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Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – As Malaysia celebrated its national day in late August, it appeared to have dominated COVID-19.
But two months later, the Southeast Asian nation of 30 million people is facing a brutal resurgence of the virus focused mainly on Sabah, in the Malaysian part of Borneo.
Malaysia’s poorest state, like the rest of the country, has been rocked by political maneuvering since a seizure of power within the ruling coalition led to the collapse of the federal government and the emergence of a new political alliance under Prime Minister Muhyiddin. Yassin.
After politicians linked to Muhyiddin tried to overthrow the Sabah state government, an election was called for September 26. But as politicians and their entourages traveled the mountainous state seeking votes, COVID-19 was also spreading.
“Sabah’s health system has been underinvested and underfunded for decades,” Dr. Khor Swee Kheng, Malaysian health policy and systems specialist, told Al Jazeera.
“Some estimates show that around a third of the population are non-citizens with limited access to health care and all the incentives to avoid it for fear of arrest. In that context, recent elections involving multiple meetings, lack of compliance with SOPs (protocols), and extensive travel likely fueled the current wave of COVID-19. “
Daily cases in Malaysia have exceeded 1,000 for the past three days, more than three times the peaks during the second wave of the outbreak in June. More than half of the cases have occurred in Sabah, where people die from the disease almost daily.
Movement restrictions have been imposed not only in the state of Borneo, but also in Kuala Lumpur and the surrounding state of Selangor, as well as in several other districts of Peninsular Malaysia.
Malaysia is battling an increase in COVID-19 cases that have led to partial closures in several areas, including the hardest hit state of Sabah, as well as Kuala Lumpur and the surrounding state of Selangor. [Fazry Ismail/EPA]
Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, director general of the Health Ministry, said Wednesday that it would probably be three more weeks before the curve flattened out and urged people to stay home as much as possible and adhere to protocols if they went. . outside.
“That is the way to control COVID-19 and break the chain of infection,” he said at his daily press conference.
Budget collaboration?
The outbreak has now turned into a considerable headache for Muhyiddin, who broke with the previous administration to work with parties that were defeated in the last general election in May 2018.
With a majority of just two in the 222-seat parliament, the prime minister has been beaten in recent weeks by forces from his own camp and the opposition, raising the possibility that his government’s first budget will be presented on Friday afternoon. – would instead become a vote of confidence in his ability to lead the country.
Last month, in a move that surprised many Malaysians, Muhyiddin proposed a state of emergency that would have allowed him to bypass parliament and avoid voting.
The move was rejected by the king, who urged disputing Malaysian politicians to work together for the good of the country.
The government has already said that the economy could contract by as much as 5.5 percent this year. Recovery in 2021 will depend in part on how the pandemic unfolds, not just in Malaysia but in other parts of the world.
In an unprecedented move, Finance Minister and former banker Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz met with opposition politicians this week to hear their proposals.
They told him the government would get their backing if the spending plans included six measures, including more money for the Health Ministry to fight the pandemic, greater social protection and an extended loan moratorium.
“I look forward to more handouts, more gifts,” said Tricia Yeoh, executive director of IDEAS, a Malaysian think tank.
Low-income Malaysians were already suffering as a result of the lockdown that was imposed from March to June, effectively shutting down all but the most essential sectors of the economy.
New research has found that one in three adults in Malaysia’s poorest urban families is out of work and 68 percent have no savings. [File: Lim Huey Teng/Reuters]
Families on the Edge, a study of low-income urban families commissioned by UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) and UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund), found that cash assistance provided by the government in a previous aid package had alleviated some of the problems. pressure on the poorest in Malaysia, but it also found high levels of vulnerability, particularly among households headed by single mothers, the disabled and the elderly.
“Many Malaysians were already vulnerable before the pandemic,” said Muhammed Abdul Khalid, head of the public policy group DM Analytics Malaysia, who worked on the study. “Between 2016 and 2019, despite the fact that the economy grows and the GDP [gross domestic product] per capita on the rise, relative poverty in Malaysia increased to 17 percent. “A family with a monthly income of RM3,000 ($ 724) is considered to be in relative poverty.
‘Serious situation
The report found that one in three adults from low-income families was unemployed and 68 percent had no savings, slightly better than during the initial shutdown but worse than in 2019. Many had also cut spending on more nutritious foods while They struggled to pay rent and bills.
“The families in these homes are doing everything they can to find a way out of this,” said Stephen Barrett, UNICEF Malaysia’s head of social policy. “They have shown a lot of resilience and a lot of dignity, and they want to go back to work.”
