Letter to Editor
By Datuk M. Murly
AS a fellow citizen, I am writing on behalf of all Malaysians, out of sheer distress and frustration.
I am bewildered by the flippancy of how MCO 2.0 is being mandated by the Government, ministries, elected officials and authorities.
The state of emergency, the first in 50 years, was declared by our Yang Di-Pertuan Agong, a day after our Prime Minister introduced new coronavirus restrictions across much of the country and issued a warning that the health system was at “breaking point”. On that day, Jan 11, 2021 Malaysia recorded 2,226 new local COVID-19 cases and 4 deaths.
Today, on Jan 29, as I am penning this letter, and as we are nearing the end of movement control order (MCO 2.0), Malaysia recorded the highest new cases ever with a staggering 5,725 new cases with 16 deaths, and the following day, we recorded 5,728 and 13 deaths.
That is a whopping 11,453 cases and 29 deaths in just two days! The numbers have more than quadrupled and the death rate has also increased. Some of those who have lost their lives were younger men and women without known chronic diseases. To think that these men and women were not mere statistics but were a father, mother, brother, sister, son or daughter is heart wrenching.
Unlike the first MCO when almost all businesses were on strict lockdown, this time around the Government decided to “save the economy” by allowing essential businesses to operate with reduced manpower. On the contrary, instead of saving the situation, this move has brought about a detrimental and adverse impact!
Simply because, essential businesses seem to be the main contributors to the rising COVID-19 cases or hot spots for transmissions. On the other hand, small and medium businesses that mostly fall under the non-essential category are struggling to stay afloat with every passing day of a poorly managed MCO 2.0.
Despite the rising number of cases and deaths, the people and the authorities are becoming complacent, instead of being in a crisis mode like we were during last year’s lockdown.
I am concerned that our people have been lulled into a sense of false safety or even worse, complacency. This could be due to the contradiction of the Government is not walking the talk. The people are confused that the Government declared a state of emergency but did not follow through with the right action of imposing a total lockdown.
I personally believe that the main reason for people’s complacency is the lack of communication, especially targeted and coordinated communication about the severity of the situation from the Government, ministries and authorities.
The last community message I personally received from the National Security Council (MKN) was on Jan 23 and since then it has a whole week of total silence. This may lead people to believe that the pandemic is in control and that they can let loose when the opposite is true.
Repetitive reminders sent on a constant basis, advising people to continue to adhere to standard operating procedures (SOPs) are critical and vital until we have the pandemic under total control. This was practised meticulously by the MKN during the first MCO and it was one of the key reasons why the people could keep themselves in check, in the fight against the pandemic.
This is not necessarily to drive fear into people, rather it is impress upon them the severity so that they will not to let their guards down. Considering that people as whole have very short memory span, such a consistent communication plan will keep us alert and focussed on observing preventative measures such as washing of hands, sanitising touch points, wearing masks and practising social distancing, even though vaccines may soon be available.
I am deeply concerned that our people will perish, and our nation will stumble for the lack of critical knowledge, shared information and targeted communication.
Our hospitals are already bursting at the seams with patients and our ICUs are filling up fast with critically ill COVID-19 patients. While turning to private hospitals for help is an option, it is akin to opening the floodgates to greater transmission risks and denying those who are critically ill with chronic diseases from receiving medical care that is due to them.
Yes, it has come to a point where all of us are now ‘frontliners’, and it is only with our combined and concerted all-out efforts that we can flatten the curve. And for us, the people to make this effort, the Government and ministries have to launch an aggressive communication initiative to keep reminding us of the preventative SOPs we must strictly observe.
This initiative in the form of community messages to stay safe by observing strict SOPs have to be regularly rolled out across all social media platforms, news channels, government offices, public places and if possible, every point of contact. In fact, as more and more of us rely on delivery services, apps and platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Google should be called upon to drive home such communication and community messages.
I wonder, why are the hashtags, reminders, news flashes, footers and crawlers during televised programmes and on social media to stay home, wash our hands and practise physical distancing getting scarce?
It was meaningful and memorable hashtags such as #kitajagakita #dudukrumah #stayhomestaysafe and reminders of preventative actions to be taken from the Government that united our nation and motivated all Malaysians to do our part to flatten the curve during the first MCO.
I believe that a revival of systematic communication from the Government will serve the people well in keeping them alert and ever vigilant in these crucial days leading up to vaccination.
While we are hopeful about the imminent arrival of vaccines, I foresee initial hiccups in regulatory processes and hesitations in people that may have to be overcome as immunisation campaign gradually ramps up.
All these will take time, but the COVID-19 virus is no respecter of time or persons. If we become slack in our efforts, the COVID-19 infections will accelerate and the situation in Malaysia will get devastatingly worse, not only to the people but also to the economy.
Even as we are grappling with the devastating impact the pandemic and lockdowns are having on our people, their livelihood and the economy, I hope we are not losing sight of a gathering storm that is building in the background – our children and their education.
School closures and social isolation are affecting our children and, a question we need to ask ourselves is how we as parents or teachers going to help students recover and stay on track, knowing that their little lives may continue to be disrupted by the pandemic.
My fear is that this is going to cost too much in human lives if our cases keep surging at this rate. Therefore, I urge the Government to view the task of flattening the pandemic curve as a ‘war effort’.
Only this time, we should go into battle armed with unified communication as our weapons and ammunition, and our battlefield can be social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Google, etc), and any other public and private portals that can be used to disseminate vital information and community messages.
As our Governing Warriors, it is time to take aggressive measures! I appeal to you to be fearless in imposing a total lockdown of the states in Malaysia where the cases keep surging, including essential sectors and businesses, except for food, medical and basic necessities. This is the right thing to do, as delaying the inevitable means allowing conditions to deteriorate to severe stages.
As the system becomes overwhelmed and vulnerable, frontliners will become tired and less reliable, large numbers of infected people are admitted for medical care. It will create an adverse chain reaction and capacity is clearly going to be affected. We as a nation don’t want that!
What we Malaysians want is for our Government to be bold in doing the right thing for us and our loved ones. – Jan 31, 2021
Datuk M. Murly is a Malaysian writing on behalf of Malaysians.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
