Rewarding self-discovery during MCO period
north@thestar.com.my
While many say they have been waiting to exhale with the easing of restrictions under the recovery movement control order (MCO), some can also look back on the past few months as a rewarding period of self-discovery.
Expatriates living in Penang, like Japan native Emi Yamazaki, made the most of the social isolation to indulge in activities they normally would not have time for.
“I kept myself busy cleaning the house, researched how to be more environmentally friendly, started composting and gardening, did crochet while watching TV, sewed homemade masks and exercised regularly,” she said.
“I’m also co-authoring a book to tell stories of women in Penang and have been working on an online version during the MCO.
“I even joined my kids’ baking attempts and tried out some new Korean and Indian recipes. I’ve also finally succumbed to trying a mobile game,” she added.
Yamazaki has lived on the island for the past 17 years and was fortunate to have her parents and most of her family here during the MCO
– except for her son who is studying in the United Kingdom.
“We haven’t had much of a problem staying at home during the MCO period, except for the travel restrictions that caused my other children a bit of panic when they wanted to return to Malaysia initially.
“Personally, I think the government has done a good job handling the pandemic and the implementation of the MCO,” she said.
Meanwhile, Marlene Fox filled her time exercising, sitting in the sunshine, reading, cleaning up the house, cooking, clearing out stuff, sorting sheets for both her personal and choir music and taking care of her husband who had fallen ill.
“I’ve always been too busy organising things for others. This has been a time for me and I love it. I intend to continue doing more of these,” said Fox, who is originally from Scotland but has been in Penang permanently for 21 years.
“But if there’s one thing I miss, it’s having family over and meeting friends face to face.”
Husband and wife Simon Dunford and Orla Redmond – an education adviser from England and teacher from Ireland respectively – embraced the new normal and continued working remotely.
Dunford harnessed the reach of the Internet to get things done.
Redmond provided guidance, resources and advice to parents, and also wrote content for both her education blog and the Penang Irish Association’s Irish Insights magazine.
The pair – who have been in Malaysia since 2017 and came to Penang last September – also tried lots of new recipes, joined online quizzes with friends, practised some home workouts and tried their hand at art – to varying degrees of success.
“What we miss most are the social elements of life in Penang – just wandering the streets and coming across somewhere new to explore, dine out and meet friends,” said Dunford.
“Now that the MCO is ending, we’re looking forward to spending time outdoors walking and cycling, or simply enjoying some meals with no washing up
Yamazaki added that she missed the carefree mood people enjoyed previously, but had taken for granted.
“What I don’t miss are the lack of crowds, mat rempit in the middle of the night, pollution and number of fruit flies,” she said.
“Those are the good things brought about by the MCO which I hope will continue. Once things are better and it’s safe to do so, I intend to go swimming.”
On the government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and community’s response here, the interviewees all had good things to say.
“It was pretty well managed and thankfully implemented early enough before the pandemic got too bad,” said Yamazaki.
Fox said besides the good organisation and implementation, she also believed the widespread community adherence to guidelines was key to the state successfully breaking the chain and being free of cases for many weeks.
Dunford said they felt assured and safe living in Penang throughout the MCO period as everyone adhered to physical distancing practices diligently. to be done afterwards.”