Press Statement By Michael Kong:
As we enter the second year of SDMC’s establishment, we are still faced with the grave effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Many have pinned the cause of the current Covid-19 situation at the Sabah snap elections. I, on the other hand, see this differently.
Do not get me wrong. I do agree that the Sabah snap election was the start of the current wave of Covid-19 in Malaysia. However, I would say that the cause of the current worrying state is the inefficiency and lacklustre attitude of the current PN+GPS government in its fight against Covid-19. How can it be said that an election is the cause of the current surge of Covid-19 when Singapore and New Zealand could successfully conduct an election last year without having any further surge of Covid-19 cases after the election process?
The key difference is the will power and determination by the respective leaders to combat Covid-19. While the leaders in Singapore and New Zealand took the bull by its horns and enforced strict restrictions, our leaders came up with half-baked efforts. Instead of leading by example, we see our leaders constantly flouting the Standard Operating Procedures. This is the reason that the public has lost confidence in the current government. Even the PN+GPS leadership has lost confidence in their own stewardship and this is evidenced through the current state of emergency that we are in.
A leader is one who can step up at times of adversity and be the beacon of light during the darkest moment. Unfortunately our Minister of Health, Adham Baba together with his two deputies, Noor Azmi Ghazali and Aaron Ago Dagang has not been able to step up and take charge of the current situation. Instead, everything is left for the Director-General, Noor Hisham Abdullah to lead and take responsibility.
I strongly urge the leaders to self-reflect and wise up. The people have suffered for close to a year due to Covid-19. We have seen how the people in Singapore and New Zealand can now go back to their normal lives albeit some changes such as contact tracing and also wearing face masks. The citizens of Malaysia also yearns for this instead of the constant uncertainty that MCO and the state of emergency brings.
Michael Kong Feng Nian
Special Assistant to YB Chong Chieng Jen
