FOR many, perhaps, most Malaysians, backdoor Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s abhorrent reference to himself as "abah" or father is in bad taste and needless self-aggrandisement, given the circumstances under which he became PM.
This is also reminiscent of the only convicted former ex-prime minister who called himself "Ajib Kor". One is not old enough to be my father and the other is not old enough to even be my elder brother. The things people do to make themselves look better than they are.
But to joke that he would take out the rotan (cane) and use it if Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs) are not followed is well over the top, especially when he and the government he questionably heads is largely responsible for the sudden spike upwards in Covid cases to reach high levels.
Not only are there double standards in the enforcement of the MCO contrary to what "abah" said in his address to the nation, if he and his government had taken the right measures, the recent spike in Covid-19 cases could well have been prevented.
Here is one prominent example of double standards — a minister who visited Turkey, which had high rates of Covid infection, and blatantly violated the movement control order or MCO by attending Parliament soon after, ignoring quarantine!
The entire Parliament was put at risk but he got away with a fine of RM1,000 when others have been jailed/remanded for less. The police are reported to be investigating further but they are taking an inordinately long time. How long does it take to nail down an MCO violation anyway? It’s open and shut.
Or perhaps "abah" can explain why ministers and others who repeatedly violated the MCO SOPs in terms of social distancing by touching, hugging and allowing their hands to be kissed in addition to not wearing masks have been allowed to go scot-free and are not even admonished.
Clearly, "abah" is not so keen to rotan his ministers and others, the favoured sons who get away over and over again while thousands of his other “sons” and “daughters” are compounded with fines, remanded and even jailed.
These thousands have faced action for not distancing in crowded places - pubs and night clubs have been especially targeted - but at the same time, rallies have been held in Sabah during the recent run-up to the elections with both speakers and the crowd not practising mandatory SOPs.
Can pub and nightclub goers be faulted for the establishments not enforcing MCO SOPs in public places?
While millions of us are diligently trying to follow all the MCO standards so that Covid-19 can be checked and rolled back, the favoured sons and daughters can do what they like. No double standards? Abah, you kid of course.
Let’s take the recent Sabah election which was held on Sept 26 with nominations two weeks earlier on Sept 12. During the two weeks of hot, frenzied campaigning for the elections, people not only crisscrossed all over Sabah but hopped between the peninsula and the state.
Let’s recall what led to the elections. Former Sabah Chief Minister Tan Sri Musa Aman had all charges of money laundering dropped against him. Days later he announced he had a majority in the Sabah state assembly.
That resulted in the then Chief Minister Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal requesting the Governor for a dissolution of the state assembly. The request was granted and hence the elections. We can guess who put Musa Aman up to this given subsequent events and alliances ahead of the elections.
Alright, we have the Sabah elections – but even then, better measures should have been imposed to contain Covid-19. Instead, the virus spread during the campaign period as is now obvious because measures were not taken to limit movements - such measures may restrict what parties could do to influence voting which favours the incumbents.
The unlimited travel between peninsular Malaysia and Sabah and within Sabah helped transmit the virus across the country and many of "abah’s" favoured children and others are now potential carriers of Covid-19, needlessly endangering thousands of others.
Once it was obvious that Covid clusters were forming in Sabah rapidly - which happened well before nomination day itself - what should have been done is to treat Sabah as an infected territory and impose the rules that we have for foreign visitors.
That would mean those who want to return to Peninsular Malaysia from Sabah would have to undergo a compulsory two-week quarantine which would have stopped the virus dead in its tracks as it has previously with foreign infections.
That would also mean that travel restrictions within the state must be imposed at the same time so that there is no transmission of the virus within the states. Why, "abah", did you not do this? Surely the ever-alert Health Ministry’s director-general would have told you so?
Or did you consider political expediency and sending big guns from the peninsula back and forth into Sabah to make promises which would help ensure an election win more important than the welfare of all your “children”? Is it for the same reason that unimpeded travel within Sabah was allowed?
Sorry "abah", it looks like by your own wilful neglect you have put your flock into very grave and serious danger. We expected far better from you but you have disappointed us very badly.
You need to rotan yourself now. But how are you going to do that effectively? The paradox remains: How do we punish leaders who do wrong when all our systems of checks and balances are gone? — The Vibes, October 8, 2020
P Gunasegaram is editorial consultant of The Vibes. His eyes are scanning the horizon but he still sees no sign of that leader who really cares for the rakyat and can come into power.
