It didn’t take long for chaos to erupt in the lower house . Within half hour after parliament sits for the first time since Dec, Ramkarpal accused speaker of parliament Azhar Harun of being a lapdog of the government and demanded his resignation - MelGoh
Takiyuddin Hassan telah mengumumkan yang darurat kedua tidak akan disambung dan semua ordinal darurat dibatalkan. Ahli2 Parlimen pembangkang mempersoalkan tindakan kerajaan yang membatalkan semua ordinan darurat tanpa melalui proses perbahasan dan pengundian di Dewan Rakyat. Menurut mereka, ia bercanggah dengan titah Yang di-Pertuan Agong bahawa ordinan darurat perlu dibahaskan dalam sidang khas Parlimen kali ini.
Bila nakkan darurat, depa merangkak ke istana. Tapi bila berdepan dengan undi tak percaya, senang2 depa mansuh ordinan darurat tanpa kelulusan Istana. If the cancellation of darurat laws really took effect on July 21 as claimed by Takiyuddin, why didn’t the Agong announce his promulgation on the cancellation of these laws then and why hasn’t such promulgation been gazetted? And why have all these laws been continuously used even up to now? They lied to everyone - the Agong, the rakyat, Parliament - and they got caught out. - ts
One million Covid infections,
Congrats Muhyiddin...
With a daily vaccination rate of 507,050 doses recorded on Thursday (July 22), Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin did not waste any time in taking credits. After all, with plunging popularity due to his mishandling of Covid-19 pandemic and mismanagement of the economy, it would be foolish to let go of such rare and golden opportunity to gloat and brag.
His staff was quickly instructed to update the Facebook. Declaring victory, the Muhyiddin said 46.7% of the country’s adult population have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine and 21.8% have received both doses. Thanks to the record 507,050 daily jabs, he boasted, this means 10,920,862 people have received their first dose and 5,104,054 people have completed their inoculation.
The Malaysian premier, who had already lost his legitimacy in the Parliament, was struggling to rally for support on social media, saying – “This achievement is in line with the target set and must be further improved, so that we can achieve the target of 26 million fully vaccinated Malaysians. With vaccination, we will be able to help reduce the burden of cases in hospitals and severe infections.”
However, his Facebook post was bombarded from angry netizens, grilling the backdoor prime minister why those registered as early as February are still waiting for their dose of vaccine. Some mocked the clueless premier, grilling him about the number of people who received empty doses of vaccine. Others ridiculed the leader, asking him why he was afraid to show charts of the death toll.
Indeed, the prime minister had selectively shown the record 507,050 daily jabs on July 22, without showing the ugly chart of the day – 13,034 confirmed daily cases, bringing the nation’s cumulative total to 964,918. There were 134 Covid-19 deaths on that day, pushing the total death toll to 7,574. A whopping 938 patients were warded in the ICU (intensive care unit), with 459 of them requiring breathing assistance.
Mr Mahiaddin (glamour name: Muhyiddin) also bragged that since July 12, his government’s National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme has successfully given more than 400,000 doses daily. But he dared not talk about the empty Covid jabs scandal or the thugs deployed to vaccination centres to force people to buy face shields at exorbitant prices.
Of course, the power-hungry, but incompetent prime minister has been avoiding the burning issue – despite record daily jabs, the country consistently records more than 10,000 cases daily, with over 100 deaths a day for the past week. The next day after he celebrated the record daily jabs, the country saw two more new records – 15,573 cases (Friday) and 15,902 (Saturday) infections.
On Sunday, the country under Muhyiddin administration set another new record for the third consecutive day – 17,045 new Covid-19 cases. For the first time since the pandemic started last year, the leadership of Mr Mahaiddin has successfully driven the country to breach the 1-million milestones. Now, Malaysia officially joined the million Covid infection club with 1,013,438 cases.
In fact, the country is now in the top-10 list of countries with the highest new cases and deaths. Yes, thanks to the government, Malaysia today occupies the fourth place – behind Indonesia, Iran and Russia – in the category of countries with highest daily Covid-19 infections in the world. The country also grabs the 8th spot in the highest daily new deaths in planet Earth.
