Covid-19 What Do These Death and Infection Statistics Mean?

The USA is in turmoil. Some people are in favour of lockdown, others against.

You often hear or read:

'The percentage of people affected is less than one percent. That's less than die of flu.'

It is like comparing guns and knives. 

When I go to a doctor, I don't want him to refuse to treat me on the grounds that I am more likely to be run over by a bus. 

Nr to refuse to treat my teenage child on the grounds that he is more likely to die by suicide. Or by driving too fast.

To the average member of the public these figures are meaningless and the public presented with these facts showng tiny percentages ignore them. Many forums in popular media repeat the idea that it is all a lot of fuss about nothing. 

To convey the message that these statistics are important, we may need to illustrate numbers in human and visual terms.

Meaning how many deaths? And families and workers – does a percentage really matter? If we tell the public this means x deaths in ‘your street’ or ‘your children’s school’, or two primary school children in your school will lose a beloved granny, or two schools in your city will lose a teacher, they are more likely to understand the implications and  demand action and comply with suggestions and laws and instructions.

It would certainly put a blight on a wedding if a parent or grandparent died.

It would cause a major upheaval in a family if the grandparents doing babysitting and childminding were taken away so that the parents could not work.

Stay home. Stay safe.

Useful Websites

https://www.gov.sg/features/covid-19
https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/covid-19-a-cautionary-tale-from-spore?
Facebool.trevorsharot

About The Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, club organizer and speaker.

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Wednesday May 13th, lucky for us, as we have Thomas Chen running a workshop on Networking.
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Rehearsing being a good loser - when online

Braddell Heights Advanced on learncool.sg

Nowadays those of us responsible for organizing events have to be careful to keep up the morale of contestants, whether they win or lose.

We need a set of ten commandments for contestants in speech contests.
Each contestant must rehearse saying something positive in the interview whilst waiting. eg 'I did my best'. or, I made some mistakes but I have learned so I will do even better next time. The other contestants were great, just having them competing kept me on my toes.'

On winning the winner should have rehearsed a speech to the others, maybe: You had a great prop, I loved your line, ...'

The runner ups and not place should have a rehearsed speech for the winner.

All the runners up and not placed speakers will have somebody who thinks they should have won. That is why you have five or more judges.

At the Braddell Heights meeting online, 29 April, 2020, I was able to speak to the winner of the Division S contest, Eliya, who I have known for some time. He was at the Braddell Heights Advanced meeting before the contest as well as the meeting afterwards.

After the Area S Division contest the previous Saturday, one contestant told everybody she felt she had failed, even before the results were announced. 

Her anxiety before hearing the results reminded me of two cases where students had committed suicide before hearing their A level results. If only they had waited a day, they would have discovered they had succeeded.

Exams, students. Adults at Speakers' conferences must be more resilient. Hm I heard that a new member of one of the clubs I visit regularly in London had committed suicide. In early 2020. No warning signs

So, a few weeks later, I did not feel i could just shrug when I did hear warning signs.

It was not the failure, but the fear of failure, which tormented them.

But even if you do fail to reach first place, logically if one person is first out of 10, 9 out of the ten contestants must be disappointed.

I related the story at the meeting of the film I had seen about the finals in the USA.

 I asked first place winner Eliya how he felt about winning and losing.

He said he recalled a previous head of Division S advising, "Enjoy the journey. If you are not enjoying it, no point doing it."

He said, "It's the journey, not the destination."

We often hear two sayings:

It is not failure. it is a learning experience.

The other is the popular saying attributed to Edison, the inventor whose persistence benefits us all today with light bulbs.

His saying was, "I have not failed 1000 times. I have found out 1000 ways of not doing it.' 

So that is the moral.

Next time I shall rehearse everybody reacting to good and bad news and rehearsing their pre-results chat.

Author

Author, Author! About the Author

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. (Not related to the actress.)

Author of twenty books including: Quick Quotations; Who Said What When.

