In April of 2020, it is practically impossible to escape the effects of COVID-19 anywhere in the world. Escape the virus, maybe, but definitely not the news that has engulfed the world since late 2019. For the first time ever, the world has united to fight one common enemy: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

Even for those considered ‘fortunate’ for not having caught the virus, the virus’ effects can still be felt in every aspect of our lives, from religious affairs to education, travel, economy, and even our mental well-being. It has become increasingly difficult to find the silver lining in this situation. If there were one, though, it would be our newfound empathy for strangers.

All of the sudden, we have a shared experience with 7.8 billion other people from all around the world. People we have never met are now our comrades in fighting this pandemic. We understand their fear, sense of isolation and deprivation because we are experiencing the same things. And what does that lead to? Among others, a rise in altruistic behaviors.

Altruism is the willingness to do things that bring advantages to others, even if it results in disadvantage for oneself. Empathy bears a mediating role that leads to spontaneous altruistic impulse. Without the emotional engagement brought about by empathy, it is unclear what could motivate the extremely costly helping behavior occasionally observed in social animals. Empathy favours familiar individuals and previous cooperators. Today, we can argue that the entire world feels a sense of familiarity with one another.

These days, everybody is trying their best to help and make the situation better. From tailors who dedicate their resources to produce protective suits to university researchers who make free hand sanitizer out of confiscated liquor provided by the police. Bigger corporations are no exceptions; they want to help in their areas of expertise.

Lippo Group, which manages Siloam Hospitals, recently turned one of their commercial and residential buildings – Lippo Plaza Mampang – into an emergency hospital for COVID-19 patients. Such an admirable act, especially given that it only took roughly two weeks between the initial renovation and the opening.

Or not? As soon as the news about the hospital came out, residents and tenants of Lippo Plaza Mampang began speaking out on social media about the management’s failure to communicate the plans to them. They all had to learn the news along with the rest of us.

Arief Rakhmadani, who owns an apartment unit in the building, stated that tenants and residents were only invited for a discussion with the management on 3 April 2020 – four days before the hospital was set to open. “About two weeks ago, all mall tenants stopped operating, followed by some renovation works. My friend who stays at my unit repeatedly asked the security and management personnel what the construction work was for, and they only said it was for renovation,” Arief continued.

He pointed out that while he and other residents appreciate Lippo Group’s efforts in helping the government fight the pandemic, he believes that running a COVID-19 hospital in the same building with residents is a potentially dangerous misstep.

Unfortunately, given the urgency this pandemic, poor management and planning are not unheard of. That is one of the key problems in COVID-19-related altruistic acts, the others being fraudulent practices and disproportionate spotlight on a small number of beneficiary groups. These are the untold stories behind COVID-19 altruism.

This is a time of uncertainties. Nobody has a clear idea on how to navigate the pandemic, there are no proper protocol in place, and people are looking everywhere for solutions and ways to help. This puts us in a vulnerable position, because irresponsible parties can take advantage of the situation.

While fraudulent practices have been around for a long time, in today’s situation a lot of these frauds have involved celebrities and influencers. After all, they can influence us not only in everyday decisions, but also in decisions to support a cause.

Anne Avantie recently launched a donation drive called “Peduli APD” that aims to provide protective suits for medical workers by utilising her resources and skills as a fashion designer. Unfortunately, there were reports of people pretending to be her asking prospective donors to make a transfer to a certain bank account. Anne denied that she and her team ever personally contacted anyone for donation. Her efforts are only carried out via social media; the official bank account details can be found on her social media bio or posts. The case has since been reported to authorities for further investigation.

The final key problem is the disproportionate spotlight on a small number of beneficiary groups. Coming back to the familiarity concept, it is natural that we always think about the ones we interact with first. For example, motorcycle taxi drivers – affectionately called ‘ojol’ – have become modern day heroes in the age of Coronavirus, making them our top of mind priority when it comes to donating. Medical workers, too, have rightly taken the spotlight in terms of support and donation. There is no argument that these people deserve the support, but we would like to shed light on others who need it too.

The transportation industry has been badly affected as the nation fights to flatten the curve, and that directly impacts its workers, including taxi drivers. Unfortunately, taxi drivers’ plights have not been gathering as much public attention. “It is getting increasingly tough for them to get passengers”, Niara Ribka noted. Not part of any formal organisation, Niara and her team decided to launch donation to aid taxi drivers during this difficult time.

Her team coordinates with the heads of selected taxi pools to distribute the donation to ensure it will go as orderly as possible. Their first round of donation ended on April 6th. Then, her team may choose other beneficiaries for the next rounds. This is just one example of communities in need whose struggles are not known to many.

At the end of the day, this pandemic has ignited the public’s altruistic vigor. Unfortunately, this comes with its own set of issues we must be aware of. So how do we know which causes to support? First and foremost, we need to stay informed. About the beneficiaries, the organisations and how the actions are conducted. One of the perks of the internet and social media is that fact-checking becomes much easier these days. Do our research, perform due diligence and then we can start supporting causes dear to our hearts.