Today Singapore is taking it’s first steps on the road back to some sort of normality. Phase 1 of the re-opening has begun. Today some businesses are opening back up, and slowly the economy is starting to grind back into gear.
So what can we do and what’s opened up?
Most manufacturing businesses. As well as offices that do not need a lot of social meeting to get work done. Firms in IT and finance can start to welcome employees back to the office. The government are still encouraging people who can work from home to remain to do so. For those businesses that are re-opening their offices there are strict rules in place to ensure staff safety.
One thing that many Singaporeans are happy about today is that we can now visit our close family. We can now visit parents and grandparents who live in other houses. Whilst only 2 visitors a time are allowed it is a good step forward.
Schools are beginning to come back as well. Today is the start of school again for all the students who are taking important exams this summer. As the weeks progress the other years will come back on a rota basis for the time being.
So where does this leave us as a food tour business?
Well restaurants and hawker stalls are still “takeout only.” We think that phase 2 of re-opening will see some restaurants allowed to open. There will of course be strict social distancing rules.
Tour groups are still not allowed and will probably not be until much later in the re-opening.
Should I travel to Singapore?
At the moment the answer to that is no. Unless you have a work visa or a certified reason to enter the country you cannot come here. But this will change. As each re-opening phase is completed we move closer to welcoming back visitors from around the world. One thing that visitors to Singapore must take comfort from is the way that we are opening up. Slowly and steadily.
Singapore has previous experience of dealing with pandemics. The SARS crisis was expertly managed here back in 2003. Our hospitals are some of the best in the world and have coped very well over the past months.
What can Singabites do during this time?
Well as a tour company we cannot really do much at the moment. What we are doing is giving our vendors as much publicity as we can. We held a wine and hawker food tasting blog a few weeks ago. Everyday we chose one local dish and paired it with a bottle of wine. We are trying to give as much free publicity to our hawkers and chefs as we can. We have also been busy designing a new tour. When this is all over you will have even more reason to come and explore Singapore on our food tours.
Until then you can sign up to our email list to stay in contact with the latest Singapore food news. Rest assured we will be here waiting for you all to return. We are looking forward to showing off our new tour as well eating all of Singapore’s amazing food.
Stay safe Singabiters.
