Common sense required, not army patrols

Jahabar Sadiq Jahabar Sadiq Updated 4 years ago · Published on 20 Mar 2020 2:00PM · 5 Comments

A police officer advising road users to return home at a road block in Jalan Tun HS Lee, Kuala Lumpur, yesterday. The police are already on the job of safeguarding Malaysians' welfare since the Covid-19 disease appeared in Malaysia on January 24. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Nazir Sufari, March 20, 2020.

THREE days into restricting movements across Malaysia and not doing a good job at it, the Muhyiddin Yassin administration plans to put boots on the ground to help the police control the situation.

This is all wrong and totally unnecessary. 

The police only came in yesterday to enforce the movement control order (MCO), which runs from March 18 to 31, to break the rapid virulence of the SARS-CoV-2 that causes Covid-19. 

The authorities say 60% have complied, but bringing in the army basically says the public does not respect the police or the government but will only bow down to soldiers. Really?

The police are already on the job, just as the medical services team has been since the disease appeared in Malaysia on January 24. What is required is simple – straight talk that this disease does not discriminate and kills.

The only one Malaysians trust is Health director-general Dr Noor HIsham Abdullah. The government ministers who have made television broadcasts, remarks and statements have proven to have bungled the messaging.

Bringing in the army does not make it any better. Malaysia has only ever needed them after the May 13 riots and as precautionary measures during the threat of Islamic State extremists’ bombings.

What we need more than ever is common sense. 

The common sense that was lacking when the authorities ordered all universities and colleges to close without thinking there are students from all over Malaysia and the world who will have no place to go, or that some might bring back the virus to their loved ones back home.

The common sense that was lacking when asking people to apply for permits at police stations for interstate travel. 

The common sense that was lacking when stopping people from picking up their relatives, who are doctors and nurses who have finished their shifts working their hearts and guts out to combat the contagion.

The common sense lacking among Malaysians who cannot even comprehend the seriousness of this outbreak that has killed more than 9,000 people worldwide and will kill more if the chain of transmission cannot be broken.

The MCO is simple. Stay at home. Stay healthy. And you have a lesser chance of ending up dead.

Malaysia already has two dead due to Covid-19. The numbers could rise and any one of us, including the policemen on the beat and the doctors and nurses, the lab technicians checking samples and the supermarkets and grocers’ staff and wet market hawkers, could die.

Please keep the soldiers in the barracks. They are our last line of defence if it all turns out into an apocalypse. Politicians who cannot think any better should just leave their posts and let the experts manage this crisis.

Let the police do their job to protect us. Let the medical staff do their job to save us. Politicians can do their job by staying out of it and making rash decisions. – March 20, 2020.

* Jahabar Sadiq runs The Malaysian Insight.

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Comments

  • Agreed. The bungling politicians now resort to a sledgehammer to kill a fly. The people are now getting it. Its after all the bungling fools who had confused everyone as to the seriousness of the situation. Today, I see far less cars on the road than yesterday, meaning more people are getting it. Getting army on the street just belittles the effort of the police thus far

    Posted 4 years ago by Mike Mok · Reply

  • Might be true...but the problem is our people are the masters in breaking the rules...thats the sticking point!!!...

    Posted 4 years ago by Khairuzzaman ABDULLAH · Reply

  • Cant expect people to follow rules when the government themselves dont follow or adhere to the very own laws that they have set in place. Circumstances aside, this is a classic example of the pot calling the kettle black. Cant fix themselves but want to fix others. And the blame falls on the citizens? Bunch of idiots

    Posted 4 years ago by Benjamin Lee · Reply

  • Bador, this jamban minister is telling you the police are useless

    Posted 4 years ago by S L · Reply

  • Everything done so far lacks the efficiency of the two (health Minister and DPM) of the defunct previous PH government shown by way of bringing Malaysians back from Wuhan, China. If only they had been allowed to continue this mess could have been avoided. How many more trial and errors must we face before things can st become better?

    Posted 4 years ago by Citizen Pencen · Reply