When the rest of the world (and even the rest of China, even the rest of Hubei) blames the 11 mil pple living in Wuhan, a girl who studied Sec Sch in Sg makes a FB post with a salient point underappreciated by outsiders, "We Wuhan pple are actually the most pitiful victims of all! We are even more pissed off at the fucking animal wildlife traders who started the spread of the virus and directly sabo'ed us, even more pissed off than all you outsiders! All our Wuhan doctors and nurses are heroically sacrificing themselves, their safety and in some cases their lives, all for no fault of our own!"
https://mothership.sg/2020/01/wuhan-situation/
While the Wuhan coronavirus has been affecting the lives of people all around the world, one visitor stuck in Wuhan took to Facebook to share the plight of their community.
Helen Chen, who is currently in Wuhan to visit her family, highlighted in
her Facebook post that she’s heartbroken about comments from netizens — especially those saying that people in Wuhan deserve the outbreak of the virus.
Millions of citizens unable to celebrate CNY with their families
Chen explains in her post the cultural importance Chinese New Year, as it is the only time of the year where families get to reunite and bond over a home-cooked meal.
According to her, it is common that Chinese citizens from rural areas move to work in the cities to support their families back home.
This means that families do not get to see each other often, and usually reunite once a year during the festive period of Chinese New Year.
Stories of unsung heroes
In addition to not being to reunite with their families, Chen reminds us that medical staff work around the clock and have not returned home in weeks while other healthcare professionals have flown to Wuhan to help with the outbreak.
At the same time, factory workers are working during this festive period because of the shortage of protective suits and masks, even though some companies have donated masks.
Chen added that hotels in Wuhan have offered free accommodation to healthcare professionals, for those whose homes are too far away.
While convenience store chains are providing free hot meal to workers and hospitals, food delivery drivers have given up their holidays to deliver food to families who are unable to leave their homes due to the outbreak.
Construction workers are working around the clock to build a hospital in Wuhan.
According to
BBC, a new hospital is being built in Wuhan within 6 days.
Chen then questions if all the people who work so hard to save lives really deserve to get infected by the virus or death.
Most people in Wuhan do not support wildlife trade
While she agrees that there are people “eat everything that moves”, she mentions that most people are just ordinary folks who are as angry as everyone else about the exotic animal traders.
In her post, she highlights that exotic animal traders are selfish as they have taken away priceless family time from all those who are working to combat the disease.
According to her, people on the Internet have been quick to lump those who are doing everything they can to fight against the virus with those who have been participating in the wildlife trade.
Family’s situation
For Chen personally, she wrote about the uncertainty around food supply after she learnt from her parents that many of the shelves at the supermarket were empty.
She added that she is not a permanent resident in Wuhan and was just visiting her family after being away for over a year.
As public transport has been shut down and most vehicles will not be allowed on the road, she is unable to return to university abroad.
According to her Facebook profile, Chen has studied at Crescent Girls’ School in Singapore and the Australian National University.
Mixed reactions from commenters
While Chen shared her post in the hopes of telling her side of the story and those in Wuhan, the comments on her post were divided.
Most comments on her post were xenophobic and people were quick to judge her.
<img src="
https://i0.wp.com/storage.googleapi...20/01/Screenshot-2020-01-27-at-7.18.55-PM.png" alt="" width="488" height="82" class="wp-image-435520 " srcset="
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<img src="
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<img src="
https://i0.wp.com/storage.googleapi...20/01/Screenshot-2020-01-27-at-7.14.53-PM.png" alt="screenshot of mean comment on Helen Chen's fb post" width="477" height="115" class="size-full wp-image-435515" srcset="
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Some of the posts were empathetic towards her plight and disgusted by the negative comments.
<img src="
https://i0.wp.com/storage.googleapi...20/01/Screenshot-2020-01-27-at-7.19.22-PM.png" alt="" width="475" height="107" class="wp-image-435521 size-full" srcset="
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https://i0.wp.com/storage.googleapi...reenshot-2020-01-27-at-7.19.22-PM-768x173.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 475px) 100vw, 475px" />
<img src="
https://i0.wp.com/storage.googleapi...20/01/Screenshot-2020-01-27-at-7.20.24-PM.png" alt="" width="470" height="138" class="wp-image-435523 size-full" srcset="
https://i0.wp.com/storage.googleapi...20/01/Screenshot-2020-01-27-at-7.20.24-PM.png 470w,
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<img src="
https://i0.wp.com/storage.googleapi...20/01/Screenshot-2020-01-27-at-7.19.57-PM.png" alt="" width="477" height="158" class="wp-image-435522 size-full" srcset="
https://i0.wp.com/storage.googleapi...20/01/Screenshot-2020-01-27-at-7.19.57-PM.png 477w,
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Here’s her full post:
https://mothership.sg/2020/01/wuhan-situation/