Adakah Kabinet pada esok hari akan menyelamatkan maruah Malaysia dan Parlimen Malaysia memandangkan keputusan bagi mengadakan sidang Parlimen selama sehari adalah salah faham berasaskan nasihat daripada Kementerian Kesihatan mengenai situasi Covid-19 pada pertengahan bulan April?
Jawapannya sudah bocor.
Menurut Ketua Pengarah Kesihatan Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah semalam, Kementerian Kesihatan tidak pernah menasihatkan supaya persidangan Parlimen selama sehari. Ia seolah-olah menghina sistem demokrasi berparlimen dan melumpuhkan fungsi Parlimen dalam meneliti serta menyemak imbang tindakan kerajaan dalam mengendalikan wabak Covid-19 di negara kita.
Jelas sekali Menteri yang bertanggungjawab dengan Hal Ehwal Parlimen, Datuk Takiyauddin Hassan telah salah faham ataupun memutarbelitkan nasihat yang diberikan oleh Kementerian Kesihatan berikutan situasi Covid-19.
Sekali lagi kenyataan saya terbukti benar apabila berasa skeptikal bahawa kononnya cadangan persidangan Parlimen selama sehari pada 18 Mei ini datang daripada Kementerian Kesihatan memandangkan menjelang 17 April, ketika Setiausaha Dewan Rakyat menyampaikan notis kepada semua Ahli Parlimen mengenai persidangan sehari ini, sudah tentu Ketua Pengarah Kesihatan dan pakar-pakar yang lain sudah boleh menjangkakan yang negara kita telahpun melepasi kemuncak gelombang kedua wabak Covid-19 yang kemudiannya disahkan oleh angka-angka jangkitan pada hari-hari yang seterusnya.
Jika saya menyatakan “terdapat tanda-tanda memberangsangkan bahawa jangkaan JP Morgan bahawa Malaysia akan berhadapan dengan 6,300 kes menjelang pertengahan April mungkin terbukti salah” pada 31 Mac, dan pada 7 April saya boleh menjangkakan yang kemuncak gelombang kedua wabak ini telahpun berlalu pada 3 April dengan 3,333 kes. Jadi, tak mungkinlah para pakar di Kementerian Kesihatan yang diketuai oleh Ketua Pengarah Kesihatan tidak dapat menjangkakan perkara yang sama. Berbeza sama sekali dengan situasi di negara Eropah seperti di United Kingdom, Sepanyol, Perancis, dan Itali dan juga di Amerika Syarikat.
Dengan melihat kadar jangkitan harian, jelas dapat dilihat bahawa PKP yang dilaksanakan pada 18 Mac berkesan dan berjaya memutuskan rantaian jangkitan wabak ini.
Dalam tempoh dua minggu antara 18 Mac (yang merekodkan 117 kes) ke 31 Mac, jumlah peningkatan harian tertinggi adalah 235 kes pada 26 Mac. Dalam tempoh 1 April ke 16 April pula, jumlah peningkatan harian tertinggi adalah pada 2 dan 3 April dengan 208 dan 217 kes sehari, manakala selebihnya merekodkan kurang daripada 200 kes malah merekodkan serendah 85 kes pada 15 April. Daripada 17 April pula, jumlah peningkatan harian telah menurun daripada kadar tiga angka sehari kepada dua angka.
Tidak ada pakar di Kementerian Kesihatan yang berkelayakan akan memberitahu Takiyuddin bahawa lengkungan jangkitan Covid-19 di negara kita sedang berada di dalam trajektori ke atas sebagai alasan untuk mengadakan persidangan Parlimen selama sehari pada 18 Mei kerana trajektori ini sedang menghala ke bawah.
Saya tidak percaya yang Ketua Pengarah Kesihatan ataupun para pakar di Kementerian Kesihatan telah mengelirukan Takiyuddin. Ini berikutan kenyataannya bahawa keputusan persidangan sehari ini berasaskan nasihat daripada pihak Kementerian Kesihatan dan pakar-pakar berkaitan untuk kebaikan dan keselamatan semua pihak. Apa yang mungkin berlaku adalah sama ada Takiyuddin tidak memahami nasihat yang diberikan ataupun beliau dengan sengaja memutar belit nasihat ini.
