Khaled Nordin was right on the  need for a formula of genuine power-sharing and not to resort to appointing token non-Malays in the government but wrong to claim that UMNO, MCA and MIC are the best candidates

(Versi BM)

UMNO vice president and former Johor Mentri Besar Mohamad Khaled Nordin is right that Malaysia needs a formula of genuine power-sharing and not to resort to appointing token non-Malays in the government but wrong to claim that UMNO, MCA and MIC are the best candidates.

The Alliance formula proved to be a failure in the third general election in 1969 and was given the funeral rites by Tun Razak. But Razak’s Barisan Nasional formula was destroyed by his own son with his kleptocratic and UMNO hegemonic ways.

By the time of the 14th General Election in 2018, there was no genuine power-sharing formula but only token non-Malays in the Cabinet.

The best hope for a genuine power-sharing was in the 22-month Pakatan Harapan government but this was destroyed by UMNO and the Sheraton Move conspiracy with lies and the disinformation that the non-Malays have displaced the Malays and have taken over power in the country.

As a result, the democratically-elected Pakatan Harapan government was toppled ushering in two backdoor and illegitimate governments, with presently an UMNO Prime Minister whose writ does not run in UMNO, and with the most token non-Malay representation in government in the nation’s history.

The most burning issues of the day are Azamgate and the loss of public confidence in the Malaysian Anti-Corruptions Commission (MACC) to fight corruption, the disastrous management of “once in a century” floods and a kakistocracy where even the National Action Council on Cost of Living meeting to reduce the maximum retail price of chicken by 20 sen to RM8.90 and to maintain the price of eggs became a scandal because the 26-second video-clip on it showed the members of the committee were served Evian mineral water costing RM4.50 each, three times the price of local products.

But the most token non-Malay Ministers in the nation’s history have absolutely nothing to say on these burning issues of the country.

From current trends, Malaysia is likely to be overtaken by China and Indonesia in the Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) by 2025.

How can a system of governance which oversaw Malaysia’s national decline in the past half a century, with one nation after another overtaking Malaysia – Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore and Vietnam – be a successful formula of governance, when Malaysia has potential to be better than China, Indonesia and India in various fields of human endeavour?

Can UMNO return to the times of the first three Prime Ministers, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak and Tun Hussein Onn, where corruption and kleptocracy are utterly reprehensible, and in the words of former Shell executive, Yusuf Hashim, where Malays “believe deeply in meritocracy, integrity, morality, honesty, honour, fairness, social democracy and righteousness”?

I don’t think Khaled will answer this question as the only formula to successfully govern Malaysia to become a world-class great nation is one based on “Malaysia first” approach and objective.

(Media Statement (2) by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Friday 4th January 2022)

Betul apa yang Khaled Nordin katakan mengenai keperluan untuk suatu formula perkongsian kuasa yang tulen dan untuk kita semua tidak hanya melantik token bukan Melayu dalam kerajaan tetapi beliau salah untuk mengatakan yang UMNO, MCA, dan MIC adalah calon yang terbaik

Naib Presiden UMNO dan bekas Menteri Besar Johor, Mohamad Khaled Nordin tepat dalam mengatakan yang Malaysia memerlukan formula perkongsian kuasa yang tuleh dan tidak boleh hanya melantik token bukan Melayu ke dalam kerajaan, tetapi beliau salah apabila beliau mengatakan yang calon UMNO, MCA, dan MIC adalah yang terbaik.

Formula Perikatan ini terbukti menjadi satu kegagalan dalam pilihan raya umum ketiga pada tahun 1969 dan telah dikuburkan oleh Tun Razak. Tetapi formula Barisan Nasional Tun Razak pula telah dimusnahkan oleh anaknya sendiri dengan gaya cara kleptokratik dan hegemoni UMNOnya.

Menjelang Pilihan Raya Umum ke-14 pada tahun 2018, tidak ada lagi perkongsian kuasa yang tulen, hanya ada token bukan Melayu sahaja di dalam Kabinet.

Harapan terbaik untuk perkongsian kuasa yang tulen adalah semasa 22 bulan negara ditadbir Pakatan Harapan, tetapi perkara ini telah dimusnahkan oleh UMNO dan konspirasi Langkah Sheraton melalui penipuan dan berita palsu yang kononnya orang-orang bukan Melayu telah menggantikan orang Melayu dan merampas kuasa di dalam negara.

Hasilnya, kerajaan Pakatan Harapan yang dipilih secara demokratik telah ditumbangkan lalu masuklah dua kerajaan pintu belakang yang tidak sah, di mana kita kini mempunyai seorang Perdana Menteri UMNO yang tidak mempunyai kuasa di dalam UMNO, dengan jumlah token bukan Melayu yang paling ramai dalam sejarah negara.

Isu yang paling membara hari ini adalah isu mengenai skandal Azam Baki dan kehilangan kepercayaan rakyat terhadap Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) dalam usaha melawan rasuah, pengurusan bencana banjir “sekali dalam seabad” yang amat buruk, dan kakistokrasi sehingga mana mesyuarat Majlis Tindakan Kos Sara Hidup untuk menurunkan harga ayam sebanyak 20 sen kepada RM8.90 dan untuk mengekalkan harga ayam menjadi skandal besar selepas satu video selama 26 saat menunjukkan ahli-ahli majlis ini dihidangkan air mineral Evian yang berharga RM4.50 sebotol, tiga kali ganda harga produk tempatan.

Tetapi, dengan seramai-ramai Menteri token bukan Melayu dalam sejarah, tidak ada apa-apa langsung yang didengari daripada mereka mengenai isu-isu ini.

Melihat trend semasa, Malaysia besar kemungkinan akan diatasi oleh China dan Indonesia dalam Indeks Persepsi Rasuah (CPI) Transparency International (TI) menjelang 2025.

Bagaimana satu sistem pentadbiran yang membawa kepada kemunduran negara dalam setengah abad yang lepas, dengan satu persatu negara mengatasi kedudukan Malaysia – Taiwan, Korea Selatan, Singapura, dan Vietnam – menjadi satu formula yang berjaya, sedangkan kita mempunyai potensi untuk menjadi lebih baik daripada China, Indonesia, dan India dalam pelbagai bidang yang diceburi manusia?

Bolehkan UMNO kembali semula ke era tiga Perdana Menteri terawalnya, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak, dan Tun Hussein Onn, di mana rasuah dan kleptokrasi merupakan satu perkara yang dikeji, seperti yang dikatakan oleh bekas pegawai eksekutif Shell, Yusuf Hashim, satu era di mana orang Melayu “percaya kepada meritokrasi, integriti, moral, kejujuran, keadilan, demokrasi sosial, dan kebenaran”?

Saya tidak rasakan yang Khaled akan menjawab persoalan ini, kerana satu-satunya formula pentadbiran untuk menjadikan Malaysia sebuah negara hebat bertaraf dunia perlulah berteraskan kepada pendekatan dan matlamat “Utamakan Malaysia”.

(Kenyataan media (2) Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Kuala Lumpur pada hari Jumaat, 4 Februari 2022)

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Why is Malaysia having the longest third Covid-19 wave in the world?

What struck me during the Chinese New Year  was that  thousands of people  fully masked  gathered in Taiwan for the concert welcoming the Chinese New Year demonstrating the “Live with Covid” re-opening of social activities.

Yesterday,  Taiwan recorded 56 new Covid-19 cases and zero Covid-19 deaths, and it has  a cumulative total of 18,958 Covid-19 cases and 851 Covid-19 deaths.

Malaysia has not reached that stage, with new Covid-19 cases jumping from five thousand to seven thousand yesterday, reaching  7,234 new  cases – which was more than thrice the daily caseload of new Covid-19 cases on January 11, 2021 when Emergency was declared by the previous Muhyiddin government to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, viz 2,232 new cases.

Yesterday, Malaysia recorded five Covid-19 deaths, one more than when Malaysia declared Emergency on January 11, 2020 when there were four  Covid-19 deaths.

Malaysia’s cumulative totals yesterday were 2,895,014 Covid-19 cases and 32,011 Covid-19 deaths.

The Health Minister, Khairy Jamaluddin has advised  the public not to panic with the increase in the daily tally of Covid-19 cases of late as the number was already expected to be on the rise following the spread of the Omicron variant.

He said: “What we need to do now is to look into the severity of the cases, not on the number of cases. If we simply look at the number, of course, we would be worried, but no need to panic.

“The MOH is constantly monitoring those important data and what we are seeing now is a lot more short stays in the hospital. So far, we are seeing the rise of cases but this is not related to severity.”

The government has predicted that daily new case numbers could reach 15,000 per day if nothing is done, but the question now is whether daily new case numbers would still reach 15,000 cases per day despite what the government has done.

This also raises the question why Malaysia is having the longest third Covid-19 wave in the world?

The peak of the third wave in Malaysia which started with the Sabah state general election in September 2020 was 24,599 new  cases on August 26, 2021 and the peak of the daily fatality rate was 592 deaths on 11th September 2021.

The lowest daily numbers reached in the third wave after August 26 was 2,342 daily new cases on January 17. 2022  – more than January 11, 2021 – and five daily Covid-19 deaths on 29th January 2022, still higher than the four deaths recorded on January 11, 2021.

One notable aspect of the Covid-19 pandemic is that for the last 11 days, we have reversed the  situation for the last five months where Malaysia recorded more daily new Covid-19 cases than Indonesia, like on 26/12/2021 when Malaysia had 2,778 new cases as compared to Indonesia’s 92 daily new cases or Malaysia having 30 times the daily new Covid-19 cases than Indonesia although Indonesia has over eight times the population of Malaysia.

For the last 18 days, Indonesia’s daily new Covid-19 cases shot up from three-digit (one day in two-digit numbers) to four-digit figures.

Yesterday, Indonesia had 32,211 new Covid-19 cases and 42 Covid-19 deaths  compared to 7,234 new Covid-19 cases  and 11 Covid-19 deaths in Malaysia.

Are we better than Indonesia in handling the Covid-19 pandemic or worse?

The arrival and spread of the Omicron Covid-91 variant has changed the  scenario for the Covid-19 pandemic.

Omicron is more transmissible than Delta but less severe and lethal.

The question whether it will it prolong or contribute to the end of the pandemic phase of Covid-19 is one  all countries are seeking for an  answer.

South Africa, for instance, no longer requires those who test positive for Covid-19 without symptoms to isolate and has also reduced the isolation period for those with symptoms by three days, as the country exits its fourth wave of the coronavirus.

The Parliamentary Special Select Committee on health, science and innovation should hold public hearings to hear to views and suggestions of public health experts on the best ways to handle the new developments in the Covid-19 pandemic in Malaysia.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, 6th January 2022)

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How many of the 9,117 new Covid-19  cases yesterday were Omicron and how many Delta?

New Covid-19 cases rose to an alarming 9,117 cases yesterday. There was a rise in the ASEAN region, with even Singapore rising to 10,390 cases after recording 13,208 cases the previous day; Indonesia recording  22,729 cases when for three months from Oct.15, 2021 to  January 17, 2022 it had been recording three-digit number of new daily Covid-19 cases; Thailand 10,490, Vietnam 12,017 cases while Philippines seems to be in decline with 7,689 cases.

