THE enhanced movement control order (EMCO), which locks down most of the Klang Valley for two weeks from tomorrow, is an all too familiar part of Malaysian life. It has become a routine where every two weeks, we sit on the edge of our seats wondering if the liberties we had taken for granted all this while will be clamped down on yet again.
To the privileged who do not need to worry about where their next meal is coming from, it is losing the freedom to sit at their favourite restaurant to enjoy the experience of being waited on or enjoy a Sunday drive outstation.
But to thousands of others, it is literally a matter of life and death.
With a level of desperation probably not seen before in peacetime in this country, stories of starving Malaysians, separated families and suicides are beginning to become another grim component of this “new norm” that we are experiencing.
This government has been given enough time and space to contain Covid-19. Just a year ago, on July 1, 2020, we recorded only one new case and that, too, was a non-citizen. One year on, we saw 6,988 cases and a whopping 84 deaths yesterday.
This brings the total number of cases and deaths since the pandemic began its full assault in February last year to 758,967 and 5,254, respectively.
Albeit this is juxtaposed against a recovery of 688,260 people, the human cost goes beyond the pandemic casualties.
Unemployment is at 4.6%, which the Statistics Department says is a drop from 5.3% in the same period last year. In effect, this means there are 742,700 unemployed persons in the country that the government knows of, as they are registered.
However, these 742,700 people have dependents – spouses who do not work, children, and perhaps, siblings and aged parents.
So, if we are looking at multipliers, it is anything from 1.4 million to upwards of 3.5 million people who have no steady access to basic necessities due to the lack of spending power.
The Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers, meanwhile, says profits for the manufacturing sector have slumped by 80%.
And, Bukit Aman reports that 266 people committed suicide between March 18 and October 30 last year – just seven months.
The 2021 figures are expected to be just as grim, if not more so, based on the lack of progress in battling the pandemic.
And let us not forget the lost generation of schoolgoing children who have not been attending school regularly for over a year. This affects about one million children who have not had conventional schooling.
A recent Education Ministry report reveals fears that preschoolers and lower primary school pupils are failing basic reading, writing and arithmetic due to insufficient tutoring.
There are 207,224 preschoolers registered with public kindergartens and 254,268 with private ones.
What is to become of these kids?
How the backdoor government won and lost goodwill
This government started out as being extremely unpopular due to the way it seized power – bypassing the ballot box.
However, its initial handling of the pandemic earned itself some brownie points. Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s administration was decisive and the first movement control order (MCO) was a success as it brought down the number of cases, where, as mentioned earlier, the country only recorded one new case this time last year.
But then, it started to go wrong. Instead of being efficient, it wanted to be popular, hence the rise of clusters from religious gatherings, balik kampung convoys, and the premature reopening of certain sectors.
The vaccination roll-out, which is heightened now, could have been better planned with wider access; or vaccinating half the population first, where to date, only 7.04% of the population has been fully vaccinated.
These were coupled with ministers themselves flouting standard operating procedures that they preach for the rest of us to follow, creating a distinct social class where there are different strokes for different folks.
Parliament is the only option
Perhaps, it is time to return to the drawing board and get all stakeholders involved in finding a solution.
The emergency declared on January 12 has clearly not worked in curtailing the numbers, and the suspension of Parliament has brought with it a lack of accountability, transparency and imagination in the management of the pandemic and economic recovery.
The king and the Malay rulers perhaps also realise this – perhaps, by virtue of their own wisdom, or because of being on the receiving end of the rakyat’s anger for the first time.
The Yang di-Pertuan Agong himself has decreed the reconvening of the Dewan Rakyat to discuss emergency ordinances.
The fact that many in the current leadership, especially the likes of Law Minister Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan, were defying His Majesty’s wishes with one argument or another, had forced the palace to spell out the king’s demand – open Parliament now!
The people cannot go on living this way. MCO, EMCO, RMCO. Perhaps, the Perikatan Nasional government has run out of ideas and options in dealing with the pandemic.
Returning to Parliament and hearing fresh ideas from opposition colleagues could help spark new strategies, while having select committees continue their meetings could see better management of dwindling fiscal resources.
The voices for this to happen is coming even from within the ruling coalition.
But if it does not wish to listen to its own allies, this administration could take a cue from Malaysians, who are at their wits’ end and hoisting the white flag.
As the saying goes, if you cannot help, at least get out of the way. – The Vibes, July 2, 2021
Terence Fernandez is managing editor of The Vibes and editor-in-chief of PETRA News
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