Malaysian artists show their solidarity with Myanmar through their cartoons Follow Mashable SEA on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.Ĭover image sourced from New Straits Times and Anadolu Agency.Malaysia, which is currently under the third movement control order (MCO 3.0), will be placed under a full lockdown for two weeks from June 1 to 14, the prime minister’s office announced via a statement earlier this evening. Insulting rulers equals insulting Allah, Malaysia's Islamic body declares Malaysia's richest people have become 14 percent richer during the pandemic Instead, it's the culmination of "pent-up anger over Azmin’s seeming invisibility to revive the lackluster economy and the government’s widely perceived incompetence in tackling the pandemic generally." What are your thoughts on the handling of Malaysia's third MCO? The vast majority of comments all echo similar sentiment.Īccording to Malaysian political analyst and senior fellow at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs Oh Ei Sun, the petition wasn't formed just because of Azmin's recent handling of the CIMS approvals. IMAGE: Basically what we've covered in this story. You don't have to do much scrolling in the petition's 'Reasons for signing' section to gauge the people's discontent. Of course, famous Malaysian artist-activist Fahmi Reza chimed in with his own interpretation of the CIMS fiasco:Īs of press time, a petition calling for Azmin's resignation has so far garnered over 104,000 signatures and counting. When asked to comment on the Instagram post, Sabri denied any hidden meanings, saying there was no metaphorical undertone to his words. Many consider him to be the supposed architect of said government handover. Tensions brewed online after Senior Minister for Security and fellow Perikatan Nasional (PN) member Ismail Sabri Yaakob posted a playfully-cryptic message on Instagram:Ī post shared by ismailsabri60 his post is a caption that reads, "I shut the front door but.", which many believe to be alluding to the 'backdoor government' formed after former Prime Minister Mahathir's resignation and the backdoor dealings by Azmin. Though it's understandable that some businesses may need to continue their operations during the MCO, what boggles the mind are the alleged operation approvals for non-essential businesses like photography studios and furniture stores, which were apparently given out by MITI. Harking back to the denial of MITI's sole vetting powers, the Malaysian government announced on May 31 that the Ministry was indeed in charge of it. But as of June 3, a total of 128,150 companies have been granted exemptions to operate, out of 586,308 applications. Initial reports stated that some 95,000 companies had been given approval by MITI to operate during this heightened MCO. Instead, Azmin explained that 15 other government ministries also had vetting powers as part of the country's COVID-19 Intelligent Management System (CIMS). “The Ministry of Trade and Industry is not the sole decision maker on whether a business sector is considered an essential service or not." “To date, 15 ministries have used the CIMS 3.0 to facilitate the evaluation process of permission applications to operate under their respective sectors," he said. Minister of International Trade and Industry Azmin Ali. Amid the public uproar, Azmin denied that MITI was the only government authority in charge of approving business operations. In fact, it has sparked calls for International Trade and Industry (MITI) Minister Azmin Ali's resignation.Ĭritics of these exemptions say the healthcare system, which is already struggling to keep up with rising cases, won't be able to handle another wave.
Naturally, this hasn't sat well with Malaysians. And so, with a total lockdown, one would expect that all non-essential businesses would be shut.īut that wasn't the case when word got out that over 120,000 companies, some of them non-essential, were given exemptions to operate during the total lockdown.
This comes after a recent spike in COVID-19 cases, which saw daily cases rise to record-breaking numbers since the beginning of the pandemic. Malaysia is currently wading through its third Movement Control Order (MCO), this time being touted as a 'total' lockdown. Stay updated with the latest in Tech, Science, Culture, Entertainment, and more by following our Telegram channel here.
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