Of Some Concern

Big headline in today's paper - BARRED. Thought for a moment it referred to banning anyone from China coming into Malaysia, but then realised from the small print it was only concerned with visitors from Hubei Province. So not quite the over-reaction to the spread of the coronavirus I vaguely assumed, but such a reaction isn't beyond the bounds of possibility given how understandably spooked folks in the region are about the current emergency. The virus was the main subject of the two conversations I had with residents of KL in our time there, both of whom had connections with international schools in the area with students from the PRC, which helps explain their concerns to some degree.

Back in our usual Far Place, whence we'll be wending our way on the morrow, the authorities are responding with typical alacrity and thoroughness to the situation as it stands, which is typically reassuring. There's a lot to be said for sound organisation in times of uncertainty. Let's hope the uncertainty turns out to be not so uncertain, eh?