Editorial: No room for complacency

On Tuesday, the Singapore government announced that a 27-year-old man had been diagnosed as a probable SARS case. The news was shocking and worrying. Taiwan's various economic indicators are just beginning to climb back up. The people are waiting for the economy to recover. Is the SARS virus going to cause Asia's economic recovery to go up in smoke once again?

Three ago, then minister of economic affairs Lin Hsin-yi (林信義) said the public needed to be prepared for days of hardship. Just as he said, the nation's various economic indicators slumped and the unemployment rate went up. The stock market is an advance indicator of the economy. The TAIEX has climbed back from its rock-bottom 3,000-plus points after the Iraq war and the SARS epidemic. Now it is gathering steam to break through the 6,000-point level. Exports are also reaching record levels.

However, when officials from the Department of Health repeatedly warn the public that SARS may make a comeback this fall and when a case of SARS is discovered in Singapore, does it mean the predictions will come true?

The answer remains unclear, but hats off to the Singapore government for its quick response and transparency. The prevention of contagious diseases depends on cooperation between nations. Exchanging information and keeping the public informed are the first steps in cooperation. After all, no one can go it alone in the fight against epidemics, much less conceal them. China's cover-up of the SARS outbreak last November contributed to the spread of the virus abroad.

Health yesterday said there would be no major epidemic prevention measure in response to the SARS case in Singapore. It said, however, that people arriving from Singapore must monitor themselves for 10 days, including taking their temperatures twice a day. This response was probably meant to prevent a public panic.

But we also recall earlier warnings from the health department and the Mainland Affairs Council calling on people visiting China on business or vacation to avoid going to rural areas and to avoid eating meat. No one can be sure if the SARS epidemic still persists across the Taiwan Strait.

Singapore's SARS case is a warning for everyone. Before any new cases are discovered here, the government should make all-out efforts to prevent and contain a SARS comeback. The epidemic earlier this year was a lesson for which we had to pay a terrible price. The government cannot allow a repeat of such a tragedy.

Now the pace of economic recovery is what people care most about. The government and the health department should give the people the peace of mind to work on the economy. Don't let SARS kill the economy again. The public should also be on alert. A lack of public morals is the most lethal danger in epidemic prevention.

Singapore been quick and honest in its handling of SARS. We need to be on alert against possible spread of the disease again from China and Hong Kong. The Hong Kong government tried earlier this year to enact an anti-subversion law based on Article 23 of its Basic Law. This shows that Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa's (董建華) government is very much against freedom of speech and transparency. This shows that whatever the Tung government says in the future must be carefully checked and evaluated.