“Bzzt…” my phone was vibrating intensely, and the sound repeated over and over again in the next few minutes. This is one of the things I’ve got used to since the pandemic broke out——nonstop breaking news notification.
Even though I’m now living in London, I still subscribed to newsletters from the media in Wales to keep myself well-informed on things happening over there because following one full year of study in Cardiff, the city always has a special place in my heart. So, when I checked my phone and found out coronavirus cases in Wales were rising every day, I was worried.
Fortunately, not long after that, the Welsh government implemented a travel ban, prohibiting local people from leaving the area; those from England, Scotland, and North Ireland were not allowed to enter too. I considered the new rule quite reasonable and definitive as a necessary step to contain the spread of Coronavirus.
Yet, English people didn’t think so. Instead, they read so much into it. On Twitter, they were leaving hostile comments to criticise Wales for being deliberately against England, not showing territorial integrity and thereby not deserving the central government's funding.
Though it seemed none of my business since I’m neither English nor Welsh, these outrage reactions were still strangely entertaining and appalling in my point of view. I simply couldn’t believe that with a pandemic wreaking havoc, people still have time to take things out on others rather than standing together, showing more sympathy and kindness.
But the drama didn't just end there. After Mark Drakeford, the First Minister in Wales announced a two-week firebreak lockdown, many started to use harsh and ironic words to ridicule the policy, regarding the decision as reckless, brainless, and hasty.
Of course, on the other end of the altercation, Welsh people would not simply sit still bearing the scathing criticism poured down on them. They fought back and pointed out that all the chaos taking place across cities in England was a proven result of how Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his three-tier system had failed.
Watching two sides opposing each other, I was deeply puzzled. Is the enemy COVID-19 or another nation in your own country? Is flattening the curve more urgent or winning the argument over whose strategy is better?
Not only were people from different areas taking sides to protect what they believe, but local and national political leaders in England were also quarrelling over what’s the best to do under certain circumstances. The latest conflict played out in Greater Manchester after Boris Johnson forced the city to go into Tier 3 lockdown and refused to give out additional funds as the mayor requested to improve child poverty.
Same as what I thought, a senior political correspondent said on BBC Global News podcast: “This [conflict] marks an absolute breakdown of political consensus over how you deal with COVID. There’s been disagreement at Westminster between the two main parties.
“Now you’re seeing disagreements between national governments and in this case, regional and national governments… And of course, there are tensions within the governing conservative party…
“So I think it won’t be overstated to say the governments’ policy towards COVID seems in disarray.”
This was the moment I woke up from my reverie. In the past, it had always been my dream job to work as a journalist in a country where media are globally reputed. And I used to think indignantly that it’s unfortunate for me to leave the UK simply because this has been an awful year and no employers would consider hiring a foreign worker who needs visa sponsorship when locals are also losing jobs and struggling to get a new one.
However, now I deem this whole tragedy a fabulous opportunity to see things clearly. Because I finally realised the UK, to say it frankly, is not as a strong and habitable country as I heard of. It is, in my completely honest opinion--overrated.
Perhaps it has changed over the years following Brexit. Or its foundation has probably been crumbling lately as the head of a country is as if the helm of a ship. Another possibility is, this incredible virus is a test assigned to filter out dangerous leaders (look at the US as well).
In general, leading an abroad life in Europe always contains brilliant imaginary pictures that make most of my Taiwanese fellows envious. But for me, that picture has broken.
It even doesn’t matter anymore whether gaining work experience in the UK can make my CV stand out among my peers or help my future career. At the current stage, this country is showing its incompetence to tackle a global crisis when my home country Taiwan, in contrast, has done a far better job with no new local cases found for 200 days.
It’s just time to go home; go to wherever it is safer and stable. And there’s nothing left in the UK worth a stay as an outsider anyway.
After making up my mind, I bought the flight ticket on 5 December, giving myself some time to find an alternative tenant to replace my house contract. When I wondered if it’s possible to rent out my room amid the pandemic, the real estate agent told me not to worry because many would want to stay in London for at least one month to celebrate Christmas.
For the first time in this chaotic year, I felt certainty in prospect. Since I knew what my next step would be, I no longer saw myself as an alienated foreign worker striving to settle in and searching for the sense of belonging, but a tourist who can enjoy wandering around the city and visit as many museums, cafes, and bookstores as possible in one last month of the trip.
Then two days later, Boris Johnson decided to lock down England for exactly one month from 5 November to 3 December. I was literally stunned. “You’ve got to be kidding me” was the only sentence I’d come up with for several hours. I now have no time to take a good, up-close look at the city. And the chance to find a new tenant has become thin. I remember seeing reports saying that the UK government would not consider a national lockdown due to the economy. And Boris Johnson chose not to take scientists’ advice on introducing a short-term circuit break lockdown early on in September.
As mentioned before, at the time people in England even thought the fire break lockdown put in Wales was a sign of overreacting. Now, nothing would be more ironic than this: Wales is going to lift its lockdown and England will have a stricter and longer one.
Throughout social media, I’ve seen tons and tons of people complain about how disturbing these asynchronous restrictions had been to them. “What about the Welsh students who are stuck in England?” one mother on Twitter was asking this question for her son, while another left the comment: “I live 0.8 miles from the English border and have not seen my family over a month. As our lockdown eases, they will go into one. Absolutely ridiculous.”
This time, I feel their pain. Even if I don’t have any families here, I am completely irritated by the government’s unpredictable and changeable manners. It seems like Boris Johnson always misses the best timing to respond to the surging crisis, eventually leaving no choice but to surprise the citizens with sudden, drastic methods that bring way more impacts than they would have if implemented earlier or in a different way.
Yet, it’s pointless to continue the fight over who’s done right and who’s wrong. The biggest problem seems to be across nations. That is, the divided governments in the “United Kingdom” are not on the same page. And unfortunately, when people in charge of the countries can’t work together, it is those not in power who suffer the most--residents, citizens, workers, voters or ordinary people, whatever you want to call them.
By far, COVID is not frightening me in any way; what scares me the most is how Britain has been grappling with it. For so long, I’ve felt like my life was stopped moving forward and caught in the motions with the UK as a whole due to all of the indecisive actions brought by the political leaders and the inconsistency between governments.
I’ve read a Chinese article from one of Taiwan’s media, which wrote: “The reason why Taiwan has handled the pandemic so well is that the government has professionals in charge of the issue who tend to maintain politically neutral.” This is perhaps what the UK government failed to do.
I’m now only hoping there won’t be any extension or new rules in between the lockdown that might affect my flight. Because currently, the last thing I want to think about is the possibility of being stranded in the UK, where the government obviously has no idea how to deal with difficult situations.
Although I will be staying at home for a month in London and after that, a two-week self-quarantine will be waiting for me when I arrive in Taiwan, I’m content with what I’ve got, even feeling a bit privileged.
Because compared with Britons, at least I have somewhere else to go. And it’s not even another place in the warzone. It’s literally a haven now in the middle of this gradually-falling-apart world; far away from the disaster; distant from the catastrophe in the West.
It’s a place where two leading political parties, when facing the pandemic, have suspended their long-running dispute, prioritised people’s lives over their disagreement, and focused solely on combating their common adversary--COVID-19.
*For the Chinese version, please check〈「被高估的英國夢」：全國上下的抗疫態度，讓我徹底清醒！台灣相比下宛如天堂〉
執行編輯：吳玲臻
核稿編輯：林欣蘋
