DEAR Khairuddin,

IT is disheartening to read media reports in which you say you have done nothing wrong in breaching the quarantine law.  You have been reported as saying that you have done nothing wrong with regard to your job and that it was simply an error in following the guidelines.

I am sorry, dear minister, but I beg to differ and I believe many of the rakyat do, too.  You blatantly ignored the rules.  You chose to do this in direct violation of the MCO standard operating procedures.  These are procedures put into place to safeguard the rakyat.  These are procedures put into place by the government of which you are part.  You chose to ignore the SOPs and have thus broken the law.  How can you now claim do have done nothing wrong?

Regardless of what the police may find, the fact of the matter is that you contravened the SOPs. You are giving the impression to the rakyat that it is all right to ignore the SOPs.  You are not following the rules that have been put in place by the government of the day.  The very same government that you are a part of.  How do you expect the rakyat to follow rules when you are quite happy to break them?  Not only have you done that, you have publicly said that you have done nothing wrong.

What if you hadn’t tested negative for Covid-19? What if you did indeed infect a large number of people? The SOPs are put in place for a reason.  If you can claim that it is acceptable to break them, what is to stop others from doing the same?

By claiming you have done nothing wrong, you are condoning a system of double standards.  Others have been jailed and fined for breaking quarantine. Why do you feel you should be treated differently?  How can you even try to claim that you have done nothing wrong?  You are wrong, plain and simple.  Don’t try to hide from the fact.  As a minister, you should be held to a higher level of accountability than anyone else. Nothing less will do.  You cannot expect or condone preferential treatment.

By breaking quarantine, you have shown a complete disregard for the law. A law that was put into place to protect the rakyat. You have shown arrogance in claiming that you have done nothing wrong.  Hiding behind the statement that you did nothing wrong with regard to your job is akin to saying it is perfectly acceptable to commit a crime if it is not related to your job. It is not.

You broke the rules.  You chose to disobey the law.  You blatantly ignored rules that your own government put into place.  No matter how you choose to spin it, you are wrong. That’s right – wrong.  There are no two ways about it. The only honourable thing left to do is to resign.  We do not need ministers that have no regard for the law.  It not only puts the government in a bad light but the country as a whole in a bad light as well.  If our leaders refuse to follow the law and make excuses, how can you expect the rakyat to follow the law?  

Perhaps what this means is you just don’t have any honour. Or perhaps you think that you are above the law.

Do the right thing – resign.

* Dharm Navaratnam reads The Malaysian Insight.

* 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.