KUALA LUMPUR – It seems as though the Perikatan Nasional regime has not been able to escape controversy ever since it took over from Pakatan Harapan.
Lately, the hashtag #KerajaanGagal (failed government) has been trending on Twitter, with netizens, including politically influential ones, using it to present a disappointing picture of the government led by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
As of 9pm today, #KerajaanGagal was used 116,000 times on Twitter – a development considered ‘timely’, taking into account the web of recent issues surrounding the nation.
According to a report by Malay-language news portal Getaran.my, the Covid-19 vaccination campaign appears to be a dominant topic on the social media platform.
Many users have questioned the implementation of the programme, especially failures by the administration to properly prioritise recipients.
Besides the immunisation schedule seeming erratic, the National Covid-19 Vaccination Programme has also been described as failing to prioritise high-risk groups.
In a post, former education minister Maszlee Malik, who is Simpang Renggam MP, questioned the fairness of the immunisation programme, claiming that it marginalises teaching staff in receiving the vaccines early.
Maszlee’s tweet contains elements of truth, especially given the opening of schools and other education institutions throughout the country.
The detection of various clusters involving school premises presents clear evidence that teaching staff have to face the risk of infection daily.
Despite the constant increase in infections among teaching professionals, the Education Ministry and Higher Education Ministry, Maszlee lamented, have kept mum.
“What about teachers, lecturers, university staff and school administrators?
“Despite daily cases involving them, MoE and MoHE kept silence (sic) about it,” he said in his tweet.
What about teachers, schools' administrators, lecturers and universities staff?
— Maszlee Malik ?? (@maszlee) April 16, 2021
Despite daily cases involving them, MOE and MOHE kept silence about it...#Wargapendidikanperludivaksinsegera#KerajaanGagal https://t.co/em2klD0Yhq
Besides using the #KerajaanGagal hashtag, Maszlee also used #WargaPendidikanPerluDivaksinSegera (the education community needs vaccination immediately).
It seems clear that #KerajaanGagal arose from the people’s craving for positive change within the administration’s machinery.
With the ever-growing burdens of Malaysian society, another hashtag may mean nothing and only serve as a paper tiger.
What seems important is for the current leadership to take note of the situation on the ground. If not, perhaps a general election should take place soon to rightly give vent to the people’s voice. – The Vibes, April 16, 2021
