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2020-11-09
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2020-11-09
Pamphlet blaming the CCP for COVID-19
This is a pamphlet I got in my mailbox from the Global Service Centre for Ending the Chinese Communist Party, inside which describes many of the 'evils' of the CCP including malicious negligence in the spread of COVID-19. It was quite unusual for me to receive this in my mailbox, I'm assuming since it was not a posted letter it was simply dropped off to many houses in my neighbourhood. The writing in it is quite sensationalistic, and was clearly extremely critical of the Chinese Communist Party. A lot of information and misinformation has been spread regarding the origins and handling of COVID-19, and much of it relies on fear and distrust to propagate. -
2020-11-09
2020: The Year of The Ring of Steel and Shaggy Dogs
In the series of images depicted above, I portray the imminent changes to both my life and the lives of those I love. The stage three lockdown which dawned on the 8th of July 2020 somewhat replicated a tale of two cities. A ‘Ring of Steel’ enforced between metro and regional Victoria separated a state in the grip of a deadly second wave. For me personally, 2020 changed my life in two notable ways; my two worlds were separated, and as droll as it sounds, I couldn’t get my dog a haircut. The ring of steel meant that I was separated from both my family property and my boyfriend who lives in Regional Victoria, although we could still visit one another it just didn’t feel the same. Like going through customs at an airport you are grilled on your reasons for travelling into a regional zone, and the answer of visiting a partner seemed to also evoke a multitude of other questions confirming the validity of the aforementioned statement. This however was all very necessary as there are regions of Victoria that haven’t even seen one single case of COVID since it reached Australia in January 2020. My first image was taken one day upon my return to Melbourne from seeing my boyfriend in regional Victoria and epitomises how even back in April, COVID-related precautions were widespread. Whilst my second photograph pinpoints the outage which the Vic Roads change of address function encountered a day prior to the announcement of the ‘Ring of Steel’ on July 9, 2020. The third photo is a government document and summary of those restrictions that were also outlined from this date onwards. Stage 4 restrictions also meant that all non-essential services were shut to combat the unnecessary spread of the virus, and this included dog groomers. Our West Highland White Terrier Angus was certainly thankful for this as sitting still is not his strong point, but it also meant that he could hardly see with his hair growing over his eyes like a veranda. There were calls from the RSPCA to re-open these services to the public earlier as they had treated a number of grisly injuries from owners attempting at home cuts on their pooches. Whilst a number of petitions were also got up by dog groomers who were more concerned about the welfare of the animals rather than the business aspect. With continuous lobbying, the efforts of the animal welfare community paid off and on the 28th of September they were able to resume services, a far cry from October 26th the original date outlined. The fourth and fifth photo depicts Angus before and after his much-needed haircut in early October. -
2020-11-09
Getting a COVID-Safe Haircut
With COVID-19, even things as simple as getting a haircut were never the same. The photo above shows what that looked like. In Bahrain, where I live, hairdressers were closed down in March and were only reopened months later. When they finally did, patrons and customers had to abide by certain restrictions. There was only a fixed number of customers allowed in. Body temperatures had to be taken. Contact details had to be provided for the purposes of contact tracing in case anyone was exposed to the virus. Masks and face shields were mandatory for the persons giving the haircuts. Moreover, many people seem to not want to handle cash, and as a result, cashless payments are more popular than ever. This reflection was submitted as part of the HIST30060 Making History project at the University of Melbourne. HIST30060. -
2020-11-09
Covid-19 and Religious Observance
Religious observance was one of the many aspects of daily life affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In my home country of Bahrain, congregational prayers were prohibited in mid-March, in an effort to slow the spread of the virus. The Friday prayers were restricted to only a single mosque, Bahrain’s largest. Under normal circumstances, Muslim congregants would stand shoulder to shoulder in prayer. This was no longer the case as seen in the photo, social distancing and mask wearing was enforced. The Islamic call prayer (the Azan) was altered, the normal line summoning the faithful to prayer “come to prayer, come to good deeds” was instead replaced with the line “pray in your homes” (as seen in the attached video, which I recorded in Bahrain on). It was surreal hearing this for the time. The Covid-19 pandemic was the first event, at least in my lifetime, where this was done. Historically, this had precedents in times of plague. Moreover, the Muslim Hajj pilgrimage, which draws millions to the city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia every year, was this year limited to a symbolic 1,000 pilgrims. Having attended the Haj myself a decade earlier and been in the midst of the human masses that descend on Mecca, it was very strange to observe the images of the few socially distanced pilgrims which undertook the Hajj in late July 2020. -
2020-11-09
HIST30060
