To our true heroes

To the medical teams working overtime in hospitals: I salute you.
To all the nurses now afflicted with SARS, including the 21 from the Singapore General Hospital who have just caught the virus: You are brave, you have performed your duties and I pray that you will survive this ordeal.
We should be proud to have you with us, fighting to save lives: While the rest of the public locks themselves up at home trying out peculiar home remedies, hoarding antibacterial products and jumping with fear every time a neighbour sneezes.
While landlords reportedly tell foreign nurses to move out of their flats, and taxi drivers refuse either to take them as passengers or drop them at the hospital.
Our nurses are shunned and stigmatised, simply for doing their jobs. Ha – other people get promotions or a raise.
On a related note, I saw a man at Specialist Centre today, wearing a face mask. I could see a gap between the mask and his face. Obviously he didn’t wear it properly. I wondered what the point was.
Face masks are going for S$0.60 at a Guardian pharmacy. I felt like walking about wearing one, after drawing a smiley mouth on it.
Maybe I should.