One-month lockdown in Singapore (and LEGO)

With the Covid-19 pandemic not improving anytime soon and that Singapore is suffering with the rest of the world, struggling to contain the spread of the virus. Singapore, like half of the world’s population right now, is under lockdown.

Well, it is not technically a lockdown. The government called it a circuit-breaker. A series of measures enacted to restrict the movement of its citizen in Singapore all in the name of slowing down the spread of the virus within the community should it get worse. You see, in the past two weeks or so, Singapore has recorded a marked increase in the number of Covid-19 cases in Singapore. As part of the second wave of infections from visitors and Singaporeans coming back to Singapore from overseas, we are now seeing sustained and even increased numbers of Covid-19 transmission within our borders. In order to keep the numbers down, or ‘flatten the curve’ so to speak, the circuit breaker measures have been implemented.

So this means, work places that are not deemed essential must be shut down, forcing everyone to work from home. Wearing mask is compulsory for anyone who wishes to visit the banks, supermarkets or malls, and social gathering of any kind is not permitted, subjected to a hefty fine if you do get caught.

So in essence, most of us are stuck at home. We have to work from home, doing meetings using Zoom, doing regular office work at home in your own room and only going out if you need to buy food or groceries.

As for me, in order to pass the time outside of work hours during the weekdays and weekends, I bought a Lego Technic set!

I was initially hesitant in getting this set. I’m not really a fan of trucks or vehicles or any of the Lego sets under the ‘Technic’ line up (except for the Rough Terrain Crane, which I need to get it real soon, because I find it increasingly hard to find online and I have a feeling that Lego is no longer producing that anymore). But we are at an unprecedented period, being stuck at home, that I was like, “why the hell not?”

So I bought it online and it arrived about three to four days later. This thing is bloody huge! Clocking at a little over 2500 individual pieces, this set is more complex than I was expecting. This set is not just a Land Rover Defender vehicle. It’s a vehicle with a fully formed suspension for the wheels, a function steering wheel, wench at the front, with a functioning engine, gear box, doors and many more. Because all these added functionalities in which you can manipulate, this set is incredibly complex to build

I just finished pack 1 of 4 (lego Builders will know what I am talking about when unboxing lego sets such as these) and wow, I am blown away by the complexity of the build. I am going through pack 2, which has the most number of individual pieces and is looking more complex than pack 1. All in all, the instruction manual is close to 500 pages long. yes the booklet (if one can called that considering the sheer thickness of it) is thicc! I thought the Lego Saturn V rocket set was complex and long. But when I saw the instruction booklet for this new set, this one takes the cake, by a mile.

I hope to finish this set before the circuit break ends, or the lockdown is lifted on the 4th of May (May the Fourth be with you by the way), which should not be a problem. But things are looking great and I am looking forward to finally see the finished product, crafted by my own hands no less.