Dear Diary,
Today we entered the ninth week of the Movement Control Order (MCO).
Surprisingly, ‘The MCO Diaries’ is still going strong – with ONLY 27 days to go!
It’s been fun but once again, as much as I hate talking about politics, there is no running away from it.
The one-day Parliament sitting on May 18 will only convene for a speech by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong as the government made the decision to change the meeting agenda since Covid-19 has not abated sufficiently.
Earlier, it was reported Parliament would feature a royal address, followed by government motions and bills.
Last Friday, former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s motion of no-confidence against Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was accepted by Parliament Speaker Tan Sri Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof.
Separately, Dr Mahathir’s son, Datuk Seri Mukhriz, insisted he is still Menteri Besar of Kedah despite two allies from Bersatu – Mohd Firdaus Ahmad (Kuah) and Juhari Bulat (Ayer Hangat) – declaring they have no confidence in his leadership.
Mukhriz said changes to the state government and the position of the Menteri Besar must involve the Sultan.
Shouldn’t our elected officials be more concerned about beating Covid-19 than power struggles?
Here’s how the rest of Day 57 of MCO unfolded.
7.30am: WWII VET HONOURED – British World War Two veteran Captain Tom Moore, who turned 100 on April 30 and who is a national hero after raising more than £33 million (RM175.5 million) for the health service, was awarded Freedom of the City of London in a virtual service.
8am: GRANNY POWER – From Girona in Spain, comes this remarkable story of 113-year-old Maria Branyas who has beaten Covid-19. Branyas is the second centurion to do this. Last month, 104-year-old Ada Zanusso from Biella in northern Italy also beat the disease. Both lived through the Spanish flu, which caused the deadliest pandemic of the 20th century from 1918-1920.
9.30am: ALMOST BRILLIANT – This student had a great idea – but the spelling gave it away!
10.19am: STAYING SHARP – Japanese fencer Ryo Miyake is delivering food for Uber Eats to maintain fitness and bring in a little extra cash during the enforced lockdown.
11am: MORNING LAUGH
12.02pm: SAUDI CURFEW – Saudi Arabia will enforce a round-the-clock nationwide curfew during the five-day Hari Raya holiday from May 23-27 to fight the coronavirus.
1.03pm: NO PARTNERSHIP – The Social Security Organisation (Socso) denies collaboration with MyEG Services Bhd for the implementation of its Prihatin Screening Programme. Socso says applications for the programme can only be made through its portal.
1.35pm: HELPING HAND – Legendary motorsports journalist and good friend, Agnes Carlier, has joined friends from Rotary Club of Bukit Angkasa in feeding the needy. They also donated some sanitisers and other goodies to Sg Buloh Hospital. Great job.
2pm: ONLY ON FIRST DAY – Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob says Malaysians are only allowed to have guests on the first day of Hari Raya, Kaamataan and Gawai.
Only a maximum of 20 CLOSE FAMILY MEMBERS are allowed to visit throughout the day with the size of property taken in consideration when deciding how many can visit at any one time.
On May 10, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said visiting neighbours and relatives within the same state would be allowed, with a maximum of 20 people at any one time.
Ismail Sabri, who is also Defence Minister, hopes all those visiting follow SOPS as he doesn’t want what happened in Bahrain where 16 people in a family contracted Covid-19 after breaking fast together, to be repeated here.
On May 11, Health Ministry director-general Datuk Seri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, posted this on his Facebook.
The defence minister also warns businesses that failure to ensure SOPs at their premises will result in their shops being closed.
3.11pm: GREAT MESSAGE
Be a hero. Be boring. Staying in isn’t exciting, but it saves lives. pic.twitter.com/VkC12LAYes
— Brilliant Ads (@Brilliant_Ads) May 13, 2020
4pm: WHAT’S UP DOC? – Former National Sports Council and National Sports Institute boss Datuk Dr Ramlan Aziz was on the RSS with HD – Extended today. He chooses between Khairy Jamaluddin and Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman.
4.49pm: TWO DEATHS – For the first time since May 3, there was more than one death with two reported today, taking fatalities to 111. There are also 37 new cases, taking the number to 6,779. The good news is that 58 more patients have been discharged, meaning 5,281 have been cured.
5.15pm: OPEN FOR BUSINESS – Twentytwo13 senior copy editor Purwaiz Alam visits local eatery Hussen Bistro in USJ 18, Subang Jaya. He is pleased that the restaurant adhered to guidelines on social distancing and the recording of personal information for diners. The restaurant owner also shared some customers had dined in for breakfast today.
6.28pm: END OF AN ERA? – BFM has suspended its football talk show hosted by Ross Yusof. No news if it will be back after it airs its recorded shows until the end of May.
6.30pm: NUNIS IN ISOLATION – Some relatives show off their musical talents in this cover of Van Morrison’s Brown Eyed Girl. Here’s NunISO.
https://youtu.be/W4WLcBc-ddk
