In my mask I still put my trust

SO, it’s no joke, we are opening our borders on April 1. It means we are entering the transition to an endemic state and we hope to see the return of tourists and their much-needed spending power to boost the economy.

Not only that, businesses’ operating hours will be restored to what’s stipulated in their licences, employers can call their staff back to the workplace, and the 50% capacity rule for large gatherings will end.

What else? No more physical distancing in places of worship and we will also be exempted from clocking in with the MySejahtera app in open, uncrowded areas.

What will still be enforced is the wearing of masks in public places. And I am very happy with that.

It’s actually quite interesting how I have become attached to my mask. Then again, I have long been partial to this face covering, as I shared in my Sept 25, 2019 column. Looking back, I was quite prescient because I had headlined the article, “Face mask, a new essential accessory” (online at bit.ly/star_auntymask). Just six months later, I was proven right.

But back then, I was talking about the need for masks to keep us from breathing in air polluted by chemicals – namely carbon monoxide, ozone, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide – and particulate matter that can cause eye and throat irritation and even cancer and other serious health problems which governments monitor for the air pollution indexes (APIs).

However, most Malaysians were not aware that the now ubiquitous, loose-fitting surgical mask could only trap microbes and bodily fluids, not air pollutants.

I smugly said what we needed were masks made from materials that can filter the air we breathe and are airtight around the nose and mouth.

Well, as it turned out, the surgical mask was the first line of defence to trap that nasty virus called SARS-CoV-2 that hit us in 2020.

And as the coronavirus became world enemy No.1, we went on the hunt for masks that would give us better protection with a tighter fit.

When the Delta variant struck, we were advised to double mask and add a face shield.

We practical, sensible Asians certainly adapted to the mask much better than our Caucasian counterparts; we didn’t see the sense in fighting government mask mandates in the name of freedom and democracy like people in Europe and the United States.

Anti-maskers are now rejoicing as across the United States, mask mandates are being abolished and in England, face coverings are no longer required by law.

Indeed, friends who recently returned from the United Kingdom to attend their children’s graduation shared how they stood out as the only ones still wearing their masks on the streets of London.

Yay, such sensible people we are!

But there are sensible white people too. I subscribe to what Samantha Vincenty wrote in an opinion piece on oprahdaily.com in May last year. That was when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) relaxed the rule on mask-wearing for vaccinated Americans.

Vincenty said that while she respected “the CDC’s advice, historically inconsistent as it may be”, for her, “this pandemic was a deep reminder that I can only control my own behaviour. Will I wear a mask in a park with my friends from now on? Probably not. In a crowded street festival? Most likely. While grocery shopping? You betcha.”

You betcha I am going to keep a mask in my bag as a standard accessory, much the same way I always have tissue packets and my reading glasses with me.

I no longer use my face shield but I still believe in the usefulness and protection of the mask.

Like Vincenty, I didn’t get sick the last two years, thanks to the mask. Yes, I stayed home a lot but I did that even before the pandemic and I would still have bouts of catching colds and even the flu that would leave me with a hacking cough for months.

Similarly, if I think I am feeling a bit under the weather, I like to keep whatever germs I have under cover and from spreading to others, the way the Japanese and South Koreans do when they are unwell.

As I noted in my 2019 column, I learned a lot about different types of masks from South Koreans who take their masks seriously. Way before Covid-19, they were wearing them a lot because of the unhealthy levels of fine and yellow dust that affect most of the country, especially during spring and winter.

Sensible US experts like Dr Mark Ghaly, California’s health and human services secretary, see the mask as “a valuable tool” while Alameda County health officer Dr Nicholas Moss is of the view “Masking will continue to be an important layer of protection as we move forward and learn to live with Covid-19. You should feel comfortable continuing to wear your mask when you need an additional layer of safety, and be confident that you are making the safest choice for yourself and your loved ones.”

In our obsession with Covid-19, we forgot or overlooked the danger of dirty air. Again, that’s because we were mostly indoors at home. Also, we somehow didn’t have our annual haze the last two years.

But that will change as we start going outdoors more. Perhaps the burning will resume in Indonesia in the latter half of the year and once again we will be breathing in dusty, acrid air. That would be a good reason to don the mask which all of us have stocked up on.

So in the future, when mandatory masking for Covid-19 is no more, I do believe donning that piece of fabric to keep us safe from germs and/or pollutants will be as natural as breathing for Malaysians (and Singaporeans for that matter).

When we ease into “normalcy”, what I do hope will continue is the conscious effort to maintain cleanliness and good hygiene.

When the SOPs of physical distancing, hand-washing and sanitising were introduced, it was such a pleasure to find public toilets so much cleaner, with plenty of soap and sanitisers provided.

And supermarkets were religiously wiping and spray sanitising their previously filthy trolleys. Already we can see the vigilance is slipping and the loos are getting grubby again.

Looking long term, if we want to beat Covid-19 and reduce the chances of more infectious respiratory diseases, I think the government should consider passing legislation for owners of public places like malls, galleries, museums and restaurants to install air scrubbers and ionisers to their ventilation and air-con systems.

After all, it is an established fact that viruses spread by clinging onto airborne particulates, so keeping the air clean is an effective way to reduce the spread of viruses indoors.

The government can add a carrot to this stick by subsidising such devices and providing tax incentives to business owners to get them.

But sadly, I won’t hold my breath for this to happen anytime soon; not when our politicians seem to be more interested in dirty politics than in dirty air.

The views expressed here are entirely the writer’s own.