THE standard operating procedures (SOP) for the various movement control orders are constantly adjusted to reflect the changes in the Covid-19 situation in the country, said Muhyiddin Yassin.

“The SOP are not static but dynamic. They follow the situation, which requires us to make adjustments to deal with different situations. For example, (previously) restaurants were allowed to have dine-in customers. Then, they were disallowed (from doing so),” said the prime minister on the “Special Discussion on the Challenges of Covid-19 with the Prime Minister” programme broadcast over RTM and Bernama TV tonight.

“I’m sorry if there are those who are confused. The National Security Council (NSC) determines the SOP. They are not decided by any one person. They are decided through discussions.”

This is Muhyiddin’s second interview after becoming prime minister on March 1, 2020 and comes after the government has been criticised for its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.

He said that the SOP were decided by NSC, which includes Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob and is attended by Attorney-General Idrus Harun.

Muhyiddin was responding to a question on why the SOP kept changing.

“If someone commits an offence, we (the government) want to take action, like the current cases. It could involve a celebrity, could be anyone. I do not want to mention names, but action must be taken based on the law,” he said.

“The government does not care who (the individuals are), from ministers to the prime minister, who breach (the SOP). If there is clear evidence, they will not escape punishment, compound, charge (prosecution) and so on.” 

On Friday, the attorney-general decided not to charge celebrity Noor Neelofa Mohd Noor and her husband Muhammad Haris Mohd Ismail for allegedly crossing state borders after they had given their statements to the police. 

The couple, however, were charged at the Seremban Magistrates’ Court for failing to observe movement control order (MCO) SOP by not scanning in their MySejahtera app during a visit to a carpet shop in Nilai on May 2. They have pleaded not guilty and were allowed bail of RM15,000.

Muhyiddin said it was unrealistic to expect the government to monitor 30 million people in the country.

“We can’t have 100,000 officers watching over 30 million people. Some will be seen as escaping punishment, although that is not the government’s stand,” he said.

No ‘hard’ lockdown

The government, he said, decided not to enforce a “hard” lockdown, similar to the first MCO last year, as it wants to strike a balance between lives and livelihoods.

“Personally, I think that is the best – close everything and have everyone stayed home and they will be safe. But how will this affect everyone?” he said.

He said the government had to spend RM340 billion in stimulus packages following the first MCO last year.

“If we have another lockdown like MCO 1.0, we would need half a trillion ringgit. But do we have that (kind of) money? And if we shut down everything again, can we restart?” he asked.

As such, he said, the government decided to tighten certain SOP while allowing the economic sectors to continue running. 

Muhyiddin said the government is hoping that the vaccination programme will be completed by the end of the year and herd immunity is achieved. 

“We need to manage so that we don’t face a situation where we cannot bounce back,” he said. 

He said the economy is already showing encouraging signs, growing around 0.5% in the first quarter of 2021.

“Our plan is working with higher exports and imports. We hope everyone will be vaccinated by the end of the year and the economy can be restored,” he said. – May 23, 2021.