ADUN SPEAKS | The Covid-19 is spreading drastically across the country. At the moment, the number of confirmed cases in Malaysia is 790 with two deaths recorded.
Public life in Malaysia has methodically ground to a halt after the announcement of movement control order by the prime minister on last Monday. This order has resulted in companies having instituted mandatory work from home policies, hundreds of schools and universities closed or switched to online classes and professional sports suspended play indefinitely.
And yet, many Malaysians seem not bothered by the pandemic. They are still continuing “the normal-life behaviour”, gathering in crowds and chilling out at eateries and stalls as they don’t even care at all of the order.
Continuing this attitude is selfish and reckless during this pandemic. It will speed up the spread of the virus, increasing the suffering for older and more vulnerable people, frontliners and medical workers who will be caring for them.
The rationale of the order is that the impact of distancing among low-risk people is more important to decrease transmission than its impact for high-risk people who move around less. Which means, if low-risk people do not practice social distancing, then the entire process led by the Health Ministry would be ineffective and wasted.
The feeling of wanting to hang out, socialising and do their businesses is understandable. But, the consequences are dire. What happened in Italy is something that every Malaysians need to take as a lesson. The selfishness of the Italians during the first wave of the pandemic had led to thousands of them being lockdown and the number of cases increased drastically.
Spreading of the virus is higher if Malaysians are still ignorant, selfish, unfazed and not showing commitment to helping the government in playing their role to stop the virus.
Once it spreads, untold numbers could be infected. And as these low-risk individuals move around - go back to kampung and chilling out at the restaurants - they threaten to expose others to a potentially life-threatening illness.
Social distancing is the responsibility of every Malaysians.
Please help the frontliners by following all guidelines set by the government and Health Ministry.
As what John Maxwell has said, "The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails.”
The time for the togetherness of Malaysians is needed the most. Let’s play our part to help and fight the pandemic for the sake of our nation.
DR AFIF BAHARDIN is the Seberang Jaya state assemblyperson. - Mkini
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