By P Ramasamy
ALTHOUGH Health director general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham’s attempt to curb the COVID-19 pandemic is not as good as it should be, it still seems unbecoming for his predecessor Tan Sri Dr Ismail Merican to criticise the man during an online forum without giving the former the opportunity to respond.
The online forum was chaired by the Star Media Group adviser Datuk Seri Wong Chun Wai.
I think that Wong was more enamoured about having two eminent personalities with the title of Tan Sri on his forum, and this clouded his desire to get to the bottom of the pandemic management.
Although Wong was not the key person in the panel, he had unwittingly set the stage for personal attacks against Noor Hisham.
While Ismail rambled on to provide suggestions, on grounds of his earlier experience as Health DG, his unkindest act was to personally attack Noor Hisham.
He said that Noor Hisham lacked the courage to put politicians in line.
Noor Hisham’s professionalism on health matters in general and in particular on the proper management of the pandemic, said Ismail, was lost when he allowed ministers to gain an upper hand.
Ismail narrated his own experience as the former Health DG where he was firm in his decisions to keep the politicians at bay. Since the prime minister supported him, he really did not care about the ministers.
But calling Noor Hisham a “toothless tiger” was something that Ismail should have avoided.
The forum, fuelled by the lack of restrain from the moderator, turned into a Noor Hisham bashing session.
During the early stage of the pandemic, Noor Hisham was lauded for his expertise. He was the man responsible for singlehandedly taking the responsibility to steer the country and its health system out of the crisis.
The irresponsible statements made by our Health Minister was one of the reasons why Malaysians, at large, had looked up to Noor Hisham’s for leadership.
He became the face of the fight against a deadly pandemic.
But for some reason, Noor Hisham is no longer in the limelight. There was, instead, a barrage of criticism mounted against him for various reasons.
As for Ismail, it seems he had spared our ministers from some serious tongue-lashing by targeting Noor Hisham.
To make things worse, even the Government, who is responsible for the current mess, has been spared from Ismail’s diatribe.
The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) pandemic which broke out in 2013 was nothing compared to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Given his vast experience, Ismail should know that the two infectious diseases are hardly comparable; the former pales in severity to the latter.
Taking credit for the control of SARS does not mean Ismail has the answer to contain the present pandemic.
Like Ismail earlier, Noor Hisham is only civil servant. He is a professional and need to be above politics.
But given his status as a civil servant, he is supposed to advise ministers and politicians accordingly. If these ministers and politicians do not listen to him, then the problem is not Noor Hisham.
Contrary to what was said by Ismail, it was totally unfair and unkind to hurl such abuses on Noor Hisham.
Maybe there is a reason why the former Health DG seem to dislike the current one, and maybe this has nothing to do with the management of the pandemic.
Who knows, maybe it has something to do with Noor Hisham’s appointment as the Health DG.
But what makes Ismail think that he was the “super” Health DG?
The fact that he was firm and never allowed politicians to interfere with his decisions seem to indicate the extent he will go to establish his own self-importance.
It is for others to say whether Ismail has been a responsible and effective Health DG. It is certainly not for him to engage in narcissism.
One thing that must be made clear here is that the problem is not Noor Hisham but rather, the ineffective Government and its leaders. – July 19, 2021.
P Ramasamy is the Deputy Chief Minister of Penang and Perai state assemblyman.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
