14 LUMEN | COVID-19 PANDEMIC - TRANSFORMING THE WAY WE WORK , STUDY , PLAY AND LIVE
Love in
Time Pandemic of
While some of us sit bemoaning our curtailed trips to the mall , a group of students are coping with being away from family at this unprecedented and difficult time of the pandemic . Lumen hears from some of our students and staff :
Cao Pei Yuan , ML401 , China
“ I remember it was the first few weeks of January 2020 .
All of a sudden , talk about a strange new virus discovered in China began buzzing in my ears . I thought nothing of it at first . Every night , I would fall asleep smiling , knowing that my parents would soon be able to come to Singapore and celebrate CNY with me . However , then , as if overnight , everything changed . It seemed the virus had swung its hand and had gripped nearly every part of the country . ‘ Coronavirus ’ headlined every newscast . Every day , reports of heightening cases and the contagion curve going up with a crazy gradient in China would bombard my feed . I started to worry about my family . They were hundreds of miles away from me , and being in the most dangerous region in Hefei city , Anhui , they could have gotten infected any moment . I guess this has been the most challenging thing about being away from home at this time of a pandemic . COVID-19 was a faceless evil that had spread swiftly and quietly . I needed to know how my family was . News , Media - even classmates . These were daily reminders of the dire situation I found my home city to be in ; my family was living in the battleground with COVID-19 right at their doorstep . Yet , I was helpless . I could not serve as comfort or solace to my family during their troubles and griefs . Their anxieties and sorrows were battled alone - without me . Sleeplessness came to me . The feeling of worry was about to swallow me whole .
Luckily , I could still have video calls with my family every day to make sure that everyone was safe and sound . I vividly remember the moment the first community case was found in the estate my parents lived in . Anxiety crept up from the pit of my stomach . I stared at the news on my phone ’ s screen , I felt the weight of the whole world crashing down on me . Death and despair ravaged the news and it scared me . I was frightened . What would I do if my own family was infected ? I knew I should - I had to . I had to call them but my thumb quivered in fear above the call button ; it shivered at the thought of bad news . “ Enough bad news for this year please ,” I said to myself . Luckily , none of my family members tested positive for the virus . I pressed a palm to the heart . With the head bowing briefly , I finally let out a huge breath of relief .
I used to be happy about having gone far enough away from my mom so that she couldn ’ t nag me about annoying little things like taking out the trash . I also used to hate calling home frequently . But since then , nothing has made me spring from my bed faster than the WeChat ringtone .
A few months later , Singapore entered the ‘ circuit breaker ’ period . Though I could not meet my parents physically , I could still gain moral support from my family every time we had video calls . During these precious calls , there are my mom ’ s reminders , my dad ’ s jokes and the fresh stuff my little sister wants to share with me … They have been my pillar of support in my hour of darkness . Without them , I would never have been able to continue soaring through this difficult part of the flight of my life . I do understand that school could not do much about this , but I am grateful that the school staff and teachers still went ahead with whatever they could do to help and support us : the nice snacks , the supportive talk . I really appreciated them and what they have done . 2020 has admittedly been a year of struggle , darkness and frustration , but with everyone ’ s encouragement and support , I have made it through . Now , in 2021 , the overcast sky of tumultuous clouds has turned much brighter , and the sun finally casts its light all over the land again . Though we are facing a rebounce in COVID-19 cases , and staying home feels isolating , I know I am never alone whenever I see my family ’ s faces on my screen .”
Huang Yixuan , ML401 , China
“ I ’ m grateful that SJI has provided me with an inclusive environment while being alone and away from home . In SJI , to become an excellent community leader and communicator are some of the goals for us as a student . These traits should be our lifelong goals as well . It is always powerful to learn how to love , care and look out for each other . In many ways , SJI has held activities to provide opportunities for our interpersonal and communication skills development . However , due to the current pandemic and social distancing measures , many social and bonding activities have been scaled back or are canceled .