Practical Ethics & Profound Emptiness might just about be the way to go from here on. In the Buddhist shop window at Bras Basah Complex after the airline wild goose chase. On the Cathedral corner one stop back from the library an unconnected pair had gone in through the gates and one after the other up the stairs into the house of worship. Chinese and Indian. Passing the temperature test at the entry to the airline offices on Magazine Road was something perhaps. (Reminder: most cities and all major colonial outposts had old armouries sited by the river.) On the 7th floor no personal contact was understandable; all the numbers tried by the door on the intercom finding people away from their desks ditto. There had been no expectation of anything better; the fraying was well underway. Ghost town throughout; it had been a simple matter crossing the major roadway in the heart of Chinatown against the red. In an imaginary street walk for a news service a queue on Havelock Road was guessed for the camera as toilet paper—turned out a café with take-out cups. In Australia as well as the beaches the liquor stores had been rushed; the more ruly segment of the population would find it hard to get by without their caffeine fix. (To say nothing of substances that cannot be mentioned here, which might perhaps in fact remain unaffected, if not actually trading more smoothly.) On the airline site that had finally been restored after days of blanks only the next 48 hour schedules showed. Understandably. Who at present was planning much longer than a couple of day ahead, serious hoarders aside. The library café peopled and the tables upstairs too, judging by the 1.5m separated queue at the doors. Registration and temperature testing could be managed at all civic hubs across a city-state of this kind. Was there a better haven in our contemporary moment than the library? You would bet sheep stations it would get as much patronage as any of the other notable faiths. How rapidly it had all collapsed though? An earthquake in Zagreb to add woe in that corner. Refugees, the poor and homeless might become more of a concern now because of the dangers to the rest of us; prisons had already come into calculations. Across the library forecourt sleek, slender legs briefly worked their old magic again, giving a little reminder at least of carefree days. The day before Ni had needed to be rebuffed. Through the morning it had been touch-and-go with the arrangements for meeting, the gal proving difficult to deny. After some misunderstanding however the guillotine came down THWACK. For younger lovers desire was no doubt unaffected by a virus. Apart from food and water supplies this place was well positioned; for a foreigner without health insurance and on a limited visa perhaps not so much. In the time ahead of course medical treatment anywhere outside China would be problematic—a deposit system for a non-cit. one would guess in this particular marketplace, say $5-10k. One needed to prioritise one’s own, naturally.
Monday 23 March
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