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PETALING JAYA: Youth-led movements like #Lawan, Hartal Doktor Kontrak and Bendera Hitam are getting support from their older brethren, with veteran activists from the Reformasi era encouraging them to stick to their guns and prepare for resistance from the authorities.

In the last few days, youth leaders have been called up by police for their roles in Sunday’s #Lawan demonstration, held to protest the government’s failure in managing the health and economic crises.

A few weeks earlier, junior doctors staged a walkout and were threatened with disciplinary action over the protest, which came after their demands for better career prospects and perks were not addressed.

Zahir Hassan, who began his life as an activist after then-deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim was sacked in 1998, warned that maintaining the stamina to continue the fight for change could be difficult, adding that he had seen many lose their mettle.

“You must have strong principles and hold onto your ideals,” he said. “Without these, you lose your energy and drive. I’ve seen people get distracted and fall short.”

Zahir is now PKR Federal Territories chief.

The advent of social media has made large-scale resistance much easier to coordinate, he said, reflecting on how ceramahs from his time would be lucky to attract 10,000 attendees.

“Now, if you’re somebody of influence and you have 100,000 followers online, that’s a huge audience you can broadcast your message to.”

Abdul Razak Ismail, the secretary of Otai Reformis, said the various protests had been good early moves to “shake the government”, but he added that youths needed to mobilise in greater numbers to become impossible to ignore. This could come through engagement with the youth wings of political parties, he said.

“Unless and until they are able to attract support numbering in the millions, I have my doubts about how much change they can make to the current political landscape.”

Razak, having witnessed the intimidation tactics once used against political dissidents, said the investigation papers opened against those involved in the #Lawan rally are “very mild” compared to the detention and physical violence faced by activists of his generation.

He said there was much to be learned from veterans and that engaging with people from his era could be a valuable experience for youth activists.

On the consequences faced by protestors today, Zahir said these were “part and parcel of the struggle,” adding that while there had never been a political uprising anywhere in the world that had come easy, the pain would ultimately pay off.

“There are always those who face consequences from those in power, but movements need people who are willing to take risks and face the trouble,” he said.

“There is no struggle without sacrifice. In the late 90’s and early 2000’s, those fronting demonstrations would sometimes get arrested or detained under the Internal Security Act.

“When people see that protesters are willing to face that, it shows how serious they are and it brings more people into the movement.”

PETALING JAYA: After Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin declared that he was confident he still enjoyed a parliamentary majority amid calls for him to resign, netizens were quick to respond by sharing katak (frog) barbs on social media.

With a number of Umno MPs formally pulling their support for the prime minister and the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government, many have doubted whether Muhyiddin’s previously thin majority is still intact, suggesting that the only way this could be possible is if “frogs” hop parties.

Parliamentarians, in particular, were quick to call Muhyiddin to reveal his supporters immediately rather than wait until September’s Dewan Rakyat sitting for a vote.

On Twitter, PKR’s Setiawangsa MP Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad suggested the September date was to give Muhyiddin more time to gather support.

“Buying time. Buying frogs,” he posted yesterday.
Parliamentarians, in particular, were quick to call Muhyiddin to reveal his supporters immediately rather than wait until September’s Dewan Rakyat sitting for a vote.

On Twitter, PKR’s Setiawangsa MP Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad suggested the September date was to give Muhyiddin more time to gather support.

“Buying time. Buying frogs,” he posted yesterday.

Teluk Intan MP Nga Kor Ming made a similar assertion, asking sarcastically whether the September date had been set so that there was time for “crocodiles to buy frogs”.

While some users simply posted pictures of frogs with captions alluding to their political relevance, others got more creative.

User @aaron16denison compared the political situation to football’s off-season spending sprees.

“JUST IN: The August transfer window has officially opened in Malaysia,” he tweeted.

PETALING JAYA: The economy will suffer from any delay in a vote of confidence in Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, according to two economists.

Center for Market Education CEO Carmelo Ferlito and Mohamed Aslam Haneef of International Islamic University Malaysia told FMT they believed businesses were disappointed that the vote would be delayed to next month, as announced by Muhyiddin yesterday.

Ferlito said market observers were expecting a sign of clarity and direction during the prime minister’s address to the nation but were let down.

He noted that consumer and business confidence indexes were both in sharp decline and said an uncertain business environment was a bane to investors.

