YOURSAY | Our road to the Covid-19 catastrophe

YOURSAY | 'After 10 months… we are still fumbling our way through.'

MP SPEAKS | 10 questions for the Health DG

GreenHawk6489: There is no such thing as having one’s “hands tied”. Health Ministry director-general (DG) Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah has failed us. A public servant should serve his or her country and the rakyat, not a political party.

If your boss asks you to do something wrong, will you? If yes, then you’re liable to be blamed. If you’re worried, don’t do it. Just resign. Nobody can force you to do anything against your wishes.

Why were people, after the Sabah state election, allowed to return to Peninsular Malaysia without being quarantined? Why, why, why? This caused our current spike in Covid-19 cases to over 4,000 a day and overwhelmed our health system.

We had the conditional movement control order (CMCO), but it wasn’t effective and new cases rose to over 3,000 a day. Now, with the MCO, cases are over 4,000. The rakyat’s livelihoods are at stake! Billions of ringgit have been lost. The rakyat are becoming poorer by the day.

We need a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) to investigate what went wrong. There have been spikes in cases in prisons, immigration depots, construction sites and factories – and they keep recurring.

Why wasn’t Covid-19 contained when we had earlier outbreaks? By now, the government should know what to expect and how to contain it. Civil servants must be held accountable for their decisions.

Just A Malaysian: Noor Hisham is as good a senior civil servant as we can get. I have seen worse. But still, controlling Covid-19 needs a lot of science, data and brains. MCO 1.0 was done well but subsequent decisions were debatable and smelled of political motives.

MCO 2.0 is a mess. After 10 months, we should have enough data to make clear and objective decisions but we are still fumbling our way through and making U-turns. This shows an administration that is weak and unfocused.

DG, get back to your database, make objective decisions and stick to them.

JooGuan: @Just A Malaysian, only when the tide goes out do you discover who has been swimming naked. We were blessed for very long. Maybe our luck has run out.

PinkBison9532: Excellent questions from Bangi MP Ong Kian Ming.

If I may add, is our Institute for Medical Research (IMR) doing genome testing to see if any of the virus mutations discovered in the UK, South Africa and Brazil, which makes it more transmissible, shown up here?

Also, it is only in name that the construction sector is not allowed to operate during this MCO. The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Miti) has issued many approvals to construction sites to continue operating, although those constructions are not considered to have critical public interest.

Construction sites are major contributors to the Covid-19 infection rate. Miti’s cavalier attitude does not augur well to the Health Ministry’s efforts to break the infection chain via this latest MCO.

BlueShark1548: Why is it that Taiwan, with a population of about 23.6 million, has only 862 Covid-19 cases, 756 recoveries, and seven deaths without any lockdown?

Has the DG or Health Ministry contacted the Taiwanese authorities to learn from them?

Anonymous 540: @BlueShark1548, Taiwan roped in the best brains to coordinate and do troubleshooting.

They have daily comprehensive coverage on Covid-19 and how to prevent it on TV. They are transparent on what the government has done and is doing. Easily understandable scientific information on virus transmission is disseminated to the masses.

Most importantly, like in Singapore too, the minister-in-charge makes almost daily appearances, talking about the current state of the pandemic, what the government is going to do to mitigate it, and reassuring the public on the measures taken, instead of just reading the standardised format on Covid-19 statistics.

Their prime minister also makes public appearances often to engage, show concern and assure the citizens of their proactive actions.

In short, the dissemination of information and public awareness in Malaysia is still somewhat lacking across all platforms. That is the difference.

Wither Justice: Ong, thanks for putting on your health hat.

Your questioning makes it seem as if you are doubting the Health Ministry’s capabilities. You have to understand, the ministry is operating in uncharted territory.

I was tested positive for Covid-19 some two months ago and was impressed by the manner in which the Health Ministry and the Sungai Buloh Hospital handled my case.

We have to recognise two things, the world is overwhelmed (except maybe China) by Covid-19 as it is a new experience. It is an evolving experience and just like in other countries, our healthcare infrastructure cannot cope. Accordingly, all stakeholders playing a constructive role with little fanfare will be helpful.

Obviously, and understandably, being in the opposition, your job is to doubt and raise questions to satisfy your constituents. However, the suffering rakyat urge the politicians to temporarily suspend their personal interests and, for once, work for the interest of the rakyat.

There will come a time for one-upmanship among politicians. Be patient.

BlueShark1548: @Wither Justice, the issues raised by Ong and the commenters relate to whether the DG and the Health Ministry are doing enough.

You were lucky in your Covid-19 case. Many others have died. We now have reached a stage where those who tested positive have to wait at home, some for a week, for an ambulance to come to take them to a hospital.

Hospitals and healthcare staff are under severe strain and infections have been rising from the beginning of this crisis to the present record levels. Our economy and people's lives are affected and many have been ruined.

Yes, we are certainly questioning the competency of the DG and the government on how they tackle this Covid-19 crisis, which many felt was below expectations. We are now nearly a year into the crisis and you ask for patience?

Anonymous_15897060865429524: I can never understand the logic of the DG’s defenders. If there is success in fighting Covid-19, they will praise the DG, say all credit goes to him as he is responsible for the success, and it was all his doing.

If there are failings in fighting Covid-19, they will say he is powerless, he can’t do anything, he’s just a lowly civil servant, and all fault is with Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and Health Minister Adham Baba.

Strange logic. That’s what happens when people think with emotions instead of brains and believe in hero worship and cult of personality.

The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. In the past one year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now.

These comments are compiled to reflect the views of Malaysiakini subscribers on matters of public interest. Malaysiakini does not intend to represent these views as fact.