Hot and Covid

Life in a Tropical Lockdown

Standing in the airport I looked at my ticket, wondering: ‘Should I really go home?’ What if I took a break and disappeared somewhere, spent a month learning a new language, reading books in a small cafe and drinking red wine after sunset. I could wear a Panama hat, a poncho, maybe grow a moustache.

This was late-February, when the world was clearly changing. I had just holidayed in Southern America and, like most of us after a break, didn’t feel that happy heading back to the office.

I was also quite worried about the scale of the work ahead. It was clear that most industries would be heavily disrupted. My publishing business organised events and conferences – what would we do instead?

Reinvention is a funny thing. It relies more than anything on a good team. Once I was mostly over my jetlag, I set it out straight. Our lives were going to be tough for a good while to come. We’d have to work harder than ever, some weekends too, and try to launch new ideas quickly. We’d do our best to stay ahead – because otherwise, we’d fall too far behind.

There’s been a huge shift in what we’ll put up with as viewers. Just a few months ago, I can’t possibly imagine watching a grainy Zoom video of folks asking “is my microphone muted?”, maybe even losing their train of thought. But these are now extremely common – is this a new normal, or a temporary cessation? I suspect we’ll be sick of them soon, and hunger for something more thorough.

We have tried to launch a few different interactive formats. Our findings seem, in retrospect, quite obvious. Shorter videos are more popular than longer ones and better received on social media. Nobody wants to watch something that takes itself too seriously, even when it’s for work. Viewers are more discerning with their time than ever before – so if they don’t like you in 3 seconds, they leave. And still nobody in Singapore seems to like podcasts – this is a video country for sure.

Managing over video is also a strange experience. There’s a temptation to want constant updates when you can’t see your colleagues, and sometimes don’t see the results of their work for days. But staring at these screens can be not only a waste of time, but quite draining also – distracting from the creative benefits of being at home.

Home is where the coffee machine is, the plants are, the books and pleasant thoughts that spark new ideas. We should make time to sit quietly, ideas percolating without the hum of office life or the demand to feel constantly productive.

It’s easy to get complacent, too. I stare at the closed swimming pool and grumble – why can’t we have some more freedoms? Must I be locked away for 23 hours a day? And then I see the news of those poor souls locked in their dormitory bedrooms, some of whom don’t appear to have mattresses. I don’t work nearly as hard as them – my body doesn’t ache as I lie exhausted, hoping for some cool air as nine nearby bodies heat my humid room.

I graduated into the last recession, and that was dreadful. My friends found the graduate schemes they wanted to join were disappearing; the careers they had planned when they started at university were more competitive than ever. How many lawyers does a struggling economy need? How many management consultants, when there is nothing to manage?

I worry more about this current student generation. They’ve had the freedom of young adulthood taken away by this disease. When it finally leaves, they face the looming spectre of climate change – threatening half their lives at least. Doesn’t the new blueness of our sky, the freshness of our air, really show the damage we were doing as a species?

It’s refreshing to see older workers welcomed back, from hospitals to government jobs. This is a new trend that won’t go away. We need them, and as folks live longer than ever, they should be able to stay productive and part of society. Likely this will further increase tensions with our young ‘jilted generation’. The ‘boomers’ who had everything still benefit from societal largesse.

Covid-19 reminds us, more than anything, of the compassion we’ll need in the coming months. We are all humans, and we all struggle, worry, and fear for health, family, friends, and life’s necessities. Scientific precision will help us finally eradicate this virus. But these other problems will require a vaguer disposition – a general positivity, energy, and a willingness to sacrifice some comforts for the sake of others.

As Albert Camus once wrote: “It could be said that once the faintest stirring of hope became possible, the dominion of plague was ended”. I’m glad I didn’t run away from the challenges of the present, and I have hope for what the future holds.

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