With all schools closed, forcing students to do online learning at home, it certainly didn’t make sense that new records are being broken almost on a daily basis even after 46.7% of the country’s adult population had received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine. Was it not Health Ministry Director-General Dr Noor Hisham who said 2 weeks ago that cases would fall once 40% of the population has been vaccinated?
In Britain, new daily infections actually plunged to 5,000 cases in mid-March from 70,000 cases (in early January), when 40% of the population received at least 1 dose of Covid vaccines. Likewise, the number of patients admitted to the hospital also dropped accordingly with higher vaccination rates in the U.K. (from about 40,000 to 8,000) in the same period.
Sure, the daily cases in the United Kingdom have skyrocketed again due to Delta variant. But at least they had managed to flatten the curve of the first wave due to common Coronavirus variants. At least the hospitalization due to Covid is not as severe as before. More importantly, the death rate does not go up even as daily new infections hit the roof today.
The situation in Malaysia, however, is still upside down under the clueless and incompetent Perikatan Nasional government, despite a State of Emergency since January 12. In spite of PM Muhyiddin’s victorious declaration that 46.7% of the country’s adult population are protected with at least one dose of vaccines, the daily cases, deaths and hospitalization continue escalating.
Heck, the Ministry of Health is not even sure if the current never-ending daily infections and deaths are due to common Covid-19 variants or the Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta variants. Dr Noor has conveniently blamed the Delta variant. But amusingly, he also admitted two days ago that there were only 206 cases of the Beta variant, 189 cases of the Delta variant and 14 cases of the Alpha variant.
You don’t need a rocket scientist to tell that 409 cases of Alpha, Beta and Delta variants cannot be fingered as the culprit for 17,000 new Covid-19 cases. It means unlike the U.K., Malaysia is absolutely screwed up because it is still fighting the common variant, which they have not been able to flatten from the beginning, in addition to the newly more infectious variants.
Still, it does not answer the burning question as to why the daily infections did not come down with higher rates of inoculation. It could only mean either the government has been cooking and manipulating data or the vaccination isn’t effective. And if the vaccination isn’t working, it could be due to ineffective vaccines or the empty syringe scandal is much bigger than earlier suspected.
According to the chart, Malaysia is the worst country in the Southeast-Asia, winning the prize as the country with the highest total Covid-19 cases per million populations. With 30,893 total cases per million, Malaysia is ahead of the Philippines (13,937) and Indonesia (11,448). It means the Philippines and Indonesia have to triple its infections before they can beat Malaysia.
Both Indonesia and the Philippines have higher total deaths per million populations than Malaysia. But that can be explained with lower vaccination rates in Indonesia (16.3% people received at least 1 dose) and the Philippines (10.1% people received at least 1 dose). Malaysia, with its 244 deaths per million, however, isn’t far from the Philippines (245) and Indonesia (301) though.
The charts clearly show something is terribly wrong with Malaysia Covid pandemic under Muhyiddin administration. There are simply too much hanky-panky, inconsistency, contradiction, over-promise, under-deliver and whatnot with the government’s data. We do not even know if Pharmaniaga, the sole concessionaire holder of Covid vaccines, had diluted or corrupt the precious vaccines. - FT
Empty vaccine syringe scandal
is about wealth before health...
The Minister of Health, Adham Baba, does not appear to treat the ’empty syringe’ scandal with the seriousness and immediacy it deserves.How could anyone know that their vaccine was not sugar water, or saline solution? The exposé about “empty syringes” will embolden the anti-vaxxers.
The world faces an invisible enemy, Coronavirus, but in Malaysia, the rakyat has three enemies to confront. The virus itself, the politicking and infighting in Putrajaya which has not stopped the spread of Coronavirus, and worst of all, the unscrupulous medical health-workers who withhold vaccines.
Does Adham comprehend that it is not just about getting another jab if one thought one had not received a full dose of the vaccine? He does not reassure us at all. He should have halted the vaccination program in the particular centre, instituted an enquiry, suspended the staff and taken great pains to reassure Malaysians.