I asked a public health expert for his interpretation of the latest Covid-19 pandemic in Malaysia, and these are his views:

“Looking at the charts, we can see clearly that the daily cases began to take a slight rise from the 3K range to presently the 9K range. It is predicted that the numbers may rise until the 20-25K range in the coming 3-4 weeks. What is important to note is that although the daily cases have increased significantly, there is only very minimal increase in ICU bed occupancy and deaths telling us that for the moment, the Covid variant infecting Malaysia seem to be the Omicron variant, which characteristically causes an asymptomatic infection or a mild flu like illness from which the patient usually recovers (not requiring oxygen therapy nor even hospitalization). In the last 2 weeks, the ICU occupancy has increased  from 49% till the present 52%. This small rise may not be significant although we should keep monitoring closely.

“The problem that Malaysia faces presently, is that although the disease pattern seems to suggest Covid Omicron infection, it does look like there are still pockets of Covid Delta around.

“The MOH should be encouraged to do more genome sequencing so that we may know the proportion of Delta to  Omicron infection.

“In UK and also Denmark since the governments are confident that Omicron is predominant, they have removed all restrictions and allow the countries to return back to normal. Denmark even declaring that the pandemic is over.

“We should encourage MOH to tell us, what proportion of the 7,000 cases the previous day and the 9,000 cases yesterrday were Omicron and what proportion were Delta. This piece of information is vital to help guide health policies and restrictions especially with the Johore state election and also the GE15 approaching.

“Now that Omicron is here what does it mean? Any observer following the progress of Omicron through S Africa, UK, USA, Germany, Denmark, Philippines, and even Singapore will know that it causes mainly an asymptomatic infection in many and a mild flu-like illness in others, which usually does not require hospitalization or oxygen therapy, but only stay at home (work from home), and usually get well in 2-3 days. Occasionally 4-5 days. Following recovery, the patient gets natural more comprehensive immunity, usually lasting 1 year.

“As a society moving forward should omicron predominate, we can expect a good level of community immunity which will help us to live with Covid as it remains endemic. Looks like that is what Denmark and UK hope to achieve, as they remove restrictions.

“What else have we learn from monitoring Omicron progress globally? Well we now know that because Omicron is very infectious (almost as infectious as measles), where there is a case, it will spread like wild fire and soon there will be doubling, tripling and exponential rise in cases, with almost no rise in ICU bed occupancy and also almost no rise in deaths. This will go on till the cases peak. In S Africa, the cases peak after 5-6 weeks. That was also the situation in UK. In Philippines the cases peaked in 3 weeks.

“In Malaysia, we can expect that cases will rise in the next 3-4 weeks and then will peak and slowly decline.

“Vaccines does little to influence this spread. In fact there are many reports that seem to suggest that vaccinated people are more likely to get that Omicron variant.

“There is a social media spreading a rumour that Putrajaya will lockdown the country again.

“I hope not. There is really no need to lockdown because healthcare facilities will not be stretched, and there should be no pressure on ICU beds and oxygen need. There may be a slight increase in absenteeism, especially for those who cannot work from home.

“The good news is that this Covid 19 pandemic is coming to an end. The Danes are rather optimistic, I think. Things can still go wrong as we are always worried of new variants which may surprise us.”

 The optimism of this public health expert is bolstered by the low mortality figures for the ASEAN countries yesterday – Malaysia 14, Indonesia 44, Philippines 1,  Thailand 21 and Singapore 2.

(Media statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, 6th January 2022)

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Will Omicron set a new daily Covid-19 peak of over 25,000 cases  in February 2022?

(Versi BM)

Yesterday, Malaysia’s daily Covid-19 new cases flew past the 10,000-mark recording 10,089 cases – the first time since October 2 last year when the country recorded 10,915 cases.

The Minster of Health, Khairy Jamaluddin, said yesterday that the Omicron wave will reach a daily caseload of 15,000 new cases “soon”.

The Health Director-General, Noor Hisham, warned that Covid-19 daily cases could hit 22,000 by the end of March.

My public health expert has advised that the Covid-19 numbers could rise to 20,000-25,000 range in the coming three to four weeks.

This boils down to the question whether the Omicron variant will set new peak of daily Covid-19 infections exceeding 25,000 cases a day?.

While we have broken the 10,000 mark, we have not gone back five months in the Covid-19 pandemic, as seen by the mortality numbers on Oct. 2, 2021 when there were 109 Covid-19 deaths, and yesterday, which recorded nine Covid-19 deaths.

On Oct. 2, we were on the descent from the peak of the third Covid-19 wave in Malaysia, which reached a daily peak of 24,588 infections on August 26 and a daily peak of 592 Covid-19 deaths on Sept. 11, 2021.

The Covid-19 cases and deaths were all of the Delta variant.

Now, the dominant variant is Omicron, which is more transmissible but not so severe or deadly, as seen by yesterday’s numbers – 10,089 infections but nine Covid-19 deaths.

Noor Hisham, in an update via his official Twitter account, said 99.24 per cent or 10,012 new cases were in category one and two, while another 77 cases or 0.76 per cent were in category three, four and five which require hospitalisation..

On the country’s infectivity rate (Rt), Noor Hisham said it was at 1.20 with Perlis recording the highest value of 1.49 followed by Sabah (1.41), Putrajaya (1.29), Kedah (1.22), while Penang and Sarawak recorded 1.17, as of yesterday.

Noor Hisham said increasing the vaccination and booster shot coverage could also reduce the transmission, as well as lower the Ro/Rt to less than 1.

“We are not out of the woods yet. The onus is on us now to come together and brace the surge of cases. However, more importantly, we have to anticipate the high number of cases with less severity, less hospitalisation and less fatality,” he said.

The⋅Ministry of Health has said that the Covid-19 Omicron variant will not overwhelm the national health system because of Malaysia’s “excellent” vaccination coverage.

Although cases had been increasing this past week, there had been no surge in intensive care unit (ICU) admissions or mortality rates.

For comparison, South Korea reported 38,670 (15 deaths), Indonesia 36,057 (57 deaths), Thailand 10,879 (20 deaths), the Philippines 8,361 (312 death), Australia 22,839 (45) deaths and Singapore 7,752 (3 deaths).

In 2019, Malaysia was ranked high at No. 18 country in the Global Health Security Index, and regarded as best positioned to deal with pandemic diseases but when the Covid-19 Pandemic hit the world in the last two years, Malaysia proved to be one of the worst performing nations in the world, occupying the top 20 position for cumulative total of Covid-19 cases for the last quarter of 2021.

It is something to celebrate that in the new year of 2022, Malaysia has slipped eight places and fallen to No. 28th ranking for nations with the most cumulative total of Covid-19 cases, led by the United States with 78 million cases and over 925,000 deaths.

The global figures are nearly 396 million cumulative total of Covid-19 cases and nearly 5.8 million Covid-19 deaths.

With 2,914,220 Covid-19 cases and 32,034 Covid-19 deaths, Malaysia has fallen to No. 28 for nations with the most cumulative total of Covid-19 cases, losing out to Peru, Belgium, Czechia, Japan, Israel, Canada and Portugal.

I hope to see Malaysia fall lower in the ranking among nations for the most cumulative total of Covid-19 cases.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Monday, 7th January 2022)

Adakah varian Omicron akan mencatatkan kemuncak baharu jangkitan harian Covid-19 dengan lebih 25,000 kes pada bulan Februari 2022?

Semalam, kes harian baharu Covid-19 di Malaysia kembali melepasi paras 10,000 dengan 10,089 kes – kali pertama sejak 2 Oktober tahun lalu apabila negara mencatatkan 10,915 kes.

Semalam Menteri Kesihatan, Khairy Jamaluddin, berkata bahawa gelombang Omicron akan mencapai tahap kes harian baharu sebanyak 15,000 “tidak lama lagi”.

Ketua Pengarah Kesihatan, Noor Hisham, memberi amaran bahawa kes harian Covid-19 boleh mencecah 22,000 kes sehari pada akhir bulan Mac.

Pakar kesihatan awam telah menasihatkan bahawa jumlah Covid-19 boleh meningkat kepada julat 20,000-25,000 dalam tiga hingga empat minggu akan datang.

Perkara ini menimbulkan persoalan sama ada varian Omicron akan menetapkan puncak jangkitan Covid-19 melebihi 25,000 sehari?

Walaupun kita telah memecahkan rekod 10,000 kes, kita belum mundur lima bulan dalam pandemik ini, seperti yang ditunjukkan oleh kadar kematian pada 2 Oktober 2021 dengan 109 kematian berbanding dengan kadar kematian 9 orang yang dicatatkan semalam.

Pada 2 Oktober, kita sedang beransur pulih daripada gelombang ketiga Covid-19 di Malaysia, yang mencapai puncak jangkitan sebanyak 24,588 kes pada 26 Ogos dan puncak kematian akibat Covid-19 sebanyak 592 pada 11 September 2021.

Kes jangkitan dan kematian akibat Covid-19 itu adalah berpunca daripada varian Delta.

Kini, varian dominan adalah varian Omicron, yang lebih mudah menular tetapi tidak begitu teruk atau membunuh, seperti yang dilihat oleh angka kes yang direkodkan semalam – 10,089 kes jangkitan dengan sembilan kes kematian akibat Covid-19.

Noor Hisham, dalam kemas kini menerusi akaun Twitter rasminya, berkata 99.24 peratus atau 10,012 kes baharu adalah dalam kategori satu dan dua, manakala 77 kes lagi atau 0.76 peratus dalam kategori tiga, empat dan lima yang memerlukan kemasukan ke hospital.

Mengenai kadar keboleh jangkitan (Rt) negara, Noor Hisham berkata ia berada pada 1.20 dengan Perlis mencatatkan nilai tertinggi 1.49 diikuti Sabah (1.41), Putrajaya (1.29), Kedah (1.22), manakala Pulau Pinang dan Sarawak mencatatkan 1.17, setakat semalam.

Noor Hisham berkata meningkatkan liputan vaksinasi dan suntikan penggalak juga boleh mengurangkan penularan, serta menurunkan Ro/Rt kepada kurang daripada 1.

“Kita masih berdepan cabaran. Tanggungjawab kini terletak pada kita untuk bersatu dan menghadapi lonjakan kes. Namun, yang lebih penting, kita perlu menjangkakan jumlah kes yang lebih tinggi dengan tahap keterukan yang rendah, kurang kemasukan ke hospital dan kurang kematian,” katanya.

Kementerian Kesihatan telah menyatakan bahawa varian Omicron Covid-19 tidak akan melumpuhkan sistem kesihatan negara kerana liputan vaksinasi “cemerlang” Malaysia.

Walaupun kes telah meningkat minggu lalu, tiada peningkatan dalam kemasukan pesakit ke unit rawatan rapi (ICU) mahupun kadar kematian.

