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Ho Ching, CEO of Temasek Holdings, has taken to Facebook on Aug. 10 to remind people in Singapore that being able to eat out in groups of five is already a step up.

She also addressed the question about why many people are allowed to congregate in the MRT train at one time but not in restaurants.

Adjust to 5-person limit

Ho wrote that people in Singapore should not grumble that the dine-in limit is set at five persons at the moment.

This is already a step up from before, she wrote, as a reminder to those who are still unhappy with the relaxation of restrictions, given that there is a need to "still minimise the risks of a big outbreak, until more of us are vaccinated and better protected".

The solution, she added, is to get creative and have fun.

Ho said families with more than five people, such as having four children and two parents, have to make a small sacrifice of splitting themselves up into two groups -- with one adult attending to two children at one table at F&B establishments.

Those who have elderly as part of the extended family, pushing the total pax across the allowable five-person threshold, will have to make do for the time being.

Ho wrote: "We can all eat at home together, right?"

"And what’s so hard about splitting up into 2 tables when dining outside the home, one parent to host one table each?"

"Aiyah yah?"

Small sacrifice

Ho also reminded people in Singapore that the current measures are only a "small inconvenience" compared to what frontline doctors and nurses have been doing.

These healthcare professionals have been putting up with "tougher conditions" in their personal protective equipment.

Ho admonished: "Cannot even stomach a small inconvenience for the sake of the larger good for only a few more months?"

"Aw, come on, folks!"

She added that people here should spare a thought for these workers: "They can’t throw in their towels, and yelp why not, why not, why not let us go back to normal, care free life?"

She added: "There is a job to do, lives to keep safe."

MRT train cabins get clean air every 5 to 6 minutes

In her post, Ho also addressed a constant query regarding what appears to be a contradictory stance on allowing people to congregate.

She wrote: "How come we can allow more people in trains, but not in restaurants?"

"Simple!"

Ho explained that MRT trains are equipped with "high performance air cleaning systems" that provide a whole train with clean air every five to six minutes.

This is equivalent of changing out the air inside 10 to 14 times an hour.

"In contrast, many restaurants have split unit aircons," Ho wrote.

Such an arrangement recirculates the air, Ho explained, and this allows aerosol particles to accumulate, including the ones that carry an infectious virus.

Ho added: "As a benchmark, in infectious disease isolation wards, we have air change equivalent to replacing the whole room of air every 5 minutes."

Restaurant aircons don't refresh air that often

She also explained that "bigger restaurants" have central aircons that refreshes the air, but they do so at most four to six times an hour, at a frequency of once every 10 to 15 minutes.

But businesses are not inclined to introduce fresh air as it leads to higher costs, due to the need to use more electricity to cool down the clean batch of atmospheric air.

Ho wrote: "So many businesses may close off the vents, and thus, we end up recirculating stale air, albeit with better cleaning capabilities that a central AHU (air handling unit) can have in place."

"So air quality and air cleaning capabilities and capacities are a major difference between the MRT trains and any restaurants."

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Top photo via Ho Ching & Unsplash