There were strict penalties for breaching the SHN. I signed on the dotted line to indicate I understood. (I did; I had read up on as much as I could before I arrived).
What hotel was I going to be sent to? No idea. Protocol indicated that we wouldn't be told until on the bus.
Conversation
Remember those strict penalties? Later, I went through the docs they handed me. The penalties ranged from 'we take away your hotel room WiFi' to 'we revoke your Singapore visa' to 'we kick your kids out of any school in Singapore they happen to attend.'
Very serious stuff.
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(My friends mostly agreed that revoking hotel room WiFi was the worst penalty imaginable).
Anyway.
We went through immigration, collected our baggage, and then waited near the baggage carousels for our bus to arrive. Everyone from the flight sat together.
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For some inexplicable reason I had picked the longest queues at every step of the way, so I was last out of immigration. My group was waiting for me. When I arrived, a staff member counted us, announced "I have all 11!" and then told us our bus was on the way.
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We waited a long time. Probably 30 mins, but it felt longer. Lots of babies crying in the arrival hall. It was roughly 1am at this point.
Then our bus arrived, and our officer led us out.
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"Where you going?" asked the bus driver.
"Ritz Carlton."
"Serious?"
"Ya."
The bus driver sticks his head out the window, yelling at another driver "eh I got Ritz Carlton!" and grins.
Note: we are still social distancing, and everyone is wearing a mask.
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I mostly assume that the driver is grinning from the sound of his voice. I can't see his face. Nobody can see anyone's face.
A note about the SDFs (SHN Designated Facilities). Earlier this year, the SG gov booked 7500 hotel rooms for exactly this purpose:
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It probably cost them a bomb. Speculation amongst my friends was that it killed two birds with one stone: it helped keep the business hotels afloat (which SG needed for its role as a regional hub), while booking appropriately comfortable spaces for its returning residents.
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Plus the staff at these high-end hotels are skilled. So you could probably get them to follow good protocols.
But the net result is that when you arrive, you might be given something ridiculous (like the Ritz Carlton), or you might be given Siloso Beach Resort. Luck of the draw.
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(I had no idea how Ritz Carlton stack ranked against all the other hotels in Singapore; I also learnt from a friend who got Siloso Beach Resort that it's the cheapest hotel in Sentosa. I don't stay in hotels much, lol).
Anyway, how much does this cost?
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Earlier in the pandemic, everyone got it for free. But starting June 18th, the 14-day SDF stay costs S$2k, with S$200 for a COVID test. Exceptions: if you are a Singaporean or PR who had left SG before 27 March 2020, the cost of your SDF stay is borne by the gov.
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(27th March was when the SG gov issued a travel advisory. So basically if you left after that date, you were disobeying their advisory and deserve to pay).
Don't get me wrong: 2k is a lot of money, but it's still heavily subsidised by the gov. More on this in a bit.
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Ahh, link to the government site explaining the policy: gov.sg/article/questi
And the press release announcing the change in policy: straitstimes.com/singapore/trav
The G seems to imply that such subsidies will be cut back gradually. Simply not sustainable to do keep it up.
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Anyway, back to my journey. We entered the Ritz through a side entrance. This was NOT the main lobby.
Hotel staff were dressed with mask, hairnet, and protective overalls. We sat down and signed another bundle of papers. They also required us to leave a credit card num on file.
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Then we were told that food would be prepared by their in-house dining team, and we were asked to choose a menu. Vegetarian or non-vegetarian? I picked non-vegetarian.
The menu looked pretty great. And, yes, cost of food also included in the aforementioned 2k.
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We were tapped up to our rooms one by one. Still lots of social distancing. We weren't given keycards.
On my floor, a staff member directed me to my room from afar. He told me to latch the door once I was in. No keycard, except the one slot into the wall, for power.
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(Notice the chairs outside the rooms — that's where they leave our meals.)
The room was ... ridiculous.
Probably the most expensive hotel room I've stayed in in my entire life. (Again, I don't stay in fancy hotels much).
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To be honest, I'd be pleased with a dorm room. But I'm not complaining.
My friends checked the prices of the room. In normal times, this room in the Ritz, their most basic, goes for around S$800 a night. It's now around S$499 a night.
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It doesn't take a genius to see that even with the S$2k cost, the total cost is still heavily subsidised by the government.
Food is great. I really have no complaints about anything.
But I think this trip is when it finally hit me: we're a long way away from normal.
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So I'm writing this from the room desk. It's not a particularly ergonomic setup, but again: not. complaining.
It's amazing that the SG government is doing this. And a little frightening once you think about the cost.
They're taking it really, really seriously.
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I'll be here for 14 days, or until the results of my COVID test is out, whichever is later.
That test is likely to happen sometime next week, towards the end of my stay.
I'm also expecting random calls from immigration officers.
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I currently receive 3 SMSes a day, with a link to a website that captures my location when opened. Which is how they keep tabs on me.
I intend to spend this time writing and coding till my wrists hurt. And reading books. Lots of books.
The end.
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