Sebagai perbandingan, Korea Selatan melaporkan 38,670 (15 kematian), Indonesia 36,057 (57 kematian), Thailand 10,879 (20 kematian), Filipina 8,361 (312 kematian), Australia 22,839 (45 kematian) dan Singapura 7,752 (3 kematian).

Pada 2019, Malaysia berada di kedudukan ke-18 dalam Indeks Keselamatan Kesihatan Global, dan dianggap sebagai kedudukan terbaik untuk menangani penyakit pandemik tetapi apabila Pandemik Covid-19 melanda dunia dalam tempoh dua tahun lepas, Malaysia terbukti menjadi salah satu negara berprestasi paling teruk di dunia, menduduki kedudukan 20 teratas bagi jumlah kumulatif kes Covid-19 bagi suku terakhir 2021.

Ia adalah sesuatu yang boleh diraikan pada tahun baharu 2022 apabila Malaysia berjaya turun lapan anak tangga dan turun ke kedudukan ke-28 bagi negara dengan jumlah kumulatif kes Covid-19 terbanyak, didahului oleh Amerika Syarikat dengan 78 juta kes dengan lebih 925,000 kematian.

Angka kumulatif kes Covid-19 global adalah hampir 396 juta dan hampir 5.8 juta kematian akibat Covid-19.

Dengan 2,914,220 kes Covid-19 dan 32,034 kematian akibat wabak itu, Malaysia jatuh ke tangga ke-28 bagi negara dengan jumlah kumulatif kes Covid-19 terbanyak, tewas kepada Peru, Belgium, Republik Czech, Jepun, Israel, Kanada dan Portugal.

Saya berharap untuk melihat kedudukan Malaysia bertambah baik dalam ranking bagi jumlah kumulatif kes Covid-19 terbanyak.

(Kenyataan Media oleh Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Kuala Lumpur pada hari Isnin, 7 Januari 2022)

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Malaysia may exceed 15,000 Covid-19 cases early next week but it should  not be the cause for panic  so long as the daily  fatality rates  keep to single-digit numbers

(Versi BM)

Malaysia may exceed 15,000 Covid-19 cases early next week but it should not be the cause for panic so long as the daily fatality rates keep to single-digit numbers.

Today, the Health Ministry reported 13,944 new Covid-19 cases today bringing the cumulative infections in the country to 2,939,198. Yesterday, there were 11,034 cases and nine deaths.

It would appear that the Minister of Health, Khairy Jamaluddin’s figure of 15,000 cases, the Health director-general Noor Hisham’s 22,000 cases and my public health expert’s 25,000 cases may be exceeded by the middle of the month, and we will be heading to new daily peak for Covid-19 cases – which was set on 26th August 2021 at 24,599 cases.

But this is the era of the Omicron variant, which is more transmissible than the Delta variant but so far, not more severe or deadly or requiring more hospitalisation.

Khairy has cautioned yesterday that the worst is yet to come in terms of daily number of new cases as the country is now facing a full Omicron wave.

He advised those who have yet to receive their Covid-19 vaccine booster dose, particularly the elderly who are more vulnerable, should do so.

The infectivity rate as of yesterday stood at 1.2. A sustained value above 1.0 leads to an exponential spread of the virus.

During the Delta wave, it overwhelmed the healthcare system as the number of Covid-19 patients who needed treatment surpassed what hospitals can handle.

The Health Ministry had said that its modelling suggested that the healthcare system should be able to handle the current wave with almost 80 percent of the total population already vaccinated. The first case of Omicron variant was in the second half of November last year.

But there is no basis whatsoever for the Senior Minister for International

Trade and Industry, Azmin Ali, to claim that the Perikatan Nasional government was the best globally in managing the Covid-19 pandemic.

We need only refer to the spurious Emergency that was declared on January 11, 2021 allegedly to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.

When the Emergency started on January 11, 2021 there were 2,232 daily new cases and four daily Covid-19 deaths and n the cumulative totals for Malaysia were 138,222 Covid-19 cases and 555 Covid-19 deaths.

On August 1, 2021 when Emergency ended the daily new cases and deaths have shot up to 17,150 cases and 160 deaths, while the cumulative total of cases have multiplied by more than eight times to 1,130,422 cases and the cumulative total of Covid-19 deaths have shot up more than 16 times to 9,184 deaths

Nobody except for Azmin would describe the Emergency to combat the Covid-19 pandemic in the form of the Delta variant as a success.

We are now facing a different ballgame with the Omicron wave, as we will exceed the cumulative total of three million Covid-19 cases in the next few days.

We should follow the examples of other countries of opening up the economy and social life, while following the SOPs of masks and social distancing, and this should be the basis of the SOPs for the Johore state general election which will be announced tomorrow.

(Media Statement (2) by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, 8th January 2022)

Malaysia mungkin akan melepasi paras 15,000 kes dalam awal minggu hadapan tetapi perkara ini tidak patut menimbulkan panik selagi mana kadar kematian akibat Covid-19 kekal dalam julat satu angka

Malaysia mungkin akan melepasi paras 15,000 kes dalam awal minggu hadapan tetapi perkara ini tidak patut menimbulkan panik selagi mana kadar kematian akibat Covid-19 kekal dalam julat satu angka.

Hari ini, Kementerian Kesihatan melaporkan 13,944 kes baharu Covid-19, membawa jumlah kes terkumpul dalam negara kepada 2,939,198 kes. Semalam, kita mencatatkan 11,034 kes baharu dan sembilan kematian.

Kelihatan seperti jangkaan 15,000 kes oleh Menteri Kesihatan, Khairy Jamaluddin, jangkaan 22,000 kes Ketua Pengarah Kesihatan, Dr Noor Hisham, dan jangkaan 25,000 kes oleh pakar kesihatan awam saya mungkin akan dipecahkan awal minggu hadapan dan kita mungkin akan menyaksikan kemuncak baharu angka kes Covid-19 – yang sebelum ini dicatatkan pada 26 Ogos 2021 dengan 24,599 kes.

Tetapi kini adalah era varian Omicron, yang jauh lebih berjangkit tetapi kelihatan tidak sebahaya Delta dan tidak memerlukan hospitalisasi seperti sebelum ini.

Khairy telah memberikan amaran semalam yang kadar terburuk belum disaksikan lagi dari segi jumlah kes harian, memandangkan negara kita sedang berhadapan dengan gelombang penuh Omicron.

Beliau menasihati mereka yang belum menerima suntikan dos penggalak vaksin Covid-19, terutamanya mereka yang lanjut usia, untuk segera mendapatkan suntikan ini.

Kadar jangkitan setakat semalam berada pada paras 1.2. Kadar yang kekal di atas nilai 1.0 akan membawa kepada penularan mendadak wabak ini.

Semasa berhadapan dengan gelombang penularan varian Delta, wabak ini telah melumpuhkan sistem kesihatan negara kerana terlalu ramai pesakit memerlukan rawatan di hospital berbanding dengan kapasiti yang ada.

Kementerian Kesihatan telah mengatakan yang jangkaan menunjukkan yang sistem kesihatan negara sepatutnya mampu mengendalikan gelombang penularan sedia ada memandangkan lebih daripada 80% populasi negara telah menerima vaksin. Kes pertama varian Omicron dalam negara dilaporkan dalam bulan November tahun lepas.

Tetapi, tidak ada asas langsung dalam dakwaan Menteri Kanan Perdagangan Antarabangsa dan Industri, Azmin Ali, yang mengatakan kerajaan Perikatan Nasional adalah yang terbaik dalam mengendalikan wabak ini di dunia.

Kita hanya perlu melihat kepada perintah darurat pura-pura yang diisytiharkan pada 11 Januari 2021, kononnya untuk melawan wabak Covid-19.

Semasa darurat bermula pada 11 Januari 2021, terdapat 2,232 kes baharu dan empat kematian akibat Covid-19 dengan 138,222 kes terkumpul dan 555 kematian terkumpul akibat Covid-19.

Pada 1 Ogos 2021 semasa darurat tamat, kadar kes baharu telah meningkat kepada 17,150 kes dengan 160 kematian sedangkan angka terkumpul kes telah meningkat lebih daripada lapan kali ganda kepada 1,130,422 kes dan jumlah kematian terkumpul meningkat lebih daripada 16 kali ganda kepada 9,184 kematian akibat Covid-19.

Tidak ada sesiapa pun selain Azmin yang akan menggambarkan darurat untuk melawan Covid-19 ini merupakan satu kejayaan.

Kita kini berhadapan dengan perkara yang berbeza sama sekali dengan gelombang Omicron ini, di mana kita akan melepasi paras tiga juta kes terkumpul dalam beberapa hari yang akan datang.

Kita patut ikut contoh di negara-negara lain yang membuka semua sektor ekonomi dan kehidupan sosial dengan mematuhi SOP pemakaian pelitup muka dan menjaga jarak sosial, dan perkara ini perlu menjadi asas kepada SOP Pilihan Raya Negeri Johor yang akan diumumkan esok.

(Kenyataan media (2) Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Kuala Lumpur pada hari Selasa, 8 Februari 2022)

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What a contrast  – in  New York a Goldman Sachs banker is standing corruption trial but in Malaysia the key personality in the 1MDB scandal is seeking to return as the 10th or 11th Prime Minister of Malaysia

What a contrast – in New York a Goldman Sachs banker is standing corruption trial but in Malaysia the key personality in the 1MDB scandal is seeking to return as the 10th or 11th Prime Minister of Malaysia.

Roger Ng, Goldman’s former head of investment banking in Malaysia, has pleaded not guilty to helping to launder hundreds of millions of dollars looted from Malaysia’s 1MDB sovereign wealth fund and bribing officials to win business.

He is charged with three counts of conspiracy to launder money and to violate an anti-bribery law.

Jury selection began yesterday in the U.S. corruption trial.

Goldman helped sell US$6.5 billion of bonds for 1MDB, a fund former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak launched to spur economic development.

Authorities said fund officials and accomplices looted some of the money to spend on luxuries, while Goldman bankers paid more than US$1.6 billion in bribes to officials in Malaysia and Abu Dhabi for 1MDB business.

Goldman agreed in 2020 to pay US$2.9 billion in penalties and have a Malaysian unit admit criminal wrongdoing to settle probes by the U.S. Department of Justice and other authorities into its role in 1MDB.

But in Malaysia, the person most responsible for the 1MDB scandal, described by the then US Attorney-General Jeff Sessions at an international conference in

December 2017 as “kleptocracy at its worst”, is campaigning to return as the 10th or 11 Prime Minister of the country.

The 1MDB scandal is the biggest failure of the country’s anti-corruption agency in the nation’s history but before the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) can live down this infamy, the MACC Chief Commissioner Azam Baki is embroiled in the greatest confidence crisis when he lost all confidence and support of Malaysians to head the MACC when he failed to be an example of integrity, probity and accountability and was unable to explain conflict-of-interest allegations which had been made against him for over three months.

Is Prime Minister Ismail Sabri so impotent that he is unable to ask Azam Baki to go on leave until Azam had cleared himself of the serious allegations?

I recently came across the comments of the former British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, in the book “The Wolf Catcher”, where he compared two “notorious cases of wrongdoing at the highest level” – Malaysia’s 1MDB and Brazil’s Pertrobas.