Saya berikan Takiyuddin peluang, kerana kemungkinan beliau tidak memahami nasihat yang diberikan kepadanya. Mungkin juga beliau betul-betul bimbang negara kita mungkin sedang menghadapi situasi yang semakin teruk, sedangkan PKP yang dilaksanakan telahpun berjaya dalam memutuskan rantaian jangkitan dan mendatarkan lengkungan jangkitan, walaupun negara kita masih memerlukan masa untuk membawa jumlah peningkatan jangkitan harian kepada sifar.
Takiyuddin harus sedar, pendataran lengkungan jangkitan tidaklah bermakna negara kita mempunyai sifar kes Covid-19. Apa yang dimaksudkan dengan pendataran lengkungan adalah jumlah kes dalam negara berada pada kadar yang boleh dikendalikan oleh hospital dalam negara.
Pembacaan yang tepat mengenai situasi Covid-19 pada pertengahan April adalah pada fasa keempat PKP, yang dilaksanakan daripada 29 April sehingga 12 Mei, yang boleh memastikan wabak ini berada di bawah kawalan, yang tidak memberikan sebarang alasan untuk persidangan parlimen sehari 18 Mei.
Bukan sahaja Malaysia, bahkan seluruh negara di dunia perlu berhadapan dengan norma baharu era pasca-Covid-19 di mana pembatasan sosial akan menjadi sebahagian daripada kehidupan harian sehingga satu vaksin dicipta dalam tempoh 12 ke 24 bulan yang akan datang dan tersedia secara meluas. Adalah lebih penting untuk Parlimen menjalankan tanggungjawabnya dalam meneliti dan menyemak imbang tindak tanduk kerajaan dalam mengendalikan wabak ini, walaupun melalui persidangan secara maya.
Memandangkan nasihat KKM telah disalahfahami, ini membawa kepada situasi persidangan sehari Parlimen. Jadi, mesyuarat Kabinet pada hari esok haruslah menyelamatkan maruah negara dan Parlimen Malaysia daripada keputusan ini untuk memastikan kita bukanlah satu-satunya negara dalam dunia yang menyisihkan fungsi Parlimen.
Parlimen haruslah bersidang untuk sekurang-kurangnya 10 hari untuk meneliti dan menyemak imbang pengendalian wabak Covid-19 oleh pihak kerajaan.
Wajah global Covid-19 telah banyak berubah sejak kes pertama diumumkan di China pada Disember lepas.
Semasa kita mula melaksanakan perintah kawalan pergerakan pada 18 Mac, sepuluh negara teratas dengan kes Covid-19 adalah China, Itali, Iran, Sepanyol, Jerman, Amerika Syarikat, Perancis, Korea Selatan, Switzerland dan United Kingdom.
Hari ini, Korea Selatan dan Switzerland tidak lagi berada di dalam kedudukan sepuluh teratas ini dan China daripada kedudukan teratas kini berada di tempat kesepuluh. Sepuluh negara teratas ini adalah:
Amerika Syarikat 1,007,162 kes; 56,595 kematian (5.6%)
Sepanyol 229,422 kes; 23,521 kematian (10.2%)
Itali 199,414 kes; 26,977 kematian (13.5%)
Perancis 165,842 kes; 23,293 kematian (14%)
Jerman 158,434 kes; 6,061 kematian (3.8%)
UK 157,149 kes; 21,092 kematian (13.4%)
Turki 112,261 kes; 2,900 kematian (2.6%)
Iran 91,472 kes; 5,806 kematian (6.3%)
Rusia 87,147 kes; 794 kematian (0.9%)
China 82,830 kes; 4,633 kematian (5.6%)
Beberapa lagi catatan suram juga telah berlaku di peringkat dunia dalam peperangan melawan wabak Covid-19 — jumlah kes global telah melepasi paras tiga juta kes, dengan Amerika Syarikat sahaja merekodkan hampir sejuta kes, satu pertiga jumlah kes global.
Jumlah kematian global kini melepasi paras 200,000 kematian, dengan 211,147 kematian — pada masa yang sama, Timur Tengah telah mengatasi Asia, di belakang Eropah dan Amerika Utara sebagai kawasan ketiga dengan jumlah Covid-19 tertinggi.
