Contradictheory: We're all adults and can handle a crisis, you know

Patients being brought out from the ward that had caught fire at Hospital Sultanah Aminah in Johor Baru on June 28,2020. All patients were evacuated and transferred to a nearby hospital.

At a recent press conference, Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said that "People's acceptance of the government's actions received recognition in a global survey where Malaysia was ranked among the top five countries in the world, with the highest public approval."

Of course, my reaction was, “Really?” Naturally, we would expect a government representative to highlight positive news about his government, so I think a little scepticism is fair. So I looked around to check. Guess what? Malaysia is ranked second in a sample of 22 countries around the world when it comes to approval of the government's handling of the pandemic, according to a poll by YouGov. As at June 22,96% of Malaysians believed the government has handled the Covid-19 crisis “very” or “somewhat” well. In comparison, 97% in Vietnam approved, 88% in Taiwan, 87% in Australia, and 81% in Singapore. In sharp contrast, US approval was at 41%.