Singapore — Dodge the safe-distancing ambassadors by holding your Deepavali party on the top deck of a double-decker bus, joked a netizen. Bad idea, said Ho Ching, calling this “solution” to thwart Covid-19 socialising curbs “irresponsible”.
Madam Ho was responding to a Facebook message gone viral by netizen Marco Pillai who that people celebrating Deepavali could safely should do so on buses to avoid safe-distancing ambassadors, Ho Ching called the entire ‘solution’ “irresponsible”.
In a Facebook post, Marco Pillai said that friends had complained to him about not not being able visit relatives or celebrate Deepavali as a family because the current curbs limit visits to two persons a day, and socialising outside to just two persons.
“Who said you can’t celebrate as a family”, he said. This was his suggestion: “Go to a Interchange [,] line up as a family of 55 people[,] go up the double decker [bus and] occupy all the seats”. Then the family can then exchange cookies, eat biryani and have their fill of sweet drinks.
“It will be a nice 2 hour drive with family sitting together and chitchating (sic). No ambassadors will bother your life”, he wrote.
His Facebook post was shared on WhatsApp messenger and Facebook, and was spotted by Madam Ho, the wife of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, and a frequent social media user.
In her Facebook post, she wrote: “This clever clever “solution” follows rules, but is dodging the spirit and substance of the rule, which is meant to reduce high density mask down social interactions like eating and drinking together.”
She did not, however, write off the idea entirely, adding:
“If it is to go up the bus, greet each other, and then get down together at the next stop, that is an excellent solution. If it is to exchange cookies to eat, and unmasking to take briyani together, while chattering loudly, with masks down, then whoever is organising is just being irresponsible”.
She also reminded any would-be Deepavali celebrants thinking of taking up the suggestion that eating or drinking is not allowed on buses and trains. /TISG