It's Tuesday today.
Come tomorrow morning- at don't know what time- the unvaccinated in Singapore will be disallowed into all dining places- restaurants, cafes, coffee places, bubble tea places, diners, patisseries, coffee shops and hawker centers.
That's not all.
Come October 19th, the unvaccinated will not be permitted into shopping malls and large standalone stores either.
In recent days- no, actually- since Saturday when this rule was announced- there has been major discussion- on a nationwide level- over these rules.
Some are for them, some are against them, some think they're too heavy handed, others feel there are too many grey areas that no one knows which is which and which is not and how will it be implemented and so on.
I don't like to venture too deep into thought processes and opinions and solutions.
There is no perfect opinion the same way there is no perfect solution.
It's all very subjective.
Moreover, to talk about the unvaccinated we have to retreat all the way to who exactly the unvaccinated are.
I'm not sure- I might be wrong- there could be many subgroups out there, but in general (I think) there are just two main groups of Unvaccinated Persons.
One group is the Live Long.
The other is the Anti Vaxxer.
The Live Long group comprise those who don't wish to be vaccinated for medical related reasons.
Some of them have been certified.
Some of them have not.
There are those who are already taking medication for current conditions (even though not certified by a doctor)
And there are those who look at the genetic makeup aka biological parents, siblings and close family and make their own estimations.
Amongst the Live Long group are those who have an aversion (usually longstanding) to any form of drugs in their body, unless absolutely, absolutely necessary.
And then there are those who have gone through life (more or less) without much health conditions and so do not wish shake the immunity/body system.
It's not very hard to identify who these "Live Long" individuals are.
They're the ones who take a rational, subdued, almost regretful tone when speaking about the vaccine because even though they do recognize the need for medical/drug intervention, they regret that they cannot, and don't wish, to risk it for the sake of living longer.
With them they are very clear on where they stand- and more often than not- they take the road of caution and social responsibility.
You won't find them gathering in groups of four or five chatting boisterously.
You won't find them huddled around a table at a coffee shop or a hawker center or intermingling with others.
These are the ones whom you find sitting alone quietly at a table either having their meal or enjoying a cup of kopi.
These are the ones whom you find sitting alone at the public spaces for a couple of minutes watching the youth have a random game of basketball.
And these are the ones who mostly stay home during peak hours and occupy their time with the television and the radio.
Many of them stay alone.
Or they stay with another person whom they do not wish to burden.
Ask them about the vaccine and they will tell you- somewhat regrettably- that even though they know the virus has really thrown the world into chaos and they (should) go for the jab, they know they have (insert medical condition) or they know their siblings and late parents have had (insert medical condition) and although they know they're at higher risk of the virus, they've weighed their options and the risk of one outweighs the other.
That being said, there are also the "Live Longs" who throw all caution to the wind and really, really, really, REALLY live.
Their attitude leans towards the "bochup heck care que sera sera haiya whatever then whatever" kind.
These are the ones who go to the very same places as their more cautious counterparts do, but where those might be eating char siew rice alone by themselves, they'll (likely) not be eating *only* the char siew rice, but might also have a bit of wanton noodles, a bit of chicken rice, a bit of chap cai png, some beers, the cai tow kuay, and maybe even bee hoon from the zichar stall.
And since a person cant eat all of that by themselves, along comes the interaction, the chatter, the chuckles, the coffee shop talk, the 'tasks' at the coffee shop, and of course, the intermingling as well.
Let's just say there're a lot of heys and hellos with them.
(That's not to say that they're the Unvaccinated Persons- many of them have gotten the jab- that's just to say that there're the Unvaccinated ones who do go out and live life never mind the future)
I'm more sympathetic with this group when it comes to the new rules.
I'm, however, far less sympathetic with the other group.
The Anti-Vaxxers.
If it hadn't been reported that there're Telegram groups, I wouldn't have known that there were that large a community around.
It's quite hard to differentiate an Anti Vaxxer from a Live Long for the reason that Anti Vaxxers use the same (medical) reasons for refusing the vaccination.
But, given a recent news report, and given the one time where I 'couldn't stand it anymore' and interacted with one, may I just say that these Anti Vaxxers don't just stick to the medical reasons, or the "live long" reasons, but instead have many other (oft longwinded) explanations that somehow seem to have a similar sort of reaction and belief pattern?
For one thing, they're very religious.
Okay, I don't mean religious as how we describe the religious (believers) of the worlds' known faiths.
But I mean religious as in how they're very, very passionate about what it is they believe in.
Which is strange, because I don't even know what it is they believe in.
For one thing- and this I'm quite sure- it isn't the known faiths of the world- even though a good number of them claim to be followers and worshippers- and can quote (bits and pieces) of the faith they say they are in.
Come to think of it, those I've observed so far seem to like quoting (or misquoting) the Bible.
