As we look back over another difficult week of coronavirus lockdown, I’d like to ask you to reflect on the words of Robert Louis Stevenson: “Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.”

There are signs of capable business and political leaders around the world planting the seeds of recovery, and some reporting on this, but much of it is being drowned out by negative media noise, finger-pointing, threats, blaming and bullying. It seems that, with everyone in lockdown and becoming increasingly stir-crazy, with no sport to watch, the levels of emotion and anger are rising on a daily basis.

I believe that China will be an important factor in the global economic recovery after this is all over. Being a planned economy with a long term view, China has spent the past 30 years planting seeds and watching them grow, and everyone has benefited. I’ve been receiving criticism lately for being overly “pro-China” and, for the record, I don’t condone some recent behaviour, threats and bullying from certain individuals who, quite frankly, have let their side down. I’m not blind to any of this.

But I’m an optimist, and where I live (in Sydney), we’re starting to relax some of our lockdown restrictions today, meaning that we can go and visit friends and family in their houses again. In a month’s time, other countries may be relaxing their own restrictions and then we’ll be focusing on the economic recovery so that we can get our jobs/income/lives back again.

When that happens, many people will reflect on some other wise words: “you reap what you sow”.

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