Peperangan melawan Covid-19 ini adalah peperangan global, bukan tempatan.
Kerana inilah perlu menjadi keutamaan kepada Parlimen untuk menubuhkan satu Jawatankuasa Pilihan Khas Kesihatan dan Kebajikan Sosial untuk mengikuti perkembangan terkini wabak ini, dengan mempelajari kejayaan dan kesilapan negara-negara lain, sama ada China, Korea Selatan, Jepun, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Singapura, Indonesia, Itali, Sepanyol, Perancis, Jerman, United Kingdom, Amerika Syarikat, Turki, Iran atau Arab Saudi.
Iran akan mengikuti pengkelasan kawasan dalam negara kepada empat zon berwarna seperti yang dilakukan di Malaysia mengikut jumlah kes dan kematian sebagai sebahagian daripada rancangan negara tersebut untuk melonggarkan kawalan pergerakan.
Kita pula perlu membantu membangunkan kaedah terbaik dalam perjuangan ini dan mengelakkan sebarang cadangan tidak tepat seperti mencadangkan persidangan Parlimen untuk satu hari sahaja.
Semua negara di dunia perlu mengambil langkah bijak memandangkan Covid-19 adalah satu pandemik global dan bukanlah satu masalah tempatan dan semua negara sama-sama berhadapan dengan cabaran untuk beroperasi di dalam satu era yang tidak pernah dilalui oleh manusia lain sebelum ini.
(Kenyataan Media oleh Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri, Lim Kit Siang pada hari Selasa 28 April 2020)
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The cat is out of the bag.
According to the Health director-general, Dr. Noor Hisham Abdullah yesterday, the Health Ministry had never advised nor advocated a one-day Parliament which makes a complete mockery of the system of parliamentary democracy and renders utter nonsense of the parliamentary role of oversight and scrutiny of government measures in the Covid-19 pandemic.
It is clear that the Minister for parliamentary affairs, Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan had either misunderstood or distorted the advice of the Health Ministry on the situation of the Covid-19 outbreak.
I was right to be quite sceptical that the idea of a one-day meeting of Parliament on May 18 came from the Health Ministry, as by April 17, when the parliamentary secretary sent out the notice to all MPs about the one-day Parliament, the Health director-general and all specialists should have suspected that the country had passed the peak of the second wave of Covid-19 outbreak as was confirmed by subsequent developments in the ensuing days.
If by March 31, I could state that ““there are hopeful signs that JP Morgan’s grim projection of Malaysia peaking at 6,300 Covid-19 cases by mid-April can be proven wrong” and on April 7, I could hazard the prognosis that the peak of the second wave of Covid-19 outbreak in Malaysia had been reached on April 3rd with 3,333 cases, there is no way that the professionals in the Health Ministry led by its director-general and the specialists could not see the writing on the wall that the Covid-19 epidemiological curve had been flattened and that Malaysia was on the downward descent of the curve – completely unlike European countries like the United Kingdom, Spain, France and Italy and the United States.
From the daily increase of Covid-19 cases, it was clear that the MCO imposed on March 18 has been effective and successful in breaking the chain of transmission of the viral infection.
During the period of the two weeks from March 18, which recorded 117 cases, to March 31, the highest daily increase reached was 235 cases on March 26. From April 1 to April 16, the highest daily increase was recorded for the two days April 2 when it was 208 and April 3 when it was 217, while for the rest of the period it was below 200 cases, reaching as low as 85 cases on April 15. From April 17 onwards, the daily increase in three-digit numbers was reduced to two-digit figures.
No professional or expert in the Health Ministry worth his or her salt would have told Takiyuddin in mid-April that the Covid-19 epidemiological curve was on the upward ascent to justify a one-day Parliament on May 18 when it was in fact on a downward descent.
Could the Health director-general and the specialists have misled Takiyuddin who said that the decision on the one-day Parliament was based on the advice of the Health Ministry as well as relevant specialists for the benefit and safety of all parties?
This is totally unthinkable. Either Takiyuddin did not understand the advice he was given by the Health Ministry and the experts on the situation of the Covid-19 outbreak or he had deliberately distorted the advice of the Health Ministry.
