Half a million sign petition to maintain restrictions in M’sia

ALMOST 500,000 people have signed a petition as of Sunday urging the Malaysian government to continue with its movement restrictions not long after Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced that most businesses will be allowed to reopen from Monday.

The petition at Change.org was put up by a group that calls itself Rakyat Malaysia Prihatin (Concerned Malaysian Citizens).

The movement control order (MCO) that was first imposed on March 18 and extended three times is still on until May 12.

But the prime minister’s announcement on Friday for a “conditional MCO” by allowing restaurants and most shops to reopen, and for offices to restart raised worries among some healthcare experts and politicians that the country was reopening too much, too soon.

In the petition, the group said the government’s decision to ease the MCO curbs could result in what had happened in other countries with new spikes of the Covid-19 virus.

“We urge the Malaysian government to continue the MCO and cancel the conditional MCO immediately.

“We do not want the mistakes of other countries which eased/cancelled lockdowns to be repeated in Malaysia.

We do not want our frontliners to be exhausted again,” it said.

Senior Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob defended the government’s decision on Saturday in his daily news briefing on the Covid-19 situation.

“We are not opening up everything, not everyone can operate. For example, the education ministry still cannot operate, schools and universities still cannot operate,” he said, as quoted by the Malaysiakini news site.

“Gatherings are still not allowed . . . Just because we’re opening up doesn’t mean we are doing it hastily as claimed by some,” he added.

In the petition, the group said: “We do not want the government to bow to the capitalists who put their priority on profit above that of the health and welfare of workers.

“We can continue the MCO for the future of our country,” the petition stated.

Muhyiddin, when announcing to relax the partial lockdown on Friday said: “Beginning May 4, almost all economic sectors will be allowed to open with conditions. This is important as business and work are sources of income.

“If we are under MCO for too long, we will not get any income and this will have a bad impact on your finances.”

Events and places that would cause people to gather in large groups – such as religious meetings, cinemas, theme parks and concerts are still banned.

The prime minister said Southeast Asia’s third-biggest economy suffered 2.4 billion ringgit ($560 million) in losses daily during the MCO, with

We must find ways to balance between healing the nation’s economy and addressing Covid-19

total losses currently estimated at 63 billion ringgit. Another 35 billion ringgit will have to be added to this should the MCO be extended.

Muhyiddin said: “I realise you are all worried. I am worried too, and in some nations too, when the lockdown ended, the number of Covid-19 positive cases increased exponentially.

“We must find ways to balance between healing the nation’s economy and addressing Covid-19.”