Gordon Brown said: “But the 1MDB theft – with its global scope and scale, and its geo-political fallout – has reached even deeper than the oil company scandal that has engulfed Brazil.”

Malaysia will suffer a double infamy if the major protagonist in the 1MDB scandal can return as the 10th or 11th Prime Minister of Malaysia.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, 8th January 2022)

Jauh bezanya – di New York seorang pegawai bank Goldman Sachs sedang menghadapi perbicaraan rasuah tetapi di Malaysia personaliti utama dalam skandal 1MDB berhasrat untuk kembali menjadi Perdana Menteri Malaysia ke-10 atau ke-11

Jauh bezanya – di New York seorang pegawai bank Goldman Sachs sedang menghadapi perbicaraan rasuah tetapi di Malaysia personaliti utama dalam skandal 1MDB berhasrat untuk kembali menjadi Perdana Menteri Malaysia ke-10 atau ke-11.

Roger Ng, bekas ketua pegawai bank Goldman di Malaysia, telah mengaku tidak bersalah kerana membantu melakukan pengubahan wang haram bernilai ratusan juta dolar yang dirompak daripada dana kekayaan negara 1MDB dan merasuah pegawai di Malaysia untuk mendapatkan peluang perniagaan.

Dia didakwa atas tiga pertuduhan pengubahan wang haram dan melanggar undang-undang anti-rasuah.

Pemilihan juri bermula semalam dalam perbicaraan rasuah di Amerika Syarikat (AS).

Goldman membantu menjual bon bernilai AS$6.5 bilion untuk 1MDB, dana yang dilancarkan bekas Perdana Menteri Malaysia Najib Razak untuk memacu pembangunan ekonomi.

Pihak berkuasa berkata pegawai dana dan rakan sejenayah mereka merompak sebahagian wang untuk dibelanjakan bagi tujuan kemewahan, manakala pegawai bank Goldman membayar lebih AS$1.6 bilion rasuah kepada pegawai di Malaysia dan Abu Dhabi untuk perniagaan 1MDB.

Goldman bersetuju pada 2020 untuk membayar penalti AS$2.9 bilion dan meminta unit Malaysia mengakui kesalahan jenayah bagi menyelesaikan siasatan oleh Jabatan Kehakiman AS dan pihak berkuasa lain mengenai peranannya dalam 1MDB.

Tetapi di Malaysia, individu yang paling bertanggungjawab terhadap skandal 1MDB, yang digambarkan oleh Peguam Negara AS ketika itu Jeff Sessions pada persidangan antarabangsa pada Disember 2017 sebagai “kleptokrasi yang terburuk”, berkempen untuk kembali sebagai Perdana Menteri ke-10 atau ke-11.

Skandal 1MDB adalah kegagalan terbesar agensi antirasuah negara dalam sejarah negara tetapi sebelum Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) dapat mengatasi keburukan ini, Ketua Pesuruhjaya SPRM Azam Baki pula terpalit dengan krisis keyakinan terbesar apabila beliau kehilangan semua keyakinan dan sokongan rakyat Malaysia untuk mengetuai SPRM apabila beliau gagal menjadi contoh integriti, kejujuran dan akauntabiliti serta tidak dapat menjelaskan dakwaan konflik kepentingan yang telah dibuat terhadapnya selama lebih tiga bulan lalu.

Adakah Perdana Menteri Ismail Sabri terlalu lemah sehingga tidak dapat meminta Azam Baki bercuti sehingga Azam membersihkan namanya daripada tuduhan yang serius itu?

Baru-baru ini saya terjumpa komen mantan Perdana Menteri Britain, Gordon Brown, dalam buku “The Wolf Catcher”, di mana beliau membandingkan dua “kes terkenal salah laku di peringkat tertinggi” – 1MDB Malaysia dan Petrobras Brazil.

Gordon Brown berkata: “Tetapi kecurian 1MDB – dengan skop dan skala globalnya, dan kejatuhan geo-politiknya – memberi kesan lebih mendalam berbanding skandal syarikat minyak yang telah melanda Brazil.”

Malaysia akan mengalami keburukan berganda jika protagonis utama dalam skandal 1MDB boleh kembali menjadi Perdana Menteri Malaysia ke-10 atau ke-11.

(Kenyataan Media oleh Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Kuala Lumpur pada hari Selasa, 8 Januari 2022)

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Omicron may not be the last variant to surface to end the Covid-19 pandemic

(Versi BM)

Health Minister, Khairy Jamaluddin hopes the Omicron wave to be over in the next one to two months to allow Hari Raya Aidilfitri to be celebrated in early May without movement restrictions.

But Omicron may not be the last variant to surface to end the Covid-19 pandemic.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern expects more Covid-19 variants and urge New Zealanders to prepare to more variants of the virus this year.

New Zealand has for the past week hit new records for daily case numbers, including a record 243 cases on Saturday. She expects New Zealand’s cases to peak at between 10,000 and 30,000 cases a day.

If Malaysia follows New Zealand’s example, then Malaysia’s peak of daily cases, which was 24,599 cases on August 26, may be increased a few times.

The Omicron is sweeping ASEAN nations. Yesterday Singapore reported 13,011 new cases, Indonesia 37,492 cases, Vietnam 21,909 cases and Thailand 10,398 cases. Philippines registered the lowest daily new cases in 2022 – 3,574 cases – after an earlier explosive surge of Omicron cases.

The mortality rate of Omicron is low as compared to Delta. Malaysia’s fatality numbers in the last two weeks is 126 as compared to the daily peak of 592 deaths on September 11, 2021.

Globally, the cumulative Covid-19 cases have exceeded 400 million cases, with over 5.7 million deaths.

With 2,939,198 Covid-19 cases and 32,056 Covid-19 deaths, Malaysia has fallen from No. 20 four months ago to No. 28 for nations with the most cumulative total of Covid-19 cases – losing out to Peru, Japan, Belgium, Israel Czechia, Canada and Portugal.

Malaysia should fall lower in the ranking among nations for the most cumulative total of Covid-19 cases.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, January 9, 2022)

Omikron mungkin bukan varian terakhir yang akan muncul untuk menamatkan pandemik Covid-19

Menteri Kesihatan, Khairy Jamaluddin, berharap yang penularan varian Omikron ini akan berakhir dalma satu atau dua bulan yang akan datang untuk membolehkan sambutan Hari Raya Aidilfitri disambut pada awal bulan Mei tanpa sekatan pergerakan.

Tetapi, Omikron ini mungkin bukan varian terakhir yang akan muncul untuk menamatkan pandemik Covid-19.

Perdana Menteri New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern menjangkakan lebih banyak varian Covid-19 dan menggesa rakyat New Zealand untuk bersedia berhadapan dengan lebih banyak varian virus ini dalam tahun ini.

New Zealand dalam minggu yang lepas telah mencatatkan rekod baharu kes harian, termasuklah rekod 243 kes pada hari Sabtu. Beliau menjangkakan yang kes di New Zealand akan memuncak di sekitar 10,000 ke 30,000 sehari.

Sekiranya Malaysia menuruti langkah New Zealand, angka rekod 24,599 kes yang dicatatkan negara pada 26 Ogos lepas mungkin akan meningkat beberapa kali ganda.

Gelombang Omikron sedang melanda negara-negara ASEAN. Semalam, Singapura mencatatkan 13,011 kes, Indonesia mencatatkan 37,492 kes, Vietnam 21,909 kes, Thailand 10,398 kes. Filipina mencatatkan jumlah kes terendah dalam tahun 2022 – 3,574 kes – selepas berhadapan dengan peningkatan mendadak kes Omikron sebelum ini.

Kadar kematian akibat Omikron adalah lebih rendah berbanding dengan Delta. Kadar kematian di Malaysia dalam dua minggu yang lepas adalah 126 berbanding dengan kemuncak 592 kematian pada 11 September 2021.

Di peringkat global, jumlah kes terkumpul telah melepasi paras 400 juta kes dengan lebih daripada 5.7 juta kematian.

Dengan 2,939,198 kes dan 32,056 kematian akibat Covid-19, Malaysia telah jatuh daripada tempat ke-20 empat bulan lepas ke tempat ke-28 dari segi negara dengan jumlah kes tertinggi – kini diatasi oleh Peru, Jepun, Belgium, Israel, Republik Czech, Kanada, dan Portugal.

Malaysia perlu menurunkan lagi kedudukan kita dalam carta kes terkumpul ini.

(Kenyataan Media oleh Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Kuala Lumpur pada hari Rabu, 9 Februari 2022)

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Khairy should urgently set up a special committee of public health experts including representatives from the private sector to  reduce the Covid-19 mortality rate which has claimed over 12,000 lives in Malaysia  in the last five months

(Versi BM)

Yesterday, Hong Kong reported the first Covid-linked death in five months when an elderly 73-year-old man died as the city struggled with a worsening outbreak.

In Malaysia in the last five months, there were over 12,000 Covid-19 deaths.

Although the Omicron variant has taken over the Delta variant with a lower mortality rate, there were 1,062 Covid-19 deaths in December, 498 deaths in January and 80 deaths in February.

The government should regard the Covid-19 mortality rate as completely unacceptable and I call on the Health Minister, Khairy Jamaluddin to urgently set up a special committee of public health experts including representatives from the private sector to reduce the Covid-19 mortality rate.

The World Health Organization has lamented that half a million Covid-19 deaths had been recorded since the Omicron variant was discovered, calling the toll “beyond tragic.”

The WHO’s incident manager Abdi Mahamud said that 130 million cases and 500,000 deaths had been recorded globally since Omicron was declared a variant of concern in late November.

It has since rapidly overtaken Delta as the world’s dominant Covid variant because it is more transmissible, though it appears to cause less severe illness.

“In the age of effective vaccines, half a million people dying, it’s really something,” Mahamud told a live interaction on the WHO’s social media channels.

“While everyone was saying Omicron is milder, (they) missed the point that half a million people have died since this was detected,” he said.

“It’s beyond tragic.”

The cumulative total of Covid-19 deaths in Malaysia is 32,065 deaths and the cumulative total of Covid-19 cases is 2,956,332 which may exceed 3 million cases before this week is out.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, 10th February 2022)

Khairy perlu segera menubuhkan jawatankuasa khas pakar kesihatan awam yang melibatkan wakil dari sektor swasta untuk mengurangkan kadar kematian akibat Covid-19 yang telah mengorbankan lebih daripada 12,000 nyawa di Malaysia dalam lima bulan yang lepas

Semalam, Hong Kong melaporkan kematian berkaitan dengan Covid-19 yang pertama dalam lima bulan di bandar itu apabila seorang warga emas berusia 73 tahun terkorban semasa bandar tersebut sedang bergelut dengan penularan yang semakin memburuk.

Di Malaysia, dalam lima bulan yang lepas, terdapat lebih daripada 12,000 kematian akibat Covid-19.

Walaupun varian Omikron telah menggantikan varian Delta dengan kadar kematian yang lebih rendah, terdapat 1,062 kematian pada bulan Disember, 498 kematian pada bulan Januari, dan 80 kematian setakat ini di bulan Februari.