I will give Takiyuddin the benefit of the doubt that he had not properly understood the advice of the Health Ministry, that he genuinely believed that the country was facing a worsening situation when in fact the movement controlled order (MCO) had been effective and successful in breaking the chain of transmission of Covid-19 virus, flattened the curve although more time was needed to bring the Covid-19 outbreak under control as bringing the daily increase of Covid-19 cases to single-digit cases or even to zero increase.
Takiyuddin should realise that a flattened infection curve does not mean there would be zero Covid-19 cases in the country.
What the flattened infection curve would mean is that the total number of cases would be manageable whereby the hospitals would be able to cope with the number of patients.
A proper reading of situation of the Covid-19 outbreak in mid-April would be that the fourth phase of the MCO from April 29 to May 12 would be able to bring the viral outbreak under control, and there was no scientific justification whatsoever for a one-day Parliament on May 18.
Although Parliament, like the rest of Malaysia – in fact the world – will have to live with a new normal in post-Covid-19 era where social distancing will stay until an effective vaccine is developed in 12-24 months’ time and widely available, it is even more important that Parliament should carry out its oversight and scrutiny role in the pandemic, such as through virtual Parliament and Parliament Select Committee proceedings.
As the Health Ministry’s advice on the situation of the Covid-19 outbreak had been gravely misunderstood resulting in the decision on the one-day Parliament, the Cabinet at its weekly meeting tomorrow should salvage Malaysia’s reputation and that of Malaysian Parliament to ensure that it is not the only Parliament in the world which is unable to play its role in the Covid-19 pandemic.
Instead of a one-day Parliament on May 18, it should meet for at least 10 days to provide parliamentary oversight and scrutiny of all government measures in connection with the Covid-19 pandemic.
The global face of Covid-19 pandemic has undergone great changes since the first Covid-19 case was announced in China last December.
When Malaysia launched the movement control order on March 18, the top 10 countries with the most number of Covid-19 cases were China, Italy, Iran, Spain, Germany, United States, France, South Korea, Switzerland and United Kingdom in that order.
Today, South Korea and Switzerland are out of the Top 10 nations and China from the top nation with the most number of Covid-19 cases has been moved down to the 10th position. The top 10 countries are:
United States – 1,007,162 cases; 56,595 deaths (5.6%)
Spain – 229,422 cases; 23,521 deaths (10.2%)
Italy – 199,414 cases; 26,977 deaths (13.5%)
France – 165,842 cases; 23,293 deaths (14%)
Germany – 158,434 cases; 6,061 deaths (3.8%)
UK – 157,149 cases; 21,092 deaths(13.4%)
Turkey – 112,261 cases; 2,900 deaths (2.6%)
Iran – 91,472 cases; 5,806 deaths (6.3%)
Russia – 87,147 cases; 794 deaths (0.9%)
China – 82,830 cases; 4,633 deaths (5.6%)
Several other grim milestones have also been reached in the invisible war against the Covid-19 pandemic – the global total of cases have surpassed the three million mark, with the United States itself accounting for over a million cases or one-third of the global total.
The global death toll is well over 200,000-mark, standing now at 211,147 – while the Middle East has overtaken Asia after Europe and North America as the third region with the most number of Covid-19 cases.
This is a global invisible war and not a local one.
This is why one of the priorities of Parliament must be the setting up of a Select Committee on Health and Social Care to monitor the Covid-19 outbreak, learning from the successes and mistakes of other countries whether China, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, Italy, Spain, France, Germany, United Kingdom, the United States, Turkey, Iran or Saudi Arabia.
Iran is going to follow Malaysia’s colour-coding programme by dividing the country into white, yellow and red regions based on the number of infections and deaths in its plan to loosen lockdown restrictions.
We must help to develop best practices in the invisible war against Covid-19 and stay clear of the bad practices like a ridiculous notion of a one-day Parliament.
This in fact should be the proper attitude for all countries as the Covid-19 outbreak is a global pandemic and not a localised problem and every country is grappling with the challenge of how best to operate in this uncharted territory.
(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang on Tuesday, April 28, 2020)