(no subject)

[timelets]

Singapore PM seems to be the best source of information about COVID-19's and what could lie ahead for all of us, including here in the US.

Watch on YouTube

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[tijd]

The world is not devoid of good leaders.

I really like PM of New Zealand. Her announcement was close to perfect: https://www.beehive.govt.nz/speech/prime-minister-covid-19-alert-level-increased

And so was her Q&A session from home: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMA6Gz82iiQ

[timelets]

Objectively, the response from South Korean and Taiwanese leaders was the best, but I understand neither Korean, nor Mandarin.

[tijd]

"I have experienced physical shock in recent weeks watching leaders like Angela Merkel in Germany, Justin Trudeau in Canada and Emmanuel Macron in France speak about the pandemic. We Americans do not grasp how insidiously Trump has accustomed us to malignancy. A germophobe, he has spread the germ of untruth.
That self-satisfied, nasal and plaintive presidential voice has become a norm. And so merely to hear a sane, caring, scientific response to the virus from other leaders is riveting and reorienting."
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/27/opinion/coronavirus-pandemic.html

Translation of the Taiwanese president's remarks (January 30, 2020):

"Our government views preventing the spread of the coronavirus with the same gravity as a battle, and we will ensure that ample medical and disease prevention resources are available domestically, so that we can give our all to disease prevention work. In light of humanitarian considerations, we would also like to express our concern and condolences to citizens in China who have been affected by the coronavirus outbreak, and we are willing to provide necessary assistance where we are able."
https://english.president.gov.tw/News/5969

Translation of the South Korean president's remarks (January 30, 2020):

"The weapon that can protect us from the new coronavirus is not fear and aversion but trust and cooperation. We have the world’s best quarantine-related capabilities. We also have accumulated experience from past incidents. Moreover, the Government is doing its best. We will be able to prevail successfully provided that the people and local communities cooperate. If the central and local governments go to any length together to do their work and each and every one of us thoroughly sticks to the guidelines for preventing the spread of disease, we will be able to surmount this while minimizing damage from the new coronavirus. I believe that the people possess the maturity needed, and the Government will double its efforts as well."
https://english1.president.go.kr/Briefingspeeches/Speeches/747

American president's remarks (same day):

"Now we’re working very strongly with China on the coronavirus — that’s a new thing that a lot of people are talking about. Hopefully it won’t be as bad as some people think it could be. But we’re working very closely with them and with a lot of other people and a lot of other countries. And we think we have it very well under control. We have very little problem in this country at this moment — five. And those people are all recuperating successfully. But we’re working very closely with China and other countries, and we think it’s going to have a very good ending for it. So that I can assure you."
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-usmca-celebration-american-workers-warren-mi/

[timelets]

Thanks for the links — the contrast is astounding.