Thank God for Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah

We do not get to choose who to lead us in a crisis. The United States did not choose Donald Trump who called coronavirus a “hoax”; Brazil did not choose Jair Bolsonaro who called the virus a “fantasy”; Mexico did not choose Andres Lopez Obrador, who continued to kiss and hug supporters at the height of the global pandemic.

We did not choose Adham Baba. In fact, we did not even choose this government.

Although most politicians would love to emerge as the country’s hero and saviour in a crisis, they are often “uniquely ill-suited to lead”. They are especially worse in a public health crisis that requires an objective, scientific and level-headed approach in decision-making.

In contrast, a professional civil servant like Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, who has the tripartite qualities of service, objectivity and empathy, is the type of leader our country needs.

In a crisis, the most important thing to do is to put the nation’s interest above any personal and political interest. The crisis is not a time for political bickering to gain brownie points or amass popular support. It is a time to make the right decision that will save lives and not make decisions so that others would vote for you.

That is something our Health Minister Adham Baba could not do.

Adham (above) could not resist the temptation of politics by holding teleconferencing with Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to talk about his own achievements. He said that he was personally acknowledged by the world. This included the World Health Organisation (WHO), China, Singapore and Asean ministers, and “500 countries” (we only have 195 countries).

The whole purpose of this exercise was to transform the achievements of thousands of hardworking Malaysians who risked their lives into his own political mileage. This embarrassing hunger for public adoration shows that Adham is less concerned about the actual public health crisis than letting the world know that all the achievements were his.

Adham was also quick to resort to finger-pointing and blame games again – the classic operations of a politician. He said that it was the previous government’s fault for failing to contain the Sri Petaling tabligh gathering (of Feb 27) that resulted in a second wave.

Never mind the fact that the unnecessary and undemocratic coup d'état took place on Feb 23, which unleashed three weeks of political instability. It, once again, showed a dire inability to stay focused on the national interest to solve a crisis without resorting to petty politics.

That is not all. He also said that he is confident that social media could help us, and he made sure we knew his tagline “Kita Mesti Menang” (We Must Win).

A public health crisis cannot be solved by simple marketing or sloganeering. We require an objective devotion to the truth, a commitment to serve the national interest, and an empathetic understanding of the people. Noor Hisham has all of that.

His presence at the daily press conference has been calming and reassuring. We have become so dependent on his reports that, should he be absent one day, we would be worried.

Facts only

An objective devotion means Noor Hisham would not make up numbers or facts to make us feel better. He tells us the truth. You could tell he is not comfortable with the wrong numbers. He often clarifies the actual figures of coronavirus and he makes sure the numbers on his notes reflect the reality on the ground. If there are 195 recovery cases – he would not inflate it to 500 cases just to make us feel better.

He is also not comfortable with half-truths that are not empirically proven. If simply drinking warm water would not cure coronavirus, he would not say it would. That is something only a politician like Adham Baba is comfortable to do.

And Noor Hisham (above) and his team are transparent and honest with what they are doing. They admitted that the earlier classifications of zones became less useful, since it accounts for cumulative cases and not active cases only. This meant that they had to review the modelling that predicts future trends of infections with relevant experts again.

A stern devotion to evidence and data makes it more likely that Noor Hisham makes the right decision. He found that the mass screening that was done in other countries like South Korea is less effective. Targeted screening on suspected clusters yielded a 5.8 percent detection rate, whereas mass screening only found 0.5 percent of positive cases. This meant that it is more economical and effective to have targeted screening as a method of containment.

Most of us do not expect a faultless government. We just expect a transparent and honest government that is objective and professional in what they do. That is how we have generated immense trust for Noor Hisham.

Not about him

Noor Hisham is a loyal civil servant who is committed to public service. He loves his country deeply. After being deprived of honest, capable, and sincere leaders for a long time, we started calling him our hero.

Instead of accepting and thanking public recognition, he flatly rejected it. He said that it was never about him, but the collective effort we could do together. He stayed on that question for barely five seconds before moving on to other critical questions again.

A few weeks later, China Global TV Network (CGTN) named him and two others as the top doctors in the world in the fight against the crisis. Noor Hisham once again avoided any personal recognition and diverted most of the appreciation to the doctors, nurses, police, army, immigration and other frontliners who put their lives on the line for us.

When a young girl, Lara Khadijah, wrote a short thank-you note to Noor Hisham and gave him the bracelet, he took the time to reply Lara. He reminded Lara to keep safe, and once again reiterated that he is not a hero because it took a village to solve a global pandemic like this.

Of course, Noor Hisham is right. The unsung heroes are the ones who had to face the virus every day, while we stay at the comforts of our home. It takes the cooperation and dedication of thousands of frontliners who believe in the higher duty to Malaysians to fight against this invisible enemy.

We would have been in a much different place if Noor Hisham didn’t lead us through this crisis. We do not get to choose who to lead us in a crisis; history chose Noor Hisham for us.

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JAMES CHAI is a legal consultant and researcher working for Invoke, among others. You may reach him at jameschai.mpuk@gmail.com. - Mkini