By Lee San

While sipping the aromatic coffee at the ever popular Chan Hainam Kopitiam, several sprightly old aunties sitting at the next table yelled out spiritedly, "Wow! Facebook is incredible, huh! The pictures of us playing with snow in Hokkaido on this very day two years ago all spring up now. How I miss that! Hope I could travel again very soon!"

Seeing that I was listening smilingly at the next table, one of them who happened to remember me blurted out loudly, "Hey, Lee San, when can we go overseas again?"

Traveling the world couldn't have been more commonplace and easy before the coronavirus. But now, it has become such a luxury and big deal! All of a sudden, everyone sees me as a foreteller as to when they get to travel again as if I have the power to decide when they can go overseas.

But really, when can we travel again? Several ministers have rushed to promise that we should be able to fly again when the travel bubble program now being negotiated with eight other countries takes off in February, which I love to see become a reality. The thing is, we have hardly done anything in readying ourselves for the international health code!

Understandably these aunties have never taken the ministers' trashy talks seriously. After their tea, they decided to hike the nearby Ketumbar Hill. Hey, aunties, wait for me-leh!

Following them uphill closely behind, I soon discovered that these aunties were actually well aware that even though our healthcare system claims to be able to handle the daily average of around 1,500 new cases now, we might not be able to stop the "180,000 cases by February" forewarning from China's Zhong Nanshan, given the haphazard strategies of our government.

In other words, so long as we have not flattened the curve, no governments will be daring enough to take the immense risk of welcoming Malaysians to their countries.

It looks like our government is completely torn between opening up and locking down the country. Why? Because we lack competent leaders with viable solutions! You'll be surprised how good these aunties are at making an incisive and accurate analysis!

They then started to talk about the vaccine. Look! People in Singapore already get their most meaningful Christmas present this year: the coronavirus vaccine. Someone said we might get it next February, and rumors have it that the delay was a result of disagreement among several ministries.

Come on, aunties! Don't spread a rumor, OK? I was thinking perhaps I'd better stay clear of these women just to be on the safe side!

Suddenly she stopped, and turned back to ask me, "Lee San, will you get yourself vaccinated the earliest possible?"

Before I could even utter a firm "yes", she already answered for herself, "I have faith in the vaccine, but no rush for me. Let the frontliners have it first. Moreover, with new virus strains now detected in South Africa and the UK, whether we get to travel overseas will very much depend on how effective the vaccines are."

But my dear aunties, don't you think it's a blessing in disguise for not being able to travel overseas? You save money, and can go hiking regularly to stay fit!

They said sarcastically that we must therefore thank the government for caring so much of the rakyat, huh! Very obviously the government is treading on thin ice, but fortunately most Malaysians have been obediently adhering to government SOPs. The thing is, the determining factor in this whole war against the virus lies with our leaders' wisdom and ability to enforce the laws conscientiously and impartially.

So, these aunties get so confused why such a richly endowed lucky country could ever perform so terribly in battling the virus. What else if not human error?

Indeed, a global calamity of unprecedented scale it is! While the tourist industry takes the brunt of it, no economic sectors have been able to escape the impact.

Perhaps our leaders have come to "feel" the significant contribution of the industry towards the country's GDP, and have suddenly come up with six  main strategic thrusts in the "National Tourism Policy 2020-2030".

I felt enraged and disenchanted after browsing through it. Indeed we've got to give the government a big thumbs up for actually doing some work, but what it has done is downright not proper at this point of time!

The pressing urgency now is to address the problem of many having to go without incomes soon, and the government's 10-year plan simply won't help mitigate our immediate woes.

I would like to question the government whether it has done anything to help the 3.6 million people or 23.6% of the country's workforce involved in the tourist industry, contributing 15.9% to the national coffers, through this pandemic crisis? How many of us could survive this pandemic and stay alive to jump onto your 10-year masterplan bandwagon? And will your new policy instantly solve the killer jams at the Second Link checkpoint and the 2-hour wait-in-line in front of immigration counters at KLIA?

Pardon me, but I think we have become one of the world's "top ugly travel destinations"!

So, wake up please, dreamer!

Indeed, 2020 has been a total shithole. Soon after we bade the winter snow adieu early this year and before we could even usher in the spring and the subsequent seasons, we were brutally greeted by the snowstorms in Europe, North America, Japan and elsewhere. I was thinking that God must have been putting human wisdom, passion, tolerance and selflessness to a big, big test, and force us to rethink who should have the absolute say in the survival of our one and only planet.

On our way back, the aunties yelled out assuredly: We'll continue to support you, Lee San. Let's travel again together!

Thanks a lot, my most beloved aunties. You've brightened up my day! 

(Lee San is Founder and Group Executive Chairman of Apple Vacations. He has traveled to 132 countries, six continents, and enjoys sharing his travel stories and insights. He has also authored five books.)