Malaysia’s political turmoil Rohingyas’ grim future Parasite’s Oscar win MCI(P) 087/05/2019 Best New Print Product and Best News Brand in Asia-Pacic, International News Media Association (INMA) Global Media Awards 2019 Battle against the bug Asia’s ght to contain Covid-19 Countries race against time to contain the spread of coronavirus infections as fears mount of further escalation, with no sign of a vaccine or cure yet WE BRING YOU SINGAPORE AND THE WORLD UP TO DATE IN THE KNOW News | Live blog | Mobile pushes Web specials | Newsletters | Microsites WhatsApp | SMS Special Features IN THE LOOP ON THE WATCH Facebook | Twitter | Instagram Videos | FB live | Live streams To subscribe to the free newsletters, go to str.sg/newsletters All newsletters connect you to stories on our straitstimes.com website. Data Digest Bats: furry friends or calamitous carriers? SUPPOSEDLY ORIGINATING IN THE HUANAN WHOLESALE On Jan 23, a team led by coronavirus specialist Shi Zheng-Li at Seafood Market in Wuhan, the deadly Covid-19 outbreak has the Wuhan Institute of Virology, reported on life science archive opened a pandora’s box around the trade of illegal wildlife and bioRxiv that the Covid-19 sequence was 96.2 per cent similar to the sale of exotic animals. a bat virus and had 79.5 per cent similarity to the coronavirus Live wolf pups, civets, hedgehogs, salamanders and crocodiles that caused severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars). were among many listed on an inventory at one of the market’s Further findings in the Chinese Medical Journal also discovered shops, said The Guardian newspaper. that the virus’ genome sequence is about 87.6 per cent to 87.7 per Apart from the trading of animals, the market was an abattoir, cent similar to other coronaviruses that originated from Chinese exposing stallholders to their blood, bodily fluids and excrement, horseshoe bats. all of which can be laden with pathogens that can jump from Meanwhile, the outbreak has triggered a wave of sinophobia animal to human. on social media with a viral video of a woman eating a bat in While the coronavirus has been found in pangolins, which are soup evoking hateful comments on Twitter while the hashtag widely trafficked for their scales, bats have also elicited much #ChinaPneumonia has been making its rounds. flak for having supposedly originated the coronavirus – which While hard evidence has yet to emerge proving that the tiny is a zoonotic disease, a term meaning that it can be spread from animal caused the outbreak, here’s what we know about the animals to humans. tube-nosed mammal. – Dominique Nelson Bats as a reservoir for deadly viruses COVID-19 is 96% identical at the whole-genome level to a bat coronavirus Zoonotic diseases What’s so special about bats? • Viruses that come from bats have • Viruses are caused some of the most notorious diseases normally dependent on specic species • In fact bats have been reported as reservoirs for more than 60 different viruses • Nearly all viruses • Many such viruses reach us via an that infect other intermediary species organisms are harmless to people Close-knit community • A tiny proportion Bats roost close to each other making can jump species it easier to pass viruses along and infect us with zoonotic diseases Strong yers live longer Immunity arms race Ebola SARS MERS COVID-19 • Though not all The vigorous activity of Their very effective zoonotic diseases ying is thought to trigger immune system allows cause serious illness, physiological mechanisms them to live with they make around to protect from inammation viruses, and may drive 2.5 billion people sick and strengthen their those viruses to every year and kill immune system become stronger 2.7 million, according to New Scientist magazine Don’t shoot the messenger Bat skeletons are Bats are a crucial homologous with part of the ours, showing environment. evidence of our There are over 1,300 identied shared ancestry species, representing 20 per cent Pollination Insect control Seed dispersal Fertiliser of mammals, Over 500 In the US alone bats Night-foraging production One reason a virus that and we have plant species are worth an estimated fruit-bats cover Bat droppings, or crosses species can be always lived rely on bats to US$3.7 billion a year in large distances guano, are valuable deadly is that the new host close to pollinate their reduced crop damage scattering seeds as a rich natural lacks pre-existing immunity them. owers and pesticide use as they go fertiliser Source: AFP PHOTOS: AFP, GETTY IMAGES STRAITS TIMES GRAPHICS 1 Warren Fernandez Editor-in-Chief, The Straits Times & SPH’s English, Malay and Tamil Media (EMTM) Group Thinking Aloud Sumiko Tan Executive Editor, Fighting the coronavirus, The Straits Times with openness and information Dominic Nathan Managing Editor, EMTM Tan Ooi Boon 29 Senior Vice-President, EMTM Paul Jacob