10 July
State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi wrote on her Facebook page yesterday that it would be necessary to change some aspects of our lifestyle even if we could not change society as a whole in accordance with the requirements while we still don’t have medicines or vaccines to prevent and cure COVID. This was what she wrote:
The term “New Normal” is something to think about. Should we say “a new mode of behaviour”; or it is because the world has changed due to COVID to the point of no return that all of us have to live in a new mode of behaviour. At this point, it is still early to make a decision.
Throughout history, all the peoples of the world had to face epidemics and pandemics; it has been estimated that more than a hundred million people died because of the plague that erupted during the 14th century. As a result of this, although there were changes in some societies in the social and economic aspects, we cannot say that people’s lifestyle changed. Some new forms of international relations which we might say is the result of the catastrophe of the global war (Thathtantara kappa) of World War I and II, now seem to be already outdated. Our daily lives have changed because of the industrial revolution and the communications technology revolution; the fact that I’m able to communicate using Facebook is also the result of this change. Human beings have to learn to survive according to the needs of the situation. While we still don’t have medicines or vaccines to prevent and cure COVID, we will need to change some aspects of our lifestyle even if we cannot change society as a whole in accordance with the requirements.
(Translated by Kyaw Myaing)
