During December of 2019, China informed the world that there had been a virus outbreak in Wuhan, China. This virus is called COVID-19 or more commonly known as the coronavirus. The coronavirus spreads quickly around the world infecting people every single chance it has. It is an airborne virus meaning that it spreads through the air from coughing and sneezing. Soon after almost all the countries in the world have been infected by COVID-19. Governments worked together to contain the spread of COVID-19, enforcing MCO (Movement Control Order) to stop the virus from spreading quicker. International flights to other countries also stopped, everyone did their part and stayed at home.
Once the government restricted movement outside our homes, my family still attended Mass. But instead of going to a church, we have our Mass through the Internet. The Archdiocese of Kuching started having live Masses, it is amazing how people could come together on the Internet and have Mass together. The live Mass is a very interesting thing for me. The Pope prayed for the world one day, my father joined the Pope in prayer at home. The doctors and nurses who are helping us during this pandemic are at high risk of getting infected as well, some of the doctors have already passed away trying to save people. We pray that the Lord would save any dying patient or victim of this coronavirus.
My family and I are getting a little closer every day compared to the past. Now all of my siblings are back from other states and countries. My second brother came back from Johor 2 weeks ago. He’s still here in Kuching even though he was to have gone back to Johor already. My mother had her birthday during the first two weeks of MCO, which was unfortunate. But at least everyone in the family did something for my mother: each of us kids took turns cooking something for her. To show off my amazing cooking skills, I cooked breakfast for my family that morning so that my mother wouldn’t have to do any work in the morning. My older brother made us some mouth-watering spaghetti for dinner, and my second brother made a salad. While my brothers were cooking the food, my dad also made some delicious pizza for us. We had a really fun night with a lot of amazing food.
The coronavirus hasn’t only made me realize how much I miss school, but how much I miss certain friends and teachers as well. I missed those times where I would go to the canteen with my friends and eat while talking to each other. I learnt that I didn’t appreciate those moments enough. But I have also learnt how to use my time wisely during the MCO. Instead of playing games all day long, I would study and do revision to gain more knowledge on a certain subject. Without the coronavirus I would not have realized these things.
Shamus Teo
