To wonder why East Asian countries can cope with wearing masks?

[sallyballynally]

Picture is of a poster in Seoul subway encouraging people to report others who are not wearing masks. I can only imagine the absolute tantrums that would occur on Mumsnet if that happened.

It constantly baffles me at how in Japan, South Korea and China people actually manage to be sensible and wear masks. My sister is in SK right now and EVERYONE wears a mask, no exceptions. Even toddlers wear them. There's no "it's too hot", "I want to see people's faces", "My humaaaaan rights". It's to the point that people on buses will bang on the windows if they see a pedestrian not wearing a mask. Some posters will say that they wouldn't want to live somewhere where they're socially pressured into wearing a mask. Yeah, I wish we were a country like Japan where there was no lockdown and 996 deaths. Why? Because masks. What is it about British people that makes us so contrary?

I think the human rights aspect is nuanced.

We don’t bat an eyelid if people are compelled to park a car, go to the toilet or dispose of rubbish in specific places. We also don’t complain if people are asked to prove they are fit to drive or prove age when buying alcohol or snitch on people who are not supposed to be driving. Or having to prove you are eligible for medical treatment or to stay in the country.

I guess it is about risk to other people. People don’t perceive the consequences of getting covid as that high compared to being knocked over by a reckless driver or children drinking alcohol... not so sure about the medical care and proving the right to stay in the country

@NailsNeedDoing

Why do you think British people are being contrary? I haven’t seen anyone in a shop not wearing a mask since they became mandatory, people are generally doing as they’re told.

I agree. I went to Asda on Friday and 100% of people were wearing masks.

I don’t understand why MN insists that Brits didn’t stick buy the rules. It was overwhelmingly proved that we did. I’m sure they modelled the lockdown on something like 70% compliance but it was more like 90% compliance in staying at home...(something like that anyway).

I’ve not seen anyone on here say they won’t wear masks. People have pointed out that for months the gvt was adamant they weren’t needed, And the fact that walking past a stranger in a shop for 30s is deemed risky enough for a mask yet sitting next to that same stranger in a cinema or theatre for 2-3 hours is apparently ok. All I’ve seen is that people are happy to say that they don’t particularly want to wear one out of choice, but they will do what they are told.

It’s just social media that’s making such a fuss.

Mask wearing is common in lots of Asian countries anyway for lots of different reasons not all to do with stopping the spread of viruses. People are used to wearing them and seeing others wear them. It is a big cultural shift here. If it had been adopted much earlier I think people would have been more compliant. It seems a bit ridiculous now after months of not wearing them.

I’m happy to wear one as a courtesy but am not getting myself riled up over others who choose not to. The government will need to be more willing to enforce it if they want people to wear them. Do you think we should go down the much more authoritative road that Italy and Spain took towards masks OP? I don’t think we have the police resources for one thing.

@AgeLikeWine
Because they are not selfish, entitled, whingeing idiots. Masks are a trivial inconvenience for a very good reason. Get a grip and get on with it.

Absolutely right.

@PlatinumBrunette
In Japan, the over-riding state of mind is consideration for others before yourself. Not so much here 🤷‍♀️

Not so much? Hardly at all. Look at all the morons complaining about isolating on return from Spain. They've had the unnecessary holiday they refused to live without, and now they don't give a damn about protecting those of us who sensibly stayed at home. Totally self-centred.

Because in countries like China you do what you're fucking told. Their governments do not tolerate rebellion.

We want Taiwanese suppression with Trumpstyle choice.

Reserving the right to complain about a measure that is suggested, then complain when we are asked to do it and finally rebel when told to do it. This process can be reversed.

All whilst making irrelevant equivalencies with totally different situations.

China has a lot of problems with smog as well in the big cities. Masks are a protection against air pollution.

And it's not just Mumsnetters who won't wear masks, I had some guy on a friend's Facebook claim corona isn't that serious and that people who wore masks were sheep and I HATE it when people say that. I'm an adult, I have a brain, I made an informed choice to wear one.

I'll stick with the UK where I have the freedom of speech to whinge about masks and voice my concerns about the treatment of disabled people and poor mental health. Where we recognise that all human lives are valuable and babies/ children with known disabilities aren't abandoned in institutions so that parents can apply for permits to have another child.

