Covid-19 Will Be Perikatan’s 1MDB

 

So, when we look at the UK’s success at fighting Covid-19, it is not the success of the government but the success of the British people — such as the 10 million volunteers. Malaysians, on the other hand, are grumblers and complainers. They stay home and grumble about the government.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

It is apparent that the “Kerajaan Gagal” theme is being used to attack Perikatan Nasional just like “Kerajaan Kleptokrasi” was used successfully against Barisan Nasional.

And the proof, kononnya, that Perikatan Nasional is a “Kerajaan Gagal” is the alleged failure of the government in combating the spread of Covid-19, the increase in cases, plus the low vaccination figures.

In the Barisan Nasional “Kerajaan Kleptokrasi” matter, the government failed to address the allegations properly. Maybe everything that was said was true, which was why they were at a loss as to how to explain the matter, or maybe the people who were in charge of the psywar and media campaign were sleeping and were clueless as to what to do.

Half of the UK’s population have been vaccinated while 15% have received their 2nd dose

Whatever it may be, the 1MDB matter was not handled properly and the allegation hurt the government and cost them the general election — together with other issues such as the GST, Pakatan Harapan’s “excellent” election manifesto, etc.

Of course, all that is already water under the bridge and the 22 months of Pakatan Harapan’s rule showed that what they said from 2015 to 2018 was all talk. Pakatan Harapan could not bring Jho Low back to face trial and we now know they were willing to allow Goldman Sachs and Ambank to get off cheap.

Furthermore, we now find out that the Bank Negara Governor, Zeti Akhtar Aziz, was also involved with Jho Low and that the family received tons of money, which they hid in Singapore. And Zeti was supposed to be the jaga, but it seems the jaga was also robbing the bank.

Umno’s halfway measure did not help either. They were not prepared to throw Najib Tun Razak under the bus and yet they were not prepared to come out in his defence. They treated the 1MDB matter as a contagious disease and stayed far away from Najib in case they, too, got infected.

Some Umno leaders said that the 1MDB matter was Najib’s personal problem, not the party’s or government’s problem. However, back in 2015, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said if Najib was not ousted and if he was allowed to lead Umno in GE14, then they were going to lose the election.

Boris Johnson did daily press conferences and Q&A sessions at the height of the Covid-19 crisis

The 1MDB issue was not just a cough and cold, which you can ignore and it would go away. It was not going to go away unless properly cured. And Umno did not cure the problem. In fact, different people were saying different things and at times were contradicting one another.

And that chaotic approach or poor management of the issue cost Umno and Barisan Nasional the election.

The issue against the Perikatan Nasional government is “Kerajaan Gagal” or “Failed Government”. And what is the proof that the Perikatan Nasional government is “Kerajaan Gagal”?

The poor way in which the government is handling the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic, the increase in the number of cases, and the below par performance of the vaccination program is the evidence that the Perikatan Nasional government is “Kerajaan Gagal”.

The British people are fighting back while Malaysians just grumble and complain

I honestly do not know whether the government is doing a bad, fair, good or excellent job at handling the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic and the vaccination program — and I am not qualified to offer my opinion. Suffice to say, however, that the negative perception which the critics are creating is hurting the government.

Some say even Vietnam is handling the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic better than Malaysia. Is that true? I do not know, but that is what the critics say. Is Malaysia really worse than other countries? Which countries are we comparing Malaysia to? Again, I did not do any study to be able to say where Malaysia sits in, say, the top 100 countries.

My only comment is that the perception war regarding the 1MDB matter was badly handled and it cost Umno and Barisan Nasional the election. And the perception war regarding the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic and the vaccination program is being badly handled as well and it will cost Perikatan Nasional the election if they fail to manage the perception properly.

Anyway, statistics and comparison studies are one thing. There is also the fake news in Asia Sentinel and Sarawak Report regarding Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di-Pertuan Agong illegally importing unapproved Covid-9 vaccines plus police officers dying immediately after being vaccinated.

In the early days in 2020, Boris Johnson and his health secretary used to do daily press briefings and Q&A sessions live on TV to inform the nation about the Covid-19 situation in the UK. Today, no one cares any longer and the government is left to go about to do what needs to be done.

The figures as at Saturday, 17 April 2021

UK’s population is 67 million out of which 33 million have been vaccinated and 10 million have already received their second dose. So, in total, almost 43 million vaccines have been dished out.

Malaysia’s population is 32 million. Going by UK’s “standards”, 15-16 million Malaysians should have been vaccinated with about 5 million should have received their second does. Has this happened? If not, why?

By the way, I received my second vaccination on Friday (and the first one on 29th January 2021). And it takes less than an hour. (It was done at the Manchester City stadium, so I had to samak to buang najis when I came home).

But the important thing to note is: there are millions of volunteers to help manage the whole thing. If based on the NHS staff alone, they are so understaffed they cannot manage the 40 to 50 million people over the last three months, or roughly 10-15 million people a month.

Yes, how many staff does the Ministry of Health have who are allocated to manage fight against Covid-19 and the vaccination program? And how many million Malaysian volunteers are helping out, like in the UK?

The British success story: in times of war and crisis, millions of British volunteers come out to fight

In the UK, 100,000 people signed up as “guinea pigs” for the vaccine trials while 10 million British volunteers are helping out in their community.

Yes, the UK is far more successful compared to Malaysia. But then this has always been the British culture since WWII. My granddad (my mother’s father) was a Home Guard Volunteer (as well as railway worker) during WWII.

The Home Guard: every British citizen was a soldier during WWII

The Germans bombed London every night and my granddad plus thousands of others stood guard outside their homes to pull people out of bombed buildings. I remember my mother telling me about the night my granddad came inside for a cup of tea and a bomb fell on his spot and left a huge hole. That cup off tea saved his life.

Anyway, the point I am making is, the British never leave it to the government. When under attack, every British male is a soldier and the female a nurse (even Queen Elizabeth II).

Even the Queen was a volunteer during WWII

So, when we look at the UK’s success at fighting Covid-19, it is not the success of the government but the success of the British people — such as the 10 million volunteers. Malaysians, on the other hand, are grumblers and complainers. They stay home and grumble about the government.

And that is why, as Lim Kit Siang says, Malaysia is a failed state. Malaysia is a failed state because we want zero tax, everything free of charge, and for others to do all the work while we stay home and grumble and complain. Sampai kiamat Malaysia tak akan maju.