“Investors do not know what to expect in the future,” he said. “This adds to the fact that consumers are not allowed to consume, or they can’t because of the deteriorated purchasing power.

“Though many industries can operate, the products they produce need to find the market. Otherwise, stocks will just pile up in the warehouses or be sold abroad.

“The marketplace is now locked down and we have no idea how much longer this will be.”

Ferlito said it would be better if the question of whether the current government was still intact was sorted out this month as businesses needed to clearly see the government’s strategies for exiting the pandemic and reviving the economy.

“Without a clear strategy to address these, things for the business people and for the man on the street can only get worse.”

Aslam said this month could see an increase in politicking and this would add to the uncertainties that businesses and investors disliked.

He said businesses were less concerned with who was in power than with the kind of policies whoever was in power would adopt to lead the country out of the health and economic crises.

“It’s about what the government is doing, how effective its policies are and whether it is willing to make bold, substantive reforms to the current system,” he said.

He said the current government had failed to improve the Covid-19 and economic situations even under a state of emergency.

“There must be no more tweaking or fiddling with the old model,” he said. “Whoever is in Putrajaya must be willing to embrace lessons from a social market economy, a model that stresses markets with social balancing.”

Yesterday, Muhyiddin announced that he was not quitting as prime minister despite pressure by Umno and opposition parties for him to do so. He claimed that he still had the majority support of MPs.

He said his government would table a motion of confidence in the Dewan Rakyat in September to test his majority, drawing brickbats from opposition MPs, who challenged him to do so this month instead.

PETALING JAYA: The post of health director-general requires that the holder be guided by science in the performance of his duties, according to one who has served in the position before.

The comment from Dr Abu Bakar Suleiman comes at a time when current director-general, Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, faces questions about his impartiality.

Noor Hisham announced last Sunday that Parliament, which was to reconvene on Monday after last Thursday’s proceedings were called off, would be suspended due to the detection of a few Covid-19 cases in the building. This called into question his independence and neutrality.

Abu Bakar, who held the post from 1991 to 2001, said many questions had been raised by the suspension of Parliament, adding that the rationale behind it was not clear to him.

Speaking to FMT, he asked whether Noor Hisham was following the same standard imposed on all gatherings in a closed environment or applying a higher standard on Parliament. -

He remarked that some people might see high stakes in a parliament session since it would be a gathering of political leaders.

“I imagine the DG to be in a tough situation, but all the more reason to be professional and to be guided by science,” he said.

He said it was crucial for any director-general to work in the interest of the public and that this must be apparent to the people so that trust would be maintained.

The director-general, he added, must ensure that all his decisions were made with professionalism rather than political considerations.

“Of course, in doing so the political bosses may well disagree and overrule the views of the DG, which is their right. However, the DG should provide the appropriate professional advice, which is his duty.”

Azrul Mohd Khalib, head of the Galen Centre for Health and Social Policy, agreed that public perception of the director-general’s role was important.

He said people in positions like Noor Hisham’s would have failed in their roles if they were unable to command the trust of the public.

“They have failed because they will be seen by the public as being unable to speak truth to power and willing to compromise and change their professional advice based on the need to keep their jobs,” he said. “Once that trust is broken, it is hard to regain it.

“And a successful response during a public health emergency requires that the people have trust and confidence in health authorities.”

KOTA KINABALU: More than 10% of the 1,010 Covid-19 cases detected in Sabah in the last 24 hours were people who had been fully vaccinated, Sabah local government and housing minister Masidi Manjun revealed in his daily Covid-19 briefing today.

He said that 130 cases were those who had been fully vaccinated while another 125 had already received their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

“In comparison, the number of fully vaccinated patients who tested positive in the previous two days was 87 on Aug 1 and 92 yesterday,” he added.

Yesterday, Masidi said the rising number of those who were fully vaccinated catching the virus showed that people were getting complacent and that there was not enough adherence to the SOPs.

Masidi, who is Sabah’s official Covid-19 spokesman, said the remaining patients comprised 473 people who have yet to be vaccinated and 282 who were below the age of 18, thus not eligible to receive the vaccine.

“Of the 282, 12 were babies aged below 12 months while 84 were children aged between one and five. Another 186 were children aged six to 17.”

Meanwhile, he said that 163 localities in Sabah were under the enhanced movement control order (EMCO) at present, with the state capital registering the most at 35.

