On PSLE & Covid

Written by Ps Dev Menon

The last month had been rather harrowing for me. It was PSLE season, and besides the normal stress-levels, there was the uncertainty of a new scoring system plus the insanity of dealing with an escalating pandemic.

Anxiety was palpable all round – with students, parents and teachers. No one knew what would happen, or if the children (who had studied so hard and for so long) would even be able to take their exams. A few hundred (!!) missed their papers –because of infection (which was generally mild), but many more because of quarantine orders and a backlogged healthcare system.

Throughout the entire period I was restless. Not so much of illness, but because of the worry that my social activities would cause the family to get QO/HRW, resulting in my son having to take a PCR, wait 24-48 hours for the result, miss some papers – and hence be utterly disappointed or worse still, resent his father.

After talking to him about the risks, Josiah assured me that he was fine with whatever happened – but this did not ease his daddy’s anxieties. I wondered – what should I do? Should I cancel all my ministry, pull him out of school (like half his class), and hunker down for the next 2-3 weeks? Should I just carry on as per normal and hope for the best?

God spoke through His Word, through the book of Acts. As we followed the adventures of the apostle Paul, it was clear that he made decisions not being naïve to the risks (in fact in Acts 21 it’s obvious that he knew more about the dangers than his peers), but knowing that if his actions were for Christ, then the Lord’s sovereignty would be apparent.

As such, I made my resolution. I would continue my in-person activities, if and only if they were related to the kingdom; to minister to others in the name of Jesus. I would cut everything else. I knew that would not prevent me from getting infected or quarantined, but at least I did it for the Lord, and the Lord would use every situation for His glory. This settled my anxieties somewhat… and thankfully nothing serious happened. My son took all his papers – even the one with Helen & Ivan.