【明報專訊】Strolling around rush-hour Central feels surreal these days. Phantoms of closed shops, restaurants, and businesses roamed the empty streets. As our city officials vowed to never ''surrender to the virus'', I wonder if we have carelessly surrendered our standards of living to the pandemic instead. Empty streets reminded me of the historical scorched-earth policy; only that scorching isn't our aim this time. Two years after selective businesses were ordered to close intermittently, even those with scrupulous financial planning would suffer. I wish the city's notorious rent would go down and inflation would take a gap year, but these are only my unanswered prayers. Surely we should not surrender, but how do we define victory?