Be Patient And There Are Many

---

Last week, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin rallied the nation in the fight against the Covid virus, counseled us to be patient, the war will be won.
The prime minister should know about being patient. He was one recently for a couple of weeks.
To digress: what kind of a stomach bug took residence in the prime minister’s guts? Where/what did he eat? Is there any Malaysian who hasn’t gone through his/her baptism of fire while tucking into the wide tasty spread of Malaysian cuisine, a day or so of guts in turmoil and a persistent, insistent messy evacuation? A draining day or so, a medicated fast, and it’s back to the feasting, but two weeks? I guess strong men get stronger bugs.
Enough on this subject. The country must wean itself from its juvenile fascination with news on the nether regions of politicians and butt jokes. Back to us being patient.
Every time, I see the clichéd phrase “light at the end of the tunnel” in news reports, my contrary mind reflexively thinks, it’s a 50/50 chance the light ahead is from the headlights of a fast-approaching train.
As for being patient, the country has endured more than a year and a half of restricted movement (albeit ignored by a sizeable minority of the population intent on socialising), worn a blue cloth mask and muffled and mumbled through it every time we were out.
We have gone through I-have-lost-count number of acronyms to herald more or less the same lockdown with attendant SOPs that mutate from day to day. This one can, that one cannot. Who says that one cannot? Okay, this one cannot, that one can.
In its defence of the changeable SOPs, the government talks of the onslaught of the virus creating a dynamic condition that requires a dynamic response to changing circumstances.
No argument about that. Who doesn’t want a dynamic government over a soporific one? But can we have a dynamic government that knows what it is doing?




Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz

Take for example Penang, Sarawak, and Pahang, having moved into Phase 2 of the National Recovery Plan (NRP), but are no longer qualified because numbers shot up again.
Never mind, says Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz, states that have entered Phase 2 will not revert to Phase 1.
Instead, the government will impose localised movement restrictions, as opposed to state-wide limits, so that more businesses can reopen.
More of the slow drip torture.
Change the SOPs, issue exemptions, but the reality is businesses have closed or are on their last legs, segments of the economy like those associated with tourism are practically moribund, and thousands are jobless.
"The time frame of the NRP is only until the end of the year, so be patient,” says the prime minister.
In the meantime, there is yet another dynamic initiative, ironically named Operation Surge Capacity, which aims to have 6.1 million adults in the two hot spots of Kuala Lumpur and Selangor have at least one shot of vaccine.
Ironically named, because “surge capacity” describes the increasing strain and pressure on hospitals, quarantine centres and medical frontliners with 10,000 daily new cases/patients in the past week.
Be patient. The prime minister should be careful how he words his wish. It may come back to bite him on his…


Muhyiddin cited Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah that more than 90 percent of Covid-19 positive cases in our country are in categories 1 and 2, asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic and with a good chance of recovering.
Sounds good, except if those positive figures refer to cases at admission. What about subsequently?
A Health Ministry study, published in the Lancet Regional Health-Western Pacific Journal, noted that of 5,889 patients, 471 (7.99 percent) ended up with severe Covid-19.
Fudge the figures. Swear just a few more months to endure. Be patient. I think we are way overdrawn on the patience account.
The one bright light, actually multiple beacons of humanity, come from the open hearts and hands of the many Malaysians who have responded to the plight of those in need, without qualification of race or religion, just need.
We need each other. We need to love each other.
What we don’t need is money spent on printing the ugly mugs of politicians to accompany food packages, money that could have been spent on more food?
What our system of governance needs is a laxative or the onslaught of a super-bug that will flush out all the toxic elements in a rush.
Damn, I said no more talk of plumbing, and I am at it again. I blame it on Malaysian politics. It’s anal fixated, full of asses.   - Mkini   


THOR KAH HOONG is a veteran journalist.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.

---