China is an amazing country and I've loved spending time travelling through it. I have no love of the Chinese Communist Party though. Chinese people do not have the luxury of admitting that, and decades of purges and fearing monitoring such as microphones in public places to enforce complience make people very, very wary of speaking their minds.

I'm not going to vouch for the other countries cited as I haven't been to them although the social conformist behaviour expected in Japan is associated with poor mental health and suicide rates.

Don't underestimate the importance of having the freedom of speech to have a good whinge.

British people just like to complain but ultimately follow the rules it's not a problem. We're all getting used to the masks and wearing them whilst about it. It's like the weather. You can't do anything about it but you still can moan!

@DappledThings

It's all thought policing. You can't just wear a mask. You have to be happy to wear one.

Exactly, and it's so boring. I can wear a mask and I have done so at all times and places it has been mandated. I will continue to do so. But I also don't see why I can't feel uncomfortable about it, not like seeing it and not do it where it isn't mandated.

I'm doing what I'm asked, don't see why I have to be delighted about it too. Same as the bit of road near me that just got reduced from NSL to 40mph. Completely unnecessary and pointless. I'll stick to 40 along there now but I'm sure as hell not happy about it.

Absolutely

The vast majority of posters ive seen say they wear masks

There are certainly posters who won’t for good reasons

And those that just won’t

Just like the ‘real world’

It isn’t safe for very young children to wear masks. I’d count toddlers in this.

I wear a mask in confined spaces even though I have only been close to immediate family for 16 weeks because
a) it is respectful of community health concerns: you don't know I have been meticulous about social distance rules for months
b) if I were asymptomatic, it would minimise the chances of my passing on a virus.

c) it is the right thing to do under the circumstances. Public health is more important than my individual rights.

It's a totally different culture, you can't compare.

why are there posters to read if everyone easily follows the rules?
Why do they get influenza circulating at all if everyone is considerate about masking at 1st symptoms?

Isn't there a lot of spitting gobs into streets in far east? So much for the higher hygiene claim.

Yes I am in Dubai and have heard no-one at all quibble about masks. My kids (6&9) went to summer camp today (as long as a school day) and wore masks for all bar sports activities. No complaining at all. Baffled by all the drama over them in the UK.

... Lovely hygiene standards in Taiwan. What's not to like?

Not that PRC toilets get any gold stars.

Spitting is habit in Dubai, too.

Sorry, what was that about unhygienic Brits?

In Europe, France had signs up until a few years ago telling people not to spit. Most influenza and coronaviruses are spread among people who live in close proximity. So masks limit, but don't prevent, the spread of contagion.

Doesnt the fact that they need posters and a system for reporting people suggest that perhaps not "everyone" is happy to comply?

What happens when you're reported? I'd imagine that's the real reason most people wear them.

I didn’t say Brits were unhygienic, I said I was baffled by all the mask drama. As to spitting - yes that’s grim but in 13 years here it’s incredibly rare that I have ever seen anyone actually do it. The streets and all public areas were sanitised using drones during lockdown! It’s an incredibly clean city.

Western culture is much more individualistic, very little concept of the greater good. Pisses me off. Just put a fucking mask on.

I’m also in Dubai. We’ve been wearing masks since March now and it’s second nature - phone, keys, mask. There was someone on the Metro at the weekend NOT wearing a mask (a tourist?) and everyone was giving him a wide berth. We wear masks in the office and when the schools go back, kids over 6 will have to wear them.

Yes, there are punitive fines for not wearing a mask, but why wouldn’t you? It protects your own health and that of other people. It’s amazing how quickly you get used to wearing one.

Is there any evidence that people in the UK aren't wearing them as asked?

I don't like wearing them and I've said here, I think they will damage efforts to get the economy going but I have worn one everywhere it's required. What I may do is avoid some of those places. We've been told for months that they're unecessary/ineffective. Now, if shops etc are so dangerous they're needed, despite being only partially effective at best, I don't need to go to most of those places that much.

Or eat with chopsticks or their hands.

😂 What an idiotic comment 😂

Well, as a school mum who is from one of the aforementioned countries once told me, in all seriousness, “we don’t have autism in my country”, that’s one of the mask-exempt groups they don’t have to worry about....