You know the situation is very serious when a 4D gambling premise that will not close for flood, sun or rain and even Chinese New Year is in the end forced to close in a lock down. Image source: Facebook
Although partial lock down still allows some freedom for citizens to buy essential items, it is a restriction nonetheless. Further all non essential business and government agencies were required to close down which includes the car workshops. One can just hope that they don’t get a puncture or car breakdown in the 2 weeks of the lock down – there will not be any workshops opened to mend the puncture or repair the car.
Probably it was a hunch but we managed to do some shopping for essential items last weekend, instead of going through the panic buying last two days. Some called these people who went on panic buying as dumb & selfish – some of them who bought trolleys of instant noodles were dumb indeed. Some perhaps influenced by things happening in Australia, bought a lot of toilet papers. Some bought packets of rice – enough to last a big family for almost a year.
But if you ask me, it was some justification for the panic buying.
Total lock down would mean they may need to hole up in their houses for weeks without access to food & other essential items. This was what happened in other cities in total lock down in other countries. Some of these essential items may in the end run out. Just like facial mask –despite the government’s assurance of there is enough supply, we don’t see any in all the pharmacies nearby for months.
If you have a big family and small kids, it is prudent to store up some essentials before any lock down (it is also known as prepping).
I rather be the guy behind – lock down can be long & hard and I may need something strong to drown my boredom. Image source: Bored Panda
Why the partial lock down aka restricted movement order came about in the first place?
I have to say that it is because some people not thinking with their brains. Was it really necessary to have 16,000 people to attend a four-day religious gathering at Masjid Jamek Sri Petaling when coronavirus is considered a pandemic? What they were thinking? Didn’t they see the number of deaths?
The number of coronavirus infections in Malaysia had now surged to 673 confirmed cases and unfortunately with 2 deaths – the first since it was first detected in the country.
Out of the 14,500 Malaysians who attended the gathering, only 4,942 participants were identified as at 14th March 2020.
There are still 10,000 participants missing or rather, hiding from the authorities. 10,000 potential carriers and may be infecting others. The authorities and the organisers themselves have spent all avenues to call these thousands of participants to surrender themselves for medical screening.
All participants of the recent Sri Petaling Tabligh religious gathering have been advised to cooperate with health authorities.
Its committee member Abdullah Cheong said in a statement that those involved in the gathering, which became a cluster of Covid-19 infections, should contact their local health authorities for guidance and treatment as soon as possible.
“Abide (by the instructions) and take full responsibility by giving your cooperation to the authorities to allay concerns, tension and any misconceptions by any quarters, be it the general public or the authorities.
“All activities that could lead to the spread of the virus must be stopped immediately.
(Source)
Why they are not turning themselves in for medical check-up?
Is it because a good number of them are illegal foreigners from Pakistan, Afghanistan and India masquerading as Malaysians and worry they will be caught when they turn in? Or is it because they don’t care about other’s safety and leave their fate to the Al-Mighty? Or they have something more sinister in mind?
By now, they had all the warning given and all the time to turn themselves in. Should anyone of these participants got sick and now turns themselves in for medical check up, the authorities should arrest and charge all these morons with endangering others. After all, it has been days after the authorities have been calling them to report in for check up and they refused to do so. There is no excuse for them to delay coming in to do the medical check up. These people need to be punished severely as lesson to others.
Even till today, these people are still in denial – we still have 10,000 of them still missing. We still a time bomb ticking away and may cause a tighter lock down in the near future.
After several false alarms and some screw ups (Muhyiddin Yassin was out playing golf), it was officially announced Monday night that there will be a partial lock down taking effect from Wednesday till end of the month.
Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has declared that the entire country will be on a movement control order starting from March 18 to 31 to deal with the rise in Covid-19 cases. He said the prohibition of movement and mass assembly nationwide would include all religious, sports, social and cultural activities.
“To enforce this prohibition, all places of worship and business premises must be closed except for supermarkets, public markets, grocery stores, and stores selling basic necessities,” he said during a live telecast on Monday (March 16) night.
Muhyiddin added that all religious activities in mosques and surau will be suspended in line with the Special Muzakarah Council’s decision on Sunday (March 15).
He said that this includes Friday prayers.
Muhyiddin added that Malaysians will be barred from leaving the country and restrictions placed on the entry of all tourists and foreign visitors into Malaysia.
“Malaysians who have returned from overseas have to go for a health check-up and undergo self-quarantine for 14 days,” he said.
Muhyiddin added that all nurseries, government and private schools, including boarding schools, international schools, tahfiz centres as well as primary, secondary and pre-university education institutions will be closed.
This also includes all public and private universities as well as vocational training centres.
Muhyiddin added that government and private premises would be closed except those providing essential services.
These include water, electricity, energy, telecommunications, post, transportation, water services, oil, gas, fuel, broadcasting, financial, banking, health, pharmacy, the Fire and Rescue Department, prisons, ports, airports, security, defence, cleaning, retail and food supplies.
He assured that supply of food and daily essentials, including face masks, were sufficient nationwide, adding that the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry would be monitoring supply.
“I urge all Malaysians to abide by this movement control order. This is our collective responsibility as citizens who care for our families, our communities and our country,” he said.
(Source)
These 2 weeks lock down may not be the end of lock down if the number of infections does not go down. If these dumb, selfish 10,000 remains missing and continuing to infect others.
Even so, it is impacting businesses in many ways – some of us had to resort to work from home, provided we had a good internet connection and the infrastructure is in place for us to connect office from home. For others who will not be using internet and involved in non essential sectors, there is nothing to do at home. Already there is news that some of these companies asked their staff to take annual leave or unpaid leave during the lock down. And for some, 2 weeks of not opened for business may just spell doom.
To be continued…