CNN Compared S’pore & Hong Kong; Said S’pore’s COVID-19 ‘Slip-Up’ is a Lesson for the World

I know what you’re thinking right now.

Singaporeans be like: Who’s the writer?

But before you charge towards where James is living at (virtually, of course), give his article a good read.

It actually makes sense.

The Greater You Are, The Harder You Fall

Pre-Circuit Breaker Singapore was named as the “gold standard” when it comes to combating Covid-19.

Even without imposing movement restriction orders (CB), we seemed to be able to suppress Covid-19 cases on our tiny island.

But from 17 Mar 2020, Singapore’s Covid-19 cases exploded.

Right now, we are standing at 6,588 cases, even higher than Indonesia who used have the highest number of cases in Southeast Asia.

What Went Wrong?

According to CNN, it’s because Singapore ‘relaxed too soon’.

Singapore has underestimated the speed of infections in a city that isn’t locked down, the writer says, and overlooked our foreign worker community.

Hong Kong, a similar-sized country, was brought in to compare against Singapore in a case study:

In Singapore, CB started on 7 Apr while public schools in Hong Kong were closed since Mid-February and people are encouraged to WFH.

As of the time of writing, Hong Kong has 1,026 confirmed Covid-19 cases, according to a dashboard set up by the HK government.

It was added that both Hong Kong and Singapore came “close” to a second major outbreak.

And Hong Kong managed to bounce back quicker because “the city never relaxed”. Meanwhile, Singapore saw its Covid-19 cases climbing up quickly.

The Way S’pore Treats Migrant Workers Are “Third World”

Now, before you go

Know that most of the cases come from foreign worker dormitories and community transmission is still stable.

Previously, it was also said that non-gazetted dormitories in Singapore are placed under similar measures, effectively isolating them in everything but name.

This was done to separate the foreign worker community from the larger community in Singapore.

Dr Tommy Koh, a Singapore lawyer and former diplomat said recently that the way we treat our migrant workers isn’t first-world, but third-world.

He highlighted how migrant workers are transported in “flatbed trucks with no seats”, were squeezed into a room with 11 other people, and that the dormitories they lived in are not clean or sanitary.

In short, the dormitories are like “time bombs” waiting to explode.

Thankfully, social media exists and not all Singaporeans think that workers should be treated in a third-world manner.

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When pictures of S11 @ Punggol went viral online, people in Singapore got mad and the Ministry of Manpower had to release a statement saying they’ll rectify their living conditions fast.

Don’t Take CNN’s Article Personally

Most Singaporeans, if they see CNN’s article, would probably be mad and embarrassed.

I’ll say, don’t take it personally.

After all, if you read the article, you’ll come to realise quickly that the article might not be angled at Singapore or Hong Kong at all.

It seems to be directed at other countries *coughUSAcough* who recently announced that they’re looking to reopen parts of their country by 1 May 2020.

But they’ve got one thing right, though.

While things are looking better (in terms of community transmission), we can’t afford to relax too early.

“As Singapore’s experience shows, relaxing too soon can backfire disastrously.”