Why I’m staying away from church

Testimony from Elder Roland Low

Our Singapore’s government is to be lauded for their efforts to bring back our overseas students. I am personally grateful because my son Andrew who was in Sheffield, UK is one of those who was recalled and managed to return on 19th March 2020.

However, the return of these students also mean that Singapore has to deal with “imported cases of COVID-19.” As reported on the 20th March, almost three quarter of the imported cases were from UK students.

Andrew hence was served the Stay Home Notice (SHN) upon clearing immigration. He is required to stay home, inside his own room, and observe prescribed procedures to minimize contact with family members. We assigned him exclusive use of a toilet for 14 days!

Although the SHN indicates that the family members are not on SHN, we know that we are at risk no matter how careful we are. We do not know if he is infected or if we are infected by him. I am allowed to go out for groceries or meet friends so long as I maintain the 1 meter social-distancing advisory.

But I chose to stay away from church worship services. There are more people and hence poses a higher risk to the community. I want to play my part to support our government’s efforts to mitigate the risk from returning students.

Actually, live-streaming where I can worship with my family is itself a great bonding and faith-at-home opportunity and blessing!