Journal 2 by Mariah

 JOURNAL 2

Malaysia, once praised by the WHO as ‘united’ against COVID, has gone back into lockdown” is a headline on news online posted on 14th January, 2021 by Max Wouden. What is/are your ‘ assumption(s)’ when you read the statement?

Things were all temporarily smooth-sailing when Malaysia announced to had zero cases, yet only until we are currently one out of more than 200 countries battling with thousands of novel coronavirus. By mid-October, hundreds of new cases were being recorded every day. Malaysian health authorities were all under concerned about the drastic growing number of coronavirus spread at a rapid rate, involving so many lives and deaths. 

My first assumption towards the statement is the efforts put by most Malaysian at the first place should not go to waste. This is because Malaysia had once proven to be under control in dealing with covid19 cases. Comparing to now, it is pretty alarming & saddening at the same time, as if we have done nothing to combat the pandemic, when in fact, it has been a year since everyone quarantine themselves at home. According to Walden (2021), "But just a few months ago the situation in Malaysia was drastically different. Malaysia had fewer than 13,000 cases in early October — only about half of Australia's total. However, by mid-October, hundreds of new cases were being recorded every day." Not to mention, the healthcare system is under tremendous pressure, more now than at any other time since the start of the pandemic. Every frontliner are at risk, and yet there are some man that risks themselves, affecting others & causes an increase of covid-19 to be at a rapid rate. This is supported by 

 Hence why I mentioned the efforts of the majority of Malaysian shouldn't goes to waste, at least, not for the ones who bow and obey. 

However, the actions are wise enough as looking at the statement quoted by WHO, I feel the decision made for all Malaysians to cope themselves at home is the best yet to prevent more viruses from spreading. This is because, the healthcare system is also trying their very best, and had an amount of experience and experts to battle the viruses. This is supported by Bernama (2020), "Malaysia’s strong capacity in outbreak preparedness and response have helped establish a stable foundation in its outbreak response to Covid-19 pandemic so far, said World Health Organisation (WHO)." Therefore, although the rising infection numbers were increased at a rapid rate, Malaysia surely would bounce back by taking a measure to prevent more fatal risks. The bitter truth is probably as Malaysian, I have to swallow the fact that it is kind of a shame to be mentioned as "top country who succeed in against the pandemic" but in the reality, Malaysia is getting back to the lockdown phase. This is due to the fact that Malaysia had once been a role model to the rest of the Asian region, and the hope for them to beat the pandemic is still possible and bright. An achievement for Malaysia might be a good example to any other country. As things have changed, Malaysia might not play that specific role anymore. However, as a Malaysian, I do stand firm to the quote "A prevention is always better than cure." Lockdown might not be the best prevention for its consequences such as people are getting mentally draining, no motivation, lose jobs, however, if staying at home could lessen the burden of frontliners and the risk of getting infected, then be it. The process of combatting the virus is what matters, and Malaysian has proven that they are doing their best for the sake of uncertainty, and were being asked to be comfortable with the uncomfortable. Malaysia has proven that the country had succeeded once in combatting the outbreak with the people obeying the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) by the government.

In a nutshell, as my first assumption, I might felt shame because things could have been so much better. But as a Malaysian, I believe it does not reflect that Malaysia fails, it reflects that Malaysia is still like the other countries which are still fighting and battling the virus.

REFERENCES:

Walden, M. (2021, January 14). Malaysia, once praised by the WHO as “united” against COVID, has gone back into lockdown. ABC News. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-14/malaysia-covid-19-outbreak-state-of-emergency-case-numbers/13036038

 

Bernama. (2020, October 15). WHO praises M’sia’s handling of Covid-19 pandemic. Malaysiakini. https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/546685