Press Statement By Michael Kong:
In December 2020, just before the declaration of emergency, we only have single-digit new Covid-19 cases in Sarawak.
What is puzzling is that since the declaration of a state of emergency in Malaysia on 12.01.2021, there has been a consistent increase in the number of new Covid-19 cases in Sarawak. For more than two months, Sarawak has been in the top-3 states within Malaysia with the highest number of new Covid-19 cases. Therefore, the numbers show us that the emergency which was imposed on us all purportedly for the purposes of curbing Covid-19 has been counterproductive.
Where has SDMC gone wrong? One clear mistake by them is when they started to relax the SOPs and rules, especially for the VIPs. We only need to look at the number of Covid-19 cases AFTER the arrival of Muhyiddin Yassin on 01.04.2021 where the number of cases has increased exponentially.
During his visit, we saw Muhyiddin Yassin bringing a whole entourage of people together with him. Through the relaxation of rules for them, these people were exempted from the usual quarantine orders and managed to go around in Kuching freely. Many other VIPs connected to PN and GPS are also known to be travelling in and out of Sarawak without any quarantine measures. For their political charade and patronage, they have put Sarawakians’ health and economy at risk.
With the ever-high number of Covid-19 cases each day, social media is now widely circulating news a possible MCO 3.0 in the event that the situation does not get better. These sorts of news only cause much anxiety because we have been in a difficult economic climate for over a year. Any further total lockdown will only cause more hardship to all Malaysians.
As such I call upon the authorities especially SDMC to set clear SOPs including for the sanitisation and cleaning of exposed locations. At the same time, do not practice double standard in the enforcement of the SOPs. Even yesterday, the Sultan of Johor has called upon those who have been vaccinated not to ignore the SOPs. The VIPs can easily contract and/or spread Covid-19 just like anyone of us so it makes no sense for them to be allowed to flout such SOPs and/or abuse any SOP exemption.
At the same time, I urge the general public to not panic from the rumours of an MCO 3.0. Please stay updated and only spread official news from the relevant authorities. We all have a part to play in combatting Covid-19 including the dissemination of actual news.
Michael Kong Feng Nian
Special Assistant to YB Chong Chieng Jen
