MoH slaps organiser of govt’s ‘100-Day Aspirasi Keluarga Malaysia’ event with RM1,000 fine

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 10 — The organiser of Putrajaya’s “100-Day Aspirasi Keluarga Malaysia” event at Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC) has been slapped with a RM1,000 fine, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said.

The event, which saw scant physical distancing, earned brickbats from the public after pictures went viral on social media, and led to many questioning if any action would be taken, similar to that enforced upon citizens.

Khairy also expressed regret over the event, stating that the organiser had initially given its commitment that all programmes would comply strictly with Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs), alongside monitoring, control and continued enforcement activities.

“The congested situation, lack of physical distancing and poor crowd control increase the risk of Covid-19 spreading.

“Therefore, one compound under the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 (Act 342) of RM1,000 has been issued to the organiser for the failure to ensure physical distancing and causing congestion,” Khairy said.

He added that following the revocation of the Emergency Ordinances by the Dewan Negara on December 8, the maximum fine amount that can be imposed on individuals, organisations or organisations is capped at RM1,000.

In the same statement, Khairy also announced that the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) and Road Transport Department’s (RTD) summons payment counters had been ordered to close this afternoon.

“Further information on the method of summons payment and discount offers will be provided by PDRM.

“MoH will continue to monitor the progress of this programme and will not hesitate to issue more fines to the organiser if it fails to ensure compliance with the SOPs.

“We must adhere to the same standards that have been imposed on the people,” he added.

Earlier, DAP lawmaker Lim Kit Siang urged Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob to apologise for not stopping the apparent violations of the Covid-19 standard operating procedures at the government’s “100-Day Aspirasi Keluarga Malaysia” event.

He said that the prime minister should have led by example when it became apparent that SOPs governing crowd size and physical distancing to prevent the spread of Covid-19 had been disregarded at KLCC.

The Iskandar Puteri MP had in a statement said that this failure eclipsed any of the government’s achievements that were announced at the event to mark 100 days of the Ismail Sabri administration.

“By allowing an event which threw all the Covid-19 SOPs to the winds, Ismail Sabri has failed not only as the ninth prime minister, but the nation and the Malaysian people. In fact, it had rendered the 100-day report card of the Ismail Sabri Cabinet a total failure and a sham.

“It showed that Ismail Sabri did not understand the critical importance of winning the war against Covid-19 pandemic and the reason why Malaysia is having the longest Covid-19 wave in the world going back to September last year. How can Malaysia win in the war against Covid-19 pandemic when we have a prime minister who does not understand the importance of the Covid-19 SOPs?

“I call on Ismail Sabri to apologise to all Malaysians for the shocking event yesterday,” Lim said.

Yesterday, Datuk Seri M. Saravanan had also remarked on the SOP breach at the event, saying that he would ask the prime minister to review the prohibition of chariot processions during Thaipusam in January, after thousands attended the government’s “100-Day Aspirasi Keluarga Malaysia” event at KLCC.

The human resources minister and MIC deputy president pointed out that the crowds attended the event that was held indoors, whereas Thaipusam processions were conducted outdoors.

According to a Malaysiakini report, the minister said the Hindu celebration was unfairly targeted with the SOPs governing the event.