THE image of former prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob and former health minister Khairy Jamaluddin on the MRT heading towards Bukit Bintang sans masks has caused an uproar among netizens who accused RapidKL of practicing double standards especially when politicians are concerned.
Earlier today (May 30), RapidKL’s Customer Service Support Twitter account uploaded a picture on reminding travellers that wearing face mask is always mandatory when using public transportation and without a face mask, travelers will not be allowed to access the public transport system.
Enraged netizens replied to RapidKL’s reminder tweet with the video uploaded by the Bera MP on Sunday (May 28) showing Ismail Sabri, Khairy and their entourage all riding inside the MRT without their masks on.
Twitter user @taufiqhelios replied to RapidKL’s tweet with the video uploaded by Ismail Sabri with a caption “really double standard”.
tapi….. https://t.co/WZiayA6uOF double standard betul
— トーフィケリオス 🇲🇾 (@taufiqhelios) May 30, 2023
Twitter user @AK_arvinkumar sarcastically noted that wearing masks is compulsory when it comes to ordinary citizens although the authorities turn a blind eye when politicians flout the rule.
“One of them is a former prime minister while the other, the former health minister. Excellent!” he tweeted.
Wajib untuk rakyat biasa tapi bila politikus tak pakai mask terus tutup mata. Seorang tu bekas PM, seorang lagi bekas Menteri Kesihatan. Mantap!
— Arvin Kumar (@AK_arvinkumar) May 30, 2023
Meanwhile, user @swad_shane noted how, in planes, wearing a mask is “encouraged” while in other modes of public transport and in hospitals, it is “compulsory”.
“Just change the rule to ‘encouraged’. Or else, make it compulsory everywhere in Malaysia. This is such a strange arrangement. I wonder what are the benefits [of enforcing such rules],” the user commented.
Dalam flight : digalakkan.
Dalam pengangkutan awam lain : wajib
Hospital : wajibTukar je la digalakkan.
Or else, wajibkan satu Malaysia.
Ganjil aturan macam ni.
Entah apa benefit dia.— Swad (@swad_shane) May 30, 2023
Echoing the previous user, @izk12345 pointed out that wearing a face mask is no longer necessary as Malaysians are no longer wearing them anywhere.
“We don’t even wear masks on a long flight. What is your decision based on? The World Health Organisation said [COVID-19] is no longer a health emergency so please just remove the mask mandate.”
Takyah pakai dah la woi, we’re not wearing it anwhere now. Naik flight berejam pun takyah pakai. Yall decide ni based on what?? @WHO said it’s no longer a health emergency just remove the mask mandate lahh ngekk
— Izzat 🇲🇾 (@izk12345) May 30, 2023
Netizens also responded to Ismail Sabri’s Twitter video with the reminder posted by RapidKL earlier on.
Tagging Khairy in his retweet of RapidKL’s reminder, user @azharlegal asked the former health minister if it is no longer “wajib” (compulsory) for the public to don face masks.
Similarly, user @amer__aljeffrey wondered if Khairy was the one who came up with such a regulation in the first place.
DS dengan KJ tak pakai facemask ke? Bukan ke @Khairykj yang buat rules tu dulu? Takkan dah lupa semenjak tak jadi Menteri ni? Lol.
— Amer Al-Jeffrey (@amer__aljeffrey) May 30, 2023
“Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten the rule now that you’re no longer a minister,” he said. – May 30, 2023
