A City of Good Rises
A City of Good Rises
On the 7th of February, the Singapore government raised its Disease Outbreak Response System Condition (DORSCON) from yellow to orange. That same day, images of Singaporean shoppers emptying out shelves at NTUC FairPrice grocery stores across the country went viral.
On the 8th of February, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong issued a calm, balanced, and well-delivered national address on the novel coronavirus situation in Singapore.
In a telling moment, Prime Minister Lee raised the real test that Singaporeans will need to face is more of a psychological warfare vs a biological outbreak (bold emphasis mine):
“But the real test is to our social cohesion and psychological resilience. Fear and anxiety are natural human reactions. We all want to protect ourselves and our families, from what is still a new and unknown disease. But fear can do more harm than the virus itself. It can make us panic, or do things which make matters worse. Like circulating rumors online, hoarding facemasks or food, or blaming particular groups for the outbreak. Instead, we should take courage and see through this stressful time together. .. Let us stay united and resolute in this new coronavirus outbreak. Take sensible precautions, help one another, stay calm and carry on with our lives.”
Prime Minister Lee's address accurately predicted the behavior of assigning blame out of fear and anxiety. On the 12th of February, reports of healthcare workers on the front lines being publicly discriminated were raised in Singaporean media. In Australia, a Malaysian student in Perth was evicted from her rental property by her landlord on similar grounds of discrimination. Public condemnation of such discrimination by these minority groups became widespread. Our social fabric was frayed from a few stray strands, but it remained firm overall, held together by a shared common humanity, compassion for others, and a civic consciousness that we stand firm in, during the good times and bad.
On the 14th of February, Valentine's Day was celebrated as a "significant cultural, religious, and commercial celebration of romance and love in many regions of the world", according to Wikipedia. The spending numbers on Valentine's Day as a sentimental tradition is a significant one. In 2019, $20.7bn was spent in the US on gift giving. The antithesis of Valentine's Day, Alibaba's Singles' Day, raked in $38.4bn in the same year. Both days reflect the consumerist obsession we have around love in a romantic relationship, and the consumerist indulgence of self-love in the absence of such romantic love with another. Yet, despite our consumerist culture, acts of communal love shone through in the middle of the novel coronavirus outbreak, bringing about a new depth of compassion to the social cohesion and resilience amongst the people of Singapore during this difficult time.
In the midst of the outbreak, Valentine's Day took on a more expansive meaning beyond couples' celebrations with roses and a candlelit dinner. Community volunteers championed grassroots movements on social media such as #BraveHeartSG, #SingaporeTogether, and #SGUnited, rallying Singaporeans to send notes of appreciation, Valentines' bouquets and care packages to healthcare workers on the front lines working hard to save the lives of those affected by the COVID-19 virus.
To those of us who rallied to the hashtags, it was, in some small way, an act of resilience and a stand in solidarity to overcome our fear of the unknown. It was our way of embracing our shared humanity in fighting this disease, by mastering our primal fears for self-preservation, paving the way for a more fulfilling purpose of being through a sense of belonging in society.
Renowned psychologist Erich Fromm writes, "[A]ll... attempts for love are bound to fail, unless [one] tries most actively to develop [his/her] total personality, so as to achieve a productive orientation; that satisfaction in individual love cannot be attained without the capacity to love one’s neighbor, without true humility, courage, faith and discipline."
Other acts of love and resilience abound: there is an ongoing giving.sg fundraiser to help healthcare professionals get transport back home safely and swiftly for some much needed rest; and to provide aid for those in disadvantaged situations. In addition, Grab is piloting GrabCare, an on-demand transportation service for healthcare workers in Singapore from Tan Tock Seng Hospital and the National Centre for Infectious Diseases.
The American Psychological Association defines resilience as “the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or even significant sources of stress.” However, a research paper states resilience can look different across multiple life domains. For example, an individual who "adapts well to stress in a workplace or in an academic setting, may fail to adapt well in their personal life or in their relationships. ..
Driven by disruptive technology, we are now dealing with rapidly evolving social constructs that create increasingly digitized and nuanced complexities in our relationships. Yet, with such change, comes new opportunities to psychologically thrive and accelerate building a city of good in a more inclusive and connected world.
In order to develop effective interventions to enhance resilience, it is critical to understand that humans are embedded in families, families in organizations and communities, and communities in societies and cultures. Interventions targeted at any one of these levels will impact functioning at other levels. In Singapore's case, digital interventions, in addition to biological interventions, proved crucial to building resilience in the community, to get the message of calm and solidarity out to the communities en masse, achieve virality and instantaneous reach to hundreds and thousands of people. From viral images of panic sent through Whatsapp and other chatting apps, it took one digital intervention via Prime Minister Lee's address broadcasted via Youtube, LinkedIn, and Facebook to stem the tide of panic and restore calm. Rallying around a influential voice, communities engaged in kind with positive Instagram hashtags and LinkedIn updates of their own. The ease of digital connectivity meant anyone with a smart phone can tune in and make an impact by sharing their voice, for better or worse. Despite the challenges faced, the outpouring of resilience and love amongst the people of Singapore shows that the voice we value is one of trust in our leaders and a heart to do good for others.
This article was originally published at: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/city-good-rises-katherine-ng/