AGORA Society is not supportive of any government initiative that stems from crowdfunding efforts or individual donations. Therefore, we reject the latest announcement on the Covid-19 Fund set up by the Perikatan Nasional government.

While we acknowledge the new government’s efforts to combat the epidemic by allocating RM1 million to the said fund, we believe that any additional funding should come from the government’s coffers rather than citizens’ pockets.

It is a considerate initiative to offer a RM100 cash aid to self-employed persons who will lose income during their 14-day quarantine, and RM1 million could potentially help 714 persons who are qualified. Given that the proportion of self-employed and unemployed persons is about 10% of the total number of employees in Malaysia, there would need to be 7143 Covid-19 cases for the RM1 million to be utilised fully.

Hence, we wonder, what are the government’s estimates of potential infections? How much is the government planning to raise through the fund? And, why is the government resorting to asking the people for money since there is already an allocation of RM2 billion for contingency funding in Budget 2020?

Last but not least, should the government utilise the MySalam Trust Fund to compensate Covid-19 patients?

The government’s priority is to manage and resolve the country’s needs and problems through taxation, and there is no need to ask for additional money from the people, especially when Malaysia is bracing for an economic slowdown.

Lest Barisan Nasional and PAS forget, the Covid-19 Fund is no different from Tabung Harapan, which both were so critical of two years ago. Instead of running a public donation drive, we urge the government to come up with a more comprehensive plan to fund our declining public health system, with detailed measures to help Covid-19 patients, who are the biggest victim in this epidemic. – March 13, 2020.

* Agora Society Malaysia is a network of intellectuals, writers and activists advancing democratic progress in the country.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.