HOPE

In February this year, I wrote a short article about the new coronavirus. I could not have imagined the extent of the societal impact it would have globally. Today, I cannot find the appropriate words to describe the far-reaching consequences the pandemic is still having and will have on us in the coming months and years.

Interestingly, one of the books I read towards the end of 2019, before the pandemic – RED TEAMING – highlighted how business leaders should be critical in their planning and consciously plan for the very worst-case scenarios. These are military principles applicable to corporate business and I found them quite insightful. Well, soon COVID-19 hit and it hit hard! I appreciated better what the book alluded to with respect to the military anticipating, preparing and planning for war. I do not know whether we could have predicted such a serious health crisis affecting every aspect of our lives. More importantly, I do not know if we could have mitigated the damaging impact of the virus even if we had predicted such a crisis could befall us. What was obvious though was, undoubtedly, our unpreparedness in the face of this pandemic. The response in tackling the pandemic has been unprecedented with nations deploying huge resources to stop the pandemic. One can liken the response to the pandemic by nations to a declaration of war – war against a common unseen enemy. Government expenditure in dealing with the crisis has been through the roof and the rapidity in obtaining not only one but a few vaccines has amazed all, generating mixed reactions as far as the efficacy of the vaccines is concerned. Drastic times call for drastic measures and it is not surprising to see the speed with which the vaccines were developed. As for whether the time for developing the vaccines was shorter than it usually should be, I leave that debate to the experts in the field.

Today, the global economy is reeling. World leaders are grappling with crucial decisions whilst business owners adapt daily to the crisis. It is increasingly difficult to make a good forecast beyond a month and this is affecting every part of our livelihoods.

In 2020, more than a century after the deadly Spanish flu, with all our technological advancement in various fields including medicine, we have lost over 1.7 million people across the globe in ten months to COVID-19 – my prayers go out to the bereaved families and the many more families suffering immensely from the trauma the virus is causing. We should perhaps be humble and admit that though we have made progress in modern medicine with telemedicine, robotic surgery, bio-printing (artificial 3-D organ printing) and the likes, we still have a long way to go in fighting viruses. I hope we can bring the situation under control soon.

Will we ever live like we did before the pandemic? I am convinced we will. Life will get back to how it was although we shall be washing our hands more often, which is a good thing.

In the midst of all these, I imagine the unenviable tasks of leaders in reassuring the 'troops' in this battle! How do you address a desolate nation that is seeing increasing COVID-19 cases and deaths despite various measures being taken? How do you tell the workforce or your employees about inevitable layoffs required to keep business afloat and how do you re-energize the remaining workforce who have lost motivation and perspective? Where do you find the energy as a decision maker to weather the storm? What do you tell a colleague who has been so battered by the effects of pandemic to a point that life seems to have lost its essence to him or her?

I believe we humans are remarkably more resilient than we think. I believe we have a tremendous ability to adapt to all situations. We might not see an end in sight yet, but I believe there is every reason to keep fighting on. Indeed, things will eventually get back to normal. Whilst we wait for things to get back to normal, there still are countless opportunities out there waiting for us to capitalize on and this can only happen once we have life and are in good health. Life is worth living for and despite the struggles and the uncertainties, we should fight to have it and preserve it. Let us show support to the most affected and continue to hope that we shall together overcome COVID-19.

This too shall pass. The battle is the Lord’s!

Merry Christmas and a Prosperous 2021!