The Malaysian Insight

ORDINARY folk are fined and jailed while ministers are absolved of any wrongdoing for not complying with the government’s Covid-19 standard operating procedure, said young citizens and civil society groups.

“The rakyat are consistently in compliance with SOP, yet we are the ones who pay the highest price,” said Nuraaina Asri from Taiping.

“All Malaysians should be treated fairly. They are not above reproach just because they are ministers,” said the 25-year-old media executive.

Lancelot Theseira said some ordinary folk could not bury their loved ones who died of Covid-19 while ministers appear to get away with flouting rules without any explanation.

“It shows that these people are not in it to serve the rakyat – all they care about is power and position. This is not ideal in times of a pandemic,” said the 25-year-old social media manager.

The latest in a string of SOP violations by VIPs is the shortened quarantine period of Sabah Deputy Chief Minister II and Keningau MP Jeffrey Kitingan.

He appeared in Parliament on November 24 after undergoing only 12 days of quarantine, instead of the full 14 days as required of those arriving in the peninsula from Sabah.

He caused an uproar in the Dewan Rakyat despite an explanation that he had been released early with clearance from a government health clinic.

Director-general of health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah only revealed for the first time on Wednesday that those under quarantine can apply for early release and with a strict risk assessment.

However, electoral watchdog Bersih 2.0 called the clarification an abuse of power, saying Putrajaya should not change arbitrarily the SOP to accommodate MPs linked to the ruling coalition.

For student Carlos John, 18, the “double standards” and exemption from penalties are no longer shocking.

“We expected this when power-hungry politicians assumed power.

“They think they are doing right by the rakyat by distributing handouts but it is not going to benefit them in the long run.”

Suaram programme manager Dobby Chew said people will start ridiculing the Covid-19 SOP when they see how the rules are bent for those in power.

“People will just see this as political convenience.

“It will erode the trust people have in institutions, not just the politicians but also police who are enforcing the SOP, and also in the Health Ministry which is enforcing all sorts of regulations in trying to protect public health.

“It’s very impressive that they do it so blatantly without any consideration. They don’t even try to cover it up,” Chew said.

Other figures in the spotlight include Plantations and Commodities Minister Mohd Khairuddin Aman Razali, Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin and religious affairs minister Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri.

Khairuddin went to Turkey in early July, and did not undergo the mandatory 14-day quarantine upon returning to Malaysia.

While he has apologised and paid the RM1,000 fine, there is still no explanation as to how he was allowed to skip quarantine, since all those arriving at the airport are screened and issued quarantine orders.

The Health Ministry has repeatedly deferred the matter to the police. The Attorney-General’s Chambers subsequently stamped “No further action” on the PAS minister’s case, saying that he did not do any wrong, as no quarantine order was issued to him in the first place.

In Zuraida’s case, the minister attended an event in April at the Ampang health clinic where, based on pictures of the event, there was no social distancing nor did she wear a mask.

Zulkifli, meanwhile, did not break the rules at the time but failed to exercise judgment when he did not isolate himself voluntarily upon returning from Sabah.

His return to the peninsula was before the government made quarantine mandatory for people coming from Sabah, which held state elections on September 26 amid a spike in new infections.

Zulkifli kept a packed schedule attending events around the country, before testing positive for Covid-19 in early October. His presence at a meeting of the Prime Minister’s Department prior to testing positive also sent several ministers as well as Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin into home quarantine.

The sole cabinet member who took responsibility for his actions was Deputy Health Minister Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali, who was brought to court for violating the movement-control order (MCO) in April by sharing a meal with a group of people at a tahfiz school in Lenggong, Perak.

He pleaded guilty in the magistrate’s court and paid the RM1,000 fine and also apologised to the public.

Since then, government leaders have failed to lead by example, said another civil society activists, who did not want to be named.

“We cannot have ministers being let off and citizens arrested and fined for things like not wearing masks in public.” – November 27, 2020.