"KERAJAAN BODOH" HASHTAG TRENDING AGAIN ON TWITTER

16 June 2021

By Wartawan Nabalu News

KOTA KINABALU: The hashtag KerajaanBodoh is making its name again on Twitter after Prime Minister Tan Sri Mahiaddin Yassin unveiled the post-pandemic exit plan for Malaysia on Tuesday.

The hashtag, sometimes goes together with the KerajaanGagal hashtag, has been used by netizens multiple times over the year who mainly expressed contentions against the Perikatan Nasional government.

Mahiaddin who unveiled the National Recovery Plan in a televised address said the plan covers four phases and transitions of the Movement Control Order (MCO) in stages.

He believed that the plan is capable of bringing life back to normal by the end of the year, including the reconvening of Parliament in September or October.

However, many Malaysians think otherwise.

They opined that stepping into Phase Two with an average of 4,000 daily Covid-19 cases will not help in easing the situation.

At this stage, economic activities would reopen in phases with up to 80 per cent of workers allowed onsite.

"Where is the science that says 4,000 (cases) is a safe level? It's not. We are going to be back into MCO," said Twitter a user.

"If we reach less than 200 daily cases, definitely the government can open all sectors. But 4,000 cases is a lot of number to me. The government took the Sabah election way too lightly and Muhyiddin (Mahiaddin) was sleeping the entire time," another one tweeted.

Some even questioned why the Parliament sitting can only reconvene by October when all MPs have received their vaccination.

The Prime Minister said reconvening of Parliament will take place provided that daily cases fall below 2,000 and Malaysia has achieved herd immunity almost completely.

Some of the tweets read: "What's the relevance of number of daily cases with the reconvening of Parliament? You politicians are all vaccinated. Politicians are allowed to work on the ground but can't meet each other at the Parliament?"

"We know it's in his (Mahiaddin's) best interest to keep daily cases high and immunisation rates low. The country is clearly doomed both health-wise and politically."

Meanwhile, several users stated that they are yet again disappointed with another announcement that does not seem to mean anything.

They said what has been announced yesterday was something that the government should have planned way back when the first MCO was implemented.

"I can't believe I'm hearing this announcement after more than one year of pandemic," one user commented.

"We have lost two years. It will take up to a whole decade for small and medium enterprises to regain lost ground. Any recovery plan must include strategies to navigate new norms, enhance productivity and competitiveness, introduce structural changes for the difficult journey ahead," another tweet read.

Mahiaddin disclosed that the full lockdown which took effect on June 1 costs the government RM1 billion a day but did not offer a full breakdown of the cost and how it was measured.

Given that only about six per cent of the population are vaccinated so far and daily cases still high, he said he will have to seek an extension for the Emergency proclamation beyond Aug 1.