A postcard from the standing desk
Ploughing hardened land
I woke up today wondering if I should face the day with hope or apathy. While the answer is obvious, it’s not as easy to follow through.
A few weeks ago, Malaysia was placed under its third lockdown. Shops, then, were still allowed to open, but customers had strict browsing time limits and no dine-ins were allowed. As of today, only essential stores are allowed to operate (e.g. supermarkets, pharmacies and hardware shops).
Last Friday, at 8.30pm, the government made an announcement—through screengrabs of a PDF statement, uploaded to Facebook—that we were going into total lockdown on Tuesday (today) with no information whatsoever about the new Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for businesses.
After an agonising wait over the weekend, it was only yesterday morning that some information was slowly being released about who would be allowed to operate. By midday, I was told by my printing liaison that they would be operating at reduced capacity. Reassured, I went about my day, printing the illustrated postcards for the Ultra Early Bird pack with another smaller printing company—just in case they had to close. Three hours before standard business operations ended, I was informed by my main printer that they weren’t given the green light to operate under the new SOP.
Which brings me to today: 1 June 2021, my initial print date for Plates, Vol.4: Seeds—pre-Friday night’s total lockdown announcement.
At time of writing, new information about the SOP is still being released, well into the first day of lockdown—at a time where businesses cannot do anything to prep, but merely accept.
So, here I am in this unusual, but familiar headspace of week-to-week, day-to-day, hour-to-hour limbo. And here’s what I’ve scraped from the bottom of the barrel: I didn’t wake up to the sound of construction noise from the houses below. (Because they were no longer allowed to operate under the new SOP). I woke up and linked the domain hosting of two sites I bought last November. I woke up and created a flower-adorned headband with the cloth flowers and craft materials I came across while reorganising. I woke up with the self-reminder of the completed InDesign files and pages ready to go as soon as the printers reopen.
It’s true that we will not be able to harvest the fruits of the seeds we sow today. The hardest part is schlepping over to the tool shed on tough days, like today, to plough the hardened land that has not seen rain for days.
P/S To those who placed an Ultra Early Bird Pre-Order, thank you for believing in this project and for always being the early adopters with each issue. (Yes, I still process each order on my own, so it’s really encouraging to see familiar names that show up.).
The original projected ship-out window is August 2021. For the time being, if the lockdown lasts for a month, I will still be able to meet that promised deadline. However, if this lockdown stretches beyond that, I will be personally in touch with you via email next month if the printers are still not allowed to operate. And to make it clear, Plates, Vol.4: Seeds is happening regardless of this temporal situational roadblock.
P/P/S This is the last week to get your Ultra Early Bird Pre-Orders in if you’ve been meaning to but haven’t already. I can’t wait to share this issue with you.
This week, I’m
working on: a couple of side dish projects
listening to: the Akimbo podcast
reading: ‘Five Star Billionaire’ by Tash Aw
Plates is an independent biannual magazine that uses food as a conversation starter. Intentional and sporadic visual updates on Instagram Stories @platesmagazine @deemaytan. If you enjoyed reading this postcard, feel free to forward it to a friend; and leave a comment. Thanks for reading. See you next week.
// Happy Harvest Festival / Kotobian Tadau Tagazo Do Kaamatan to those in/from Sabah, Borneo / Selamat Ari Gawai Gayu Guru Gerai Nyamai to those in/from Sarawak, Borneo //