OF course it is the result of my being locked up (I will no longer use the false term “lockdown”) for the past two months, but I am beginning to appreciate the Internet/Facebook censorship in Vietnam and other countries.
By law the Hanoi government does this to penalize “making and spreading anti-state information and materials.” But an unintended consequence is shielding the public from comments and opinions that border on the absurd. And before you say that all I need to do is not open FB in the morning, that is not going to happen. I might miss and therefore regret forever not reading a comment from some celebrity that has the answers to all the world’s problems.
Yesterday, some roads and highways were clogged with traffic and the uproar was almost a frenzy. Yes there was much traffic as people were trying to go to work for the first time in two months. I also would have been concerned if the traffic was a result of finally fulfilling dreams of seeing the landmarks of Makati, Manila, or that great tourist spot of Mandaluyong.
With public transportation still down, people were forced to use their automobiles if available. This also caused great concern for their health and safety, although I would think driving alone in your own car brings little risk of contracting the virus.
Crowding and ignoring “social staying away from” in the freshly opened malls is something that we all need to be watchful. However, posting videos to describe the horror of massive amounts of shoppers at SM supermarket should at least be accurate. If you are going to post those pictures, at least make sure that it does not show all the SM employees not wearing masks. That leads me to believe those were from a time long, long ago right before the “lock up” and not this past weekend.
I do appreciate that some people are going to be extremely cautious in the next weeks and months. I asked my wife if I too could go to the mall. Ada said to check back with her later; it might be my Christmas gift. But is it realistic to say that no one will enter your house or that you will stay under “lock up” until a cure or vaccine is found?
Last week my industry lost a good man with the death of Justino “JC” Calaycay who was VP-Head of Research at Philstocks Financial. I first knew him when he started in the business back in the 1990s. He died not from Covid-19 but of cardiac arrest way too early.
In April the former Secretary of Tourism Ramon Jimenez Jr. passed away also not from the virus. Some of us old guys were talking about how Secretary Jimenez spent the last two months of his life locked up, being protected from the virus that did not kill him. At a certain age, life is genuinely too short to be too careful. But if waiting however long it takes to resume some semblance of normal life is your thing, I suppose you should do it. I won’t.
We all knew that this next stage of the ECQ was coming. To think that it is going to be any easier—physically and psychologically—than the initial phase is a dream. The virus got out of hand globally and the Philippines was caught in its path. It is all wonderful to place blame but that will do nothing now. The goal is to survive and endure.
E-mail me at mangun@gmail.com. Visit my web site at www.mangunonmarkets.com. Follow me on Twitter @mangunonmarkets. PSE stock-market information and technical analysis tools provided by the COL Financial Group Inc.
Image credits: AP/Aaron Favila
