COMMENT | All we can hope for is a practical govt till GE15

COMMENT | Firstly, I apologise for constantly ranting about being frustrated with the situation in Malaysia, from the politics to the pandemic. I have been talking about how we have no control over matters that involve us. We are just forced to sit back and accept the outcomes that come our way.

In March 2020, we were only able to watch as the Sheraton Move removed everything that the majority voted for in the 2018 general election. The elected officials disregarded the voters and made their own path in forming a government that they saw fit. It could have been fit for them or fit for us - who knows.

Then the Covid-19 pandemic happened. In the beginning, it looked like we were all in it together. Lockdowns and standard operating procedures (SOPs) were established and the whole country realised that we needed to work together in order to overcome it. For the first few months, it actually worked. We all stayed home, practised diligent hygiene and encouraged others to do the same.

The infection rate reduced so much that at one time, it even reached only one case. But then in a blink of an eye, all of that disappeared. What went wrong? Was it the Sabah polls that caused it? Was it the so-called ‘golongan kayangan’ (elites) that started flouting the SOPs? Was it frustration? It was probably all of that.

But the key thing is that the people were not confident in how the government was handling the pandemic after the first few months. So many people voiced their displeasure with how the government managed it. Different civil society organisations raised all kinds of displeasure too.

Of course, the opposition (who were actually the ones elected to be the government) questioned the administration. Then what happened? The government decided to declare an emergency and Parliament was also suspended. Yet again, everything is being taken out of our hands.

There was even more...