Shock, disbelief and upset. That was how my mum felt nine days ago when her MySejahtera mobile application suddenly classified her as ‘Not Vaccinated’.
In May, I documented her vaccine journey in ‘The MCO Diaries’, and yes, she has still not turned into an alien.
Last Wednesday, mum wanted to go to the hairdresser. Before going, she looked at the mobile application to check for an appointment for a booster shot, and that was when she discovered the anomaly.
Distraught, she asked me for help as she is my dependent on the platform. It was a good thing that I added her, as her digital certificate was still visible on my phone.
Mum, initially, had trouble registering for MySejahtera but managed to download it a few weeks after her second dose in June.
At that time, it took a few days before the digital vaccination certificate appeared on her phone.
With businesses now insisting on seeing the digital certificate, it means mum cannot go anywhere without me.
With the words ‘Not Vaccinated’ in her MySejahtera app and shop owners strictly adhering to what is stated on the phone, it is difficult for her to explain her predicament, despite carrying her physical vaccination certificate.
I emailed the help desk on this issue. The reply was that everything was all right, as the digital certificate was still available. But only on my phone.
I sent another email asking if it was possible to update her status on her phone. It has been nearly a week, and still, no reply. Mum updates the mobile application several times a day, but there is no change in her status.
Worryingly, mum is not the only one facing this problem.
A colleague’s uncle, who is fully vaccinated, went almost two months as a ‘Not Vaccinated’ person. Thankfully, he has since received his digital certificate.
My home minister also shared how her friend’s father was stopped from entering a restaurant, even though he produced the physical vaccination card.
The man has no smartphone and had his son register him for the vaccine. Unfortunately, the son was outstation that day, and as a result, his father had to skip the ‘makan-makan’ session with friends.
What does this mean for folks who are vaccinated but do not own smartphones?
And, could the disappearing vaccination status be linked to the strange SMS messages MySejahtera users received last month?
Twentytwo13 editor Haresh Deol was among those who received the SMS.
Others too received the same message
cc: @DrAdhamBaba @my_sejahtera pic.twitter.com/Df49wqMrU4— Haresh Deol 🇲🇾 (@HareshDeol) October 19, 2021
Last week, several people were shocked to discover that they were suddenly Persons Under Surveillance (PUS) and under Home Surveillance Order (HSO). MySejahtera has since apologised for the mix-up.
I hope the missing digital certificates and mix-up of the HSO/PUS status are technical bugs and not an indication of another data breach.
HIGH NUMBER OF NEW CASES IN RECENT DAYS
The Melaka elections are a week away, and worryingly, the number of cases has started to go up, with the country experiencing three straight days of more than 6,000 new infections.
We had 38,073 new cases in the last seven days, bringing the total to 2,535,338.
Recoveries continued to improve with 39,662 in the past week, making it 2,441,485 patients who had beaten the coronavirus.
We had 374 deaths, and that total now stands at 29,576.
Worldwide, there are 253.1 million cases and 5.1 million fatalities.
NEW MEANING TO DINING IN
Last Saturday, the home minister and I decided to take our daughter for a quick outing as she had not left home since receiving her first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine in October.
As she was not fully vaccinated, we could not dine in, so we ‘tapau-ed’ some food and ate in the car instead.
We had some funny stares from people, but it did not bother us.
The good news is, Carra received her second dose on Wednesday, but that only means she would be at home for the next two weeks.
Oh well, at least there is no problem with her MySejahtera application!
HOW IT IS GOING
With the number of infections on the rise, a friend sent me this.
WE ARE STAR PEOPLE
CNN had this interesting article. Maybe, we are aliens, after all!
HOW I FEEL MOST DAYS
I was speaking to a friend recently about how I felt more and more tired these days. She sent this via WhatsApp.
NO-KNEAD FOCACCIA BREAD
Want a simple no-knead bread recipe? Try this for delicious focaccia bread.
SAM STONE
Thursday was Veteran’s Day in the United States and a perfect opportunity to play John Prine’s Sam Stone.
Prine wrote the song after his discharge from the army. He observed, some veterans had trouble adjusting to civilian life and turned to drugs.
Sam Stone featured on his debut album 50 years ago!
Until next week, stay safe.
