With Planet Earth in lockdown, our industry at a standstill and many of us in self-isolation or quarantine at home, or grounded, this is our blog for you – it’s a way to share stories within our community, to form solidarity and foster a sense of belonging.
Short essays on what we are each doing, how we are getting through this darkest hour in travel, how are we handling withdrawal symptoms from travel, what we intend to do with this down time, a word we want to focus on, a wish we have or simply, an important topic you want to share with your travel friends at this time.
Aaron Sarma. general partner, ScaleUp Malaysia/head of digital development, MDEC
How Malaysia’s MCO has changed my life, work and thinking
It’s 8:30pm, Thursday, 2 April 2020, and I’ve just finished my final call for the day. I guess it’s an improvement over yesterday when I ended my last call at close to midnight. It seems that for some of us “work from home” means that when you’re home, you’re working.
This has been the new normal ever since Malaysia’s government declared a Movement Control Order (MCO) on the 18 March. Life has taken a surreal turn and we are finding ourselves actually living in our houses instead of simply clocking in at the end of the night to sleep.
On the home front, it’s been a great opportunity to connect with the family. My wife and I get to chat more in between our calls and we have quality time to hang out with our young children. The girls seem to be having the time of their lives. From their daily dips in the pool to giving my old PlayStation 4 more action than it’s seen in years to hours watching cartoons – it’s been a party for them. They don’t even seem to mind the daily work they are being assigned by their school.
Having come from the travel tech scene, my heart goes out to every entrepreneur who is going through this nightmare. This isn’t an easy time for startups in general but travel companies are really badly hit. Calling this moment turbulent would be an understatement. The path to recovery is going to be long but strong companies and great teams will find a way.
I’ve been animated over the last few weeks by a sense of mission and purpose to help. My work at ScaleUp Malaysia Accelerator and Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) has given me a great outlet to focus my energies in trying to make a difference during this period. At ScaleUp we get to work with some truly amazing founders. They inspire me and we hope that we can help them navigate through this period. At MDEC there are opportunities to help the government in its response to this crisis. It’s all hands on deck so there seems to be plenty of opportunity to be of service.
SMEs and startups are the bedrock of a strong economy. We can’t fail them and we need to help them weather this storm. My hope is that this work will bear fruit in time to come.
Covid-19 seems to have caused a global cultural shift that’s changed the way we connect, work and play.
One observation I gleaned from a virtual happy hour I had last weekend was how living remotely has made me more conscious of the relationships I maintain. I find myself being more thoughtful about the work I choose to do and the people I choose to be in contact with. I suppose this is a good thing.
Another observation is the growing appreciation for technology. People from all walks of life are realising the need to leverage technology to stay connected, to work and to get basic necessities. Businesses have learnt how vital it truly is to adapt and become digitally savvy. I often time wonder what the future of work will be like now that we have all had a taste of remote work en masse.
Finally, it’s also really interesting to see how being physically isolated from most of our networks has given us an appreciation for how small the world really is and how interconnected humanity has become. Borders and flags mean nothing to a virus. Beating COVID-19 will need each of us to play a part. Whether you are a front liner, a politician, an entrepreneur or just staying at home with your loved ones, we are all in this together. It’s only if we all work together, even if apart, that we can win.
Stay safe everyone! Be kind to each other. See you on the other side.
Note: We will be running this blog for as long as we need to, to get us through this. If you wish to contribute, please send your essays to Siew Hoon. Send images too, it’s your story.
