New Normal

The new normal' must not be the lens through which we examine our changed world.

'Normal' has not worked for a majority of the world's population, so why would it start working now?

We should use our discomfort to forge a new paradigm instead.

The language of a 'new normal' is being deployed almost as a way to quell any uncertainty ushered in by the coronavirus. With no cure in sight, everyone from politicians and the media to friends and family has perpetuated this rhetoric as they imagine settling into life under this 'new normal'.

This framing is inviting: it contends that things will never be the same as they were before — so welcome to a new world order. By using this language, we reimagine where we were previously relative to where we are now, appropriating our present as the standard.

As we weigh our personal and political responses to this pandemic, the language we employ matters. It helps to shape and reinforce our understanding of the world and the ways in which we choose to approach it. The analytic frame embodied by the persistent discussion of the 'new normal' helps bring order to our current turbulence, but it should not be the lens through which we examine today’s crisis. Far from describing the status quo, evoking the 'new normal' does not allow us to deal with the totality of our present reality. It first impedes personal psychological wellbeing, then ignores the fact that 'normal' is not working for a majority of society.

While the circuit breaker to limit the spread of the coronavirus here has worked, Singapore cannot revert to the status quo, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said yesterday.

Commenting for the first time after the Government on Tuesday outlined plans for Singapore to ease circuit breaker measures, PM Lee said in a Facebook post that people have to get used to a new normal, as returning to the previous state of affairs is not possible.

He said the battle against Covid-19 is far from over. "That is why we are reopening in gradual phases, with (food and beverage) dine-ins allowed only after we are confident that community transmission will stay low," he added.