Current Affairs

The result is out! In case you missed it, Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin officially announced the movement control order (MCO) for six states, including Selangor, Wilayah Persekutuan, Melaka, Johor, Penang and Sabah, yesterday. Unsurprised and expected, the order will begin on 13 January 2021 for two weeks, depending on the daily cases.

“The situation today is indeed very alarming. Our healthcare system is under tremendous pressure now than at any other time since the start of the pandemic. As I have said before, unprecedented situations calls for unprecedented measures.”

There are about 586 clusters up to 10 January 2021, 48.46% involving the work cluster. As informed by the Malaysian Prime Minister himself, the worrisome figure has prompted the Malaysian government to take the proper measures to flatten the curve continuously.

Only two household members are allowed to go out for necessity purchases and to be in the same vehicle. RM1,000 compound will be issued if the rule has been violated.

Residents living in states under the movement control order are only allowed to travel within 10 kilometers from the radius of their homes.

Restaurants areonly allowed for deliveries and takeaways.

Only 30% of management staff allows going into the office with SOP compliance while others remain working from home.

Only five essentials economic sectors are allowed to operate such as construction, manufacturing, service, trade, plantations and commodities.

No religious and social gatherings such as conferences, weddings, seminars, meetings, religious processions and group sports activities.

The new order has caused mixed feelings among Malaysians. Here UNRESERVED has rounded up comments and memes across Twitter on the nation’s reaction towards the re-implementation of MCO that is expected to give such a big impact on people’s livelihoods as well as the economy.

Ya Rabb, please bless our country. Give us strength and wisdom, to keep this country strong. Also give us strength to fight this pandemic. Keep safe distance, wear a mask, use hand sanitizer before and after. Stay safe Malaysian! MCO 2.0 🙌🏼

— SMF 🇲🇾 (@SyedMuhdFadli) January 11, 2021

Q: Should 🇲🇾 have a second MCO?
A: It depends (on the data, area, duration, intensity).

But this may be the wrong question.

New questions are:
1. How did we get here?
2. Can we still avoid MCO 2.0?
3. If unavoidable, how do we reduce impact?
4. How do we prevent MCO 3.0?

1/3

— Dr Khor SK (@DrKhorSK) January 11, 2021

MCO 2.0 in school be like: pic.twitter.com/Jr8CHzQN1h

— una🦒 (@kyujiraffe) January 11, 2021

Im okay with MCO 2.0 as long as they cut 100% of ministers’ wage.
They all ain’t doing nothing. Only a few of the ministers that outstanding to help the people.

— Imcrazyaf (@elyxionplanet) January 11, 2021

Getting ready for MCO 2.0 pic.twitter.com/Rnip06E89c

— INCOGNITION👻 (@iamfaiz000) January 11, 2021

Thanks to an incompetent government and our DG who indirectly endorses the sabah election, we have mco 2.0. Even holding them accountable cant restore the impact and losses to businesses, and lives. Absolutely devastating, because the govt causes all this.

— Kenneth Wong Poh Lim (@kennethwpl) January 11, 2021

since mco 2.0 is happening, please take care of yourself and also your family. stay at home and stay safe. follow the sop, insyaAllah everything is going to be okay. let’s help each other 🙂

— syuhada⁷ (@corazonkoo) January 11, 2021

Looks like MCO 2.0 is inevitable. But Government must also somehow find money to give to citizens for the financial fallout.

— Syahredzan シア (@syahredzan) January 7, 2021

Another lockdown in Malaysia is not gonna be fun for people with middle class and low income 🙃 If all Ministers salary are cut down to 90% then it’s fun to have MCO 2.0👍

— Xavier Son Of Asia (@xavierthingz) January 11, 2021

2021 is just another chapter of 2020
MCO 2.0 pic.twitter.com/JdvIaYlFH1

— Mat Jagung (@MatTabayyun) January 11, 2021

While the nation goes haywire due to the new order, the Desk of the Director-General of Health Malaysia made a statement about the spread of spike protein mutation that has been detected in Malaysia recently. The case was reported by a traveller who visited the United Kingdom in December 2020 and tested positive for coronavirus on December 28, 2020. As result, he was isolated for proper treatment.

Ever since that, the Ministry of Health has been monitoring closely all international travellers from countries with UK B.1.1.7 mutation, which includes the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Singapore, Turkey, Philippines and India. In total there, are about 968 samples have been tested at the beginning of October 2020. Continued with genome sequencing to detect the type of mutation of UK B.1.1.7 towards 24 samples available. Fortunately, there has not been transmission detected in regards to the case.

Despite the good news, the Ministry of Health will continuously monitor the situation from time to time. Even though the mutation will not cause any major effects on humans, it can somehow spread easily and way faster. For safety, everyone is being encouraged to maintain good hygiene, wear a face mask in public places and practice good social distancing at all times.