My supermarket timing was really bad.

When the Singapore government raised the Disease Outbreak Response System Condition (DORSCON) to orange (which was the second highest level of emergency) imposing restrictions on day-to-day movement in early Feb, I just happened to run out of essentials. So I made a trip to the supermarket to buy fresh produce, only to meet large hoards of panicked shoppers and rows of empty shelves.

The second time, early in April, running low on food and tissue papers, I needed to go to the supermarket again and it just so happened that the prime minister announced imposing circuit breaker measures (a euphemism for ‘lockdown’). As I feared, the fate of long queues and empty shelves awaited me once more.

Just today (21st April), I needed to make a trip to the supermarket again. And the prime minister of Singapore made a public announcement to extend