Kerajaan perlu memandang kadar kematian ini sebagai satu perkara yang tidak boleh diterima sama sekali dan saya seru supaya Menteri Kesihatan, Khairy Jamaluddin untuk segera membentuk satu jawatankuasa khas pakar kesihatan awam yang melibatkan wakil dari sektor swasta untuk menurunkan kadar kematian akibat Covid-19.

Pertubuhan Kesihatan Sedunia telah menyatakan yang setengah juta kematian akibat Covid-19 telah dicatatkan sejak daripada penemuan varian Omikron, mengatakan yang kadar ini “lebih dari tragik”.

Pengurus Insiden WHO, Abdi Mahamud mengatakan lebih daripada 130 juta kes dan 500,000 kematian telah dicatatkan di seluruh dunia sejak varian Omikron diisytiharkan sebagai “variant of concern” pada penghujung November lepas.

Varian ini kemudiannya dengan pantas mengatasi Delta sebagai varian utama Covid di seluruh dunia kerana ia mempunyai kadar jangkitan yang lebih tinggi walaupun kelihatan tidak menyebabkan jangkitan yang seteruk Delta.

“Dalam era vaksin yang berkesan, setengah juta orang mati, ia bukanlah satu perkara kecil,” Mahamud mengatakan dalam sidang interaksi secara langsung di talian media sosial WHO.

“Walaupun semua orang mengatakan yang jangkitan Omikron ini tidak teruk, (mereka) tertinggal fakta yang setengah juta nyawa telah terkorban sejak varian ini dikesan,” kata beliau.

“Perkara ini lebih daripada tragik.”

Jumlah kematian terkumpul akibat Covid-19 di Malaysia adalah 32,065 kematian, dengan 2,956,332 kematian terkumpul yang mungkin akan melepasi paras 3 juta kes sebelum minggu ini berakhir.

(Kenyataan Media oleh Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Kuala Lumpur pada hari Khamis, 10 Februari 2022)

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Is there no response whatsoever from  Prime Minister Ismail Sabri to the devastating TI CPI 2021 where Malaysia dropped five points in score and 11 points in rank in two years – the worst two years in TI CPI in the last 27 years since 1995

(Versi BM)

Is there no response whatsoever from Prime Minister Ismail Sabri to the devastating Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2021 where Malaysia dropped five points in score and 11 points in rank in two years – the worst two years in TI CPI in the last 27 years since 1995?

It is two weeks since the release of the devastating TI CPI 2021 for Malaysia but Ismail has not uttered a single word.

Is he not surprised and shocked by the TI CPI 2021?

Does he expect the dismal situation of anti-corruption in Malaysia to improve next year under his premiership?

What is he and his government doing to ensure that the TI CPI 2022 will not be worse than TI CPI 2021 for Malaysia?

Has his Cabinet had a discussion on the TI CPI 2021, and what decisions had been taken?

Is the Prime Minister and the Cabinet completely impotent to ask the Chief Commissioner of Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Azam Baki to go on leave until he has cleared himself of the conflict-of-interest allegations which had been made against him more than three months ago?

It is a matter of grave public concern that Azam Baki is using the courts to avoid being an example of integrity, probity and accountability in the public service, which is being followed by the Pahang state government which has demanded an apology and RM1 million in compensation from an environmental activist, Shariffa Sabrina Syed Akil, President of Pertubuhan Pelindung Khazanah Alam Malaysia (PEKA), for alleged defamation over comments made on the state’s involvement in logging activities and threatening legal action.

I would advise the Pahang State Government not to follow’s Azam’s bad example to initiate legal proceedings against Shariffa but to engage PEKA and to answer the environmental charges made against the Pahang state government.

In Azam’s case, it is most deplorable that he seems to going after the whistleblower when he should be protective of whistleblowers.

Azam wants to set a bad example of retaliating against whistle-blowers but he cannot use the court action to avoid being an example of integrity, probity and accountability in the public service, especially as he is the MACC Chief Commissioner.

I have submitted to following two questions for oral answer for the first week of the forthcoming Parliament when it reconvenes on February 28, 2022:

1. To ask the Prime Minister why the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Chief Commissioner Azam Baki has not been asked to go leave until he has cleared the conflict-of-interest allegations made against him as far back as October 2021.

2. To ask the Prime Minister the reaction of the government to the Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2021 which showed Malaysia in a dismal light in anti-corruption field.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, 11th February 2022)

Tidak adakah apa-apa respons langsung daripada Perdana Menteri Ismail Sabri mengenai CPI TI 2021 di mana Malaysia jatuh 11 anak tangga dan lima markah dalam masa dua tahun – dua tahun terburuk untuk negara dalam sejarah 27 tahun TI CPI sejak 1995

Tidak adakah apa-apa respons langsung daripada Perdana Menteri Ismail Sabri mengenai Indeks Persepsi Rasuah (CPI) Transparency International (TI) 2021 di mana Malaysia jatuh 11 anak tangga dan lima markah dalam masa dua tahun – dua tahun terburuk untuk negara dalam sejarah 27 tahun TI CPI sejak 1995?

Dua minggu telah berlalu sejak daripada penerbitan indeks yang mengecewakan untuk negara ini tetapi Ismail masih tidak mengatakan apa-apa langsung.

Adakah beliau tidak terkejut dengan TI CPI 2021?

Adakah beliau menjangkakan keadaan buruk dalam usaha pencegahan rasuah dalam negara untuk bertambah baik dalam tahun hadapan di bawah pimpinannya?

Apakah yang dilakukan oleh beliau dan kerajaannya untuk memastikan kedudukan negara dalam TI CPI 2022 akan tidak lebih buruk berbanding dengan TI CPI 2021?

Adakah Kabinet beliau sudah berbincang mengenai TI CPI 2021 ini dan apakah tindakan yang sudah diambil?

Adakah Perdana Menteri dan Kabinet tidak berkuasa langsung untuk meminta Ketua Pesuruhjaya Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) Azam Baki untuk mengambil cuti sehingga namanya dapat dibersihkan daripada pertuduhan konflik kepentingan yang timbul sejak lebih daripada tiga bulan yang lalu?

Perkara di mana Azam menggunakan mahkamah untuk mengelak dari menjadi tauladan integriti, ketelusan, dan akauntabiliti dalam perkhidmatan awam menjadi satu perkara yang membimbangkan. Perkara ini kini diteladani pula oleh kerajaan negeri Pahang yang telah menuntut permohonan maaf dan pampasan sebanyak RM1 juta daripada aktivis alam, Shariffa Sabrina Syed Akil, Presiden Pertubuhan Pelindung Khazanah Alam Malaysia (PEKA), kerana kononnya membuat fitnah mengenai penglibatan kerajaan negeri dalam aktiviti pembalakan dan menuntut tindakan undang-undang.

Saya ingin menasihatkan Kerajaan Negeri Pahang untuk tidak mengikuti tauladan buruk Azam Baki dengan mengambil tindakan undang-undang terhadap Shariffa sebaliknya mereka sepatutnya berhubung dengan PEKA dan menjawab dakwaan mengenai isu alam sekitar yang telah dibangkitkan terhadap kerajaan negeri Pahang.

Dalam kes Azam Baki ini, amat buruk dan memalukan apabila beliau kelihatan kini mengambil tindakan terhadap pemberi maklumat sedangkan beliau sepatutnya melindungi pemberi maklumat.

Azam mahu menunjukkan tauladan buruk dengan mengambil tindakan terhadap seorang pemberi maklumat, tetapi beliau tidak boleh menggunakan mahkamah untuk mengelak dari menjadi tauladan integriti, ketelusan, dan akauntabiliti dalam perkhidmatan awam, terutamanya apabila beliau adalah Ketua Pesuruhjaya SPRM.

Saya telah menghantar dua soalan berikut untuk jawapan lisan dalam minggu pertama sidang Parlimen yang akan bersidang semula pada 28 Februari 2022:

1. Minta Perdana Menteri menyatakan mengapa Ketua Pesuruhjaya Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) Azam baki tidak dicutikan sehingga nama beliau dapat dibersihkan daripada tuduhan konflik kepentingan yang timbul sejak Oktober 2021.

2. Minta Perdana Menteri menyatakan reaksi kerajaan terhadap terbitan Indeks Persepsi Rasuah (CPI) Transparency International (TI) 2021 yang menunjukkan kedudukan buruk untuk negara kita dalam bidang pencegahan rasuah.

(Kenyataan Media oleh Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Kuala Lumpur pada hari Jumaat, 11 Februari 2022)

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Will the daily caseload of new Covid-19 cases reach 80,000 cases on  the nomination day of the Johore state general  election on February 26?

It takes no pleasure to be right when I predicted yesterday that the cumulative total of Covid-19 cases in Malaysia may exceed three million cases before the week is out as   this would happen today.

Yesterday, we recorded 20,939 Covid-19 cases, the 13th highest of new daily Covid-19 cases in the entire two-year Covid-19 pandemic,   bringing the  cumulative total of Covid-19 cases to 2,996,361 cases.

At this  exponential rate of increase of the Omicron variant, we should exceed the daily peak of 24,599 Covid-19  cases on August 26, 2021 early next week.

This would mean that the Health Director-General, Noor Hisham’s earlier forecast that Malaysia is expected to reach 22,000 Covid-19 cases by the end of March will be exceeded earlier by more than a month.

The daily number of new daily Covid-19 cases have multiplied almost  four times in the last two weeks. At this exponential rate of increase, will the new daily Covid-19 cases increase four-fold in the next two weeks by the time of the nomination of the Johore state general election with  the  shuddering figure of  80,000 cases a day?

What is the predicted daily caseload of new  Covid-19 cases on polling day on March 12, 2022?

It is a matter of concern that as of last night, the R-number for Malaysia has reached 1.51. For comparison, the highest R-number reported by the ministry in 2021 was 1.21 on May 23 that year, shortly after the country recorded its first Delta variant cases.

This would make it more imperative that the Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin should urgently ensure that there is a new strategy to ensure a low mortality rate, as the  situation of 1,062 Covid-19 deaths in December, 498 deaths in January and  97 deaths in the first 10 days in February are completely unacceptable.

Although the Omicron variant is not as severe and deadly as the earlier Delta variant, the Health Ministry must put in place a new strategy which will ensure that the public health system does  not break down as happened before.

The number of people who have been hospitalised due to Covid-19 is 5,319 as of yesterday, up 97 percent compared to two weeks ago.

The Prime Minister Ismail Sabri should convene an emergency meeting of the Cabinet to consider whether an emergency should be declared to stop the Johore state general election, considering that an emergency was  declared on January 11 last year when Malaysia had only 2,232 daily new Covid-19  cases and four Covid-19 deaths.

(Media Statement (2) by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, 11th February 2022)

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Johor with 2,860 new Covid-19 cases yesterday is a  record-high for the state in the two-year Covid-19 pandemic while it has the highest number of Covid-19 deaths of all states  in the last two weeks

Malaysia yesterday reported 22,802 new Covid-19 cases, bringing the cumulative infections of over three million mark. It  is the fourth highest daily new  Covid-19 infection  for Malaysia throughout the two-year Covid-19 pandemic.

