Circuit Breaker (Week 13-14)

In Singapore, cases started to rapidly rise due to foreign workers in dorms catching COVID-19 and having it spread among themselves because of close proximity. The Singaporean government decided to issue a circuit breaker measure, which is similar to locking down in the US, on April 7. The government had difficulty tracing where people in the community caught COVID-19, so they wanted to shut down businesses that were non-essential and have people work from home. The circuit breaker was predicted to end by the beginning of May. Before the circuit breaker started, I prepared to be in my room by buying snacks, groceries, and watercolor supplies. My friends and I also went out to Gardens by the Bay since it had a beautiful view of Singapore and ate at a few restaurants that we wanted to try.

I wanted to leave Singapore at this time because I wanted to be with my family. However, I had gotten in touch with a UH alumni and he had offered me an internship at UOB Kay Hian during the summer. I decided not to leave because this was a great opportunity to work abroad. I immediately applied for the work visa and submitted the job application.

At my university, students were required to stay in dorms except for purchasing groceries, buying food, and going out to exercise. The dorm that I am currently in has a shared kitchen and bathroom on each floor, whenever students went out of their room, we had to wear a face mask. At this point, all of the classes were required to be conducted online. Previously, classes could meet in person if the amount of students was less than 30. My professors would split the class time and size in half so that we could do in person lectures and have class discussions.