By Xavier Kong
IN the face of this Movement Control Order (MCO) as issued by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, there remain a number of people who seem to think they know better, deciding to flout the MCO as it pleases them.
These are supposedly the smart people as well, mind you. The Bar Council had to issue a circular reminding law firms not to open or send out their staff to meet with clients. A construction company was fined RM50,000 for disobeying the MCO. These have been classified as non-essential services.
Then there are the people who wish for parks to remain open, claiming that people need a place to go to exercise. Excuse me, but which part of the “Movement Control Order” do you not understand? Don’t get me started on the Tablighi Jamaat events. Please don’t. Though, when you think about it, how would Malaysians actually make it to Indonesia for the event there, especially since the MCO has already declared that Malaysians are not to leave the country?
But that’s a tangent. Coming back to the point, the enactment of the MCO does not mean that every industry halts completely. Oh no, the wonders of technology and the internet allow a fair number of people to work from home, and keep their work going in this time of quarantine. (A quick nod here to the Malaysians working in the essential services, thank you for your service.)
However, there exists a third subset of people who shut down an online service. Here I look to the Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM by its Malay acronym), which had stopped its online service. This is an online service which e-wallet companies and banks are heavily reliant on.
Here comes the kicker though – according to the source who spoke to Free Malaysia Today, the online service ran purely on computers and servers, with no human interaction. The only people needed for it actually work from call centres to provide support – support that can be provided remotely.
So why shut it down? Finance and banking are two essential services that are listed in the MCO, and now, that is impeded by the lack of this support service, which was what allowed banks and e-wallet players to conduct due diligence and background checks.
SSM’s online service is what allows the public and private sectors, including law enforcement agencies, financial institutions and law firms, to obtain information and documents for investigations and business purposes.
Former federal minister Liew Vui Keong has also warned that without SSM’s online service during this period, banks might not be able to carry out due diligence on loan applications while investigations by law enforcement agencies might be impeded. This would mean that business will really stop for the duration of the MCO, as these sectors that rely on this support are unable to function.
This then comes back to support systems for essential services. Several support systems, such as factories fabricating spare parts for port equipment maintenance, have already been deemed essential by the government, with those factories getting the thumbs-up to proceed as normal.
So, again, why does SSM not receive this exemption as well, considering it is a necessary support system for the running of banking, finance and law enforcement? It does not even require people to congregate, through the magic of remote working, along with how everything is automated. Conversely, factories that employ scores of workers to fabricate parts for port maintenance are given the go-ahead?
This remains a mind-boggling situation, not only for businesses trying to make it through the MCO as best they can, but also for essential services doing their level best to keep the country together.
As much as this is the first time Malaysia has experienced this form of epidemic, with the government having no experience in something like this, it can be understood when mistakes are made.
However, when the messages coming out are garbled, with rumours preceding actual announcements, along with questionable choices being made, can Malaysians really be blamed for thinking they know better, or panicking outright? Thought not. – March 20, 2020
