A catchy rap that teaches people about how to stay safe amidst a virus outbreak in Singapore - sounds familiar, right?

No, we're not talking about Gurmit Singh in his iconic SAR-vivor rap; this time, it's Bye Bye Virus, created to teach students how to stay safe during the current coronavirus situation by none other than Singapore's Ministry of Education (MOE).

But before we get into that, here's a quick throwback to the SARS rap, if you want to take a trip down memory lane:

https://vimeo.com/268362161

He might be back.

Part of lesson package for schools

Bye Bye Virus is part of MOE's "Together We Keep Singapore Strong" lesson package, given to all primary schools, secondary schools, and junior colleges in the country.

The lesson package, which takes one hour to finish, aims to help students recognise how Covid-19 has affected them and the community and what actions have been taken to address the virus situation.

Other important lessons include teaching students to recognise that they can play a part by practising good hygiene, and empowering them to identify current community needs and take action to help support the community.

In addition to the rap, the campaign also includes posters, stickers and a team of virus-fighting superheroes.

The campaign ends with a call-to-action for the students, encouraging them to share their knowledge with their parents and others in their community.

How to Bye Bye Virus

Bye Bye Virus is not only a song, but also a dance, and includes moves popular amongst teenagers, such as the "woah".

We break down the steps for you below:

Step one: Move your hands in circles to the left and the right.

Step two: Roll your hands and then do the milly rock (here's a link to a tutorial if you, like us, aren't in with the times enough to know what that is).

Step three: Hold up your hands and wave them in front of your face.

Step four: Okay this one's easy; point forward and then to the ground.

Step five: Point to the camera, pretend to put on a mask, and then put your hand on your forehead like you're sick.

Step six: Point to the left and the right, then twirl your fingers on both sides of your head.

Step seven: Pretend to throw a ball up in the air and hit the woah.

Step eight: Gesture in a "come on" manner and then do the nae nae.

Here's a gif of Minister of Education Ong Ye Kung learning the Bye Bye Virus dance with a class of Primary 6 students at First Toa Payoh Primary School:

Ong was at First Toa Payoh Primary School to launch a Total Defence Day campaign Friday, Feb. 14.

Ong spoke to the students about the important pillars for this year’s Total Defence Day, in light of the virus: social defence through practising good personal and community hygiene; civil, through important services such as ambulances sending people to the hospital; and psychological, by showing support to doctors and nurses by writing letters.

“When you keep yourself healthy, you keep people around you healthy. When you don’t snatch toilet paper, don’t snatch canned food from the supermarket, other people who need it have it! These are all social defence”, said Ong.

The campaign's goal is to rally students against the coronavirus through practising good personal hygiene and social responsibility.

The campaigns main objectives are to:

• Develop in students sustained habits of personal hygiene
• Help them practise social responsibility
• Build up personal and national resilience
• And rally students to be part of a movement for social cohesion, to stay positive, and keep Singapore strong

The mascots

The campaign also introduced five superheroes, called the “Soaper 5”, which are each connected to a personal hygiene habit.

Super Soaper Soffy encourages students to wash their hands with soap.

Hands Down Hanna reminds them not to touch their face.

Mask Up Mei Mei says to wear a mask if they’re unwell.

Virus Screener Varun pushes them to see a doctor if they’re unwell.

And Wipe Up Wilson calls for them to wipe down surfaces so that they’ll be clean for the next person.

Check out the full video for the Bye Bye Virus song yourself here:

Top image via Youtube / MOE Singapore.