At this rate of explosive increase, daily new Covid-19 infections will set a new daily peak today or tomorrow, as the four  highest daily new Covid-19 infections were: 24,599 infections with 393 deaths on August 26, 2021; 23,948 infections with 178 deaths on August 19, 2021; 23,564 infections with 233 deaths on August 20, 2021 and 22,579 infections with 285 deaths on August 28, 2021.

That was the Delta variant.

Although the Omicron variant is  more transmissible and  is not more severe or deadly as Delta, it is completely unacceptable that there were 24 Covid-19 deaths in one day on  Friday, February 11,2022, and the Health Minister, Khairy Jamaluddin must not delay in devising a new strategy to reduce the number of Covid-19 deaths to the lowest number  possible.

In the last two weeks, there were  147 Covid-19 deaths in Malaysia  as compared  to 31 Covid-19 deaths in Singapore.

Johore with 2,860 new Covid-19 cases yesterday is a record-high for the state in the two-year Covid-19 pandemic, as the daily peak of Covid-19 infections  in Johor was 2,785 cases on 26th August 2021.

In the last two weeks, Johor with 21 Covid-19 deaths  had the second highest number of Covid-19 deaths after Perak which recorded  24 Covid-19 deaths.

With the Prime Minister Ismail Sabri declaring yesterday that the  federal government would not re-enforce any movement control order (MCO) or declare another Emergency despite the spike of Covid-19 cases in the country, Ismail should convene an urgent  meeting of the special committee on pandemic management which was supposed to meet weekly but had not met since Nov. 8, 2021.

This is to ensure that there is “collective effort to involve all stakeholders and ensure the nation’s recovery will proceed as planned, in line with the Keluarga Malaysia spirit”  and to ensure that the voters’ democratic rights in the Johore state general election on March 12, 2022  are violated or suppressed in the name of the Omicron wave.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, February 12, 2022)

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24 Covid-19 deaths on Friday and 15 deaths on Saturday is exceedingly high and greatly reducing the Covid-19 mortality rate in Malaysia should be one of the top priorities of Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin

There were 15 Covid-19 fatalities yesterday and 24 Covid-19 deaths, confirming Malaysia as the country with the highest number of deaths per capita in the ASEAN and East Asian regions with 972 deaths per 1 million population and the fourth worst in Asia.

These high Covid-19 mortality rates for Malaysia are completely unacceptable  and greatly reducing the Covid-19 mortality rate in Malaysia should be one of the top priorities of the Health Minister, Khairy Jamaluddin.

I hope this will be one challenge Khairy will take up  and that he will make progress in the next fortnight so that the Yang di Pertuan Agong will  have good news on the Covid-19 mortality front when he officially opened the fifth session of the 14th Parliament on 28th February 2022.

Johor remains the second state in Malaysia in the last fortnight with the most Covid-19 deaths – recording 22 deaths as compared to the top state  with the highest number of Covid-19 deaths in the past fortnight – Perak, which had 25 deaths, and Selangor, the third state with 17 Covid-19 deaths.

Malaysia is facing an Omicron wave, as Saturday’s 22,802 new Covid-19 cases, bringing the cumulative infections of over three million mark, is the fourth highest daily new  Covid-19 infection throughout the two-year Covid-19 pandemic. Today we are still in five-digit numbers with 21,072 cases.

We are in line to set a new peak of daily new Covid-19 cases  with the present peak at  24,599 cases on August 26, 2021.

Last year, US-based Cardiologist Afshine Emrani in a tweet claimed that  Omicron was nothing more than a seasonal cold virus.

He tweeted: “It is attenuated. Almost no hospitalisations. No critical patients. No oxygenation. No intubation. Everyone will be exposed and will get it. Mass herd immunity. Totally replaces Delta. Within 8-12 weeks, the world will be ‘vaccinated’. Why the panic? It could’ve been a lot worse. Show gratitude to nature for finally eliminating a manmade, lab-leaked nasty virus! We are blessed.”

Afshine went on to claim that the United States will report two million positive cases a day for weeks, after which the “numbers will drop dramatically”.

But Afshine has been proved wrong and no country has reported two million Omicron cases.  The most the United States has recorded is 903,620 cases on 13th January 2022, and which has come down to 59,579 cases yesterday. The United States reached its Delta peak on 308,320 cases on January 8, 2021 – with the Omicron daily  peak almost three times the Delta daily peak.

The Delta peak in United Kingdom was 71,285 new  daily cases on 8.1.2021 while the Omicron peak was 229,622 daily new cases on 4.1.2022 – an  Omicron daily peak  increase by 3.2 times.

As Germany seems to confirm that the Omicron daily peak is about three times that of the Delta daily peak, are we looking at a daily peak of about 75,000 for Malaysia?

I ask my public health expert adviser yesterday  what he thought of the latest Covid-19 situation, and these are his views:

“There is no doubt that the talk of the week must be the rising number of new daily cases in the country from about 5K to 7K then 9K then 17K then 19K till now 20K followed by 22K. What is the reason.

“Well firstly, MOH has decided to include all testing results reported, including self test kits.

“This may give rise to many false positives and also false negatives. Testing from a low of 90-100K in early January to now almost daily of 250K tests daily.

“Surely if you test more, you will find more cases. That also mean that previous low test left many cases undiscovered to fester and manifest now.

“Back in 2020 and 2021, they were doing focal testing, not nationwide testing although that would have been better.

“The second reason is the variant Omicron infecting many in the country now. This is supported by the fact that although new cases are in the 20K range, yet ICU is not stressed and death has remain low still.

“Although we have 22K new cases, almost all are in the ‘flu like’ illness category. Only 0.456% are in Cat 3 and above.

“So while Omicron is highly infectious, it causes asymptomatic and mild illness, usually not requiring hospital admissions and not requiring Oxygen and ventilator.

“Of course the exceptions are those who are vulnerable from other illnesses like those on cancer therapy or with cancers, the elderly with diabetes and heart failure and the like. Those vulnerable should be protected while the rest of society should be free without restrictions.

“The MOH keeps harping on vaccines and boosters although it is clear now, from the experience in Israel, Singapore and even local experience that people still get infected by Omicron even after a 3rd dose. Those vaccines and boosters are not helpful and in fact maybe harmful.

“MOH itself reports a booster adverse effect rate of 5.18%. Now that for us is alarming and merit a thorough investigation and temporary halt to those shots. Vaccines and boosters are mainly given to NORMAL HEALTHY people to prevent disease. How can we give them a risk of 5% of harm?”

(Media Statement (2)  by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, 13th February 2022)

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Police slap-in-the-face for Azam and  MACC  classifying “NFA” for the MACC  police report  on  whistleblower Lalitha Kunaratnam

The police decision  to classify the report lodged by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption

Commission (MACC) against whistleblower Lalitha Kunaratnam  as NFA (No further action) is an open slap-in-the face for the MACC Chief Commissioner Azam Baki and the MACC.

The police action has fortified the argument that Azam should go on leave until he could clear his name of the conflict-of-interest allegations made against him at the end of October last year.

The MACC Chief Commissioner Azam is setting a bad example  in the vindictive way he is retaliating against Lalitha for her public service in her two-part article –“Business Ties Among MACC Leadership: How Deep Does it Go?” – which was published by the Independent News Service (INS) in October last year.

As veteran journalist R Nadeswaran has pointed out, asking questions about publicly available information constitutes no offence.

Why is Azam suing Lalitha for defamation instead of setting a public example of protecting a whistleblower’s rights.

What is worse, Azam’s bad example is being followed by the Pahang State Government, which has threatened legal action against an environmental activist, Shariffa Sabrina Syed Akil, President of Pertubuhan Pelindung Khazanah Alam Malaysia (PEKA), for alleged defamation over comments made on the state’s involvement in logging activities unless she issued an apology and paid

RM1 million in compensation.

Will the Pahang state government practise  good governance by  engaging with the environmentalists and responding to the allegations about logging activities in Pahang  instead of threatening and instituting legal proceedings?

Azam is setting  a bad example of retaliating against whistle-blowers but he cannot use the court action to avoid being an example of integrity, probity and accountability in the public service, especially as he is the MACC Chief Commissioner and should be the prime example of integrity, probity and accountability.

This is why I have submitted a  questions for oral answer for the first week of the forthcoming Parliament when it reconvenes on February 28, 2022 – “To ask the Prime Minister why the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Chief Commissioner Azam Baki has not been asked to go leave until he has cleared the conflict-of-interest allegations made against him as far back as October 2021”.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, 13th February 2022)

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Azam has become his own worst enemy in believing that “by now, people realise the accusations against him are unfounded” and that he had become a victim of a campaign against him

(Versi BM)

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Chief Commissioner Azam Baki has become his own worst enemy in believing that “by now, people realise the accusations against him are unfounded” and that he had become a victim of a campaign against him.

This is clear in an exclusive interview he gave to Sunday Star yesterday.

Azam should know that if is true that “by now, people realise the accusations against him are unfounded”, why no one even in government has come to his defence publicly?

In fact, the whole problem would have been resolved already.

But the reverse is the case.

By now, more people are convinced that he had things to hide for his failure to be the prime example of integrity, probity and accountability in the public service and his inability to clear himself of the conflict-of-interest allegations made against him for over three months.

His quibbling over “subpoena” and “invitation” to explain his refusal to appear before a parliamentary select committee which would have provided him with a forum to clear himself of conflict-of-interest allegations had only compounded his problems.

Is Azam aware that he has created the worst crisis of confidence in the history of the country’s anti-corruption agency where Malaysians have lost all confidence in the MACC to fight corruption, which was supported by the Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2020 and 2021 where Malaysia dropped five points in score and 11 points in rank in two years – the worst two years in TI CPI in the last 27 years since 1995?

If the TI CPI 2022 continues to drop further in both score and rank, what will Azam do?

If Azam cherishes the reputation of the MACC Chief Commissioner and MACC for integrity, probity and accountability, he would not have blocked or stonewalled the opportunity to be the prime example of integrity, probity and accountability for over three months.

Is Azam capable to clearing himself of the conflict-of-interest allegations in the next fortnight before Parliament reconvenes on Feb. 28, so that the Prime Minister Ismail Sabri can proudly tell Parliament that the Chief Commissioner of MACC is a model example of integrity, probity and accountability in the public service in Malaysia?

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Monday 14th February 2022)

Azam telah menjadi musuh terburuknya sendiri dengan mempercayai “sekarang, orang telah menyedari yang tuduhan terhadapnya adalah tidak berasas” dan kononnya beliau menjadi mangsa kempen terhadapnya

Ketua Pesuruhjaya Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM, Azam Baki, telah menjadi musuh terburuknya sendiri dengan mempercayai “sekarang, orang telah menyedari yang tuduhan terhadapnya adalah tidak berasas” dan kononnya beliau menjadi mangsa kempen terhadapnya.

Perkara ini jelas sekali dapat dilihat daripada wawancara eksklusif yang diberikan beliau kepada akhbar Sunday Star semalam.