1. The Trump family contracting Covid When my friend first texted me about Donald and Melania Trump contracting Covid-19, I let out a hysterical laugh. To me, it wasn’t Trump, the person, contracting the virus that was funny but rather Trump, the one who belittled the effects of the virus and avoided taking meaningful measures to minimise its impact, that was funny. It was a stark reminder that boundaries between the powerful and the powerless, between the wealthy and the disadvantaged, between the authorities and the ones subject to authority, between varying socioeconomic standings can be blurred, especially in the case of a global pandemic. While pandemics have an undeniable impact on the disadvantaged or those with lower socioeconomic means, its impact on a figure such as Trump somewhat demonstrated that no one is beyond a virus. 2. Stigmatising Migrant Communities in Victoria When the second outbreak unfolded in Victoria, it was really interesting to, firstly, see the socioeconomic inequalities come into light and, secondly, the Victorian migrant communities framed as the problem. They were projected to be the cause of the second outbreak in Victoria which prompted the media to monopolise on this racist and bigoted rhetoric of migrants causing trouble. The media and some members of the public (through social media) insinuated that migrant communities’ culture was, by default, antithetical to the Australian way of life and thrust Victoria into another lockdown. It later became clear that the Victorian government’s hotel quarantine disaster prompted a second outbreak. The security personnel and other staff employed by the Victorian government spread the virus to a handful of postcodes in Victoria. The areas where the outbreaks first began to emerge were areas with lower socioeconomic standing and migrant communities. Considering that these staff members were from these postcodes, the outbreak seemed to be prompted and furthered by the migrant culture which supposedly allowed for the flouting of restrictions, mass gatherings and, therefore, quick local transmission of the virus. The wealthier suburbs or postcodes weren’t hit as hard. Thus, demonstrating the existing socioeconomic inequalities in Victoria and the way in which some communities were hit harder than others. It was striking to see how easily a community can be framed and dismissed as the other and the troublemaker. Additionally, this may speak to the debates or concerns which are left outside the national discussion which, in turn, can contribute to a specific historical record based on the dominant narrative. In Victoria’s case, perhaps this can be the more general covid lockdown narrative which for the average Victorian is divorced from any ethnic implications whilst for other Victorians, the connotations associated with their ethnic identities, particularly in the context of the covid pandemic, is warped and bigoted. 3. Burqa vs. facemask hypocrisy – facemasks can become the normalcy but burqa’s never will With the introduction of the coronavirus restrictions around the world, it was interesting to see the discourse around face-covering change, particularly, in the West. For about two decades, following 9/11 in America, there has been negative messaging around the burqa some Muslim women choose to wear. It was deemed socially unacceptable and antithetical to societal norms or appropriateness. Muslim women have been subjected to vilification and have been told that the burqa limits communication and is a symbol of an anti-western patriarchal tradition. There seems to be a hypocrisy around this issue in that while a health concern can normalise a face covering, religious reasoning seems insufficient. While the historical baggage associated with the burqa far surpasses this debate of covering versus revealing the face and, of course, while the health benefits of a face mask is of great importance, there is room to view it with a somewhat binary approach. Put more plainly, it seems while the health implications of any form of face covering or clothing items can allow officials to impose policies around mandatory face covering, religion or, more importantly, freedom of choice, does not offer enough of an incentive for officials to consider burqas as societally and socially acceptable. I believe the policies begat from health concerns are of prime importance. However, these policies can coexist alongside policies of acceptance. Thus, the reframing of societal norms to accommodate for another’s interpretation of their religious obligations. 4. Family member in hospital during Covid With the Covid pandemic, 2020 is probably one of the worst years to approach a hospital in any way. My family and I were unfortunate to have experienced a situation (not Covid-19 related) which required us to rush a family member to the hospital. I found that it was one of the hardest things I have had to cope with throughout my life. This is a photo of my family member’s patient wristband. As nurses in the emergency were asking one another about whether the incoming patients were swabbed for covid, the added difficulties of this situation were clear. The limited contact I was able to have with my family member due to the hyper alert covid environment at the hospital deeply frustrated me. These were perhaps the organic happenings of life, however, not having the option of being beside my family member and only seeing my family member for 2 hours in a day was tormenting. It was also a reminder of how varied the experiences of the lockdown and restrictions could be. Alongside the general difficulties of the pandemic and the lockdown, there could be added layers of complexity which may range from living arrangements, work, race, socioeconomic status to, in our case, an unexpected health condition. 5. TikTok dance Similar to the millions of others out there during the lockdown, I had my fair share of busting some dance moves on TikTok with my house mate. This made me appreciate the little fleeting moments of happiness even in a very grim-looking world with the virus ravaging communities across the globe. Making this video, learning the dance moves and continuously getting the moves wrong was the most upbeat, thrilling and enjoyable fun I had during quarantine. Also, given that I thought I would never use TikTok, I somewhat understood the solace most of its users found in the app, especially, more than ever, during a global pandemic.