Power Influence Vs Requirements Responsibilities

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On April 7, the government, ordered the imposition of the enhanced movement control order (MCO) in two buildings along Jalan Masjid India in Kuala Lumpur – Selangor Mansion and Malayan Mansion.
This followed the discovery of 15 confirmed positive cases of Covid-19 and the enhanced MCO involved around 6,000 residents in 365 residential and commercial units in the buildings. Under this type of MCO, residents are prohibited from exiting the premises, while non-residents and visitors were not allowed to enter as all entry and exit points were sealed. For residents, food was ordered via delivery services delivered at designated areas.
Protests over the manner in which the enhanced MCO was enforced and occupants marched in handcuffs to waiting Black Marias were ignored and, in the process, a journalist – Tashny Sukumaran -  was interrogated for reporting what she saw. Subsequently, a TV crew from Al-Jazeera and a whistle-blower found themselves declared persona non grata for what has been described as a  “fair and accurate” state of affairs in the enforcement of the enhanced MCO.
On May 10, a team from the Kuala Lumpur City Hall sealed the Long Bar, the Hash Bar and The Cellar of the Royal Selangor Club. There were four members inside the Long Bar and another five seated in the terrace area. All had observed the social distancing rules and at no time were they or the club reprimanded for any breach.
The officers ordered the members to leave the bar and proceeded to seal the bar with security tape. They sealed the Hash Bar as well and then went to the Cellar and proceeded to do the same but this bar had not been in operation since the full movement control order (MCO) was issued on March 18.
Drastic measures indeed but some members took it in their stride despite the highhandedness, but others called in harassment. The club protested. And the same night, the seals were removed but not before the adverse publicity that a top club in the country had breached the rules.

The Selangor Club
On Oct 12, the government ordered the closure of the 1Utama shopping complex in Bandar Utama, Petaling Jaya for a week starting Oct 12 after the premises recorded several Covid-19 cases said the emergence of Covid-19 cases at the shopping complex.
Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Ismail Sabri Yaakob said: “This will enable the ministry to conduct screening involving some 800 employees at the premises, as well as for the local authorities to conduct disinfection exercises at the shopping complex.”
The timeline below was not picked from thin air. It was gleaned from newspapers and media portals which reflected events as they happened. It is worth looking at as this timeline tells a story. It is a contrasting study of situations and the related actions by the authorities.
Nov 5: Top Glove Corp Bhd confirmed that 17 of its employees had tested positive for the Covid-19 since January this year. The affected employees were asymptomatic and most of them did not have a fever. They were isolated following swab tests taken on Nov 2 and have since been admitted to hospital for treatment after their results came back positive.
Nov 4: Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz announced that four glove makers have committed to donate RM400 million to the Covid-19 fund. The money will be used to cover part of the cost of vaccines and health equipment expenses, said the minister.
Nov 23: Malaysia closed some of Top Glove's factories in stages to screen its employees for Covid-19 after a big jump in coronavirus infections. A total of 28 factories will be closed in stages after 1,889 Top Glove workers tested positive for the virus, Ismail said.
Nov 25: Rubber glove manufacturer Top Glove's housing for their workers is in terrible condition, said Human Resources Minister M Saravanan. He vowed that stern action would be taken and that "everything" would be completed within one week.


“I have visited the hostels and the conditions are terrible. My officers were ordered to go in full force as this is a big, vulnerable migrant workers colony. If we don’t act, this cluster might get out of control.”
Nov 25: Top Glove Corporation Berhad disputed Saravanan’s assertions that its worker dormitories were “deplorable” and invited him to evaluate its newer facilities. Rejecting claims that quarters were crowded and unsanitary, the firm said that it spent almost RM20 million to purchase improved accommodations for its workers to comply with the Workers’ Minimum Standards of Housing and Amenities Act.
For a good eight months, there was this dark secret kept away from the public. Were the authorities notified of this? If 17 cases had been detected since January, why wasn’t action taken immediately to close or quarantine the workers like other premises? Or why were nearby residents not alerted about this?
But if you had read the news the previous day, there may have been a clue in the finance minister’s Budget 2021 speech – RM400 million was coming from glove manufacturers to fight Covid.
Then, the operative phrase “closed in phases”. Why not immediate closure like 1Utama or sealing the premises like the Royal Selangor Club or installing barbed wire fences like the two mansions?
On Nov 25, Saravana charged that the workers’ quarters were in deplorable conditions and was rebuked almost immediately by Top Glove's management. Who is telling us the truth?
As of Wednesday, the Teratai cluster, which is linked to Top Glove, has become the biggest active workplace Covid-19 cluster in Malaysia. Since Nov 7, the cluster has recorded a total of 4,036 positive cases including the 1,511 out of the 1,623 new cases recorded in Selangor on Tuesday - making it the main contributor for the spike of cases in the state.

Liew Chin Tong
Yesterday, former deputy defence minister Liew Chin Tong gave a grim and profound warning: “Given that worker’s dormitories have been identified as one of the sources of outbreak and infection, this is one of the priority areas that the government must look into. In the medium and short term, organisations employing migrant workers must be required to ensure that the housing provided for their employees meets the set health standards and specifications.
“This should serve as a cautionary tale for industry players and Malaysians in general. We are only as strong as our weakest link. We must do more to protect the most vulnerable in our society, which includes migrant workers. We need to seriously relook at how we are treating them and rethink their current working and living arrangements.”
There is a broad line separating power and influence and regulations and requirement. When this line is breached or becomes entwined, it spells doom for the system of governance and the community. We have seen enough of this in politics, but can’t citizens be spared for this ignominy as it affects their health and welfare ?

R NADESWARAN notes that special privileges and selective prosecution have been the bane of our nation and these have impeded the observance of the principle 'rule of law'. Comments: [email protected] - Mkini
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.

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