“2020” – Numbers that mean clarity in terms of vision, now tarnished for many as the year left the whole world in question of what is to come.
2020 was a start to a new decade that had many people wide-eyed and hopeful. A plethora of people jumped in to share “Start vs End of the decade” posts that quickly got overshadowed by “Quarantine Workouts”. It had truly been such a weird time.
I know 2020 had not been kind to us at all— the world was literally put on hold. If anything, it was a phenomenon and it’s hard to believe that the year is over. I am writing this hoping that you would humour me as we look back to a year we will either fondly remember or look away with disgust.
While I don’t have the best pictures to best represent 2020 pre-pandemic, here is my best rendition of it.
January - March: Pre-Pandemic
Every Chinese New year, I look forward to a full family gathering and it breaks my heart to think that this would not be possible in 2021. So, 2020’s CNY holds a sentimental value in my heart.
Hanging out with friends in large numbers? With no mask? What a time to be alive!
As I look back at the different photos that I captured pre-pandemic, a yearning smile creeps in and I long for the day where things return to normal.
The first COVID-19 case in Singapore was confirmed two days before 2020’s CNY and this led to a ripple effect of events that resulted in the reality we face today.
April - May: DORSCON orange; circuit breaker
Singapore’s lockdown began in April and we had no choice but to get accustomed to being at home 24/7. Businesses were forced to shift to different means of operations. We saw fellow Singaporeans panic buying things they did not need like instant noodles and toilet paper. I have little to no recollection of this period because being stuck in an army camp for 5 days a week already felt like a lock down, so life wasn’t all that different for me.
June - July: Phase one
Do you remember when the government announced that the Circuit Breaker was ending? I don’t know about you but I celebrated. We could finally head out to meet family members, friends, strangers, heck, even the neighbourhood cat... While we longed for every ounce of freedom, we were kept in check by the government’s COVID-19 phases (which are still very necessary today).
Our country started to open up. Mask on, hand sanitizer ready, social distancing, let’s go. How many of you left the house and totally forgot your mask, only realising it when it was way too late? My furthest record was the MRT station.
July - December: Phase two
Things have more or less been normalised for most of us. We are used to the temperature scannings, the stickers that we use to leave our mark on infrastructures, checking in and at every single location.And as if we didn’t have enough of staying indoors, the insanely unpredictable rain in November and December left us staying indoors even more.
While these images don’t necessarily bring back the fondest memories of the year, they are still precious because they are unfiltered photos that captured what it was like to be alive in 2020. It’s crazy to think that perhaps at some point in the future, we would look back and recall a time where everybody had to wear a mask like in an apocalyptic movie. #StaySafe everybody.
Nevertheless, thank you for browsing through my year in 2020. Whatever 2021 may bring, here's to hoping that it’ll definitely be better than the year before!
