JULY 1 — It defies logic and practical sense that the present Government is still struggling to get its footing right fighting the Covid-19 pandemic for more than 16 months. What have they not learnt or wish to continue to be incorrigible much to the detriment of the nation’s wellbeing?

I lost my father to the deadly pandemic three weeks ago, and my sister is now lying in the hospital bed as a result of being a close contact. Mind you, I am not writing this article out of despondency or anger as result of what happened to my family members. I am just reflecting on how the Government is disconnected from reality and to the rumblings on the ground.

Since the beginning of MCO 1.0, I have been advocating for mass testing despite its potential financial impact on the national purse. That was the only sure way of detecting, identifying, isolating and treating Covid infected persons. The MCO 1.0 lockdown was a good opportunity for the Government to perform the mass testing as the main line of effort to contain the spread. This mass testing programme could have been easily executed by extending its outreach by roping in all government clinics, selected private clinics as well as selected private hospitals instead of burdening the government hospitals which are busy handling Covid-19 patients. This will invariably put the nation towards a solid recovery path and identifying hot spots as well as clusters notwithstanding the possibility of a second or third wave. Unfortunately, the Government’s decision to conduct selective or focused testing merely provided a grossly inaccurate data bank which was translated into a direly misconstrued situation for the country.  The Government was decrying the fact that MCO 1.0 was causing the nation to suffer losses amounting to RM2.4 billion a day. Wouldn’t it be money be well spent to conduct mass testing then, to preclude the subsequent reactive lockdowns MCO 2.0, MCO 3.0, the Emergency declaration and now the Phase 1 of National Recovery Plan? This is not a retrospection, but the reality of a global pandemic situation as global pandemics was known to last for years (The Plague and Spanish Flu) before it was brought under control.

Through the numerous lockdowns and SOPs, what have we not learnt? What are considered essential or non-essential services? Which are considered high, medium or low risk environments?

A clear and obvious example is the fresh produce from Cameron Highlands. These vegetable farms produce vital food source for the nation. During the initial part of MCO 1.0, essential transportation services for the vegetable produce was stopped resulting in losses to the industry as well as shortage of supplies to consumers besides skyrocketing prices. Somehow, the situation was addressed when transportation services were allowed to resume. Fast forward to MCO 3.0, the situation arises again whereby the farmers are not permitted to conduct their farming activities causing another round of shortages and high prices. So can this be surmised that this is a government of incorrigibles? Is the government not able to foresee the cause and effects of their decisions even with its past experience? I am no economist or an industry player. I am just a layman and it is just common sense to comprehend how the situation would unfold. It does not take rocket science to understand the simple fact that industries are supported by ancillary and logistic services in order to continue their operations. Without one or the other, it will culminate to bottlenecks and stagnation that will eventually disrupt the supply chain. Hence, the Government must take cognisance that approving an industry to continue operating, they have to ensure all other related services must be allowed to operate as well.

A convoluted and hodgepodge SOP and policies does not help. As the nation grapple with the pandemic, the Government continuously roll out a string of incoherent SOPs and policies that acts to confuse the populace and industries/services rather than provide a clear and comprehensive instructive guide to navigate this trying times. The full array of MCO, EMCO, CMCO, RMCO, FMCO and the latest introduction of Phase 1 of the NRP is mere rhetoric wordplay and acronyms. The Government should be provident in rolling out a standard and easily comprehensible guidelines and SOPs in order to build confidence for the general populace to adapt and the economy to strive. Compounding to this, the whole nation has to grope with the newly introduced essential/non-essential items to be sold in stores. With hardly any guidelines, suddenly the retail industry was blindsided with the requirement to ensure only essential items are sold in stores. How is an item considered essential or non-essential? From which or whose perspective?

A clear-cut example is my own personal experience, where my slippers broke during the first week of MCO 3.0. I was hunting high and low to get a replacement slippers/sandals but I was deprived from a chance to purchase one due to the Government’s ill thought out SOP. What is not essential for others, might be essential for another. Why is the Government making it so complicated and difficult for its citizen? If a store is allowed to operate, why can’t it sell whatever is available in its inventory? Why is the Government trying to control what it can or cannot sell? Does the Government have so much liberty time in its hands amid this pandemic that it has to micro manage businesses and further burden the enforcers with unnecessary job scope? This is an unwarranted distraction from the core issue of pandemic handling and a clear indication of a Government in shambles.

In the process of striking a delicate balance between lives and livelihood, the Government so decided to categorise essential and non-essential services that are allowed to operate under the various phases of restrictions. This whole idea of essential and non-essential services is foolhardy. Either services provide employment and livelihood to the populace which equates to income to the Government in terms of tax revenue. What the Government should have done is to ensure compliance to the SOPs in terms of percentage of workforce at work and operating hours instead of essential/non-essential categorisation. By doing so, it will allow the economy to continue to thrive without having to dole out numerous Government assistance programme which will undoubtedly drain the Government coffers at the same time without deriving any income. In this case, negative plus negative does not equals positive. This is a clear reflection that MITI and the MOF has failed in every sense to restore economic confidence and revitalise the economy.

Health workers administer Covid-19 vaccine doses at the Selangor Covid-19 Vaccination Programme at Dewan Seri Siantan in Selayang June 28, 2021. ― Picture by Hari Anggara

Even as the nation rolls out its vaccination programme, it was paving way towards a strategic glitch. Before embarking on the vaccination programme, was there an in-depth study conducted to ensure how we are going to prioritise the targeted vaccination group? I strongly believe not, as it seems that we are blindly adopting the Western approach rather than adapting to our national priority. The Western approach is that they prioritise the elderly and those with comorbidity. I do not wish to delve into the reasons why they do so, maybe due to humanity reasons.  The elderly, those with comorbidity and young children are less mobile without adult company or assistance. Moreover, the enduring SOP does not permit young children to be moving freely, what more with school closure. Our nation is imbued with a high percentage of mobile workforce that needs to drive the economy. These workforces are quintessential to be present at the work premises to ensure the industries continue to operate and function. The workforce are also the breadwinners of families, are able bodies that are highly mobile and the caregivers to those disabled, children and elderly. For that very reason, the top priority for vaccination should be the workforce rather than those elderly and the stay home populace. Thence, isn’t it a surprise that workplace clusters are a main contributor to positive cases as of late? Vaccinating the workforce will avert the possibility of businesses and the economy from collapsing. This will avert the need for the Government to provide financial assistance to ailing companies due to work restrictions. At the same time, it will minimise sporadic community spreading of the virus. This is akin to killing many birds with one stone.

In conclusion, the number of missteps are unforgiveable. The numerous U-turns are confusing and causing unnecessary anxiety to the citizenry. The proclaimed Emergency thus far does not serve any purpose as no provision under the Emergency has been exercised to address the pandemic. The present Government has been an abject failure in ensuring that the national economy continue to thrive whilst bringing the pandemic under control. As the saying goes, failure serves as a good learning experience but this Government does not seem to be able to learn from its repeated mistakes and failures.

True to the words of Einstein, insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or organisation and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.