COMMENT | Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah’s appeal to Malaysians to “self-lockdown” is a sad attempt to rally an apathetic public enabled by an incompetent political system. And by the political system, I mean Perikatan Nasional (PN) and Pakatan Harapan.

The reality is that much of the damage this pandemic has wrought has been brought upon by the current government, individual state governments but most importantly, by a public who has no problem using the incompetence of the political system with their inconsistent rules to flaunt public safety guidelines.

When the rakyat sees political operatives breaking SOPs, or when the government rolls back on restrictions, it makes the pandemic less serious and it becomes a partisan issue, rather than a health emergency.

There is a strong mistrust for what the government is doing and the statements and strategy coming out from the occupants of Putrajaya do nothing to allay those fears and mistrust. 

Take the issue of testing. Earlier on when we had this under control, the Health Ministry director-general claimed that the system is under such a burden and that the ministry has decided to scale down on testing. This was in January of this year. 

Since then, not only have the numbers gone up because of the ineptitude of Putrajaya, but also because the rakyat decided that they had enough of this pandemic and they were enabled by the lax enforcement of the state security apparatus and a political class, to busy engaging in internal political feuds.

Political operatives like to say that this is a war and one of the most important aspects of any war, especially one waged in the homeland, is an informed public that supports the war effort and which has the self-discipline to mitigate the damage brought upon by the enemy.

So far what the Malaysian public has demonstrated is that they are willing to use the incompetence of the government to their “advantage” when flouting movement restrictions orders or SOPs, secure in the knowledge that often their conduct would be politicised, hence the blame falls squarely back on the federal government.

Meanwhile, the PN regime in attempting to balance the economy and public safety – which are not mutually exclusive – is attempting to find a middle ground in a health conflict that often demands decisive action, which oftentimes means drastic actions.

Take a simple issue like roadblocks, for instance. The former IGP – whose quote opens this piece – publicly stated that enforcement of movement control and the effects thereof were damaged by political interference. 

So, of course when the politicians interfere with enforcement, and the state security apparatus are lax in enforcement, the rakyat is going to take advantage, thereby making the situation worse.

Meanwhile, the rhetoric surrounding the emergency is another distraction. For those who are used to operating in a feudal system after years of political and social indoctrination, a decree by the king and the non-existent difference between a lockdown and an emergency is not the galvanising force some in Harapan think it is.

Do not get me wrong, I am all for opening up the Parliament, but for the life of me, I do not understand how wanting Parliament to open up to work with the PN regime necessarily changes anything when Harapan political operatives can, and should, work with the PN government now. 

What’s the point of saying there would not be a vote of no confidence and only “Covid-19 related issues", when you could do the same thing, now?

When Harapan does comment about the pandemic, it is normally about how the current government is mishandling it. What they should be doing is hectoring the base that non-compliance with SOPS and movement, regardless of consequence, is just as damaging to this country, or even worse. 

Instead of making a meal out of VIPs flouting SOPs, political operatives should emphasise that personal responsibility, when it comes to this pandemic, is an extremely important factor in winning this war.

Take Selangor, for instance. On social media, we see all these crowds and folks flouting SOPS, businesses not taking federal and state government guidelines or diktats seriously, and we do not see the political apparatus asking why there is such lax enforcement. 

We do not see political operatives questioning how their control of the state is either mitigating or enabling the pandemic.

The question I get from the people is not how the current government is screwing up the handling of this pandemic. The question I get is why is the public failing the test when it comes to this health crisis.