A more restrictive restriction

Sat 2020.03.28 16:09 hrs
Movement Control Order Day 11

The Senior Minister (Security) has just appeared live on TV to make a press statement saying that restrictions under the ongoing MCO will be further tightened with effect from next month.

A more restrictive restriction?

We are already considerably restricted.

Despite getting 97% compliance from the public, the authorities are going to increase restrictions under our Movement Control Order.

Any additional restrictions, just to reign in the 3% non-compliant people, will only increase the hardship faced by many, especially those who are single parents, those with chronic illnesses who often need to get medicines from the clinic, those with loved ones in hospital, those with frail elderly relatives staying across town who need our daily attention, among others.

Already, our food supply chain is suffering from the ongoing restrictions, with huge quantities of fruits and vegetables being dumped because of lack of transport.

If indeed increased restrictions are necessary, the authorities should find ways to make pin point restrictions that target the 3% non-compliant group instead of blanket restrictions that cover all of us.

#pandemic #covid19 #mco

Food supply unwittingly restricted

Thu 2020.03.27
Movement Control Order Day 10

It's just after dinner time. I came across news that farmers and distributors are dumping huge quantities of their produce of fruits and vegetables because of disruptions in the supply chain, resulting from the restriction of business and movement in the country. More than ten thousand tonnes of produce are dumped in Klang Valley alone.

This is sad.

In the process of tightening the screws on the Movement Restriction Order, the movement of fruits and vegetables have unwittingly been restricted as well.

Is USA doing enough?

Thu 2020.03.27
Movement Control Order Day 10

This morning I woke up to news that there are now more than 81,000 cases of Covid-19 in USA.

US now has more cases of Covid-19 than China, the latter country with five times the population of the former.

Is USA doing too little to contain the outbreak?

Or has China under reported its figures?

Looking for bread

Thu 2020.03.26
Movement Control Order Day 9, Kampar, Perak.

This morning I had to join a long queue outside Minat Supermarket to get a loaf of bread. The supermarket staff on duty at the entrance would only let a customer in for every one who comes out. We also had to have our hands sprayed with some sanitiser.

Earlier, I had visited two other Speedmart99 stores in town looking for bread but the workers at both places told me that their supplies of bread had not arrived yet.

Many roads in town have been cordoned off, and it was difficult to drive in town. I had to cycle out for my replenishments of supplies. You can see my old bicycle in the foreground on the right.

Too many cooks spoil the broth

[This post is about the ongoing worldwide Covid-19 pandemic.]

Friday, 20200323.
Day 6 of Malaysia's Movement Control Order.

This morning I read a news article reporting that the public in Malaysia is confused over the Movement Control Order. Its caption said,

/// The people have been confused about the MCO - and from the moment they were told to anticipate a 'big announcement', chaos ensued. ///

If the initial press release of the Movement Control Order had been more specific about the "movement control" part, such as restrictions on inter state travel, on operating hours and types of food outlets allowed, on the number of persons from each family allowed to go shopping for essentials, etc.

Then there won't be so many additional restrictions being announced by different ministers and authorities at different times almost on a daily ad hoc basis.

It is such ad hoc announcements that cause uncertainty and fear among the public about what will happen next, especially the one about army deployment, leading to continued panic buying.

Dishing out additional restrictions under the Movement Control Order in a piece meal manner is not helpful at all.

Too many cooks spoil the broth.

The Majlis Keselamatan Negara should be the only authority making press and media releases.

Fourteen Days At Home

How to spend fourteen days at home:

Day 1 Stayed at home
Day 2 Bored at home
Day 3 Unhappy at home

Day 4 Lost at home
Day 5 Impatient at home

Day 6 Fidgety at home
Day 7 Restless at home

Day 8 Mope at home
Day 9 Despondent at home
Day 10 Depressed at home

Day 11 Angry at home
Day 12 Hostile at home
Day 13 Suicidal at home
Day 14 Laughing hysterically at home

#Covid19 #Pandemic

Stuck

The disease is spreading,
The world has come to a halt.
Anxiety is rising,
It could be our fault.

All the shops are closed,
Factories shut down.
Vacant buses and trains
Move sadly around town.

The streets are deserted,
Stock markets have crashed.
The wealthy are losing their millions,
Their wealth badly trashed.

Businesses are going bankrupt,
Workers lose their jobs.
While everyone is locked up
In their homes, and in their shops.

Poor wage earners!
Their wages are not paid.
They have no means whatsoever
To bring home some bread.

