Kuala Lampur, Jan. 11 -- One of the reasons we managed to "flatten the curve" between April and June last year was because the country was made to behave as if the daily positive numbers were 10,000 instead of the actual 200.

Everyone in the country can surely still recall the "martial law"conditions with police cars patrolling almost every street around 10pm, shops closing early, strict no dine-in rules, the empty roads, the general avoidance of crowds of more than half a dozen people, etc.

Most importantly, we can recall the fear each day when the numbers rose even a tad above 200.

Today? Even if it's 2,000, everyone is making party and holiday plans. Nowadays we are literally eating in a packed restaurant while nonchalantly checking...