Azam perlu tahu yang sekiranya benar “kini, semua orang telah sedar yang pertuduhan terhadapnya adalah tidak berasas”, mengapa tidak ada seorang pun daripada kerajaan yang telah mempertahankannya secara terbuka?

Malah, sekiranya benar, masalah ini sudah pun selesai.

Tetapi perkara yang bertentangan yang berlaku.

Kini, semakin ramai yang percaya yang Azam mempunyai sesuatu yang hendak disembunyikan apabila beliau gagal untuk menjadi contoh utama integriti, ketelusan, dan akauntabiliti dalam perkhidmatan awam dan juga apabila beliau gagal untuk membersihkan namanya daripada pertuduhan konflik kepentingan yang dibuat terhadapnya lebih daripada tiga bulan yang lepas.

Dalih-dalihnya mengenai “sapina” dan “jemputan” untuk menjelaskan keengganan beliau untuk hadir di hadapan jawatankuasa pilihan khas parlimen yang sepatutnya boleh menjadi ruang untuk beliau bersihkan namanya hanya menambahkan lagi masalah beliau.

Adakah Azam sedar yang beliau telah mencipta krisis keyakinan terburuk dalam sejarah agensi anti-rasuah negara, di mana rakyat Malaysia telah kehilangan keyakinan dalam SPRM untuk melawan rasuah, di mana perkara ini dibuktikan oleh Indeks Persepsi Rasuah (CPI) Transparency International (TI) 2020 dan 2021 di mana Malaysia jatuh 11 anak tangga dan kehilangan lima mata dalam masa dua tahun – dua tahun terburuk dalam TI CPI untuk negara dalam 27 yang lepas sejak 1995.

Sekiranya kedudukan negara dalam TI CPI 2022 terus jatuh, apakah yang akan dilakukan Azam?

Sekiranya Azam menghargai reputasi integriti, ketelusan, dan akauntabiliti jawatan Ketua Pesuruhajaya SPRM dan juga SPRM, beliau tidak akan menghalang atau mengabaikan peluang untuk menjadi tauladan utama integriti, ketelusan, dan akauntabiliti dalam tiga bulan yang lepas.

Adakah Azam mampu untuk membersihkan namanya dalam masa dua minggu yang akan datang sebelum Parlimen bersidang semula pada 28 Februari supaya Perdana Menteri Ismail Sabri dapat menjawab dengan bangga di Parlimen yang Ketua Pesuruhjaya SPRM adalah seseorang yang boleh menjadi tauladan integriti, ketelusan, dan akauntabiliti dalam perkhidmatan awam di Malaysia?

(Kenyataan Media oleh Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Kuala Lumpur pada hari Isnin, 14 Februari 2022)

                This entry was posted on Monday, 14 February 2022, 7:35 am and is filed under
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Fifty deaths in three days  is exceedingly and unacceptably high – when is Khairy going to address the high Covid-19  mortality rate in Malaysia?

(Versi BM)

Malaysia has chalked up 50 Covid-19 deaths in the last three days – 11 deaths yesterday, 15 deaths on Saturday and 24 on Friday.

Fifty Covid-19 deaths in three days is exceedingly and unacceptably high – when is the Heath Minister, Khairy Jamaluddin going to address the high Covid-19 mortality rate in Malaysia?

The cumulative total of Covid-19 deaths in Malaysia is now 32,125 – as compared to Japan’s 20,202 deaths, Pakistan’s 29,772 deaths, Bangladesh’s 28,819 deaths, China’s 4,638 deaths, South Korea’s 7,081 deaths, Singapore’s 897 deaths and Taiwan’s 851 deaths.

Malaysia has the highest number of deaths per capita in the Asean and East Asian regions with 972 deaths per one million population, and fourth-worst in Asia after Iran, Lebanon and Jordan – all in the Middle East.

Johor has become the top state in Malaysia in the last fortnight with the most Covid-19 deaths – recording 27 deaths as compared to Perak’s 25 deaths and Sabah’s 24 deaths, the second and third states with the most number of deaths in the past fortnight.

Malaysia is facing an Omicron wave, as Saturday’s 22,802 new Covid-19 cases, bringing the cumulative infections of over three million mark, is the fourth highest daily new Covid-19 infection throughout the two-year Covid-19 pandemic. Yesterday, we were still in five-digit numbers with 21,072 cases.

We are in line to set a new peak of daily new Covid-19 cases with the present peak of 24,599 cases set on August 26, 2021.

Last year, US-based Cardiologist Afshine Emrani in a tweet claimed that Omicron was nothing more than a seasonal cold virus.

He tweeted: “It is attenuated. Almost no hospitalisations. No critical patients. No oxygenation. No intubation. Everyone will be exposed and will get it. Mass herd immunity. Totally replaces Delta. Within 8-12 weeks, the world will be ‘vaccinated’. Why the panic? It could’ve been a lot worse. Show gratitude to nature for finally eliminating a manmade, lab-leaked nasty virus! We are blessed.”

Afshine went on to claim that the United States will report two million positive cases a day for weeks, after which the “numbers will drop dramatically”.

But Afshine has been proved wrong and no country has reported two million Omicron cases. The most the United States has recorded is 903,620 cases on 13th January 2022, which has come down to 31,652 cases yesterday. The United States reached its Delta peak of 308,320 cases on January 8, 2021 – with the Omicron daily peak almost three times the Delta daily peak.

The Delta peak in United Kingdom was 71,285 new daily cases on 8.1.2021 while the Omicron peak was 229,622 daily new cases on 4.1.2022 – an Omicron daily peak increase by 3.2 times. Yesterday, United Kingdom recorded 41,270 daily new Covid-19 cases.

As Germany seems to confirm that the Omicron daily peak is about three times that of the Delta daily peak, are we looking at a daily peak of about 75,000 cases for Malaysia?

(Media Statement (2) by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Monday 14th February 2022)

Lima puluh kematian dalam tiga hari adalah sangat tinggi dan tidak boleh diterima – bilakah Khairy akan menangani kadar kematian Covid-19 yang tinggi di Malaysia?

Malaysia telah mencatatkan 50 kematian akibat Covid-19 dalam tiga hari yang lepas – 11 kematian semalam, 15 kematian pada hari Sabtu dan 24 kematian pada hari Jumaat.

Lima puluh kematian Covid-19 dalam tiga hari adalah sangat tinggi dan tidak boleh diterima – bilakah Menteri Kesihatan, Khairy Jamaluddin akan menangani kadar kematian Covid-19 yang tinggi di Malaysia?

Jumlah kumulatif kematian Covid-19 di Malaysia kini ialah 32,125 – berbanding Jepun yang mencatatkan 20,202 kematian, Pakistan dengan 29,772 kematian, Bangladesh 28,819 kematian, China 4,638 kematian, Korea Selatan 7,081 kematian, Singapura 897 kematian, dan Taiwan dengan 851 kematian.

Malaysia mempunyai jumlah kematian per kapita tertinggi di rantau Asean dan Asia Timur dengan 972 kematian bagi setiap satu juta penduduk, dan keempat terburuk di Asia selepas Iran, Lubnan dan Jordan – semuanya di Timur Tengah.

Johor telah menjadi negeri teratas di Malaysia dalam dua minggu terakhir dengan jumlah tertinggi kematian akibat Covid-19 – mencatatkan 27 kematian berbanding Perak 25 dengan kematian dan Sabah 24 dengan kematian, negeri kedua dan ketiga dengan jumlah kematian terbanyak dalam dua minggu lalu.

Malaysia sedang menghadapi gelombang Omicron, dengan 22,802 kes pada hari Sabtu lepas – yang membawa jumlah kes jangkitan terkumpul dalam negara melepasi paras tiga juta kes – merupakan angka keempat tertinggi dalam dua tahun negara kita berhadapan dengan pandemik ini. Semalam, kita masih berada dalam julat lima angka dengan 21,072 kes.

Kita kini dijangkakan akan mencatatkan kemuncak baharu kes harian, mengatasi kemuncak 24,599 kes yang dicatatkan pada 26 Ogos 2021 sebelum ini.

Tahun lepas, Pakar Kardiologi yang berpangkalan di AS, Afshine Emrani dalam tweet mendakwa bahawa Omicron ini tidak lebih daripada virus selsema bermusim.

Beliau menulis: “Ia dilemahkan. Hampir tiada kemasukan ke hospital. Tiada pesakit kritikal. Tiada pengoksigenan. Tiada intubasi. Semua orang akan terdedah dan akan mendapatnya. Imuniti kumpulan besar-besaran. Menggantikan Delta sepenuhnya. Dalam masa 8-12 minggu, dunia akan ‘divaksin’. Kenapa panik? Ia boleh menjadi lebih teruk. Tunjukkan rasa terima kasih kepada alam semula jadi kerana akhirnya menghapuskan virus jahat buatan manusia yang dibocorkan dari makmal! Kita diberkati.”

Afshine terus mendakwa bahawa Amerika Syarikat akan melaporkan dua juta kes positif sehari selama beberapa minggu, selepas itu “angka akan menurun secara mendadak”.

Tetapi Afshine telah terbukti salah dan tidak ada negara yang melaporkan dua juta kes Omicron. Amerika Syarikat mencatatkan paling banyak kes setakat 903,620 kes pada 13 Januari 2022, yang telah turun kepada 31,652 kes semalam. Amerika Syarikat mencapai kemuncak penularan Delta dengan 308,320 kes pada 8 Januari 2021 – dengan kemuncak penularan Omicron hampir tiga kali ganda kemuncak kes harian Delta.

Kemuncak penularan Delta di United Kingdom ialah 71,285 kes harian baharu pada 8.1.2021 manakala puncak Omicron ialah 229,622 kes baharu harian pada 4.1.2022 – peningkatan puncak harian Omicron sebanyak 3.2 kali ganda. Semalam, United Kingdom merekodkan 41,270 kes baharu Covid-19 setiap hari.

Memandangkan Jerman nampaknya mengesahkan bahawa kemuncak kes harian Omicron adalah kira-kira tiga kali ganda daripada puncak harian Delta, adakah kita melihat kemuncak harian dengan 75,000 kes untuk Malaysia?

(Kenyataan media (2) Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Kuala Lumpur pada hari Isnin, 14 Februari 2022)

                This entry was posted on Monday, 14 February 2022, 11:18 am and is filed under
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How can Azam continue as MACC Chief Commissioner when he does not understand the meaning of integrity?

(Versi BM)

I have said that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Chief Commissioner Azam Baki has become his own worst enemy in believing that “by now, people realise the accusations against him are unfounded” and that he had become a victim of a campaign against him.

How can Azam continue as MACC Chief Commissioner when he does not fully understand the meaning of integrity that has prevented him from being a prime example of integrity, probity and accountability in the public service?

His quibbling over “subpoena” and “invitation” to explain his refusal to appear before a parliamentary select committee which would have provided him with a forum to clear himself of conflict-of-interest allegations had been debunked by the DAP MP for Kota Melaka, Khoo Poay Tiong who pointed out that Azam had turned up for a Public Accounts Committee hearing in October 2020 with a mere invitation.

