved.
Trying to keep 32 million people in check for two weeks was always going to be fraught with errors. How they are fixed after a stumble is what matters most.
Just as much is the sight of the prime minister returning to TV last night to plead directly to us to stay put. After Day One of “restricted movement” ended up with too much movement, the PM had to face his countrymen. To ask again. To his credit, I’m not sure the previous man in his job or other pretenders would have done better necessarily.
Probably also a time to temporarily shelve the backdoor government rants — but not the jokes, the jokes are still stellar, like Tapir Times’ headline Azmin (Ali) Sent To Sheraton To See If He Can Break Coronavirus Too — because rants are just angry and bitter.
Political bluster is last thing people cooped up at home want to hear. Normal transmission can return when the health scare period is over.
There is even a place for the crass jokes, like the one telling ministers and technocrats to use base language to get the point across — say stay at home, idiot, that’s all you have to do to keep other people and you alive rather than spout how social distancing is critical at a time clusters grow and tracing becomes difficult.
Which is why the PM in his address last night repeatedly asked people to stay at home. He could have jibed that he’s also limiting his own movement, or the National Sheraton Security Council holds half its meeting remote using Zoom.
The speech should be the cue for memes and videos around the theme. About the need to create social distancing and how.
And finally, a request.
Don’t overload people with facts. Getting all the good information necessary is crucial but to pepper people with similar information by the minute can’t be good. Yes, people need to know the day to day count of new patients, recoveries and unfortunately the deaths. And most definitely information from the health ministry and the PM’s office.
But constantly reminding people why they are spending day after day indoors starts to grate after a while.
So, here’s the trick, consider the information before clicking on forward to group. Is it useful or just more noise about Covid-19? Maybe not useful but damn funny? I call it the two-steps identification for what to pass to others. If they can’t think about it, at least they can laugh about it.
That split second probably determines how much a douchebag your friends think you are. In the days to come, even with the distraction of completing another full season of some life-changing series, you’ll be increasing your phone time. Therefore, be kind to your friends. And probably, they’d return the favour.
That’s all to say for now. We are not done with 48 hours yet. There are 12 more full days or 288 hours of me time. By the hour, we’ll be consuming more content. Laughing away many of those hours would not be the worst way or reason to be at home.
Laughing for a healthier Malaysia.
*This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