Associate Editor, The Straits Times Eugene Leow Head, Digital Strategy, EMTM Irene Ngoo Vice-President (Editorial Projects Unit) EMTM Jeremy Au Yong Foreign Editor Shefali Rekhi Asia News Network Editor, The Straits Times & Editor, ST Asia Report DESIGN Peter Williams Head, Visual, EMTM & Art Editor, The Straits Times Chng Choon Hiong Cover illustration Marlone Rubio Executive Artist Gareth Chung Senior Executive Artist Anil Kumar Graphic Artist PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE EDITORIAL DESK Ronald Kow Sub-editor, The Straits Times Dominique Nelson Journalist, The Straits Times Cover Story Inside China 5 turning points in Singapore’s Keeping the spirit alive as the CIRCULATION Eric Ng 4 fight against the coronavirus 15 battle continues Head, Circulation Marketing Tommy Ong All hands on deck at public Senior Manager (Circulation) hospitals Inside Japan REACH OUT TO US: For advertising enquiries: MOH team races against time to Did Japan miss the boat in Mandy Wong trace links and stop spread 21 containing Diamond Princess Head - Customer Action outbreak? Teams/Jobs [email protected] Top medical official’s long hours on job Circulation & subscription: Sofia Wang Executive Inside South Korea [email protected] Crazy auntie and clusters 24 trigger fears of mass WE WELCOME YOUR FEEDBACK infections in South Korea AND VIEWS Letters can be sent to [email protected] Published by Speaking of Asia The Straits Times, Singapore Teaching us a bit about disease, Press Holdings (SPH) 26 and a lot about ourselves Printed by Times Printers Private Limited All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher. 2 36 contents Special Report Malaysia’s long week of politics – and what’s next PHOTO: EPA-EFE Racing Against Time Singaporean of the Year Singapore labs join global race ST Singaporean of the Year 2019 32 to learn about virus 46 helps others overcome mental health woes Country Report Lifestyle Conditions get worse for Parasite makes Oscar history 40 Rohingya in Rakhine state 49 despite world court ruling to protect them United States of India? Big Picture Not quite You been to U Bein – the 52 bridge on 1,000 teak pillars? Barred from combat, Indian women seek greater role in army 3 Cover Story 5 turning points in Singapore’s fight against the coronavirus The coronavirus – or Covid-19 – that emerged from SUMIKO TAN the Chinese city of Wuhan has killed more than 2,800 people Executive Editor worldwide, with more than 2,700 in China alone. Within the first eight weeks, the Singapore Government had already rolled out a steady stream of measures to curb its spread here. AT THE CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION DEPARTMENT’S symptoms, they will be treated as a suspected case, Command Centre in Outram on Feb 13 afternoon, hospitalised and looked after. [email protected] 20 police officers were hunched in front of their The officers are part of the government machinery computers, trying to make sense of how the that has kicked in to manage the outbreak. coronavirus is spreading in Singapore. Their mission: treat patients, contain the spread, Working with the Ministry of Health (MOH) – allay the fears of Singaporeans and help businesses which is in charge of contact tracing – as well as that have been hit. detectives on the ground, they have been helping Outside the public sector, thousands have also to piece together the movements of those infected. been mobilised to the front lines. People who had been in close contact with a They include private general practitioners who patient will be traced. If they are well, they will are often the first medical contact a patient has, be put under quarantine for 14 days. If they show security firms helping to serve quarantine orders, 4 ASIA REPORT March 2020 In that time, Singaporeans have gone from being concerned to alarmed, to now accepting, with a growing sense of realisation that the virus will be around for some months yet. There were irrational moments, like on Feb 8 when shoppers were seized by fear that Singapore would run out of toilet paper and other essentials, and emptied supermarket shelves. Officers from Reach, the Government’s feedback gathering unit, have been talking to Singaporeans about the virus from around the Chinese New Year period. The team of about 25 officers do face-to-face interviews in places ranging from the heartland to universities. They also conduct online polls and gather people to chat via WhatsApp. Officers say there is very high interest in the virus, with people eager to find out more. Mr Marcius Sim, 27, an assistant manager at Reach, said: “People aren’t always willing to talk to us, but now with the virus, they are happy to give feedback.” There are three concerns the Reach officers keep hearing: fear of contracting the virus, worry that more people will get it, and its impact on the economy and businesses.