A Cap of 8 Unique Visitors Per Household Per Day

Infographic: mothership.

I'm so glad that the government tightened the capacity limits for group gatherings before people went to make all sorts of stupid plans for Lunar New Year in February. Phase 3 allowed for "Up to 8 persons for social gatherings and household visitors at any point in time". But this would be dangerous, to be honest, especially during Lunar New Year. Everyone's tired of not being able to travel or meet people freely. Being stifled meant that many would throw caution to the wind and visit people at will. Now, this loophole in wording for Phase 3 has been stitched shut. Very nice. 

"From 26 January 2021, there will be a cap of 8 unique visitors per household per day." The government urged us to not gallivant during the Lunar New Year. It's not written into law, but "Individuals should limit themselves to visiting two other households a day, as much as possible." I'm beyond pleased about it, really. This is the first time in years that I could legit decline to visit anyone I'm told to visit during Lunar New Year. It's utterly unnecessary and hypocritical. And illogical. If I only need to see you once a year, then you totally don't matter in my life. Not the slightest bit. 

Our Prime Minister encouraged Singapore to exercise restraint during Lunar New Year festivities. He reminded us, 

And while tossing yusheng, a traditional raw fish salad served at Chinese New Year meals, he said Singaporeans should use mobile applications with the pre-recorded auspicious sayings, instead of shouting them out themselves, which is typically the norm.

“I hope everybody will understand that this is not a normal Year of the Ox. We do have to take precautions, we have to restrain ourselves,” said Mr Lee to reporters on the sidelines of a visit to Ang Mo Kio Polyclinic, which kicked off its vaccination exercise for seniors aged 70 and above on Wednesday.

“Celebrate it in the right spirit, but keep ourselves safe so that perhaps a year from now, when the Year of the Tiger comes around, we will be roaring like a tiger.”

I could also legit decline attending reunion dinners. YAYYYYyyyYYYY. I have said no to two dinners, and nobody dared to contradict that or speak further on that topic. In fact, don't even tell me what's going on or what would go on. I'm not interested. I'm not going to knowingly bust the capacity limits. Don't make me bao-toh you. Why force me to break the rules to attend a dinner of which you jolly well know that I don't enjoy but you just want me to be there because you just want it to be so. This year, I’m actually free of obligations on Lunar New Year's Eve, and am free to do my own reunion dinner at home or with the BFF or whatever I want. I don't want people to visit me either, and I can flat out decline too. OMG. I AM SO RELIEVED. While I've been mentally prepared for these events yearly, the moment I realized that I'm absolved of all obligations, there was this huge lightness in my mind. A huge weight that slid off into the air. It was glorious. 

When I combed through the 'COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) (Control Order) Regulations 2020', I chuckled. It's not a terribly long document yet. The phrasing is simple and clear. It's detailed and I can find most of what I need in there. Singaporeans are obviously very good at working around rules and finding loopholes. The language in this document is totally intended to combat that, so are the rules that are set. Okay I'm not reading this for pure fun, although it's rather entertaining. I've got to read through it for work purposes as well. The part about toasting and shouting during lo-hei floored me. It was an absolute hoot imagining the Legal Officer (LO) drafting this part into legalese. 🤣