No surprises that the interstate travel restriction failed

It is no surprise that the interstate travel restriction failed miserably.

Whilst it is understood that people should not be travelling outside of their respective state of residence without good reason, the initial blanket ban on interstate travel could easily have been implemented without the backlash that was seen today morning.

There was absolutely no need for the physical copy of the form to be handed over in person to the IPD. The application should have been made online. This would have avoided the mass gathering of people at IPDs around Malaysia to hand over the application form. It would also have sped up the process significantly.

A second problem that existed with the interstate travel restriction plans were concerning the exodus of a large group of IPTA students who were ordered by the National Security Council to return home. This was poorly thought out because a huge number of these students are from other states and may need to plan their travel back to their respective states in advance. With the partial closure of hotels, hostels and other temporary accommodation facilities and only given one day to react, the students would have been stranded without a place to live. Thankfully, the Government has since backtracked on this.

The events of the past few days have highlighted a huge inability or inexperience on the Government's part to curb the Covid-19 outbreak. What we have been seeing instead has been a lot of political posturing from the new Government in order to appear strong and in control.

Announcements were made about how Malaysians could be assisted via financial means and other measures. I welcome these announcement but I can't help but feel that they are merely announcements that will lack sorely in their implementation. This is made worse by the huge influx of news in the past few days that have managed to sweep those announcements under the rug and away from the public's attention.

With the benefit of hindsight, the restricted movement order should have been announced much earlier and it should have been implemented in stages.

Giving only one day for all Malaysians to figure out what the order means, what it entails and what needs to be done is just unreasonable.

There was no mention at all in the Prime Minister's official announcement on Tuesday night about the interstate travel restriction. It was announced by the IGP only on yesterday evening, 6 hours before its implementation.

The sudden implementation have left many Malaysians stranded in other countries, in particular Singapore, where many Malaysians travel to for work. What in effect has happened is that these Malaysians that are stranded there would have to be left to find their own accommodations whereas those that returned to Malaysia find themselves potentially out of employment due to the 14 day period in which they have to stay away from work.

I don't want to put the blame completely on poor governance but the sudden announcement did not contribute in alaying the fears of the public and arguably served to only worsen the problem.

The first sign of when the announcement should have been made was when there was news of a large gathering of Muslims who were exposed to Covid-19. The Government should have made the announcement first and give a 4 to 5 day period between the announcement and its implementation. Religious spaces and public gatherings can be shut down starting the first day.

During that period of time, measures should have been taken to relay information to the public about what type of businesses should be open and what businesses should be closed. Yesterday, from my own experience, there was a lot of confusion regarding the scope of the restricted movement order. By the time it was explained, it was probably too late to start implementing work from home measures.

There should also be better efforts to relay information to employees about their rights during the restricted movement period. Any doubts that existed would have been addressed by the end of 4 to 5 day period and people could have space out the interstate travel to their respective hometowns. Malaysians would also have been able to plan better on when they should return home.

During that period of time, there should have also been restricted access to supermarkets and/or the amount of goods that people could buy. There should also have been efforts to encourage online delivery services of groceries instead. Perhaps supermarkets could have implemented a particular 'senior citizens section' so that there would be more stock and less direct contact. A priority lane could also have been kept open for senior citizens.

It is during times like these as well that political differences should be set aside and the 5 pro-Harapan states should not have been excluded from the PM's Covid-19 meeting. I do not know what led to their exclusion but the Chief Secretary's explanation seems highly questionable.

As for Malaysians in general, I can't help but feel disappointed. The middle class or well-to-do groups of people hoarding goods just because they can is extremely upsetting. On the other hand, the poor sections of society that have to scrap by on a daily basis are left without the ability to stock up for 14 days. Covid-19 has certainly exposed the weaknesses of our society and those who govern us.

It should be borne in mind that pedatang asings tanpa izin, refugees or stateless people are the ones that are affected the worse by this. While they can go for tests at hospitals, I won't blame them if they won't do so out of fear. They form the backbone of our society, performing odd jobs that most Malaysians won't do and I can't help but feel that the Malaysians who sit comfortably in their homes are in for a rude awakening when they feel the negative effects of our nation's unwillingness to help or recognise these groups of people.

-First published on Facebook.