I'M GOING TO A MASQUERADE BALL!

When I was walking down the streets in Venice, I couldn't help admiring all the lovely masks in the shops. There were intricate ones, bedazzled with jewels and there were also some very scary ones.

And when I was conducting a 5 day teacher training workshop in Hanoi, all the teachers came to class wearing cloth masks. Initially I was taken aback, but they had a reason. They rode on motorbikes on dusty roads to the training centre, hence the need for masks.

So I started making masks for my loved ones during this season. Let it not be said that 'A tailor's child has no new clothes'. What started out as an act of love soon turned into a brisk business as friends told friends who told more friends  about the masks. Just when I started to pack away the sewing machine, another new order would come in.

The wonderful thing about knowing how to sew and loving it, is that, I also have loads of stash related to sewing: fabric,interfacing and elastic for instance. All very essential for sewing masks when most of the shops were closed. Buying them online was no help because delivery might take ages.

If we need to wear a mask, then wear it with style. That is my mantra. Just as I have handbags to match my clothes, my masks have personalities and are not generic. 

I asked my friends and family members back in Malaysia and they tell me that it is the done thing to wear a mask when you go out. Even the foreign workers do that. This is directed by the Health Ministry, especially now that Malaysia is on the recovery phase with more relaxed provisions, so spikes must be prevented. In fact, many shops will not admit unmasked customers  and it is mandatory to wear masks on all public transport.

But over here....I could be the only person wearing one while walking on the street. Whenever I see another person wearing a mask, it is so comforting, as if we have a common understanding and we belong to a band of bonded sisters! 

And there are funny episodes too.

I was trying to get some lamb livers for my dog Hachi who had a bout of nose bleeds and was recovering. So I reasoned that he needed more iron to replenish blood loss. There I was at a safe distance behind the meat counter and I uttered these words.

Me: Do you have lamb livers please?

(What the butcher heard: oip iuyt uiinuy tytb iyyl poiuytrt?)

Butcher: So  you want a piece of sirloin steak?

I burst out laughing behind my mask. He was ingenious. Trying hard to make sense of the mumble behind the mask.

In another instance, I encountered a group of unmasked teenagers along a narrow lane. Upon seeing me, one of them freaked out and immediately pulled his sweater up over his mouth and nose. I needn't have to carry a bell and yell, 'Leper coming through!'

Much has been deliberated over the benefits of masks. The fear that you'll forget to do the necessary hand washing and social distancing for example. The fear that there will be a mad rush for masks, think toilet paper frenzy. The fear that there will be insufficient masks for the front liners.

There is of course mask etiquette. If you wear one, you need to learn how to wear it correctly, take it off correctly, dispose of it correctly or wash it correctly.

The thing is you'll never know what is lurking around the corner. 

I was walking to the post office and lo and behold, there was this person behind me who was coughing and coughing without a care in the world and without a mask. When I was at the supermarket, the fish monger released a series of sneezes. The first sneeze was caught by the mask, and he then took off his mask to sneeze even more!! This is my version of what Joseph Conrad would call The Horror! The Horror! in Heart of Darkness.

So while the nation debates the pros and cons of mask wearing, I will visualise that  I'm going to a masquerade ball every time I go out.

And if it is a ball that I am going to, I'll make sure that my head is held high, and I'm walking with pride as in a triumphal procession celebrating the gift of life and good health.