Don’t repeat Covid-19 mistakes

MALAYSIA is just about starting to breathe again.

The Covid-19 numbers are coming down, things are opening up again. We are inching back to some semblance of normality.

It’s liberating. I definitely feel it, and am happy for it. It’s nice to enjoy the simple pleasures of sharing a meal with loved ones and friends.

All that said, this isn’t the first time Malaysia is opening up after a difficult lockdown. If we want it to be the last time we have to endure such a debilitating situation, then it is absolutely vital that we do not repeat the mistakes of the past.

I wrote long ago that opening things up too soon was like discharging a sick man from the hospital before he was fully recovered, causing him to only end up right back at that same hospital because he wasn’t fully healed the first time.

This time, there is no doubt that the fast vaccination rate has played an important role in making things safer.

But it could be lethally dangerous to suddenly abandon all restraint and vigilance amidst a false sense of security. In short, we’re not out of the woods yet.

Malaysia has made the mistake before of thinking that a slight dip in numbers means that we can go absolutely crazy and start acting like there’s no Covid-19 at all.

Possibly in an effort to help rich people stay rich, we flung open all our doors at the first sign of lowering numbers, and paid for that mistake with the lives of thousands of Malaysians. Never again.

We aren’t the only country to experience this. Many others also reopened too early, and found themselves facing second, third, and fourth resurging waves. And each mistake cost lives.

This time, we must do better.

This time, we must be cautious and measured, and maintain a state of hypervigilance. The old political adage goes: The price of liberty is eternal vigilance. The same goes for public health.

There can be no doubt that for all of science and policies, a key factor in the war against Covid-19 is public attitude.

If we are careless, people will die. If we are lazy or flippant, people will die. If we continue to irresponsibly put profits above health, people will die.

Vaccination is by far the best defense against Covid-19, but it is not a silver bullet that makes us invulnerable – nor does it prevent us from potentially transmitting Covid-19 to people for whom it may prove fatal.

It is no excuse not to wear masks, and it is no excuse to start allowing or organising endless mass gatherings.

We’ve been restrained for so long, there’s no doubt we should allow ourselves to let off a little steam, see people we haven’t seen in a while, and reconnect with key people in our lives.

Just, please, do so responsibly. Keep gatherings to a minimum, wear your mask as often as possible, and choose outdoor or well-ventilated places whenever possible.

Our willingness to go through these minor inconveniences can literally save lives. It can also prevent a scenario where we have to go through the whole agonising process of another devastating lockdown.

The 2020 Sabah state elections was a prelude to what was at the time the biggest Covid-19 spike Malaysia had ever seen.

It is thus with deep, intense frustration that we all watched the Melaka state assembly so suddenly and abruptly dissolved.

Once again, politics has failed the rakyat.

It may be that the greed of as few as four selfish politicians may endanger the health and lives of millions of Malaysians.

It is mind-boggling to see that despite their actions which have jeapordised our health and safety, they still see fit to complain childishly about how unfair it is that their official cars have now been taken away from them.

It was also a little shocking to see the speed at which the governor of Melaka decided to go ahead and dissolve the state assembly.

Two wrongs do not make a right, and while there is no doubt that, chronologically speaking, the four defecting politicians obviously “started it”, the abrupt decision to dissolve the state assembly looks a little too much like a petty, vengeful move of political retribution.

While it was too early to say whether the memorandrum of understanding between the Federal Government and the Opposition, Pakatan Harapan, heralds a new era of political cooperation, it would seem that politicians wasted no time in stomping even this faint glimmer of hope into the ground. That ceasefire seems to be one measured more in weeks than months, as self-centred rashness plunges us back into that one thing all Malaysians are most sick and tired of: political crises.

Politicians from all parties and at all levels should be clear that this reflects badly on their entire profession, and anything short of unequivocal condemnation of this defection and unnecessary dissolution will cause them to be seen as accomplices to this mayhem.

As an aside, the Melaka crisis is also a resounding, clear call for the institution of mechanisms like recall elections, where representatives who wish to defect must first stand for and win a by-election. This seems to me the most effective anti-party hopping mechanism, and one we should adopt with great haste.

Were it not for Covid-19, perhaps we could have merely rolled our eyes and left these parasitic politicians to their ridiculous shenanigans. But we have already seen all too clearly that in this day and age, political failure leads to mismanagement of the Covid-19 crisis, and thus literally puts our lives at risk.

As we enter into the next stage of managing Covid-19, I’m confident that the rakyat will protect their loved ones by doing their part to be vigilant and maintain their guard against the virus. Now if only politicians would be as responsible.

Nathaniel Tan is a strategic communications consultant who works with Projek #BangsaMalaysia. Twitter: @NatAsasi, Clubhouse: @Nathaniel_Tan, Email: [e-mail]. #BangsaMalaysia #NextGenDemocracy. The views expressed here are solely his own.