MCO Musing

With the MCO in its 4th week and final week (hopefully but not likely), both businesses and individuals are feeling the strain of the lack of activities and revenue and not forgetting the need to keep our financial obligations.

It is a time we are all called to examine our priorities in life.

In reality, many of us as individuals and also as business owners would have kept some financial reserves during the good times to be used during crisis and this is a time we are asked to share whatever we have with our employees and also if possible to reach out to the poor and less fortunate. After all, our employees are our most valuable assets and human life is also important to us. If we help the poor and less fortunate, God will surely bless us in return abundantly, not necessarily in cash but in other ways which we can never understand.

In times like this, most of our personal expenses would have also dropped, with the exception of buying essential items like food and medication, amongst others. Most of us would have hardly visited a petrol station during the MCO (despite the sharp drop in price) and would also not have eaten out. Nobody is discussing where our next holiday destination will be and money has almost become worthless even if you have tons of it. But money remains a great concern, especially for those less fortunate.

However, should this crisis prolong, we will inevitably have to sit down with all our family members, business partners, employees, landlord, financiers, investors, stakeholders, etc, as the case may be to frankly discuss the options forward, how to be fair to one another and attempt to find an amicable but painful solution in times of crisis. In any discussion, the words “FAIRNESS” and “EMPATHY” should always be in our minds.

We must rise beyond selfishness and look at the bigger picture, drawing inspiration from the front-liners, the NGOs, etc who had put their lives in danger in their efforts to reach out and help the needy.

On both personal and business fronts, we must also ponder on how to not only survive but to thrive in the so called “New-Normal” landscape and environment. Nothing will be the same anymore and we must stay nimble, flexible and adaptable to the new post-crisis era.

In the meantime, #stayhome #stayhealthy and #staysafe

Written by Stephen Chin.