ECONOMICS Minister Mustapa Mohamed’s transgression in eating at a cafe over the weekend perfectly captures all that is wrong in Malaysia now.

He didn’t think then it was an offence to have tea at a cafe in his Jeli constituency, nor did the cafe owner, grateful his MP came over to enquire about his situation.

But it’s wrong in these times, and yet Mustapa won’t have to do anything unlike former British Health Minister Matt Hancock, who resigned over the weekend for a snog and clinch with an aide in his office.

Yes, Mustapa is wrong if we go by current standard operating procedure (SOP) in a lockdown renamed as Phase 1 of the National Recovery Plan.

But are the rules even right?

To recap, the threshold at which we are to begin opening up is 4,000 Covid-19 cases or less daily, a reduction in average ICU usage and having 10% of the population vaccinated.

We are nowhere near that first step, let alone allowing dine-ins when cases get to below 2,000 a day with 40% vaccinated in Phase 3 of the recovery plan.

This just means that anyone, from the tea stall operator to a high-end restaurant, can only open up when fewer people across Malaysia get infected and the government gets its vaccination act going well.

This means those in Langkawi, or even Bario, without even a case for months, have to wait for the entire country to reach those thresholds to finally go beyond takeaways and deliveries.

When will that be? How scientific and data-driven are these thresholds?

Why are these sectors being held to ransom for the actions of others?

And, for that matter, why are routine issues such as vehicle inspections or using road taxes subject to any of these thresholds and rules?

Who are the people who come up with such illogical rules that affect so many? What are their parameters for doing so?

Are they politicians or civil servants who are guaranteed of their salaries and can’t see or realise the effects of their decisions?

Inquiring minds want and need to know.

Otherwise, more businesses will shut down in this open-ended lockdown. It isn’t as if aid has been forthcoming this past year.

To put it simply, if Covid-19 still hasn’t killed the anecdotal Mak Cik Kiah, the senseless thresholds and rules will kill her business and drive her to live from hand to mouth. – June 28, 2021.

* Jahabar Sadiq runs The Malaysian Insight.