Thank you Malaysia, for keeping me save

 This is for all my fellow Malaysians who are still abroad. I hope this gives you a little insight into what went on during my journey from the UK all the way to the hotel I am quarantined in KL. 

To my non-Malaysian friends, this is me unabashedly showing off the exemplary work by our government. This is my tribute to the countless men and women in duty who assisted us with so much care and respect.

It all started on the plane from Doha to KL, where I had transited from Manchester. With a mere 50 people on the plane, we were all fairly separated to sit in isolation from one another. After taking off, we were handed a Health Declaration form to fill up. 

In addition to the general information (name, age, etc), Covid-19 specific questions were also asked. It even asked for our flight and seat number. I figured it was to track down those who came in contact with a suspected Covid-19 patient.

When I landed in KLIA, we were greeted warmly by two men in uniform at the end of the jet bridge. One was coordinating us to queue, strictly keeping in mind the one-metre gap, and the other was guiding us to the skytrain on a Segway. As we approached the skytrain, another policewoman took over and brought us to the bus lounge, where we boarded a bus to the arrival hall. 

Each bus had a maximum of only 10 people, and the seats were marked with an "X" to make sure we sat adjacent to each other. In the bus was another policewoman who made sure we went in one by one, and only allowed the next person to enter once the previous one had sat down. 

A recurring theme you would find is that at every "checkpoint" there were at least one to two officers who did their job so diligently, that there was no hold-up, making the process very smooth. It felt as if this was an extremely well thought out procedure that had been going on for years. All the i’s were dotted and t’s crossed.

Once we alighted the bus, we walked to the immigration counters and were screened by an infra-red thermometry system. After passing it, we were guided towards a team of health officials from KKM on the right. I was very impressed with the number of health officials and the amenities provided for them. There were around 10 officials in what looked like full hazmat suits, each provided with a chair and table.

I was greeted by this lovely woman, who asked for my health declaration form and reaffirmed if I had any symptoms. The constant glee on her face and referring to me as “adik” made me feel like I was in safe hands. The first step to addressing a crisis is to calm the stakeholders. It is the little things like these that reassures one in an anxiety-driven situation. She then gave me a home assessment form where I had to monitor and report my symptoms daily.

After clearing the immigration, we queued up to sanitise our hands, and then were given another form to register our particulars and emergency contacts. We sat down and filled up the forms while waiting for three more batches of people to arrive. After 20 minutes passed, a police officer gave us a short briefing on the do’s and don’ts while in quarantine. 

The question on everyone’s minds was “where are we being taken?” I overheard conversations of people praying that it was a five-star hotel in KL. However dire the circumstances, the innate Malaysian tendency to always expect luxury never fades, does it? The policeman politely replied that he wasn’t sure where we were going to be quarantined, but assured us it was going to be a good place nevertheless.

Then we were escorted by another officer to the baggage claim area where our luggage had already been taken off the baggage carousel and organised for us to simply go and grab them. I figured that this was to reduce the contact between people in case we crowd around the conveyer belt. This also significantly reduced the time taken for us to get re-organised. Take note of the little details that the authorities paid attention to.

Later on, the same police officer led us to the arrival hall where three Smart Selangor buses had already been parked for us to board. Before entering the bus, a fireman proceeded to fumigate our luggage and backpacks one by one, while we sanitised our hands once more before being handed a bag full of snacks by another officer. In the bus was a lady who helped us load our luggage. It was very systematic, only allowing one person in the bus at a time to maintain social distancing.

We waited for around 30 minutes for all three batches of people to board the buses. My mind was still in a state of disbelief, and I kept wondering how much manpower and logistics it must have taken to make the process as smooth as possible and achieve this insane level of efficiency. Before leaving, the bus driver announced that we were being taken to Impiana KLCC Hotel. Mental gasps could be heard from the 15 people on the bus.

The journey to the hotel was just short of 50 minutes. We were all aghast looking at the sight before us when we reached the hotel. People were busy clicking pictures and taking videos of the scene that frankly seemed like it belonged to a distant dystopian future. Dozens of people in full hazmat suits were standing by a long table which looked like an assembly line, busy screening and registering us aliens. 

Before we got off the bus, a man in a Paskau uniform briefed us on the next course of action. He told us to keep our passports ready for registration. We patiently helped each other with the luggage (still maintaining an appropriate distance) and queued up according to yellow tapes on the ground. I was standing in line between two sisters, so I offered the one behind me to take my spot but she politely declined. Soon enough, it was my turn.

The lady at the start of the table proceeded to check my temperature with a temperature gun and passed me another form, similar to the home assessment one. I then handed my passport to the next guy who immediately photo stated it with the photocopier behind him. While waiting for my passport, the following person asked for my phone number and my place of origin. After I received my passport, I was given the room key along with two masks and was quickly thrust into the hotel. While it seemed quick and rushed, it was effective as the primary goal was to limit as much contact with others as possible.

s I walked in, I saw the girl who was in front of me struggling with her four huge bags, so I and another KKM personnel assisted her into the lift. We had a brief conversation and I got to know that she was a third-year student who had to leave the UK and pack her things for good overnight. Laughing at the fact that our rooms were next to each other, we bid goodbye and stormed into our rooms. 

In the room were two boxes of bottled water, plastic bags for the contaminated clothes, a huge bag filled with coffee, biscuits and snacks and so on. We are being served good nutritious food three times a day and housed in a four-star (some five star) hotel all for free of charge. There are 24/7 surveillance and a medical team at our doorstep at all times. I bow down to this great nation with utmost humility, thank you for this Malaysia.

This lockdown/ quarantine has really cultivated the sense of community and the innate feeling of unity that we had lost. Though the time frame of when this epidemic will end is still unclear, it became clear to me that we will pull through, because that’s what Malaysians do best. 

This was further proven when all 74 of us quarantined at Impiana KLCC were added into a WhatsApp group by Lieutenant Zakee (who was in charge of our welfare in the hotel) for ease of communication. The group was instantly flooded with messages of hope, optimism and love and gratitude for the lieutenant, health workers and other officers who heroically put our welfare in front of their own lives.

Why am I writing this? This is a primary account of someone who experienced the plight of leaving a foreign country overnight with an uncertain future. This is to counter the fake narratives online that seek to defame our great nation. 

The entire ecosystem functioned like a well-oiled machine, no stone was left unturned. It is not an overstatement when I say that Malaysia has been one of the most proactive countries with tackling the menace of Covid-19. Therefore, I urge the armchair economists at home, the constant naysayers - if you cannot acknowledge the good our government is doing, at least don’t stand in their way.

Thank you again, Malaysia, for keeping me safe. I have always been, am always, and will always be a proud citizen of this country that has given me so much.

Tanah tumpahnya darahku! 

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SHACIND ANANTHAN is a first-year economics student at a university in the UK. His comment first appeared on his Facebook post here.  - Mkini