Singapore – We have gone through Sadtember and now we’re in Locktober and not really looking forward to NOvember, says Makansutra founder K F Seetoh, who bemoans how he believes 4G leaders are putting the interests of big business above those of small business.
Mr Seetoh wants the 4G leaders to “rule with courage and not lom-chiam-pas (similar to scissors-paper-stone). He said this in the context of the extreme difficulty facing those who run small businesses, such as hawkers, for whom he has become something of a national spokesman.
In a Facebook post on Wednesday (Oct 27), he wrote: “That multi-task forced us to call the last few months and the ones ahead as..Oh Gosh, Sadtember, Locktober, NOvember and hopefully not a Dilemma December”.
He said: “I am numb just counting and seeing the amount of little business folks, especially the small, micro and nano business people like the hawkers and non-chain corner convenience shops go belly up” with few being concerned or even noticing.
“There may not be much of a local industry to save if the two-good-to-be-true-rule continues”, Mr Seetoh added. He was punning on the current dining-in restriction to two people
He called out the exceptions made for the Bloomberg New Economy Forum participants who will be allowed to dine in groups of five, despite Singapore’s nation-wide stop-at-two rule for dining at any sort of food and beverage establishment.
The forum, scheduled to be held from Nov 16-19 at the Capella Singapore hotel, is expected to draw more than 300 participants from 51 countries, including current and former heads of states and global chief executives.
Making an exception for these people shows, he said, that “it’s business that comes first, not the people.”
He also commented that will many asked to self-isolate, “does everyone have the discipline or even n extra room to lock themselves in…esp if they “feel ok leh! and no real checks, and they remain infectious”.
Asking what happened to temporary nursing facilities such as turning Changi Expo into such places and isolation policies, Mr Seetoh noted that many family members of Covid-19 positive cases have fallen ill as well. Addressing the government, he said: “I say, rule with courage, not a lomjiampass, today-fried- tomorrow-white chicken rice approach. Save the people, yr voters and their employers.” /TISG