Covid-19 vaccination – Photo: Asia Samachar

By Jagdesh Singh | Opinion |

We’re now moving closer to the 24th month of officially being in the pandemic. Yes, the pandemic. Unless you’ve been stationed on the moon or one of our neighboring planets in the last two years, you’ll know the pandemic I’m talking about. The whole world responded universally to how serious the pandemic was, with world leaders shutting down countries they were responsible for, to avoid widespread devastation. And for the first time in centuries, the race to produce vaccines to battle the virus (again, it’s the virus of the pandemic) yielded results in record time. This should’ve been the point where the movie ends with inspirational music, and the humans lived happily ever after.

Unfortunately, the idea of producing vaccines in record time unraveled how dysfunctional we are as a global society. In each country on this earth, some of us argued that it was totally unnatural, almost as if it was staged or planned by the shadowy corporate powers of Big Pharma to be able to produce well tested vaccines within 18 months. And thus was born the public wars of vaxxers vs. antivaxxers. To this day, I’m still grappling as to size of both sides. Is this a well-balanced 50:50 war? Or one side has the majority? And if so, which side is winning this war?

In the United States, the lines were drawn between the liberals and the conservatives where majority of the conservatives claimed the side of the antivaxxers, believing that the virus was more or less another version of the flu. There was no need for masks nor lockdowns, let alone for vaccines. Over here, closer to home, conservatives tend to believe that the vaccines are more dangerous than the virus itself.

Unlike the most of my life, I’m not on the fence regarding this. I firmly belief the virus kills indiscriminately, caring for neither age nor sex. I have close friends, fit as fiddles, who have got it but suffered more than the mild flu. And some are also suffering from Long Covid, struggling to get back to playing hockey or football. So, I’ve planted myself firmly in Team Vaccinate, paranoid when people don’t mask up, wash hands or maintain social distance. Mind you, I still find myself hugging close friends at Punjabi social gatherings, with an immediate glare from my wife.

But what really struck me about this so-called war was how much heel digging each side does, and how there’s no space in the divide for any of both the sides to maybe take a step forward in understanding each other’s perspective. As a society – be it as Punjabis or Malaysians, or as global citizens, we have many more debates that really has no grey area. Politics has seeped into every aspect of our psyche. As it gets deeper, politics force us to choose sides and stay on that chosen side, making us choose that hill to die on for any debate. Go to any discussions on your favorite social media platform, and watch how different perspectives very quickly plunge into whirlwinds of arguments, which then morph into ugly mudslinging, typically ending with bridges scorched to the ground.

But didn’t I just choose a side with Team Vaccinate above, and basically being the example that I’m criticizing about? Yes, I suppose. It’s hypocritical of me. But I will say, I’m trying my very best to listen more, and am trying to understand the opposing perspective. I’m trying to not dismiss ideas opposing to mine. This applies at home, at our dining table with my daughters now growing into outspoken vocal young ladies. While we’re all Team Vaccinate at home, there are other raging debates ranging from the way they want to dress in public, to the right diets to have, whom do you hang out with, to the importance of spirituality and religion.

It is all easier said, or written, than done. That much I can tell you. My daughters are teaching me about understanding different perspectives as they grow. They are more liberal and I grow more conservative as I age. But in the meantime, please get yourself and your kids vaccinated!

Jagdesh Singh, a Kuala Lumpur-based executive with a US multinational company, is a father of three girls who are as opinionated as their mother

* This is the opinion of the writer, organisation or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Asia Samachar.

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