Bulletin No. 2, 2020

2 Chinese University Bulletin No.2, 2020 Reported by amyli@cuhkcontents English translation by ISO team Cover and layout design by gloriang@cuhkimages Coming C loser at a Distance T here is no turning back to the world before the coronavirus. COVID-19 is a great leveller that takes things out of our hands. It redistributes wealth, recasts our ways of living and reminds us of our common mortality irrespective of race, class and age. The incredibly infectious virus has closed borders and all of a sudden nations and nations so much linked by trade and air routes are separated by various quarantine measures. While the politico-economic heat the world feels may last as long as the virus does, the way we live our lives, learn, work and socialize may be changed forever. In the time of the pandemic, everyone keeps his or her distance and the crowd truly become lonely. The decentring process started by the Internet in the last century is now nearing completion. W.B. Yeats said, ‘Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold’. The new-found freedom courtesy of a Snapshots of CUHK in the pandemic