THE minister who organised the 100 Hari Aspirasi Keluarga Malaysia programme, which attracted thousands of people and breached Covid-19 standard operating procedure, must resign, Lim Kit Siang said today.

At the same time, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob Must must also apologise to Malaysians for the shameful flouting of the public health order at the event, said the Iskandar Puteri MP in a statement today.

The DAP leader slammed the RM1,000 compound notice issued by the Health Ministry to the event organiser as “chicken feed”.

“It is the height of ludicrous to impose a ‘chicken-feed’ fine of RM1,000 for the massive breaches of the Covid-19 SOPs (that occurred) at the 100-Day programme.

“The ‘chicken-feed’ fine highlights the total lack of seriousness of the Ismail Sabri government to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.”

He added this explained why Malaysia was struggling to reduce new Covid-19 cases and deaths.

Thousands of people have showed up at the four-day event, which started on December 9, to commemorate the government’s 100 days in office at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre. 

It is organised by shared prosperity delivery unit (Sepadu) in the Prime Minister’s Department. The prime minister launched the event.

After issuing the compound, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the government should set a good example for the people.

“The event is supposed to showcase the 100-day achievements of the ministries and the agencies but instead it has been tainted by the organisers’ failure to ensure compliance with SOP,” he said in a statement yesterday.

Bad example

Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng said the government had set a bad example by organising the event while the Covid-19 threat still lurked.

He also said the government had practised double standards in hosting a crowded event while cancelling religious and cultural events such as the Thaipusam procession and Chingay festival.
 
“What’s the point of slapping a fine of just RM1,000 on the organiser when the government itself is the host of the event?

“If all safety measures are put in place, why has the government not approved other events but allow this Aspirasi Keluarga Malaysia mega event to proceed amidst the current pandemic?

“This clearly shows that the government has failed to set a good example for the people,” he said in a statement today.

He also slammed the government for its failure to foresee a large turnout at the event.
“Surely Ismail Sabri would have consulted his cabinet before organising the event… How did Khairy respond to the suggestion?

“Knowing that the turnout would certainly cause a problem in terms of social distancing, why was this event allowed? – December 9, 2021.