Instead, he treats the empty syringe scandal, like a shopkeeper of a corner-shop grocery store, who tells his disgruntled customer, “Ok-lah, I give you an unopened pack of maggi mee because you said, the other one is empty.”
With the stress and tension to acquire the jab, the long wait, the queue alongside strangers, who could be silent carriers of Coronavirus, the fear of side effects, and for some, the phobia of the injection, who would recollect if the vial they received, was empty or not? Anyone with half a brain will realise that this scandal is a crime, on many counts.
First. Medical ethics. It is not just about withholding the vaccine and pretending that the jab had been administered. This covers medical ethics and professionalism. The nurse or doctor who tricked the recipient from receiving the full dose should be charged, prosecuted, and dealt the maximum punishment, to act as a deterrent.
Second. Missing vaccine. The government procured the vaccines at great expense, using taxpayers’ money. When it was reported that the vial was empty, what happened to the contents? Is it hoarded in a freezer at the back of the vaccination facility awaiting the exchange of cash from unscrupulous strangers? Many things end up on the black market, why not vaccines? People (and companies) are desperate to be protected, they will pay a good price for the vaccine.
Third. The trust deficit. If corrupt and unscrupulous health workers are prepared to cheat the person who has come to be vaccinated, what does that say about the Malaysian medical system? How can anyone place any faith in the people who are supposed to cure us? This is the consequence of over five decades of lack of integrity and corruption in our public service.
Fourth. False sense of security. A person may leave the vaccination centre, thinking he was fully protected. Whilst most people are aware that the vaccine does not give 100% protection, why should anyone be left with a false sense of security? This goes against all human values and ethics.
Fifth. Consequences. What happens if the person who thought he had been vaccinated, contracts the disease and falls seriously ill? What if he dies? Will the government compensate the family? The stricken family may have lost a breadwinner, or a parent.
Sixth. Vaccine performance. What about the company which produced the vaccine? People may think that particular vaccine was of no use, when in truth, the vaccine had not been administered at all. The company in question should protest to the Malaysian government and demand an inquiry because its reputation is at stake. Moreover, the experts compiling data from around the world will be horrified that Malaysian statistics are questionable.
Seventh. Inquiry. The suspension of the staff who are complicit in this scandal should have been immediate. This will serve as a warning to others. It will also reassure the public that the ministry is committed to finding the truth. The guilty should be charged, jailed, and given the maximum punishment to act as a deterrent. They should also be barred from working in the medical sector.
Eighth. Deceit. If the guilty health workers are prepared to withhold vaccine from the person who should receive the jab, what’s to stop this health worker from committing other dodgy practices? He could be re-using the needle and syringe. He could be transmitting other communicable diseases like hepatitis or HIV/AIDS from one person to a completely innocent person. We should doubt the corrupt health worker’s integrity and not compromise.
Ninth. Dismissive tone. Adham told the public that “Anyone who has been proven to receive an “empty syringe” will be given a new injection.” Could he explain how one is to prove that one received an “empty syringe”? What is the evidence, especially as one is not allowed to record the jabs being administered? When Malaysians go for vaccination, they expect professionalism and should not need to micro-manage the work of the self-styled experts. For many elderly people, the ignorant and those who have white coat syndrome, the last thing on their minds is to check if the vial is empty or not. The responsibility does not lie with the patient.
Tenth. Tip of the iceberg. If one of the complainants, Tan Wing Sam had not spoken out and lodged a police report, how would the public know about his scandal? We are aware that things like this are almost always covered up, because of the negative publicity. What if Tan had not been aware and subsequently fell ill?
More stories are emerging about vaccine scams and profiteering schemes, such as the forced buying of face masks to enter a vaccination centre. All these will deter people from being vaccinated and this will affect the national vaccination programme. Adham Baba has clearly failed to demonstrate any leadership. His position is untenable. The buck stops with him. He should resign or be kicked out. – Mariam Mokhtar, Rebuilding Malaysia
cheers.
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