Azam could help to minimise the damage to his integrity by declaring that he is willing to appear before a Parliamentary Select Committee to clear himself of the conflict-of-interest allegations made against him three months ago.

Azam should disabuse himself of the conclusion that “by now, people realise the accusations against him are unfounded”, as exemplified by the Open Letter to him by veteran journalist R. Nadeswaran.

Malaysians want the MACC to do a better job in fighting corruption.

In fact, they want Malaysia to be one of top 30 countries in the world with least corruption, as was the objective of the National Integrity Plan launched by the fifth Prime Minister, Abdullah Badawi to improve Malaysia’s ranking in the Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) from 37th place in 2003 to at least 30th position in 2008 and to score of 5.2 for Malaysia in 2003 to at least 6.5 by 2008.

But in the TI CPI 2021 Malaysia has fallen to 62nd position in rank and 48 in score!

Just as Azmi does not understand the meaning of integrity, he does not seem to understand Malaysia’s infamy over the TI CPI 2021. `

As Nadeswarn said in his Open Letter: “It is hoped that when you appear before the PSC panel, you will put all your cards on the table and get your points across so that the PSC can get to the bottom of this quagmire which was created by your own doing.”

Can Azmi clear himself of the conflict-of-interest allegations before Parliament reconvene on February 28, 2022?

Otherwise, Malaysians will have to contend with the question: How can Azam continue as MACC Chief Commissioner when he does not understand the meaning of integrity?

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday 15th February 2022)

Bagaimana Azam hendak terus memegang jawatan Ketua Pesuruhjaya SPRM apabila beliau tidak memahami makna integriti?

Saya telah mengatakan yang Ketua Pesuruhjaya Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM, Azam Baki, telah menjadi musuh terburuknya sendiri dengan mempercayai “sekarang, orang telah menyedari yang tuduhan terhadapnya adalah tidak berasas” dan kononnya beliau menjadi mangsa kempen terhadapnya.

Bagaimana Azam hendak terus memegang jawatan Ketua Pesuruhjaya SPRM apabila beliau tidak betul-betul memahami makna integriti yang telah menghalangnya daripda menjadi contoh terbaik integriti, ketelusan, dan akauntabiliti dalam perkhidmatan awam?

Dalih-dalihnya mengenai “sapina” dan “jemputan” untuk menjelaskan keengganan beliau untuk hadir di hadapan jawatankuasa pilihan khas parlimen yang sepatutnya boleh menjadi ruang untuk beliau bersihkan namanya telah disangkal oleh ahli parlimen DAP Kota Melaka, Khoo Poay Tiong yang menegaskan bahawa Azam pernah hadir di hadapan Jawatankuasa Kira-kira Wang Negara pada Oktober 2020 dengan hanya jemputan.

Azam boleh membantu meminimakan kerosakan terhadap integritinya dengan mengisytiharkan bahawa beliau bersedia untuk hadir di hadapan Jawatankuasa Pilihan Parlimen untuk membersihkan namanya daripada dakwaan konflik kepentingan yang timbul terhadapnya sejak tiga bulan yang lepas.

Azam tidak boleh terus percaya dengan kesimpulan kononnya “setakat ini, orang ramai menyedari tuduhan terhadapnya adalah tidak berasas”, seperti yang dikatakan dalam Surat Terbuka kepadanya oleh wartawan veteran R. Nadeswaran.

Rakyat Malaysia mahu SPRM melakukan kerja yang lebih baik dalam memerangi rasuah.

Malah, mereka mahu Malaysia menjadi antara 30 negara teratas di dunia yang paling bebas rasuah, sebagaimana objektif Pelan Integriti Nasional yang dilancarkan oleh Perdana Menteri kelima, Abdullah Badawi untuk meningkatkan kedudukan Malaysia dalam Indeks Persepsi Rasuah (CPI) Transparency International (TI) daripada tempat ke-37 pada tahun 2003 kepada sekurang-kurangnya kedudukan ke-30 pada tahun 2008 dan skor 5.2 untuk Malaysia pada tahun 2003 kepada sekurang-kurangnya 6.5 pada tahun 2008.

Tetapi dalam TI CPI 2021 Malaysia telah jatuh ke kedudukan ke-62 dengan hanya 48 markah!

Seperti mana Azam tidak memahami makna integriti, beliau juga kelihatan seperti tidak memahami kedudukan buruk negara dalam TI CPI 2021.

Seperti yang dikatakan oleh Nadeswarn dalam Surat Terbukanya: “Adalah diharapkan apabila anda hadir di hadapan panel PSC, anda akan mendedahkan semua maklumat dan menyampaikannya dengan baik supaya PSC dapat menyiasat sepenuhnya isu yang disebabkan oleh anda sendiri.”

Bolehkah Azam membersihkan dirinya daripada dakwaan konflik kepentingan sebelum Parlimen bersidang semula pada 28 Februari 2022?

Jika tidak, rakyat Malaysia perlu berdepan dengan persoalan: Bagaimana Azam boleh terus memegang jawatan sebagai Ketua Pesuruhjaya SPRM sedangkan beliau tidak memahami erti integriti?

(Kenyataan Media oleh Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Kuala Lumpur pada hari Selasa 15 Februari 2022)

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 15 February 2022, 9:20 am and is filed under
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With 32 deaths, Johor has the  most Covid-19 deaths in February  followed by Sabah 29 and Perak 26 – what is Khairy doing to reduce the high Covid-19 mortality rate in Malaysia?

(Versi BM)

With 32 Covid-19 deaths this month, Johor has the most Covid-19 deaths in February followed by Sabah 29 and Perak 26.

The question that must be asked is: what is the Health Minister, Khairy Jamaluddin doing to reduce the high Covid-19 mortality rate in Malaysia?

Yesterday, there were 24 deaths, followed the previous three days of 11, 15 and 24 deaths – making a total of 74 deaths in four days.

What must be a matter of concern is the high percentage of the Covid-19 deaths who were brought in dead to the hospitals, constituting some 34% in February.

How does Malaysia compare with other countries with regard to Brought-in-Dead (BID) cases?

Hong Kong, which recorded 2,071 new Covid-19 cases yesterday, is facing an Omicron storm. Hong Kong’s leader Carrie Lam said on Monday that the “onslaught” of coronavirus infections in the global financial hub has dealt a heavy blow and overwhelmed its capacity to deal with the epidemic as daily cases surge to record highs.

Daily infections have multiplied 20 times over the past two weeks, from about 100 cases at the start of February, with authorities scrambling to control the deepening outbreak.

We must learn from Hong Kong’s lesson to ensure that in the Omicron wave, the health care system is not overwhelmed as well as to reduce the high Covid-19 mortality rate in the country.

The peaking of the Omicron wave in other countries should be followed closely, with the Philippines recording 2,730 new cases yesterday after peaking at 37,207 on January 15; the Unites States recording 77,402 cases yesterday after peaking at 903,620 cases on 13th January 2022; UK which recorded 41,648 cases yesterday after peaking at 229,622 cases on 4.1.2022 and India which recorded 25,260 cases yesterday after peaking at 347,254 cases on January 20, 2022.

There is one good news from India, whose Delta peak on May 6, 2021 with 414433 daily cases is higher than the Omicron peak of 347,254 cases on January 20, 2022. The Omicron peak in the Philippines is about one-and-a-half times its Delta peak. In Indonesia, the Omicron peak has yet to reach to Delta peak of 56,757 cases on July 15, 2021.

Can Malaysia avoid the example of United States, United Kingdom and Germany whose Omicron peak is about three times the Delta peak?

(Media Statement (2) by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, 15th February 2022)

Dengan 32 kematian, Johor mencatatkan paling banyak kematian Covid-19 pada bulan Februari diikuti Sabah dan Perak dengan 29 dan 26 kematian – apakah yang Khairy sedang lakukan untuk mengurangkan kadar kematian Covid-19 yang tinggi di Malaysia?

Dengan 32 kematian Covid-19 bulan ini, Johor mencatatkan kematian Covid-19 terbanyak pada Februari diikuti Sabah dan Perak dengan 29 dan 26 kematian.

Persoalan yang mesti ditanya ialah: apakah yang dilakukan oleh Menteri Kesihatan, Khairy Jamaluddin untuk mengurangkan kadar kematian Covid-19 yang tinggi di Malaysia?

Semalam, terdapat 24 kematian, tiga hari sebelumnya terdapat 11, 15 dan 24 kematian – menjadikan jumlah keseluruhan 74 kematian dalam empat hari.

Perkara yang membimbangkan adalah peratusan tinggi kematian akibat Covid-19 yang dibawa ke hospital – brought in dead (BID) – iaitu kira-kira 34% pada Februari.

Bagaimanakah kedudukan Malaysia berbanding dengan negara-negara lain untuk (BID)?

Hong Kong, yang merekodkan 2,071 kes baharu Covid-19 semalam, berhadapan dengan ribut Omicron. Pemimpin Hong Kong Carrie Lam berkata pada hari Isnin bahawa “serangan” jangkitan koronavirus di hab kewangan global itu telah memberi tamparan hebat dan mengatasi kapasitinya untuk menangani wabak itu apabila kes harian melonjak ke paras tertinggi.

Jangkitan harian telah meningkat 20 kali ganda dalam tempoh dua minggu yang lepas, daripada kira-kira 100 kes pada awal Februari, dengan pihak berkuasa gergelut untuk mengawal wabak yang semakin memburuk.

Kita mesti belajar daripada pengajaran Hong Kong untuk memastikan bahawa dengan gelombang Omicron, sistem penjagaan kesihatan tidak tertekan serta mengurangkan kadar kematian Covid-19 yang tinggi di negara ini.

Kemuncak gelombang Omicron di negara lain harus diikuti dengan teliti, dengan Filipina merekodkan 2,730 kes baharu semalam selepas memuncak pada 37,207 pada 15 Januari; Amerika Syarikat merekodkan 77,402 kes semalam selepas memuncak kepada 903,620 kes pada 13 Januari 2022; UK yang merekodkan 41,648 kes semalam selepas memuncak pada 229,622 kes pada 4.1.2022 dan India mencatatkan 25,260 kes semalam selepas memuncak pada 347,254 kes pada 20 Januari 2022.

Terdapat satu berita baik dari India, di mana kemuncak penularan Delta pada 6 Mei 2021 dengan 414433 kes harian adalah lebih tinggi daripada kemuncak penularan Omicron dengan 347,254 kes pada 20 Januari 2022. Puncak Omicron di Filipina adalah kira-kira satu setengah kali ganda puncak Deltanya. Di Indonesia, puncak Omicron masih belum mencapai puncak Delta sebanyak 56,757 kes pada 15 Julai 2021.

Bolehkah Malaysia mengelak daripada menjadi Amerika Syarikat, United Kingdom dan Jerman yang mencatatkan kemuncak penularan Omicronnya kira-kira tiga kali ganda puncak Delta?

(Kenyataan media (2) Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Kuala Lumpur pada hari Selasa, 15 Februari 2022)

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 15 February 2022, 11:23 am and is filed under
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