Uncertainties

One of the reasons I was able to remain fairly sanguine in the course of yesterday's travails was the obvious fact that I could have some reasonable certainty as to what the future might hold in contrast to the very obvious uncertainties fuelling the behaviour of the majority of those crossing over to Singapore from Malaysia. It was Noi who figured out what all the motorcyclists and bus passengers laden with bags and various accoutrements were up to. They'd crossed back to Malaysia in the afternoon to grab enough belongings to survive a couple of weeks in Singapore, hoping to outlast the period of lockdown and keep earning some money. I suspect most had experienced a very fraught day just to secure a bit of stability until the end of the month, after which nothing was predictable. We were enjoying the relative comfort of a car (with excellent music ready on tap!) whilst so many others must have felt weary and vulnerable - and faced getting up in the early morning for yet another tough day at work.

Today I was reading some of the interviews with various of the workers involved who'd been caught up in it all. Struck by their straightforward ordinariness and the capacity of so-called ordinary people to deal with the demands of the extraordinary.