Ministers should drop their insouciant and indifferent attitude and adopt the “Act Fast and Do Whatever It Takes” motto to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic
More than a week ago, I suggested that the Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin should implement a new motto of “Act Fast and Do Whatever It Takes” to lead the country through the multiple information, health and economic crisis in the Covid-19 pandemic.
In the “Act Fast and Do Whatever It Takes” spirit to overcome the unprecedented challenges in the extraordinary times posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, I had suggested daily live telecasts by the Prime Minister on the latest Covid-19 developments and daily Cabinet meetings until the multiple wars against Covid-19 are won.
I was shocked therefore to read of a Bernama report quoting the Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Aziz saying that the Finance Ministry was in the midst of refining a special stimulus package for the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to ease their current difficulties, and that the proposed package would be brought up at the cabinet level next week.
This insouciant and indifferent attitude of the Cabinet Ministers is totally against the “Act Fast and Do Whatever It Takes” motto to resolve the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, as if we are living in ordinary normal times!
Since Muhyiddin’s RM250 billion economic stimulus package on 27th March, SMEs had been crying and waiting every day for an economic rescue package for them as they had been omitted and left to fend for themselves.
Why can’t the Cabinet meet today or tomorrow to approve the economic rescue package for SMEs?
I call on all Ministers to drop their insouciant and indifferent attitude and to realise that “extraordinary times require extraordinary action”. They should adopt the “Act Fast and Do Whatever It Takes” motto to deal with the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The lives of ordinary Malaysians have been changed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Why should Ministers behave as if they could continue with their indifferent, nonchalant and insouciant ways?
It is still touch-and-go whether Malaysia has weathered the worst of the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, an outbreak which Malaysia should have been spared if everyone had adopted an “Act Fast and Do Whatever It Takes” motto.
Even if we could weather the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, we must be prepared for any resurgence of Covid-19.
I was concerned when the Health Director-General Dr. Noor Hisham Abdullah announced on Thursday that there had been an increase of 208 infections in the previous 24 hours to reach a total of 3,116 cases, and that three more had died to bring the death toll to 50.
This would be the third time that the number of new cases had exceeded 200, with the death rate reaching its highest at 1.6%.
The Covid-19 data in Malaysia for the past 24 hours as announced yesterday, with an increase of 217 Covid-19 cases to bring the total to 3,333 cases with one new death, is still high although the death rate had come down a little bit to 1.59%.
Worldwide, the Covid-19 pandemic is still raging on – reaching a global total of 1,096,593 cases and 58,645 deaths, with United Kingdom and United States the two new epicentres still to reach their peak.
Yesterday alone, the United States reached a new grim milestone of recording a single-day increase of 32,352 cases - reaching a total of 272,760 cases.
Italy has registered 119,827 confirmed Covid-19 cases and 14,681 deaths. There is however a study in Italy which reported that the real number of Covid-19 cases in the country could be 5 million cases and that the real number of deaths could be around 60,000.
There is no reason why our Ministers should not be serious about the Covid-19 pandemic and why they should not immediately adopt the “Act Fast and Do Whatever It Takes” attitude and drop all insouciant and indifferent postures.