Dear Diary,
I decided to practise social distancing or physical distancing as the World Health Organisation (WHO) decided to rename it – from my laptop for most of the day.
Initially, I planned to joke about that on the day I was too lazy to follow the news as The MCO Diaries is time-consuming.
It isn’t easy deciding what goes in and what doesn’t, plus trying to strike the balance of being informative and entertaining – with the occasional recipes and other tips.
One of the best messages I received was when someone described the diaries as “infotaining”. That keeps us all at Twentytwo13 going.
Today, I was not lazy – just disgusted by the apparent double standards practised by those in power.
By now, everyone would probably know of or has read about Deputy Health Minister I Datuk Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali’s visit-cum-lunch party at Maahad Tahfiz in Lenggong, run by Semanggol assemblyman Razman Zakaria.
Timbalan Menteri Kesihatan tak reti ke, atau tak faham waktu ini semua rakyat dilarang berkumpul?
Lepas tersedar, kelam kabut admin padamkan posting berkenaan. Tak apa, kami dah screen shot! pic.twitter.com/7cICgFam3R
— GangUtara (@Gang_Utara) April 17, 2020
Having that meal, with so many in close quarters, is clearly a violation of the Movement Control Order (MCO) and downright stupid when we are trying to stop the spread of the coronavirus. They must be in dreamland to think they are immune.
While the ordinary folks are being told to stay at home or face arrest, we have a deputy minister – of health no less – flouting the rules.
Also, who can forget Economic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed who deleted a tweet after stating he visited his constituents in Jeli, Kelantan in the early days of MCO.
Yesterday, Terengganu Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar visited one of his predecessors, Datuk Seri Ahmad Said, and gladly posted pictures of them having lunch and one picture of them not practising physical distancing!
At the start of the MCO, several of our “honourable” ministers made a mockery of being ‘Yang Berhormat’ with their antics such as dispensing Doraemon-inspired advice, planning a TikTok competition, wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) for photo ops and of course, drinking warm water to kill the coronavirus!
They are a bunch of Covidiots.
Luckily, there are some good ones among them such as Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaacob who in his daily briefing today, promised no one – not even ministers – would escape the long arm of the law.
Whether that decision was because of pressure from the public or whether he is serious in teaching them a lesson, is immaterial.
The fact he spoke out deserves kudos.
Perak Police Chief Datuk Razarudin Husain has confirmed receiving several reports against Noor Azmi. Hopefully, the police will act accordingly.
Separately, the best news is there were only 54 new Covid-19 cases, bringing the total to 5,305 while 135 patients were discharged, making it 3,102 cured of the disease.
Sadly, there were two deaths, making it 88 fatalities.
This is the lowest number of new cases since the MCO began and the third time in four days we have fewer than 100 new cases.
But don’t rejoice just yet. We still need MCO … as this picture explains perfectly.
We have to continue obeying MCO, only going out when necessary and hopefully, those in the corridors of power start acting responsibly.
We are in this together.
Meanwhile, Singapore experienced another surge of new cases – 942 – bringing the total number of cases to 5,992 and 11 deaths. The fact we are so close to them is cause for concern so, let’s pray we don’t get a new wave of cases.
Today’s song of the day describes my feelings for the ‘Yang Bersalah’ out there.