Lately, Malaysia has been getting lots of new daily positive cases and people are furious. People blame the government for not handling the pandemic well. The social media is flooded with #kerajaangagal (means: government failed). I personally liked some of the artworks produced not because I support this movement but I just like the aesthetic and artists' expression represented in the artwork.
I used to follow the flock and agreed that this is all the government's fault.
My reason for thinking that way: the lockdown has been happening for one whole year and why aren't we seeing improvements at all?
But lately, I have been thinking again -with all the people's argument about how this is all government's fault- is it fair to put all the blame on them? Or is it really fair to blame the government, at all?
I have been living in this country for 7 years (turning 8th year in a few months!). I have interacted with the locals, join the local community, join the outsiders' community that talk about Malaysia as well. I even kept up to date with the local news more than my country's news.
I used to not knowing anything about Malaysia's politics but now I know a little bit. Although, my stance in politics is always the same. I support human rights, I don't care about politics. I don't know if I am liberal, conservative, or whatever you want to call it because I don't usually have interest in the politic.
Now that you know my stance in politics, let's jump right ahead about this COVID-19 situation.
Previously I think the government is bad at handling the pandemic in this country. They failed to contain it, they made rules that are so confusing, they sometimes lenient when people criticize the rule.
Later on, I noticed the government is actually doing things that are very predictable. People predicted this and that, and they actually happened. The way I see it, it feels like the government is listening to the public's opinion. That doesn't mean they will do everything people suggested. When a suggestion is bad, they don't implement it.
Then, people are mad that certain things are still allowed while some things are not allowed. For example, some commented on why the dine-in is not allowed while the manufacturing section is still allowed when the manufacturing section produces lots of positive cases compared to people that dining in a restaurant?
There are so many debates about the government's SOP in containing the pandemic and most of the time everyone agrees that government makes bad SOP and therefore, they failed at containing the pandemic.
I rarely heard anyone saying that this isn't the government's fault unless they are working for the government.
In my opinion, I think the government had done its part as a government. I don't think we should blame them, and I don't think the government has failed.
Okay, I know, I know. You disagree with me. But hear me out. If you still disagree, it's fine. You are entitled to your own opinion.
The government keeps monitoring the cases, increase hospital capacity, increase hospital manpower, as well as making new quarantine centers. At the same time, the government is doing its best to distribute the vaccine. At the same time, the government also add certain new rules to contain the pandemic, while at the same time not damaging the economy too much.
So why are the cases still on the rise?
I think it's is absolutely the people's fault.
I mean, the government doesn't inject people with the COVID-19 virus.
So how are people infected? They got it from the other people, from the community.
And who asked them or encourages them to go out for leisure? The government had been saying to please stay at home unless there are important things because the virus is still out there.
Government allowing the cinema and other recreational places to open, doesn't mean you are encouraged to go there. It just means it's open and it's now up to you to go there potentially gets the virus or stay at home and have extremely low chances of getting the virus.
If you try and go to shopping malls and other places, you will notice how people are not physically distancing, some of them are not wearing masks, some of them wear masks under their chin, and so many others. I have personally seen people open their masks to sneeze.
Eventually, these people get the COVID-19 virus, and somehow it is the government's fault?
I find this illogical because they are the people who choose not to follow the rules. They with their own sane mind chooses to not wear any mask, they choose to roam free and sneezes as they please, they also chooses to not distancing themselves. The government did not ask them to open their mask to sneeze, they made that choice themselves.
If you are infected with COVID-19, you get it from others. Sometimes, it is from irresponsible individuals who made the choice to not wear the mask and did other disobedience. Definitely not from the government. As I said, the government did not go to each person and purposely infect them with the virus.
"But the government should DO SOMETHING to prevent these types of people to roam free!"
The government had applied several rules to try to contain it. But people are being disobedient. So what else do these people want the government to do? Should the government have roadblocks in every 5KM with policemen asking people what are they doing? Should the government forcefully imprison each person to stay at home and not go outside unless it is important? Should the government also fine people for not physically distant? Can you imagine how painful that is when it's implemented? Not only it is so uncomfortable for you to be treated this way, but it's also extremely expensive to implement, which will make the already bad economy, worsen.
Furthermore, we are all adults who should know better. If the virus is out there, you don't need a government to treat you like a child and watch every step you make as if you can't make the decision yourself.
As an adult, too, you should know better how to protect your kids from the virus. The government doesn't have to tell you what to do. If the virus is out there, it should be with your sane mind to make a decision not to bring your kids out for recreational purposes regardless the government allows it or not.
If you decided to bring your kids out for recreational purposes just because the government did not restrict you from doing so, then, you and your kids get the virus, and somehow it is the government's fault?
"But the government should close the manufacturing industry, they are the one who contributes to the cases!"
First of all, imagine how chaotic that would be. Closing the manufacturing industry would mean a limited supply of food, drinks, medicines, protective tools (masks/gloves), and literally everything else that is locally made. This would mean a reasonable panic buying and lack of resources in certain groups.
Then the next thing you know, this closure of the manufacturing industry did reduce cases from the manufacturers' factories but the number of cases from the general public rises.
And I also do not want to talk about the double standards. Why should I care if people get fined or not? All we care about should be "how to make us and people around us safe from COVID-19?". If you are doing the right thing by always wearing your mask, wash your hands, physically distancing yourself, and not traveling for unimportant matters, there should be nothing for you to fear of. Yes, the rule is sometimes confusing but if you are genuinely afraid of being infected with COVID-19, you wouldn't even bother about the rule at all. You'd know exactly what to do to protect yourself and the people around you.
Stupidity -just like intelligence- has unlimited potential for growth. The government can do so much to contain the virus but it'll always be a challenge to contain stupidity.
I would blame the government if they did not come up with any preventive actions to contain the virus spread. If they still open borders for everyone, they don't punish people for not wearing masks, or if they don't care about hospital capacity.
At this point, the way I see in people's opinion is that they just want to find ways to blame the government. They forgot that it's their responsibility as a sane adult to protect ourselves and others. They forgot that the reasons why the cases are rising are because the number of irresponsible people who made bad choices is rising, too.
I am in no way protecting the government for any purpose. As I mentioned, I don't care about politics. I see things as a whole. If the people are wrong, I would say it. If the government is wrong, I would say it, too. I don't do double standards.
I wrote this post because I'd like to remind ourselves that it's time to wake up, be a sane adult, and realize that you and I have responsibilities, too. It's not all just the government did this, the government did that. As a society, we haven't done enough to contain this virus. The number of people that are truly afraid of the virus is so much lesser than the people who are just afraid of the government rules. If most people are truly afraid of the virus, they will do the right measures to protect themselves and others without any government enforcing anything.
I understand that we are so tired of lockdowns, masks, and virtual everything. You long for a normal life. But honestly, the bitter truth is that if you want that to happen, you have to do your part. You know how to prevent getting the virus, so do it. You know we should all be vaccinated, so stop being an anti-vaxxer.
Let's all do our part as the people so we can get much closer to having a normal life again.
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