Some cheer amid the despair

Those suffering from the devastating effects of the Covid-19 pandemic are finding hope in the White Flag campaign, a shining example of Malaysian generosity.

“IT was the worst of times... it was the age of foolishness, it was the... epoch of incredulity,... it was the season of Darkness,... it was the winter of despair.”

Years from now, this rephrased opening of Charles Dickens’ celebrated novel, A Tale of Two Cities, might be apt in describing what Malaysia is undergoing today.

It sure looks like the nastiest of times. We are facing an economic crisis and people are anguished by adversity and hunger brought about by how we are handling the Covid-19 pandemic.

The situation has turned a lot more dire since the country came under the third full movement control order in June. Unlike a year ago, it is not just people in the lowest income group of B40 who are suffering but also those in the M40 middle income group. The hardship is being felt throughout the country, as many private sector employees have lost their jobs with the closure of companies and businesses.

The loss of livelihoods has hit restaurant and café owners, hawkers, fishermen, farmers and other self-employed folks. Their families have been reduced to depending on food handouts to survive.

Tragically, people are also killing themselves to end their misery. Police records show that close to 500 people committed suicide between January and May this year, compared with 631 for the whole of 2020 and 609 for all of 2019.

It is obvious that Malaysians are also angry with politicians who do not practise what they preach and brazenly flout the very rules they formulate. Ministers, deputy ministers, mentris besar and MPs have been filmed eating with friends in restaurants, feasting at durian parties and holding political meetings.

And in contrast with ordinary citizens who are immediately issued with summonses for breaching SOPs – up to RM50,000 in some cases – police action against VIP offenders tend to always start with the opening of “investigation papers” which would later be submitted to the Attorney General’s Chambers for a decision.

Malaysians are also questioning why millions are facing crippling adversity in spite of the government’s eight tranches of aid packages totalling RM528.18bil since the start of the pandemic last year. Under the latest RM150bil Pemulih (recovery) plan announced on June 28, grants will be given to small- and medium-sized enterprises, there are moratoriums on loan repayments, and cash aid provided for families in financial distress.

It also covers RM400mil for more doses of Covid-19 vaccines and a RM300,000 allocation for MPs to supply food to the needy in their constituencies.

Will all this be enough to alleviate the suffering? We can only hope so. For now, some who are suffering in silence have found help in the form of a grassroots-initiated, social media-driven campaign called White Flag. Those in urgent need of food, essential items or cash are urged to display a white flag or cloth from their homes to signify their plight.

It is a resounding success, based on the response over the past week, with distressed families across the country receiving much-needed immediate relief. In addition to supermarkets, businesses, NGOs and social welfare organisations, compassionate Malaysians of all ethnicities and religious and political backgrounds are also raising funds and delivering food to those in need in the true spirit of Malaysian generosity.

But flies in the ointment have also surfaced, with PAS’ controversial Kedah Mentri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor holding the dubious honour of being the first wet blanket.

He drew much ire for saying that the state would only help those who apply for aid through local disaster control centres, claiming that the White Flag campaign is a form of “political propaganda” aimed at tarnishing the government’s good work. Claiming that he had seen opposition MPs helping people put up the flags, he said it would be better if they bring food baskets to those in need.

In response, Amanah Kelantan’s deputy head Nik Faizah Nik Othman, who is involved in the campaign, said everyone knows that the white flag is a symbol of surrender or to seek help under duress. If the motive was political, it would have been orange, the colour of Amanah’s logo, and not white, she said.

Several other politicians were also mocked widely on social media for throwing cold water on the campaign with PAS’ Bachok MP Nik Abdul Nik Aziz getting most of the scorn for his Facebook post urging those in need to raise their hands in prayer instead of raising a white flag.

Media consultant M. Veera Pandiyan likes this quote by the Dalai Lama: ‘If you can, help others; if you cannot, at least do not harm them.’ The views expressed here are entirely the writer’s own.