A sense of relief swamped me as my family stepped out of their bedrooms for the first time in two weeks. 

My dad was the first to show symptoms. He had a persistent fever for about three days despite taking the medication prescribed to him by a local clinic. He decided to take a rapid test and urged my mom to do the same. Devastatingly, they both tested positive for COVID-19 and began to quarantine themselves in their bedroom once they got home. The next day, my parents went for the PCR test at Sungai Buloh Hospital and were tagged with a pink wristband. To add salt to the injury, my sister tested positive for COVID-19 a few days after and underwent the 10-days quarantine in her bedroom……

Last December, I started feeling unwell while preparing for an exam. This illness was sudden, and was unlike anything I had ever experienced. By day three, I had a fever, joint aches and was feeling very weak. I soon developed a dry cough and breathing difficulties, which worried me as I had pre-existing asthma. Despite all this, I decided to tough it out until my exams were over.……

We celebrated a birthday on December 19th. It was a Saturday night, and as birthday dinners typically go, it was loud and lively. This was a crowd I wasn’t too familiar with. I was my boyfriend’s ‘plus-one’, and even the celebrant of the evening was a friend of a friend. We had a private room at the restaurant. It was a private party; 30 people with the buzz of alcohol, and the reverberating playback of the karaoke machine. Truthfully, if I had known that there would be this many people, I wouldn’t have come. Already not too keen on the singing and celebrations, I quietly passed on sipping from the same bottles that were going around……