#kerajaangagal95 – Possibility that Malaysia may be barred from Tokyo Olympics should be final evidence that the emergency declared on January 11 which suspended Parliament and the State Assemblies had been a great failure in the war against Covid-19 pandemic and time for a new start

New Straits Times Sports Section today carried a report: “Malaysia may be barred from Olympics” by Fabian Peter, which said that the Japanese government had asked the Olympics Games organising committee to consider denying entry for 10 countries, including Malaysia, which had experienced a surge in Covid cases recently.

The other countries on the possible "no entry list" are India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Vietnam and the United Kingdom.

The Japanese cabinet, however, noted that if denying entry to athletes from these countries is not possible due to "management and preparation for the Games", stricter measures will be imposed on them, including a mandatory 14-day quarantine for the Olympic contingents from the 10 countries.

The possibility that Malaysia may be barred from Tokyo Olympics should be final evidence that the emergency declared on January 11 which suspended Parliament and the State Assemblies have been great failures in the war against Covid-19 pandemic and time for a new start.

The Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin and the bloated Cabinet should not continue kid themselves that the emergency and the suspension of Parliament had made any contribution in the war against Covid-19 pandemic, not to mention the state of confusion and uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 SOP flip-flops, U-turns and double standards, which are continuing even now.

I guess that the review of the Covid-19 pandemic in the world resulting in the letter of the Japanese government to Olympics Games organising committee had already been dated, as among the ten countries, only four countries including Malaysia are now continuing to face an upsurge of Covid-19 cases.

United Kingdom, for instance, is flattening the Covid-19 curve , and is reporting a daily increase of 5685 new Covid-19 cases on June 7, which is 91.6% drop from UK’s peak daily increase of 67,839 new Covid-19 cases on January 8, 2021.

Even India, despite still high in numbers, is on a downward slide registering 87,345 new Covid-19 cases on 7th June, a 79% drop from its peak of daily increase of 414,433 new Covid-19 cases on May 6 and more than halve its fatalities from 5,525 deaths on May 18 to 2,115 deaths on June 7.

Malaysia stands out as an exception among these 10 countries, with warnings of 13,000 new Covid cases a day and a death toll of 26,000 by September.

Under these circumstances, the political situation in Malaysia must respond bravely and creatively to restore public trust and confidence in the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, if Malaysia is not to end up as the worst country in the world in the war against Covid-19 epidemic.

End the emergency and convene Parliament and the State Assemblies to spearhead a national mobilisation through a “whole-of-society” strategy and approach in the war against the Covid-19 pandemic – this should be a new start in the war against the Covid-19 pandemic.

Lim Kit Siang MP for Iskandar Puteri