WE all have a pretty good idea of what a zombie apocalypse is, largely due to the number and popularity of movies and television shows about zombies since George Romero released the first modern zombie movie “The Night of the Living Dead” in 1968.
Although there could be some slight variations, a zombie apocalypse theme would remain consistent. Zombies would infect the unsuspecting general population leading to chaos and the collapse of civilization, bringing fear and terror to the uninfected. The latter would find ways to hide, isolate and protect themselves from the growing hoard of zombies, or the infected.
Many people will be able to see the similarity between a zombie apocalypse and our current pandemic.
First of all, no one knows for sure where it came from. Second, you can easily get infected from people that have it. Third, there is no sure way you can prevent infection since you could still get Covid even if you are vaccinated. Fourth, the general population is in a heightened state of alert going to extreme measures of trying to control the problem. Fifth, the situation has led to the normal way of life as we know it, affecting our social lives, health protocols, travel, government and the economy.
I’m sure there are many other similarities; but you get the idea.
However, in my opinion, the pandemic we are facing is much worse than a zombie apocalypse. Why would this be so?
At least, in the latter, you could easily identify who a zombie is and be able to do something about it. So unlike in this pandemic when there are often no visible signs and, in asymptomatic cases, even those who have it don’t even know they are infected. This lack of visibility makes data unreliable because it can be manipulated and allows charlatans to mislead many people.
I relate this to organizations, both public and private, who are transparent and those who are not. Transparency makes a bad situation like a zombie apocalypse easier to control and deal with, whereas having no transparency like this pandemic makes it so much more difficult to resolve.
Transparency works for everyone. People running the organization can see the real situation and be able to act accordingly. It is also more difficult to become a victim of fraud if there is only one set of books.
Corruption and other bad practices such as bribes, kickbacks and theft would typically not happen in transparent public or private organizations.
The government will get its fair share of taxes and be able to maximize the utilization of its resources, the investing public is protected by getting accurate information, procurement will follow the correct specifications and prices leading to better quality products and services for the general public and businesses becomes more efficient and reliable.
Does transparency really benefit everyone? Of course it does! All we need to do is look at the most transparent countries and see the direct correlation with the broad based prosperity of its citizens.
What is worse than a zombie apocalypse? Any organization, public or private, that does not have transparency!
Former Finex President George Chua is president and CEO of Bayan Automotive Industries Corp. The views and comments of Mr. Chua are his own and not of the newspaper or Finex. Comments may be sent to georgechua@igsat.asia.