The world has come to a halt,
The disease is spreading.
Could it be our fault
That we don't know where we're heading?

#Poetry #PoetryByHaroldHuang
#MyWritersPoetryPrompt 11/2020

Stuck

20200321 Started: 1103 hrs Completed: 1200 hrs

The road-block skeptic

[This post is about the current worldwide Covid-19 pandemic.]

Friday, 20200320.
Day 3 of Malaysia's Movement Control Order.

Earlier today, a State Chief Secretary went out to inspect the enforcement of the Movement Control Order at a road-block in town. He was disappointed when he saw many vehicles on the road, and by the reasons given by the drivers when asked why they were not staying back at home.

He thought they were mere excuses.

In one of my earlier facebook posts this morning, I had opined that the setting up of road-blocks, especially with the deployment of the army this Sunday, will make it harder for us to go out for essential goods and services.

"Not true,"

replied a friend bluntly, strongly disagreeing with me, and asserting that it is our right to go out for essential things that are exempted under the ongoing Movement Control Order.

What he failed to see is that, in practice, there will be varying degrees of skepticism shown by officers at road-blocks, even if you are going out for genuine reasons.

That is my concern.

I didn't have to wait long for a confirmation. Tonight, this news report quotes the state secretary as saying:

/// “Some of the excuses given by the motorists I spoke to was that they were fetching their wives, buying food and going to the bank. ///

Fetching your spouse home, buying food from the restaurant, and going to the bank are reasons that can be seen as excuses here.

Yes, anything you say might be construed as an excuse. It depends on how skeptical the officer at the road-block is. If he isn't convinced by your explanation, it's an excuse to him, and you may be ordered to turn around and go home.

Yesterday morning, I had to make a half an hour drive to Tanjung Tualang to turn off the water mains in our second house there. The float in the storage tank had failed recently and water would overflow if the house is left unattended.

Happily, I didn't encounter any road blocks. If I had, how would I have explained this to the officer in charge? Probably he would've thought that I was making up an excuse.

This morning I had to make a long 40 minute drive to a specialist's clinic in Ipoh to obtain the monthly supply of medication for my mother, and then to bring it to her at the home where she stays.

Again, if I had been stopped at roadblocks along the way, will the officers believe my story?

Or will it be yet another excuse?

#Covid-19 #Pandemic

The Army is deployed

[This post is about the current worldwide Covid-19 pandemic.]

Malaysia, Movement Control Order Day 3.

The Army will be deployed:
This Sunday 22Mar20

Dear Malaysian friends,

Please replenish your supplies of foodstuff and medicines.

I have just managed to bring another month's supply of medicines for my mother in Ipoh, and to buy more provisions from the supermarket, at risk of being stopped and questioned at road-blocks.

It will become increasingly difficult to go out of our homes to get supplies.

#Covid-19 #Pandemic

Are we going overboard?

[This post is about the current worldwide Covid-19 pandemic.]

Friday, 20200320.
Malaysia, Movement Control Order Day 3

Are we going overboard with Movement Control?

The MCO is a Movement Control Order, not a Mass Confinement Order.

We are called to practise Social Distancing, not Social Detention.

A person walking alone in a vast space is not in contact with any other individual, and should be allowed to get some fresh air and exercise.

In my opinion, the police should come in only when groups of people gather or when a crowd forms, or when there are many people in the park.

And I think the police should be dispersing people from busy and crowded locations such as people sitting in coffee shops instead of trying to tell a lone pedestrian to go home.

All this hyped up talk about "Just Stay At Home" is bringing us towards a mass hysteria of sorts.

#Covid-19 #Pandemic

Boots on the ground

[This post is about the current worldwide Covid-19 pandemic.]

Thursday, 20200319.
Malaysia, Movement Control Order Day 2.

Today, there are news reports that the Army may be deployed to enforce the ongoing Movement Control Order.

Are we reacting to our own shortsightedness?

If only the "Just stay at home" part were emphasised and made central to the initial announcement of the MCO by the PM,
If uni students were not ordered to go home,
If highways were closed, and long distance public transport suspended . . .

So much more thinking could have gone into policy making by the Majlis Keselamatan Negara MKN, under the leadership of the PM.

Alas, it was not so.

As the wave of new cases coming from the 16,000 strong "tabligh" Convention at the Sri Petaling Mosque continue to hit us, we may have to brave ourselves for yet another wave caused by the mass "balik kampong" exodus two days ago.

The Minister of Defence says only some 60% of Malaysians complied with the movement control order yesterday.