MP SPEAKS | Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said yesterday that nearly half of the Covid-19 cases in the country could be traced back to the cluster involving a religious gathering in Sri Petaling, Kuala Lumpur which took place between February 28 and March 1 involving participants from all over the world.
If not for the Sheraton Move and the ensuing political turmoil referred to by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong in his royal address at the one-day Parliament on Monday, Malaysia would not have suffered the second wave of Covid-19 outbreak, and our total of Covid-19 confirmed cases would be in the mid-3,000s, if not below 3,000 cases, instead of nearly reaching 7,000 cases today.
When Malaysia imposed the movement control order (MCO) on March 18, we were the top 18th country in the world and the top country in Southeast Asia in terms of the total number of Covid-19 cases, and the top 33rd country in the world in terms of Covid-19 deaths.
Now, we have slipped to the 56th country in terms of total Covid-19 confirmed cases and in fact, if not for the second wave of the Covid-19 outbreak, we should rank above 70 among countries in terms of Covid-19 confirmed cases. We should be behind Thailand, which has more than twice our population. Thailand is presently ranked 70, with 3,033 cases and 56 deaths.
At present, there are eleven countries which have surpassed the 100,000 mark for Covid-19 confirmed cases. They are: (1) United States – 1,570,144; (2) Russia – 299,941; (3) Spain – 278,803; (4) Brazil – 271,628; (5) United Kingdom – 248,818; (6) Italy – 226,699; (7) France – 180,809; (8) Germany 177,827; (9) Turkey – 151,615; (10) Iran – 124,603; and (11) India – 106,475 cases. Peru, with 99,483 cases, is the 12th top ranking country and is less than 520 cases away from reaching the 100,000 mark while China occupies the 13th position with 82,960 cases.
If not for the Sheraton Move and the ensuing political turmoil, Malaysia would not have suffered the second wave of Covid-19 outbreak and would be spared the MCO and conditional MCO with their devastating effect on lives and livelihood in Malaysia.
It was fortunate that Malaysia did not have to depend on the political leadership from the government to combat the second wave of the invisible war against Covid-19 as it was more concerned with consolidating its position in power, including how to lock down Parliament and nullify Parliament of its constitutional roles of oversight and scrutiny of government actions.
I shudder to think of the disastrous outcomes that await the country if it had to depend solely on the political leadership from the government for action and direction, going by the farces, buffooneries and abuses of powers which it had caused, like the “warm water cure for Covid-19”, “15 states”, “500 countries”, “Doraemon”, “Menteri”, “Tik Tok”, as well as serious allegations of discrimination of food aid parcels for needy B40 families in opposition constituencies and the rotten Riza Abdul Aziz plea bargain.
Malaysians have rightly paid tribute to the frontliners who risked their own lives and personal safety to bring the second wave of Covid-19 outbreak under control.
The government should have taken the opportunity of the royal address in Parliament on Monday (two full months after the first imposition of MCO on March 18) to present the government’s exit plan strategy and blueprint in the invisible war against the Covid-19 pandemic to ensure an “all-of-government” and “whole-of-society” approach to win the multiple war of containing Covid-19 and prevent a resurgence and to quickly ensure the bounce-back of the Malaysian economy.
It is a serious dereliction of duty of the political leadership in government that this has not been done.
When will the government present to the public its exit plan strategy and blueprint as experts are now advising that the public have to learn to live with the coronavirus, as an effective vaccine may take two to five years to be developed and widely available?
LIM KIT SIANG is the Member of Parliament for Iskandar Puteri. - Mkini
Apek Lim.
ReplyDeleteLu pigi cakap sama atok Madey.komplin kaw kaw sama lia.
Apasat letak jawatan...boloh kasi suma olang susah lorrr.
Gua punya anak pun sudah susah tak jaga wang malesia lagi lorr
Hei kenapa bahasa awak macam tongsan. Baik awak mertabatkan bahasa ibunda awak supaya bangsa lain hormati bahasa melayu. Sebab marahkan nyamuk jangkan bakar pula kelambu. ....sebabkan orang macam awak bahasa dipersendakan. Bangsa lain boleh bertutur bahasa melayu lebih baik berbanding dgn sampah masyarakat macam awak. Kalau awak betul betul berhajat 'take on' LKS, buat dengan budi pekerti. Jangan asyik tabik dada konon bangsa awak beradap tapi perangai awak macam taik.
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