A Loving Tribute to Eidduring the Pandemic
By Faiza Zia Khan
Newport Beach, CA
The stay-at-home orders expired last week with discretionary powers left in the hands of the state governors to reopen their jurisdictions. As SoCal residents we are blessed to be surrounded with scenic beaches and the best shorelines imaginable. Now that the weather has started becoming warmer, self-isolation has become a bigger challenge for people who do not own large homes or spacious dwellings.
Apartments have started feeling crowded and stuffy for inland SoCal folks who do not live in Beach cities, where ocean breeze is a privilege exclusively available only to those living there. As a result of rising temperatures, throngs of people flocked to the beaches and freeways flowed with above average traffic compared to the statistics recorded in days. I personally have not left the house in days so it came as a sad surprise when I saw news reports of Newport Beach lined with people despite the beach being off-limits due to social distancing orders.
These reports were further confirmed by California's Governor Newsom when he pointed out beachgoers rushed to Huntington Beach and Newport Beach in Orange County to catch sunshine. To reinforce the stay-at-home order, he announced the state parks and beaches in California are to remain closed under further notice. To provide Californians some hope Newsom also said he will relax social distancing orders in the next few weeks and clarified that these modifications are motivated by data and not political resistance or pressure.
There are four stages to reopen when such an order is imposed. It is important to remember no magic switch exists that can be flipped to turn back things to exactly as they were. What exactly will reopening California look like? Just as a child is eased into taking the first steps Californians will be phased into going back with calculated baby steps. According to the governor we are already in the first stage. I have quoted excerpts from his various statements on Twitter and news coverage as, “Stage 1 is where the state is now, staying home and working on flattening the curve.The second stage involves lifting restrictions on some lower-risk workplaces, such as retail, manufacturing and offices where telework is not possible. Reopening child care centers will be a part of that second stage as well. The next phase, Stage 3, is months, not weeks, away. That stage will encompass personal care businesses like gyms, spas and salons, sports without live audiences, in-person religious services and other businesses where workers come in close contact with customers. And the final phase, Stage 4, will see the end of the stay-at-home order with the reopening of the- highest risk parts of our economy- being reopened. That includes concerts, convention centers and sports with live crowds.”
Newsom clearly cautioned that stage 4 would come only, "once therapeutics have been developed." Roughly translated this means that the live crowds situation will be possible in California only after a vaccine has been developed and it could potentially take 12-18 months.
Now that the COVID-19 state of affairs is becoming clearer in terms of the flattening of the curve one thing is certain. Muslims will be celebrating Eid-ul-Fitr while following social distancing rules. We will certainly be creating history by staying at home during the most festive day of the year, if the social distancing guidelines are still in place.
Thanks to communication technologies FaceTime, WhatsApp, and Zoom will be our best friends to reach out to loved ones, if we want to see them in person. Otherwise emails, texts, and phone calls are the next best methods to reach out without having physical contact. Due to large gathering restrictions and all businesses, stores, and restaurants closed there is not much to do this Eid except relax and enjoy at home with the family.
I really enjoyed a quote from Jack Ma, the founder of AliBaba which is China’s largest online commerce platform with a supplier directory that connects businesses to global manufacturers directly. It is like Amazon or eBay but originates from China. As a business leader of this gigantic conglomerate he says,” For people in business, 2020 is really just a year for staying alive. Don’t even talk about your dreams or plans. Just make sure you stay alive. If you can stay alive, then you would have made a profit already.” I personally was not very familiar with AliBaba and/or Jack Ma before the pandemic but in a hustle to purchase face masks a friend directed us to it. The search for face masks ended with them being purchased from Amazon, but I was intrigued by the mindset of Jack Ma who now as the cofounder of this $480 billion e-commerce company is the richest man in China.
The billionaire is truly self-made. A real life rags-to-riches story, Ma started out as an English teacher, where he made just $12 a month. Harvard University rejected him at least 10 times, and he was turned down for jobs at an estimated 30 companies. However, with the advent of the internet, Ma identified a business model for a digital marketplace. He had absolutely zero technology or business background, so with this business plan at hand he enlisted the help of 17 friends in 1999 to collaborate with him to create the platform. This is how Alibaba came into existence. In 2014, Alibaba went public with the largest IPO in US history. This sale took him to the first spot in the list of the wealthiest men in Asia according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The takeaway from this is the best practice of learning to roll with the punches. This is the only way for survival and to come out better informed when we turn a page in history, after all this is safely over and behind us.
(Faiza Zia Khan holds a Master’s in Journalism degree from the University of British Columbia, Canada. She has collaborated with news media outlets including Global National and actively volunteers for several community investment projects for the Red Cross, United Way and the Breast Cancer Foundation)
