Protesting without offering solutions doesn’t help anyone

MALAYSIA’S Covid-19 situation is at a critical stage because there are just not enough hospital beds. The vaccination rate is slowly being ramped up as supplies finally arrive while hotspot states struggle to contain a rising number of Covid-19 infections.

Amid all these measures, doctors and nurses are getting burnt out after one-and-a-half years of incessant long hours. Extra staff and volunteers roped in are also exhausted. People are suffering from lost jobs and incomes because of extended lockdowns.

So what can be done now to climb out of this pandemic abyss? Focus on trying to make the best of the situation till things get back to some sense of normality or just complain and protest?

For some people, it’s easier to just make lots of noise without actually doing anything positive. It’s clear who they are – because they’re visible on social media with posts using hash tags #BenderaHitam #Lawan and #KerajaanGagal. Rather than providing helpful solutions, they’re demanding for Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to resign immediately, for Parliament to convene immediately, and for the state of emergency to end.

How do these demands help? If their demands are met, all efforts to contain Covid-19 will just be thrown out the window because which of these protesters are going to follow the SOPs?

Once the Emergency ends and Parliament reconvenes, who says national and state elections aren’t going to be forced next? Remember the consequences of the Sabah elections – what will the Covid-19 situation become then in Malaysia?

It’s really sad how this social media protest movement is gaining so much traction – they have almost 300,000 supporters, while the alternate #WhiteFlag movement to directly help people suffering due to Covid-19 restrictions has barely got a fifth of such support.

What does this say about this bunch of keyboard warriors? As it stands, Malaysia’s total number of Covid-19 cases is already close to 800,000 – will these protest supporters cause this figure to double, triple or worse?

The right to protest should not be abused – do it for good reasons so all Malaysians can come together to fight this global pandemic and save our country. Protesting for change just for the sake of change, without any real solutions, is just a useless distraction and a slap in the face of everyone fighting hard to make our country better.

NUR DHIANA , Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur