A YEAR after the Covid-19 outbreak, it is time for Malaysia to have a new general to lead the battle against the pandemic, said Mohamed Khaled Nordin.

The Umno vice-president said a new leader is needed for the country’s renewed approach to combat Covid-19 as the pandemic has transcended beyond a health crisis to a full-scale national crisis.

He said the Health Ministry can no longer work in a silo and an inter-ministry, multi-department, multi-agency team is now needed to respond swiftly to the fast-changing nature of the pandemic.

“The director-general of health (Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah) has been working tirelessly to keep Malaysia from sinking. Nonetheless, this situation has evolved to be a multi-faceted issue beyond his power.

“What we need is a new general, not to replace the role of the director-general of health, but one that will take up the mantle to lead an inter-ministerial collective effort to face this crisis.

“The new general will focus on combating Covid-19 and coordinating response in all fronts including health, safety, welfare, and economy. 

“It is time for us to not treat this as a health crisis, but a national issue,” the former Johor menteri besar said in a statement today. 

Khaled said, come March, it would have been a year since the first movement-control order (MCO) was enforced but the situation has not changed much since.

He said the pandemic has devastated the lives of many and left countries, including Malaysia, in shambles.

“Soon in March, we will have spent one year since the first MCO and yet, our situation hasn’t changed much when compared to the beginning of the MCO. 

“Thousands of citizens are forced to take up odd jobs to compensate for the pay cut suffered, many more struggling to put food on their table as government issued lockdowns became more permanent than the promised temporary solution to contain the virus,” he said.

Khaled said the country’s healthcare system is barely coping with the increasing number of Covid-19 cases and that frontliners are overworked. 

“Multiple hospitals have been dedicated to serving Covid-19 patients and our capacity is almost maxed out. 

“Our frontliners are overworked and under-compensated. We risk our medical institution collapsing if we were to continue any further without having a more sustainable plan,” he said. 

Khaled said that despite the government doing its best, a drastic structural and institutional reform is needed.

He said without a proper chief in command to band all parties together, hard work is not enough to produce sustainable and impactful change. – February 2, 2021.