Essay: Malaysia government response to Covid-19 outbreak

16th March 2020
The outbreak of a rapid disease called the coronavirus, or more so known as COVID-19 has taken its toll on most parts of the world. The pandemic outbreak here in Malaysia, with a staggering number of 553 cases as of March 2020, has allowed an activated action plan even though the situation in the country is manageable, and the country is still in control of chaos or dysfunctionality. Though, even with the public health measures of containment by the Health Ministry being effective so far, what if the outbreak worsens and the threat of this disease to the majority of our citizens increases? Even with all the changes in the world due to virus spread, Malaysia’s government was going through it’s own change as well. From the loyalty of democracy to utter feelings of betrayal, a change in government was made single-handedly by political parties as former Prime Minister, Dr. Tun Mahathir stepped down, and a new government was formed with a total of 112 members of parliament called Perikatan Nasional.
Even with the economy having its struggles throughout the years and worsening after the coronavirus outbreak, the new government has to “inherit all forms of issues in the country” including this sudden outbreak. If the number of cases continues on an upward trend, then the ministry will have to change its strategy, moving from containment to mitigation (The Star, 2020). As of 16th March 2020, newly elected Prime Minister, Muhyiddin Yassin, announced that a restriction of movement has been ordered as of 18th of March to the 31st of March. In spite of all these releases made by certain ministers, the people of Malaysia are still in a state of panic due to the expectations of the worst from what they’ve seen or read online.
The government has ensured that essential services are maintained during the pandemic but truly, how are we, Malaysians, really assured whether there are enough health protection or prescriptions needed in this time of need? The government should ensure that even with the excessive panic buying that has circulated among the people, there are enough goods for the entire nation in terms of non-perishable items. Essentials in this period of time such as hand sanitizers and masks should be given out for free. For instance, certain distilleries in Portland, Atlanta and North Carolina are giving out free hand sanitizers to combat this disease. Moreover, all forms of forces that lead the well-being of our country such as police officers, armed forces, firefighters and those manning water and electricity supply need to be taken care of at all times. Prescriptions of drugs for chronic diseases need to be sufficient and prioritized as well. According to Muhyiddin Yassin, the health ministry says that we have enough infectious disease specialists to take precaution of anyone who shows symptoms in all states across the country.
Compared to a crucial time during the period where Malaysia was under Barisan Nasional and before the downfall of the party, Malaysia faced a financial crisis in July 1997, and several consequences were observed, specifically in the economic, social, and political aspects in Malaysia. It relates well to the pandemic Malaysia is facing now with the coronavirus because the economic view in 1997 depreciated by at least 50 per cent (Mohamed Ariff & Syarisa Yanti, 1999). At the time, Dr. Tun Mahathir set a recovery plan to ensure the financial crisis was settled. Thus, several actions were taken by the Malaysian government at the time, Barisan Nasional, to overcome the financial crisis such as using the extent of the current recovery, restructuring in the financial and corporate sectors, the role of selective capital controls, and the short to medium term outlook (Samuel, 2001). Ten years later and Malaysia sustained its political stability throughout the years because there were strong linkages between political stability and economic development. To be frank, the political situation in Malaysia was stable during Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamed’s rule. Growth was achieved by a low inflation climate and low unemployment rate. Improvement in the maintenance of economic freedom was the only reliable way to generate a positive cycle of economic growth. Therefore, the government’s initiatives during this period of time for the success of financial packages should be a perfect example of how to handle an existential crisis for our country in times of need.
In all fairness, the current government is less than three months old. As much as they should be at the top of their game, this disease shouldn’t solely be handled by the government when individually, the citizens of Malaysia should be prepared to make sacrifices, change in lifestyle and exercise social responsibility, within certain boundaries. The government should be on its way to make certain contingency plans to tackle this global crisis. Therefore, by playing our part, collectively and individually, just like diseases such as SARS or Influenza virus A (H1N1), we will overcome this pandemic in no time.