I think it’s finally sunk in. The reality. I probably had the longest denial period of anyone I know. From Wednesday, Singapore went into “circuit breaker” mode in the ongoing fight against Covid-19 which seems to have more twists and turns than “Kingdom”, the K-drama hit which, to me, combines Game of Thrones, Walking Dead and Parasite.
Not quite full lockdown – we can still go out for essentials, like take away food, buy groceries, go to parks for solo exercises – so we are still more fortunate than others (I keep reminding myself of that), when I speak to friends in New Delhi, South Africa and Dubai. There, they can’t even go out.
Essential services are still open. In Singapore that’s regarded as hawker centres, markets, supermarkets, health and social services, transport, government services, banking and financing services, public parks and other services that still support daily needs – hairdressers and barbers, opticians, plumbers, electricians, locksmiths. You really wouldn’t want to be accidentally locking yourself out at this time; better to lock yourself in.
I think it too is finally sinking in – the travel apocalypse this pandemic has wrought. We have talked about it, read about it but when you hear aviation veteran Christoph Mueller describe airlines melting like “snow in the Sahara” in the CAPA Masterclass webinar last night, you feel a twinge in your heart.
Glenn Fogel: ” … you can’t have a vacation on Zoom.”
And when you see Glenn Fogel, CEO of Booking Holdings, emerge slightly bruised but victorious from his own battle with the virus, you want to applaud him and he gets it that people are not thinking about travel right now. “I totally feel for everybody. Having been through this myself, I know this is nothing to laugh about. I’ve been so fortunate, so lucky to come out of it. I know there are a lot of other people that are not coming out quite as easily,” he said.
And you wonder if there is truth to the theory on whether survivors of the coronavirus can lead the fight to rescue the economy (as reported in this article in New Yorker). There is a caveat – “Don’t assume that we have these new supermen and superwomen whom we can send out onto the battlefield, because the bullets aren’t going to penetrate their armour. We don’t know if that’s going to be the case.”
Knowing Fogel, he will be fighting with all weapons at his disposal but the truth is ugly.
Booking Holdings, in its April 7 8-K form filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, reported that “newly-booked room night reservations – excluding the impact of cancellations – have been declining as the Covid-19 outbreak has spread, and in recent days have decreased by over 85% as compared to the comparable period in 2019. This downward trend could continue and newly-booked room night reservations may be cancelled.”
It added, “With the spread of Covid-19 to Europe, the United States and other regions, we expect the outbreak and its effects to continue to have a significant adverse impact on our business for the duration of the pandemic and during the subsequent economic recovery, which could be an extensive period of time.”
In Singapore, the truth about migrant workers and their living conditions is out, with their community seeing outbreaks and on April 5, two dormitories were gazetted as isolation areas – which means, according to this report, “nearly 20,000 workers across the two dormitories have been placed under quarantine, meaning they will have to stay in their rooms for 14 days.”
For the first time, people here and elsewhere are being made aware of this invisible community that makes life so visibly convenient for us in Singapore.
It’s interesting that when you strip down life to the barest minimum, what are really considered essentials. Last night, there was a full moon which shone as bright as I’ve ever seen it. The sound of construction has stopped outside my window – not essential services. I can hear the chirping of birds loud and clear – essential service. In New Delhi, I am told, the air is as clean as in Singapore and the Ganges River is 40-50% cleaner than it was – essential.
I believe during this period, when most of us are in lock down or in some form of isolation, we will ask these questions. What constitutes essential services in our lives?
Is it really necessary for me to have all this stuff?
Is it really necessary for me to take that business trip?
Is it really necessary for me to attend that event?
Is it really necessary for me to fly so much?
Is it really necessary to have all these hotels?
Fogel admits it could have an impact on corporate travel as the world has moved to virtual meetings but he is steadfast in his belief that “you can’t have a vacation on Zoom” so leisure travel will be back in time.
It will be up to us then to determine what kind of leisure travel we want.
• Featured image: Empty road in Singapore as it went into “circuit breaker” mode