Count your blessings within confines of home

In Subang Jaya, police have set up roadblocks to ensure the public follows Movement Control Order (MCO). Subang Jaya OCPD Asst Comm Risikin Satiman is seen here at one of the roadblocks.

IT HAS been over a week since the movement control order (MCO) is enforced.

For those staying home, consider yourself lucky if boredom is your biggest challenge at the moment, because others like waste collection workers, delivery staff and essential service industry personnel have bigger concerns as they continue going out to work.

Frontliners such as healthcare staff, police and enforcement officers have had to clock in extra hours while putting their lives at risk.

It is not just the threat of Covid-19 that they must face. Long hours and lack of toilet breaks have led to exhaustion, stress and other health issues, even death as in the case of a police corporal who died of high blood pressure while on duty.

Some of us are working from home while juggling family life, making us among the lucky ones who still have an income while the loss of livelihood affects many in the low-income bracket.

Yes, I know well the feeling of suffocation from being confined to the home for a long period of time, having been bedridden for a month some years ago.

But in times like this, staying at home is necessary.

As predicted, the MCO has been extended to April 14, and we are not alone in this.

Many countries all over the world have implemented a lockdown or partial lockdown, including India, Australia and New Zealand.

In fact, the residents of Wuhan in China’s Hubei province have been on lockdown since Jan 23.

So if one month is what it takes to curb the spread of Covid-19, so be it.

For a person who is immunocompromised, being able to work from home comes as a blessing, and it

is indeed heartening to see many people taking the MCO in their stride as well.

If you have Internet connection at home, the world is at your fingertips. Now is probably the best time to learn a new skill through online tutorials, or simply connect with family and friends via video call.

While some have discovered new hobbies or hidden talents, others have been posting photos of their culinary adventures or —in my case — misadventures.

This is a chance to spend quality time with family if you live with them, although it can also be a challenge for big families living in close quarters.

Perhaps this is the right time to foster familial ties and learn to be more understanding of each other.

Instead of complaining about the MCO, let us try to make the best of it.

Spare a thought for the frontliners who are putting their lives at risk for the rest of the nation; do not add to their burden.

It is in times of crisis that the human will is tested, and the strong-willed will always find ways to overcome hardships.