Experts say that with millions of people now back in a partial lockdown and with no indication that the pandemic will end soon, cash payments are crucial.
“It’s very short-term, but it’s serious and debilitating and people need help right away,” said Dr. Narimah Awin, a UNFPA health consultant.
He also believes that a more comprehensive social protection system is necessary to ensure that the poorest Malaysians are not lost. “We must stop the perpetuation of poverty and break the cycle,” he said.
Sabah is the poorest state in Malaysia and its health system lacks resources compared to the states on the Malaysian peninsula. [File: Ahmad Yusni/ EPA]
Experts also say that the government needs to invest more funds in health care, currently at around 4 percent of GDP and roughly evenly divided between public and private, and ensure that more medical staff have permanent positions rather than staying with a contract.
The needs are most acute in Sabah.
The state of Borneo has just 0.84 doctors per 1,000 residents, compared to 2.99 in Kuala Lumpur and only 2.14 nurses per 1,000 residents, compared to 8.46 in the capital, according to data from the Ministry of Education. 2018 Health Sabah also has fewer health clinics than anywhere else in Malaysia.
The Health Ministry has deployed medical teams from other parts of the country, as well as army doctors, to support the state’s health system and address COVID-19, which has been more serious in the eastern coastal areas and in the capital. of the state, Kota. Kinabalu.
The RMAF Airbus 400 aircraft took off this morning from Subang to Tawau carrying assets and field hospital equipment. This host is actively developing at the Tawau Sports Complex. It is used to treat patients who do not have COVID, especially for medical, surgical and O&G services. Make it easier amin pic.twitter.com/Pbv9f4QUlY
– Noor Hisham Abdullah (@DGHisham) October 17, 2020
(Translation: An RMAF Airbus 400 took off this morning from Subang to Tawau with equipment and field hospital equipment. The hospital will be installed at the Tawau Sports Complex. It will be used to treat non-COVID patients, especially for medical operations and O&G services).
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– Hanna Alkaf (@yesitshanna) October 31, 2020
Civil society groups and ordinary Malaysians have also mobilized to help the state’s most vulnerable groups, including the large number of undocumented people, many of whom are from the Philippines, which is not far from the east coast. of Sabah.
“More resources need to be channeled to Sabah to fight COVID,” said political analyst Oh Ei Sun, who is from the state. “The numbers there compared to anywhere else are pretty staggering.”
Beyond the budget, analysts say Malaysia should also improve data sharing and cooperation between federal and state governments, including those, like Selangor, that are not controlled by Muhyiddin’s allies. Elections in Sabah brought an administration friendly to Muhyiddin to power.
“Governments should err in more transparency, not less, because greater transparency will build public trust during a pandemic and allow for better analysis by multiple stakeholders who may be able to dispassionately review information because they are not on the front line,” noted Dr. Khor.
Trust undermined
That confidence has been tested not only by political maneuvering, but also by the perception that the rules are not applied as strictly to ministers and politicians as to everyone else.
Last month, the police said they would not take any action against the Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities, Khairuddin Aman Razali, who made a trip to Turkey in early July and failed to complete a mandatory 14-day quarantine upon his return. The Health Ministry fined him 1,000 Malaysian ringgit ($ 241) for the offense in August.
During the Sabah elections, politicians and their entourages were also seen campaigning across the state, sometimes without adhering to guidelines on masks, social distancing and other measures. It was not until the day after the elections were held that people returning to the peninsula from Sabah were required to take a COVID-19 test upon arrival. A 14-day quarantine was recommended, but not mandatory for those who tested negative.
Meanwhile, every day Chief Minister Ismail Sabri announces the hundreds of arrests of people who violated protocols on mask use, physical distancing, and other measures designed to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
“It’s not so much about the fact that the state elections were held, but rather that there was unequal treatment,” Yeoh said. “This has been a theme throughout the year; the inconsistent application of the rule of law and the liberation of politicians compared to ordinary people. Things like that have definitely caused anger. “
Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin (in blue mask) has just a two-seat majority in parliament, where his government will present its first budget on Friday. [Nazri Rapaai/Information Ministry Malaysia via EPA]
Muhyiddin may have walked away from the emergency, but the virus continues to spread and there is no guarantee that the fight for the position among the political class that has plagued Malaysia this year is about to disappear.
Collaboration on the budget suggests that some differences could have been bottled up, but as long as most of Muhyiddin remains in short supply, analysts say it will be tested.
“Passage of the budget does not preclude future efforts to overthrow the government,” Oh said. “It’s a one-time special deal. I don’t think you see a substantial pause. I think the politicking will continue almost immediately. “
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