Here in Singapore, where I have lived for many years, as my husband was stationed here by his company, Taiwan’s success in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing the nation to avoid a lockdown, has all along been a matter of pride among Taiwanese.
Over the past week, the severity of the situation in Taiwan has increased sharply, and Taiwanese — who, used to their safety, slowly relaxed their vigilance — have finally realized that the virus is among them. One really cannot relax for even a second.
Here are a few suggestions based on Singapore’s preventive measures as reference for the Taiwanese people and government.
First, it is better if measures are too strict; they must not be too relaxed. Ever since Singapore implemented circuit-breaker measures, anyone who leaves home has been required to wear a mask at all times, regardless of whether the pandemic situation has improved or not. Anyone who does not follow the regulation is fined S$300 (US$225).
In restaurants, only five people per table are allowed. Likewise, no more than five people are allowed at gatherings of family or friends, and no more than 50 people are allowed at indoor gatherings. Contravention of any of these rules results in a fine.
Second, enforced use of Singapore’s contact tracing app TraceTogether: According to regulations, anyone who enters an office building, shopping center, shop, market and so on, must use the app and register using their name or scan their identification card, or they would not be allowed to enter.
Some busier markets also direct people flows based on whether their identification numbers end with an odd or even digit. This means that the past whereabouts of anyone who has tested positive can be quickly determined and anyone they have been in contact with can be notified so that a virus swab test can be quickly administered.
Third, schools and businesses must raise their response readiness. When the circuit-breaker measures were first introduced last year, any business that was not considered a provider of essential services was only allowed to have a maximum of 15 percent of their staff on their premises, and all schools introduced home-based learning.
Step-by-step, the number of company employees allowed increased from 15 percent to 25 percent, 50 percent and 75 percent.
Over the past year or so, Singaporeans have gotten used to this approach. As the number of staff testing positive at Tan Tock Seng Hospital recently increased, the number of staff at the hospital has been reduced from 75 percent to 50 percent, without encountering any problems.
Singaporean companies are prepared to respond as required at any time.
Most Taiwanese businesses still have no experience in having large number of employees working from home, and while it hopefully will not become necessary, companies should prepare for such a scenario.
If they do not, Taiwan will fall behind other countries, where people have already gotten used to this new model of working.
Finally, community transmission and a raised alert level is not an entirely bad thing for Taiwan, because it can once again raise pandemic awareness.
Perhaps it can even change how the government and businesses deal with the pandemic, and make Taiwan even safer and more stable.
This would be a good change indeed.
Lin Hsin-yi is a Taiwanese expatriate in Singapore.
Translated by Perry Svensson
Two sets of economic data released last week by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) have drawn mixed reactions from the public: One on the nation’s economic performance in the first quarter of the year and the other on Taiwan’s household wealth distribution in 2021. GDP growth for the first quarter was faster than expected, at 6.51 percent year-on-year, an acceleration from the previous quarter’s 4.93 percent and higher than the agency’s February estimate of 5.92 percent. It was also the highest growth since the second quarter of 2021, when the economy expanded 8.07 percent, DGBAS data showed. The growth
In the intricate ballet of geopolitics, names signify more than mere identification: They embody history, culture and sovereignty. The recent decision by China to refer to Arunachal Pradesh as “Tsang Nan” or South Tibet, and to rename Tibet as “Xizang,” is a strategic move that extends beyond cartography into the realm of diplomatic signaling. This op-ed explores the implications of these actions and India’s potential response. Names are potent symbols in international relations, encapsulating the essence of a nation’s stance on territorial disputes. China’s choice to rename regions within Indian territory is not merely a linguistic exercise, but a symbolic assertion
More than seven months into the armed conflict in Gaza, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to take “immediate and effective measures” to protect Palestinians in Gaza from the risk of genocide following a case brought by South Africa regarding Israel’s breaches of the 1948 Genocide Convention. The international community, including Amnesty International, called for an immediate ceasefire by all parties to prevent further loss of civilian lives and to ensure access to life-saving aid. Several protests have been organized around the world, including at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and many other universities in the US.
Every day since Oct. 7 last year, the world has watched an unprecedented wave of violence rain down on Israel and the occupied Palestinian Territories — more than 200 days of constant suffering and death in Gaza with just a seven-day pause. Many of us in the American expatriate community in Taiwan have been watching this tragedy unfold in horror. We know we are implicated with every US-made “dumb” bomb dropped on a civilian target and by the diplomatic cover our government gives to the Israeli government, which has only gotten more extreme with such impunity. Meantime, multicultural coalitions of US