Singapore residents started streaming into restaurants and hawker centres on Tuesday (10 Aug) to once again enjoy dining in as restrictions eased.
Groups of up to 5 individuals are allowed to dine-in together at restaurants so long as all are vaccinated.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday (10 Aug), Ho Ching addressed people who have complaints about the dine-in limit saying there’s no need to grumble.
We summarise the lengthy post below.
As Singapore resumed dine-ins, Ho Ching took to Facebook to address the topic of the 5-pax dine-in limit.
She first questioned why people grumble about the limit, humorously saying “Aiyah yah”.
Ms Ho said that even if families have to split when eating outside, they can always eat at home together.
She adds that this is just a small inconvenience for the sake of the larger good.
Mdm Ho acknowledged that everyone is tired of the Covid-19 restrictions.
But she points out that frontliners like doctors and nurses have been at it for over a year, in much tougher conditions such as in full personal protective equipment (PPE).
They do not have the option to question why they cannot return to their normal lives as there is a job to do and lives to keep safe.
Drawing that parallel, Ms Ho asked that the rest of us find ways to keep to the already eased restrictions and minimise the risk of outbreaks.
She added that this is, after all, only until more have been vaccinated and are better protected.
Mdm Ho then urged Singaporeans to “be creative” in spending time with loved ones instead of insisting on dining-in in larger groups.
To close, she funnily asks that we should all be “cool, man, cool” and “chill, girl, chill”.
Later, Mdm Ho added on to her post after being asked as to why more people are allowed on trains but not in restaurants.
She explains that MRTs have high-performance air cleaning systems.
In an hour, the air in trains cabins is filtered 10 to 14 times. This means the whole train has clean air every 5 to 6 minutes.
Comparatively, the air in infectious disease isolation wards is replaced every 5 minutes.
In contrast, restaurants typically have split unit aircons that recirculates air, allowing aerosol particles to accumulate, including virus particles.
Although bigger restaurants have central air conditioning, many businesses tend to close off vents as it increases costs.
Air is likely to still be recirculated, albeit with better cleaning capabilities that a central air handling unit offers.
Hence, this air quality and air cleaning capabilities are a key difference between MRTs and any restaurant, said Ms Ho.
The dine-in limit may present slight inconveniences to larger families and friend groups. Nonetheless, getting to return to dine-in is a privilege we should all appreciate.
So, if we’d like to enjoy greater freedoms moving forward, it is on us to abide by safety measures.
After all, it is thanks to everyone’s cooperation that Singapore’s Covid-19 situation is stabilising and we can open up further.
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Featured image adapted from Ho Ching on Facebook.
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