Dear Covid-19: Getting through this together as newlyweds

Dear Covid-19 is a memory project by the National Youth Council (NYC) in partnership with DSTNCT, to shed light on everyday life when Singapore came to a standstill as everyone stayed home.

This is a collection of letters to Covid-19 from young Singaporeans from all walks of life, each going through their own struggles and/or victories. The following story was submitted by Haziq Darajit and Clarisse Lim, both 30-year-old working professionals, on May 8, 2020:

“Dear COVID-19,

Your arrival in Singapore was timely. It’s crazy but did you know we had only missed each other by a few days? We found out that you had checked into the same hotel we held our wedding at a few days after the best day of our lives.

Thanks for being sensible and not showing up where you were not wanted. It remains the best day of our lives especially because you were not there and the safety and health of our loved ones were not compromised.

You seem to really enjoy testing the limits of our new marriage. We had to cut short our amazing honeymoon in South Africa because you had started wreaking havoc in Singapore and our flights back kept getting cancelled. Thankfully, we managed to get on a flight home just before you struck South Africa with full force.

This is our first Ramadan as husband and wife but fortunately or unfortunately, a very different one. Although there is a slight sense of sadness of not being able to observe the traditional way of Ramadan and to share evening meals with the Muslim side of our family, the extraordinary circumstance has given us the opportunity to quietly reflect on the true meaning of this holy month and to strengthen our bond as a couple.

As we live with the non-Muslim side of our family, they have been the ones preparing our daily iftar meals. It is heart-warming to see the effort they put in to ensure we get through this challenging month with ease. We win again, COVID-19!

Weekly video calls are more precious than ever and the love we receive through food deliveries is so treasured. We understand that keeping our distance is merely temporary and it’s the greatest form of love we can show our loved ones in these unprecedented times. So far so good, we are surviving well while existing with you.

You have also made our dream of being full-time doggo pawrents a reality. We get to spend every waking hour with the doggos and they are truly the happiest ones during this period. It’s sad to think how much of their short lives we miss being away at work for most of each day before you happened. We are thankful for this opportunity to slow down and to make up for time lost.

Your plan has backfired, COVID-19. We choose to look at your presence with positivity. Life will never be the same again but it goes on and you will not bring us down.”

If you would like to contribute your stories, click here.