They call you (all of you) "sheeple". (Which is dumb as heck because as far as I know there're not that many Faiths that have a Shepherd and Sheep- I know only of one- and so if we're following the 'wrong' shepherd, then they must be following the 'right' one, but they don't behave like the 'right' one, they don't know who the 'right' one is either, and when confronted with this question, they can't answer except to go defensive and call you dumb sheep all over again)
They take verses out of context. (Including but not excluding the Sermon on the Mount)
They focus on the devil more than they focus on God and faith-based teaching or even on the verses in the Bible (Because somehow the vaccine is an act of the devil and the devil is smarter than us- but hey, WHERE then is the Lord?)
There're a lot of nasty words firing from their mouths, trust me.
It can't even be called toxic- because it isn't.
With toxic people there's usually an identifiable psychological issue that a skilled psychiatrist or psychologist can decipher its root. With these people, it's more like there's some sort of Anger that's concealed beneath the surface which then is spat out through words (it's often words) that contain a mix of condemnation, condescension, sarcasm, spite and goodness knows what else which (although make them sound intellectual- all the big words) do nothing but create fear, worry, panic, guilt and most importantly, are not kind.
The lack of kindness is not in any faith, I do say.
Which then makes me wonder- why out of all the religious texts in this world they would choose only the Bible to 'quote' from? Why not.. I don't know.. other texts from other faiths? Surely they too have been translated to English that these intellectual ones can understand?
Not just the Christianity faith that is pulled into this whole debate, there're also a lot of conspiracy theories floating about.
In the last couple of months alone I've heard that the Illuminati were responsible for the vaccines, I've heard that the Freemasons had something to do with it, and that all these vaccines were the same as what Josef Mengele did to the Jews during the Holocaust.
I can't speak for the Illuminati or the Freemasons but I do know that Israel vaccinated quite a good percentage of their people, including the Shoah survivors, and I doubt very much those survivors compared the vaccine to that of what they went through in Auschwitz-Birkenau.
There's quite a lot of deceit and guilt tripping going around the Anti Vaxxers.
Some of them claim that they should take a particular drug over the other, and maybe there are people who use it as a form of treatment but such advice is all fine and friendly until a particular person acts upon it, consuming said drug (which they paid money to same Anti Vaxxer for, no less) after having gotten a dose of a 'less dangerous, less sinful' vaccine.
It's quite obvious by now where my leanings lie.
Which brings me to the whole point of all this blather.
Maybe it's necessary to place in some measures.
Maybe it's necessary to be stricter. (Not like it wasn't done before)
But the Live Longs and the Anti Vaxxers aren't of the same category.
They don't hold the same beliefs, they don't say the same things, they don't behave the same way, they don't even dispense the same advice.
And so I find it a huge pity that because of one side (whom I'll daringly say are self centered) the other side has had their lives disrupted, their social interactions compromised, and their regular errands thrown into chaos.
You might disagree with me, but even though I might be able to understand why Unvaccinated Persons can't sit in coffee shops and hawker centers (over exuberance, late night coffee shop talk, masks off thingy), I'm afraid I can't see the same logic for denied entry into shopping malls.
Before we go into the 'haiya what's the big deal just don't shop lor', we have to put into perspective what shopping malls mean to the lives of Singaporeans. Unlike other countries where retail space and retail footfall are not major factors of the annual calculations, here on our little island, they are.
What that means to us the consumer and local dweller is that many- many- of our regular services, errands and lifestyles are built around the stores available only in the malls.
Mind, it isn't just the Pioneer Gen who are Unvaccinated. Younger ones might fall in the Live Long category too. Why does a Live Long Merdeka or Boomer have to be denied entry to, say, HOOGA, UNIQLO, MARKS & SPENCER, SCOOPZ, MUJI or even DAISO (because the Anti Vaxxer Merdeka or Boomer type is denied)?
There are stores in these malls that are just not present in the 'downstairs' shops. That's just how it is- for our island- and somehow- somehow- I find it a little hard to accept that the rules should be the same for all Unvaccinated Persons, especially since there are now no more empty seats in the malls, the SDAs are very onz in their job, they can't dine in at food court or restaurant, they can't snack behind one pillar- it's not permitted (I should know) and their masks are on almost all the time.
It's already hard enough for the Live Long Unvaccinated Persons to be denied the dine-in liveliness of our coffee shop/hawker atmosphere.
Let's not deny them entry into an aspect of what is a very fluid part of our economy.
Let's not shut them off from the world they did work hard for and contribute to.
And even if they be the anti-vaxxer kind, there's not so much impact on prevention as the fact that they now have 'another' reason to justify their Anger, and in any case, they can mingle and dispense the same sort of advice to their followers/friends/listeners elsewhere on this island, can't they?