The Wuhan coronavirus has been the talk of the town; and in its stead, us kiasu Singaporean have birthed lots of memes, fake news and boomer sayings.
Many of these are ridiculous enough to give us a much-needed chuckle in these times of medical calamity, so we’ve sifted through our chat groups and compiled the top 10 ridiculous coronavirus-related messages that have pinged up:
A screenshot of our colleague’s conversation with her dad
Image credit: Amanda Feng
Dad flexing his creativity
Image credit: Kezia Tan
And thus, boomers have once again reinstated their status as the kings and queens of Whatsapp acronyms.
Image credit: Memes n Dreams (Telegram)
CNY gambling parties + coronavirus apparently leads to the high-in-demand surgical masks being turned into gambling chips.
Fun fact: According to doctors, surgical masks are the most appropriate mask to use to prevent the spread of the coronavirus – N95s are an overkill.
Image credit: Wake Up, Singapore
Thou shall not cough, for fellow commuters will be displeased; just as Deputy PM Heng Swee Keat might be if he comes across this meme.
In all seriousness though, if you were to start coughing in a public space, remember to cover your mouth with a tissue paper and toss it away ASAP to prevent the spread of germs.
Image adapted from: Inside Nueva Ecija
They always say, you gotta read the fine print.
Image credit: Unknown
Sorry engineering kids, but you are Stark with this as your identity.
Image credit: Kezia Tan
The Phua Chu Kang SAR-vivor rap’s equivalent has not yet made its round this outbreak, but that’s fine, because we have plenty of Whatsapp-type videos going around to keep us entertained.
If you don’t haven’t already had an image pop up in your head, by Whatsapp-type video, we mean typically low-quality 2-5 minute long dubbed videos that are often dodgy – so make sure to fact check the information before you believe it!
Image credit: Unknown
There are plenty of excuses some of us might cook up to escape CNY visitings. Being unwell, particularly just after a trip to China, apparently comes up as the most powerful of excuses this year.
Image credit: Memes and dreams (Telegram)
Authorities say that you gotta protect your eyes from the viral transmission, but we’re fairly certain this is not what they meant.
Wash your hands with soap before touching your eyes instead – that’ll do the job just as well, if not better.
Image credit: Kezia Tan
Recently, a job recruitment message by Raffles Medical appeared all over chat groups with its temperature screening job offer of up to $48/h at Changi Airport. Plenty of post-A level kids thought they struck a gold mine!
But as it turns out, this was a case of misinformation. The rates turned out to be $12/h for the day shift and $16/h for the night shift instead, which is still pretty great, albeit not as amazing. The ad worked though, and all positions are now full.
Image credit: Soh Rui Yong
Areas like Woodlands have been the target of fake news. This one, in particular, was so widespread, the Ministry of Health (MOH) had to put a disclaimer right at the top of their webpage to debunk the claim.
Screenshot from the MOH website
Image credit: MOH
To get actual reports of the updates, you can head to MOH’s website where there’s a frequently-updated table on the latest coronavirus news and happenings.
Some of us are freaking out and refusing to leave home, while others are having a ball of a time with memes. But whichever category you’re in, always make sure to take lots of precautions to avoid catching or spreading the virus. Here are some things to note:
For more on the COVID-19 outbreak, you can read:
Just an hour away from KL!
Taichung is only an hour by High Speed Rail from Taipei or Taoyuan station.
No more stressing over what to get your loved ones for Christmas.
Gone are the days when family photoshoots used to be boring and extra formal.
Here are all the best things to do this weekend in Singapore.
Meet new-to-Singapore species as well.