CORONAVIRUS | Postings on social media from leaders of the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government going out to visit each other and having meals together during the movement control order (MCO) have received backlash from netizens.
Screenshots of the postings have been making the rounds on social media with netizens questioning how the rakyat are supposed to obey the MCO when the leaders are publicly flouting it.
Deputy Health Minister Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali had posted a series of photographs on his Facebook of him and his entourage visiting a tahfiz school in Lenggong.
In the pictures, he is depicted handing out goods to several people. About 20 people were also shown eating a meal together while sitting next to each other, including the deputy minister.
However, the posts have since been deleted on Facebook, but the screenshots of the posting continue to make the rounds elsewhere.
“Is the deputy health minister there for party business? Look at the packages, they have the PAS logo.
“The deputy minister is not obeying the MCO by having a meal in a gathering, and on top of that, there is no social distancing.
“Is it that shocking that the rakyat is also not obeying (the MCO)?” said lawyer Syahredzan Johan on Twitter.
Another Twitter user going by the handle “ThisBirdy” also tagged the police in their reply to the pictures.
“@PDRMsia, how now? The rakyat is following the MCO, the minister has broken the MCO.
“There are about 17 to 18 people there, can get RM17,000 summons. Jom, summon, @PDRMsia. Thank you,” they said.
PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution also commented on Noor Azmi’s visit to the tahfiz school, calling it “very worrying”.
“At a time when the MCO has been extended to a third phase, when the healthcare frontliners and Health Ministry are sacrificing their lives to handle the Covid-19 pandemic, when the police and National Security Council (NSC) are advising the rakyat to stay at home and when Ramadan bazaars have been cancelled…
“The deputy health minister is ‘ke sana ke sini’ (going here and there), bringing an entourage for a non-critical visit, eating in a gathering, sharing food and increasing the risk of transmission and not practising social distancing.
“This is extremely irresponsible and shows a bad example to the rakyat. I hope there is no new cluster caused by such a visit,” Saifuddin said in a Facebook posting today.
Aside from Noor Azmi, there was another posting by Terengganu Menteri Besar Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar on Twitter which has since been widely criticised.
“Many thanks to (former Terengganu MB) Ahmad Said who received my visit today on Friday, April 17, 2020, and then we enjoyed a lunch together.
“Alhamdullilah, we got to discuss the current situation in Terengganu and Malaysia in a cheerful and harmonious environment,” Ahmad Samsuri said in the Twitter posting.
The posting was accompanied by four pictures, showing the two men sharing a meal from across a table as well as them talking to each other in a living room while sitting across from each other, among others.
The posting is still up on Ahmad Samsuri’s Twitter at the time of writing. Many of the replies to the posting were unhappy netizens.
Twitter user Ab Razak Ahmad said: “The MCO is only applied for the rakyat at the bottom only, ya.
“With the benefit of the doubt, maybe their houses are less than 10km apart.
“Breaking the MCO is one thing, showing their full lunch meal on the table is another thing. Did they not think that there are rakyat who are counting their rice grains during this MCO?” he questioned.
Yet another netizen said, “Is it true Malaysia has different laws for normal rakyat and politicians? Aren’t we under MCO? How come (they) can go visiting?”
The netizen then tagged the Health Ministry, the police and Senior Minister Ismail Sabri in the tweet. - Mkini
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