The new Malaysian Prime Minister announced at 10pm last night (I know I keep mentioning the time, because, well, who waits until 10 pm to make an announcement that will almost immediately disrupt the lives and plans of the entire population?) that Malaysia would begin a lockdown starting March 18 through the 31st in an attempt to stem the spread of the #covid19 virus.
Among other things, this lockdown prohibits Malaysians who work in Singapore from continuing to go to their jobs because Malaysian citizens will not be allowed to travel in or out of Malaysia for the next 14 days. There are something like 300,000 Malaysians who cross into Singapore every day.
So most of these Malaysians went to work in Singapore today, intending to return this evening, to then stay on in Malaysia during the lockdown — which, again, was announced to begin tomorrow. However, upon attempting to come home, they discovered that by “March 18th” what the Prime Minister MEANT was “March 17th at 6pm”, and they were refused entry into their own country.
Most of them will not have brought along luggage for a 2 week stay in Singapore, will not have made preparations for their families to cope in their 14 day absence, and did not have arrangements for accommodations in Singapore…because, lwt me say it again, they had been told that the #MalaysiaLockdown begins tomorrow.
To recap: the announcement was made last night when a lot of people were probably asleep, and the announcement led workers commuting to Singapore to believe that they would only be restricted from crossing the border on Wednesday.
What, may I ask, if they have small children or elderly family members who depend on them and require their presence? What if they are, for instance, single parents whose kids are in childcare or with a babysitter when they are working their shifts in Singapore, and were waiting to be picked up this evening, only to be told that their mother or father will not actually be returning until the 1st of April?
This, ladies and gentlemen, is why you do not make policy decisions in a state of panic and hysteria.
#coronavirusmalaysa #covid19Malaysia