THE Government should adopt the 5,000 children orphaned by the COVID-19 pandemic which had killed more than 29,000 people by setting up a special orphanage responsible for their education from primary to university level as well as all their welfare needs.
As the cumulative death toll of the 22-month COVID-19 pandemic passed the 29,000-mark, some 5,000 children had been orphaned as a result of the loss of their parents who perished in the pandemic.
It took 13 months for Malaysia to record the first 1,000 death on Feb 17, 2021 but it has taken two weeks to record the last thousand deaths from 28,000 to 29,000 COVID-19 deaths.
My worst thought may prove to be true that on Khairy Jamaluddin’s first 100 days on Dec. 7, we will pass the 30,000-mark for COVID-19 deaths in Malaysia.
Will the COVID-19 pandemic be more fatal than the Spanish Flu in 1918 which killed 34,644 people in Malaysia?
Adopting the children is the least the Government should do for the 5,000 children orphaned by the COVID-19 pandemic as the Government must take responsibility for their welfare as they lost their parents as a result of the abysmal government failure to keep the death toll of the COVID-19 pandemic at the lowest level possible.
Malaysia has the highest number of deaths per capita in the ASEAN and East Asian regions with 876 deaths per one million population – a record which reflected poorly on the Government’s capability and public health system.
I hope the Government will act boldly to name Dec 30 as the National Memorial Day for the more than 30,000 COVID-19 dead in Malaysia as well as to set up a special orphanage and adopt the 5,000 children orphaned by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Can the Cabinet decide on these two matters in its next meeting? – Nov 3, 2021
Veteran DAP leader Lim Kit Siang is the MP for Iskandar Puteri.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
