Disclaimer: In Real Life is a platform for everyday people to share their experiences and voices. All articles are personal stories and do not necessarily echo In Real Life’s sentiments.
It’s amazing to me how some other countries (like the US) have completely dropped masks because of vaccination. Over here in Malaysia, we have managed to rapidly vaccinate the population but we do still have strong mask mandates.
Despite that, it seems like I can’t go a day without seeing someone use a mask improperly (pulled down to cover only the mouth with the nose exposed) or even people just going around maskless.
As a person who is high risk due to multiple health issues, this is really worrying. It doesn’t matter if I die or not if I get COVID-19 – the probability of long haul COVID is still a scary risk to take, especially when you already struggle with other health concerns.
A combination of multiple issues makes me wonder how and why some people are going about their lives like the pandemic barely exists.
These are the things I’ve noticed happening around me:
1. Improper mask use
I see it in the building I live in, every single day. I always see this couple walking around the lift area without masks on, and I have to literally stop people from coming into the lift I’m in because they’re not wearing a mask.
Collage of young man demonstrating the improper way of using medical face masks.
And when I go out I see it everywhere. Walking through a shopping mall, I see countless people removing their masks for inane reasons (like to communicate on a call with speakerphone enabled – this is a double sin in my eyes, dah lah you’re not wearing a mask and you’re breathing all over strangers, but you also want to broadcast your conversation?), or you can see their masks lepak-ing on their chins.
2. Partying like pre-pandemic times
The most recent example is the “wild pool party” that was held in KL and got raided. But that was just the latest situation that I’d seen.
This is definitely an ongoing problem. Too many acquaintances had gone out partying for events on Halloween, taking photos in large groups of people – and yes, everyone was maskless. The issue is that this wasn’t just a one off thing. I see the same people doing these things.
I had recently checked out a bar hosting a live music event with my partner. We sat together in a corner, trying to avoid the people who were dancing around maskless. A stranger who was not wearing his mask came up to us to speak to us – he was doing this with multiple tables. My partner and I ended up leaving before more and more people came in.
source: The Star
We never went to any other events like that again. Too many people, too much recklessness.
3. No social distancing
For a lot of people who have strong personal boundaries, the social distancing measures come as a relief. Unfortunately, they’re not followed effectively.
Some places, like your neighbourhood kedai runcit, are quite small and social distancing is hard to follow in these locations. But in other places that have larger spaces, you do still see people that find it okay to stand way too close to you.
Even worse, there are some people who don’t follow the guidelines while waiting in a line and resent it when you point out that they’re standing too close to you.
4. Being fully vaccinated
And yet some people seem to have dropped their guard all because of the high rates of vaccination. I had this conversation with a friend who wanted to meet up in a large group:
Me: I’m quite scared of getting the virus to be honest.
Him: What? Why? Takkan you not vaccinated?
I mean, I am fully vaccinated, but that doesn’t stop me from feeling the fear. Neither does it stop me from getting infected. I also received Sinovac, which becomes less effective over time.
This interaction kinda sums up the mentality of some Malaysians who do believe that the currently available vaccines are enough to stop the pandemic. The thing is, even mild infections are quite hard on the immune system and can still result in long term post COVID-19 effects. And the virus has kept on mutating despite vaccination, keeping the world from being COVID free.
Just because we live with COVID doesn’t mean we actually have to live with being infected with the virus.
5. Wealth = less carefulness
I’ve found that those who are richer tend to be more complacent about being infected with COVID-19. I thought it was just a theory I’d come up with in my head but a good friend linked me this study that found that yes, your socioeconomic status is connected to your risk of being infected and dying from the virus.
Recently, my partner called up clinics to get us booster shots. One clinic allowed walk-ins to get the shot – but we had to pay RM150 for it. Meanwhile, another clinic was free as long as you didn’t mind being placed on a waiting list. This means that we have to wait for someone to make a last minute cancellation, after which the clinic will call us and we would have to drop everything to make the suddenly free time slot.
We simply can’t afford the RM300 without help. And so we must wait.
Unfortunately, a lot of these issues stem from ignorance.
Many places offer you plastic gloves but they’re really of little use, and can even cause cross contamination and increase the spread of germs. This is just an example of an ineffective measure that doesn’t take into account what scientists have discovered about the virus and its transmission.
The general public has been educated very little about these things. Instead, we are bombarded with messages from MKN telling us to follow SOPs. We don’t know why we have to follow the implemented restrictions – all we know is that we have to, or risk getting fined.
The most important thing is good ventilation.
The COVID-19 virus is airborne. This means it travels through air droplets that are breathed out by a COVID-19 positive person. And that is why you need to wear a mask. It restricts droplets from spreading to uninfected people. The purpose of the mask is to curb transmission from the wearer in the event that they’re infected, and not to prevent the wearer from being infected.
Ventilation that encourages air movement is incredibly important in making public spaces safe for everyone. This is why it’s recommended that people meet in outdoor places – it reduces the risk of transmission greatly because of how even a light wind can blow infected air droplets away. Indoor spaces don’t have the same advantage.
With more variants being discovered and the pandemic being drawn out much longer than expected because of vaccine access inequality and countries messing up their COVID-19 response, it’s only right that we try our best to protect ourselves and each other.
Yes, we’re all tired of the pandemic. But we don’t have a choice. We have to keep looking after our communities to ensure the survival of as many people as possible.
For more stories like this, read: Here’s What It’s Really Like Volunteering at a Malaysian PPV Center, 5 Malaysians Share The Little Joys They Found Amid A Pandemic, and Exploited Malaysian Doctors Are Going On Strike, And Here’s Why.
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