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Many Singaporeans expressed unhappiness online over the weekend when it was revealed that Bloomberg forum delegates coming here can dine in groups of five at designated restaurants.

Currently, local Covid-19 restrictions have been extended for another four weeks until Nov. 21, and social gatherings and dine-in group sizes are still capped at two.

Ho Ching, the former CEO of Temasek Holdings, then took to Facebook where she had some choice words to address the situation.

Stop throwing tantrums and bitching

On Oct. 27, Ho said the goal of the current restrictions is to "tamp down the infection rate of flow into our hospitals".

She said those who are complaining should hold back.

Ho wrote: "So folks who bitch about their freedom to dine in bigger groups, whether as family or as friends, just stop it!"

She added that citizens still have the freedom to walk in parks, cook at home, or dine in, and families can find ways to bond aside from having steamboat in a restaurant.

"We are just spoilt kids if we keep on harping on our disappointment about dining and freedoms," she wrote.

She expressed her empathy for frontline and F&B workers, who are "working tirelessly".

"Let’s do our best to help, instead of wasting our energies on tantrums and bitching," she added.

Hospital staff are stretched

In another Facebook post, Ho said hospitals are pushing back and postponing elective surgeries to cope with more Covid-19 patients who need intensive care.

While these procedures are elective, the situation now highlights the precariousness as patients who need surgery and treatment may deteriorate and develop more serious or critical conditions without the procedures.

"So let’s stop yelping about dining rules or VTL experiences, and think what we can do to help at least one more person to be vaccinated or boosted," Ho wrote.

Restrictions may last until more get vaccinated

In a response to a comment on another post on Oct. 26, Ho said higher vaccination rates will lead to the relaxation of dining in regulations for the vaccinated, which is likely to happen in the next few months.

A 5 to 10 per cent increase in vaccination rates for seniors, and more booster shots, will be able to relieve the pressure on hospitals, she commented.

In the worst case scenario, however, Singaporeans may have to endure the current situation until mid-2022.

"Hopefully, we can see that in the next 1-3 months, but in the worse case, we may have to tahan (hold out) till 2nd quarter or middle of next year," wrote Ho.

In another comment reply, she said that "instead of yelling for dining for 5, let’s use that energy to persuade people around us to vaccinate, and to boost".

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Top images via Ho Ching/Facebook and Unsplash.