Activist Nathaniel Tan who went on a hunger strike to demand the government takes concrete action against the pandemic has passed on the baton to Gerakan Belia Punjabi Malaysia (GBSM) president Gurpreet Singh.
Gurpreet will be taking over the hunger strike from Tan, who started his strike on Aug 4.
“The increasing number of deaths and high daily cases is extremely worrying. I am starting to feel an increasing sense of helplessness as all of our efforts continue to fall short.
“As I do not have the heart to sit by and watch my country lose this battle, I will be taking inspiration from Nathaniel Tan to continue his fight.
“I will be going on an indefinite fast from 5pm, Aug 9. From this point, I will not consume any foods and will closely follow the advice of my team,” Gurpreet said in a statement today.
He said his actions are not politically motivated and that he is only trying to “embody the struggles of the rakyat”.
He added that he will continue to push for the five demands Tan made when he started his hunger strike.
The five demands include putting decision-making power in Covid-related matters to the experts, RM500 million funding towards hospitals, transparent data-sharing, and protection for frontliners who expose the realities on the ground.
Tan also posted on social media that Gurpreet will “continue the good fight and the hunger strike, but in Selangor”.
In a short video posted on Tan’s Instagram, he is shown handing a Malaysian flag and a bottle of water to Gurpreet - a symbolic gesture of passing the baton.
“In the end, I knew that Malaysians will always help one another. Thanks to you, I won’t have to suffer alone. This is the way of Malaysia,” Tan said to Gurpreet in the video.
In response, Gurpreet said he wanted the spark that Tan started to become a “huge fire” that every Malaysian will be a part of.
“Because we are not doing this for ourselves, but for every Malaysian.
“Hopefully, whatever we asked for, it will land on the right ears and it will come true,” he said.
- Mkini
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