COMMENT | 2021 has been a very bad year

COMMENT | It is hard to imagine how a year could fit in so many bad events: Covid-19, major floods, economic recession, national emergency, coup d’etat, mental health crisis…

Granted, some of these unprecedented events were faced by most countries around the world, but in Malaysia, these events were made worse by the (in)actions of those in charge of the country’s most important decisions.

The main purpose of this article is memory. By recounting these horrible events, we take lessons as a people so that we remember these mistakes and swear never to forget them.

(1) Two governments that could not survive a crisis

Muhyiddin Yassin’s government came in and out through unceremonious coups d’etat. Cobbled up into a group of rivals and opportunists, Muhyiddin’s government proved to be unequipped for the triple threat of Covid-19, recession and political struggle.

Under his tenure, the country faced many unenviable firsts. Per capita infection and death rates were consistently the highest in Southeast Asia...