See books and profiles on Lulu.com and Amazon, such as Wedding Speeches & Toasts. Also watch videos on YouTube.

See other posts on singers, statues, languages and destinations.

If you want to learn to speak the Queen's English, or Received Pronunciation. join me at my online toastmasters club,

Braddell Heights Advanced. Wednesdays, 7-9 Singapore time which is seven hours ahead of London, England.

I am also a member of

Singapore Online.9-12 pm, Singapore time, Fridays. I am also a member of

Tampines Changkat Advanced.

Harrovians, London.

Toastmasters International Find a Club

https://www.toastmasters.org/find-a-club

https://books.google.com.sg/books?id=upSEBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA21&lpg=PA21&dq=quick+quotations

lulu.com/shop/angela-lansbury/who-said-what-when/paperback/product-21713991

learncool.sg

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What makes people travel?

Travelling Towards
Some people travel towards something, to see the world, looking for something different, a contrast. Other travel to the land of their ancestors, hoping to find a connection.

Travelling Away
Others travel to get away. There are places in many countries known as havens for those escaping their past. (I always wanted to be diplomatic. I think that sentence was my best effort.)

After WWII may people looked for a new country and a news start. Some are getting away from memories. Others are getting away from bad vibes.

I heard about the suicide of somebody I didn't know but who lives in my area. My neighbour, who I shall call Alicia, knows everything. I asked her, "What caused that? Was it depression?"

Alicia said, "It was her mother."

Really!

"Yes," said Alicia. "Same in my family. My mother hated me, tried to break up the marriage. Did the same with my brother-in-law, then my sister-in-law.
 My sister-in-law said to me, 'What shall I do?'
I replied, 'Go as far away as possible.' So she went to Australia!" 

Alicia is nearly ninety. She said with admiration that 'Lionel'*, her husband is ninety-two!

'Goodness,' I gasp. 'Is that a lot different to ninety?'

I suppose it is. Each year after ninety or eighty or seventy, more frail, more of an achievement.

Alicia is in bed after breaking something three times in a fall. So she is not travelling, except in her mind, her imagination, and her memories.

So now I and you have a new view on what makes people travel. Getting away from a feud with a mother or a mother-in-law.

To some extent that is what all holidays are for. A change is as good as a rest, the saying goes.

Useful Websites
Samaritans

Need help? United Kingdom:

116 123

Samaritans

Need help?

Hours: 24 hours, 7 days a week

Languages: English

Website: www.samaritans.org

Visit Australia
https://www.australia.com/en-us

(Names of people changed for privacy.)

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.

News, Newspapers, Singapore's late President, S R Nathan, honoured

You can consult your country's newspapers whilst away from home - I read the BBC news online and the Daily Mail online. I can also read on line the news from Singapore Straitstimes.com ;

This week's news featured two main personalities. Singaporeans are celebrating the success of Jacob Schooling who won the 100 meter butterfly swimming event.

The other life being celebrated was the President.

The news from Singapore is about S R Nathan, former president, who died this week. I discussed this with a Singaporean Indian friend. As in many countries with minorities, a minority VIP is appointed as President when the Prime minister is from the majority group (in Singapore the Chinese are the majority and the Malays and Indians are minorities with English speaking groups).

The president has to be a Singaporean, I think a Chief Justice. As my Indian friend humorously said, "You have to to be a citizen and to have worked hard helping the government and the people for many years. You can't be The President if you're a recently arrived Filipino tap dancer or a tightrope walker!"

In Little India a picture of S R Nathan is in the street alongside a tented area with seats for speeches and homages.

I go back to the Singaporean newspapers with renewed interest. To my surprise I find that S R Nathan is a great example of the rags to riches story beloved of motivational speakers at Toastmasters International meetings all over America, England, Singapore and the world. S R Nathan lost his father at an early age, did badly at school, but in later life through hard work and determination rose to prominence.

(Photo to be added shortly.)
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and