Commentary: Move fast and stay helpful

Dear Readers,

Two Indonesians have tested positive for Covid-19 this week, marking the first confirmed cases in the country. Given how critical Indonesia is to Southeast Asia’s tech community, we can expect even tougher times ahead.

The common advice is to stay calm and immediately make necessary changes to minimize the impact on business. As a friend who was at Alibaba during the SARS epidemic told me, “there are real opportunities even in these difficult times.” Also, the Covid-19 outbreak won’t last forever, so we need to get through this crisis the best way we can.

I’ll be speaking to him again soon, and I hope to share more about our conversations with you next week.

Spend and be helpful

Truth be told, I find that I’ve been spending less money lately.

I’m not just saving something for a rainy day – it’s also because my family and I have avoided going outdoors after Covid-19 hit. So there’s little reason and fewer opportunities to spend.

It seems like that’s the case for most people. Some of the mom and pop shops around my neighborhood are mostly empty, and as someone who also operates a business, I feel for them.

A couple of days ago, after picking up my daughter from school, my wife and I made a point to visit a nearby provision store to buy a snack. We wanted to show support with our wallet.

We ended up getting more than a snack. My daughter saw a flock of toy ducks and wanted it, so we bought it too.

“Duck-duck.”

It turned out to be a pretty good purchase. My daughter’s been having fun playing with her rubber duckies when she showers. My wife and I have explained to her that there’s a nasty virus going around. She seemed to understand and took the initiative to clean the ducks, too.

The conversation went something like this:

Me: “Eh, do you remember the virus? Duck-duck was outside for a long time, so what should you do?”

Daughter: “I clean duck-duck. I want bubbles (she means soap) – I clean daddy, too!” 😂