It’s not easy striking a balance between life and livelihood during this pandemic.
When the government announced that the Conditional Movement Control Order would be imposed in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Putrajaya, I shrugged thinking how I was going to break the news to my son.
He’ll be turning four soon and he only had one request i.e. to have a birthday party with his friends as the VIPs.
Junior had been diligently crossing the dates on the calendar for the past month in the lead-up to his birthday.
We broke the news to him on Monday.
This is how it went.
“Remember earlier this year when mummy and papa had to work from home? We couldn’t go out and you had to stay indoors because of Covid-19?
“The number of cases has gone up and we can’t go out again. This also means you can’t have your friends over for your birthday.”
My better half and I held our breath anticipating his reaction. We thought he would not be able to understand. But he took it like a man.
“Then can we have another party for my friends when the cases are no longer high?” he asked.
Phew!
I was glad he took the news of the cancellation of his birthday party like a (responsible) young man.
Deep down inside, however, I felt bad.
I felt so bad that little ones all over the country are being denied so many things, including playing on the field, swimming or having fun with their friends on their birthday.
The third wave in our country started about the same time as campaigning began for the Sabah elections.
There were 869 cases recorded yesterday and the death toll locally stands at 180.
But our children shouldn’t be the ones paying for our mistakes.
Our young ones should not be made to cry, hurt or even lose their lives because some are just adamant in doing things their way.
I hope I won’t have to disappoint my son this time again next year.
For many, all we want is a moment of normalcy in this period of abnormality.