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PETALING JAYA: DAP Secretary General Lim Guan Eng has questioned the health ministry’s justification for allowing Deputy Minister of Federal Territories Edmund Santhara to self-quarantine at home, saying it appears to be another “double standard” practice. ”.
In a statement, the Bagan deputy said that home quarantine did not appear to be an option for “ordinary citizens” returning from abroad.
Lim cited the case of S Mani Vannan, a Singapore Airlines pilot, who was denied home quarantine to care for his cancer-stricken mother despite taking seven Covid-19 tests and receiving the vaccine in Singapore.
Yesterday, the director general of health, Dr. Noor Hisham Abdullah, said that Santhara was granted permission for home quarantine as he had returned from a low risk country and had a suitable house for that purpose.
Describing this reasoning as disappointing, Lim said that this scenario was no different from the incident involving the plantation industries and commodities minister Khairuddin Aman Razali, who was only fined RM 1,000 for not undergoing the mandatory quarantine after returning from Turkey last year.
“Noor Hisham’s explanation raises questions about the ministry’s requirement for adequate housing. Is a house suitable for quarantine only if it is palatial or owned by the rich and powerful? Lim asked.
“This double standard between one who is rich and powerful and another who is an ordinary citizen shows arrogance and contempt for good against evil.”
He urged the government to stop acting arrogantly and do whatever it wants simply because Parliament was still suspended.
Santhara was recently allowed to undergo a home quarantine after a controversial 55-day trip to New Zealand to see his family amid Covid-19 travel restrictions.
Noor Hisham had said the ministry would conduct a risk assessment and take into consideration “all factors and the location of the quarantine” when making a recommendation on quarantine.
