THE existence of more food banks and Malaysians putting up white flags to ask for aid are not signs of a failed state but a lack of government effort and coordination to ensure help reaches the needy during the Covid-19 crisis, sociologist Prof Dr Sharifah Munirah Alatas said.

“Times are bad. People are cooped up at home, unable to work, and their savings are running out. The reality is these may be the people who resort to flying the white flag, asking neighbours for help. These people feel no shame because they are appealing to kind souls for help. And Malaysians have assured them that they can ask for help,” she said.

“And then there are those who don’t put up the white flag, maybe out of embarrassment, despite needing help. Due to a sense of dignity, they feel more comfortable going to the food banks for aid,” said the social sciences and humanities lecturer at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.

A Bloomberg columnist recently described Malaysia as being on the road to becoming a failed state, which drew disagreement from economists and researchers.

Videos on social media showing people rushing to grab items at food banks have sparked criticism from Malaysians.

Sharifah said such scenes are not signs of a nation on the brink of collapse, and while such behaviour was unbecoming, it was not right to judge without knowing what those people were going through.

She said there would always be opportunistic people who would not hesitate to grab what was free.

“So let us not be hasty in bashing Malaysians or the government to the extent of calling our nation a ‘failed state’. 

“We cannot come to this conclusion unless we have correctly assessed that there is a total breakdown of state institutions. This has not happened.”

What the current situation did show, she said, was a lack of coordination and concerted effort from the government and MPs to resolve the health and economic crises facing the people.

“We presently seem to have an uncaring, insincere, and selfish leadership, concerned only about which political party will be in power, or who will be prime minister.”

The Bloomberg opinion piece had also noted the politicking among the ruling parties amid the increasing desperation of the health and economic situation.

Sociologist Prof Dr Denison Jayasooria said aid could be more evenly distributed with better coordination on the part of the goverrnment.

Denison sad the people in desperation due to the prolonged lockdown must be treated with respect.

“We need to be compassionate to all needy groups irrespective of ethnicity, religion, gender and ageMalaysians are generous but food distribution must be well managed with some clear direction.”

“We have seen many parliamentarians going to flats to give packed cooked food, however, if distribution is unregulated, there could be some rushing as they fear first come takes all.”

“We must treat fellow Malaysians with dignity and respect, with some basic guidelines on how many items a person is allowed at a time,” he added.

Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng said people should not be blamed if they should rush for food as depicted in the videos.

“They are hungry and they need to eat. When you and your family are in such a situation, you may act without thinking rationally.

“It is the fault of the government which has clearly failed to ensure that the public have enough food to eat and to keep the economy running,” said Lim, who runs a food bank in his constituency.

The DAP member said steps were taken to ensure order at the food bank.

“We hire two Rela officers to make sure people comply with the SOP, especially with social distancing. We also make sure that one family take home only three items.

“This is to ensure there is enough for others. We tell them if they need more, they need to come again the next day,” he said.

A volunteer at a food bank in Klang said the majority of those who showed up for aid were honest and took only what they needed.

Those who behaved badly had behavioural issues to begin with and those people tended to argue and create a scene when they did not get what they wanted, said the volunteer. – July 18, 2021.