Why Westerners are doomed to suffer, while Asia recovers
The West: only themselves to blame
By Dr Stephen Whitehead (views are author’s own)
As an expat Brit, living in South East Asia for 13 years, I’ve been ashamed and embarrassed at the stupidity of my fellow-citizens. To see photos and videos of masses of Brits taking last weekend as an opportunity to visit the seaside and take leisurely walks in parks just staggers me.
And as for the London Underground, yes why not carry on as normal - after all, isn’t that the British way? Squeezed together, shoulder to shoulder, and barely a face mask to be seen among the lot of them.
Maybe I’ve lived in Asia too long? Maybe I’ve gotten too used to the Asian collectivist mentality, their willingness to follow the rules? Perhaps I’d forgotten just how individualistic and bloody-minded the British, and the Americans for that matter, can be?
Well, if I had forgotten I’ve now been rudely awakened again.
And as for the UK government, well finally from bumbling around to action — possibly. But alas, too late and too soft a reaction to save many lives.
This is a short article. I’m not going to burden you with the facts and data of Covid-19. You can get that most anywhere. Instead, I want to direct you to this article in the Taiwan News:
While Trump goes into defensive denial and Johnson deludes himself that this is his ‘Churchillian moment’, their respective peoples are going to have the opportunity to reflect on why they are in this dire situation.
And the reason is simply this:
you are still not taking this seriously enough.
You have not yet woken up to what is in your midst. And neither have the people you’ve elected to govern and lead you.
Unlike the Taiwanese government which has no compunction in issuing a £28,000 fine for breaking a 14-day quarantine.
I’ll leave you with this observation from my 27-year-old son who lives in Taipei:
“One Covid-19 cough on the Taiwan MRT and it has to get through two face masks. One cough on the London Underground and 15 people are infected.”
Stay safe. Stay inside.
By Dr Stephen Whitehead (views are author’s own)
For more like this see the: Educational Digest International