PETALING JAYA: Despite remaining closed since the third movement control order came into effect on June 1, Kumaran Gunasegaran has been paying his workers the minimum wage and the rent for his barber shops.

The owner of several outlets in Kuala Lumpur made it a point to look after the welfare of his workers, all of whom were foreigners, ensuring that they had food on the table to pull through this difficult period.

But Kumaran told FMT he had been forced to dip into his personal savings simply to sustain in the past two months. And the past year has been anything but easy.

From operating five outlets previously, he now only owns three barber shops after losing two since the turn of the year. The foreign workers at these outlets, meanwhile, were sent back home.

“It’s not just me, every other barber is also facing this problem. My friends and cousins who are barbers are also experiencing the same problem.

“If this continues for another month, I think I might close down all my outlets,” he said, despondently.

He said he had no other source of income or avenue to make some money in the past two months, adding that he had only known how to run a barbering business all his life.

With monthly rent in the city centre an expensive affair, he was thankful that some landlords gave him some breathing space in allowing him to pay a little later.

But this was insufficient. He hoped that Putrajaya would allow the hairdressing sector to reopen sooner rather than later, pointing out that most of his employees had already been vaccinated.

Kumaran’s plight is just one of many other barbers in states that remained under Phase 1 of the national recovery plan, with Covid-19 cases remaining high in the Klang Valley, Kedah, Negeri Sembilan and Johor, among others.

Meanwhile, barbers in states like Penang, Sabah, Perak, Kelantan and Terengganu are allowed to operate, despite the surge in infections there.

Akilan Ananda Krishnan of the KL-Selangor Barber Association said about 90% of young local barbers have quit the business as a whole over the past 18 months, citing the lack of job and income safety as a major factor.

And the association’s deputy president empathised with them, pointing out that in the past 18 months, barbers have been forced to shutter for a total of six months.

“That’s a third of the past 18 months,” he told FMT, adding that most newcomers have left the industry due to the lack of resources to cope.

“To be frank, I’m still surviving because I’ve been in the business for over 30 years. I have enough savings. If a newcomer just started their barbering business five years ago, by now they should be closing shop.”

Akilan has also been paying his workers, both foreign and local, the minimum wage, saying he knew it was important to take care of their needs.

He said the government should have taken a different approach with the industry, suggesting that specific outlets only be closed for sanitisation and screenings should Covid-19 cases be detected there.

“That’s better than telling the whole trade to shut. That’s painful,” he said, adding that barbers had spent money to prepare for Covid-19 era haircuts by purchasing rubber gloves, disposable cutting clips and sanitising products, among others.

KUALA LUMPUR: Lawyer Mohd Khairul Azam Abdul Aziz pleaded not guilty in the sessions court here today over a Facebook post that allegedly insulted the judiciary and the police.

He was slapped with one charge under Section 233(1)(a) of the Communications and Multimedia Act, with the prosecution contending that he uploaded the post on March 24 with the intention to annoy others.

The post was subsequently read by officers from Bukit Aman’s commercial crime investigation department.

If found guilty, Khairul will face a maximum RM50,000 fine or a jail term of less than one year, or both.

Judge Edwin Paramjothy Michael Muniandy granted Khairulk bail of RM2,000 in one surety.

The court set Sept 6 for next mention.

Previously, Khairul had been accused of racial incitement over a Facebook video last year, where he alleged that there was no mention of Chinese or Indians under the Federal Constitution.

The court acquitted him after the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) withdrew the charge against him.

In the same court today, a Facebook user, Rosmawati Mohd Zain, admitted to a charge of insulting the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on May 25.

Rosmawati was fined RM9,000 or six months’ jail in default.

PETALING JAYA: The deputy prime minister does not automatically take over if a prime minister steps down, according to an academic, as politicians and others continue to call for Muhyiddin Yassin’s resignation.

Syed Arabi Idid, a professor of political communications, said that the whole Cabinet would have to quit if Muhyiddin resigns from his post as prime minister.

“The post cannot automatically go to anyone else, even to his deputy,” he said.

He suggested that the “Perak model” of changing the head of government be used, referring to the change of menteri besar in Perak in December, when Ahmad Faizal Azumu of Bersatu was ousted through a confidence vote in the state assembly. There were only 10 votes in his favour and 48 against, with one abstention.

Perak Umno chief Saarani Mohamad, who is assemblyman for Kota Tampan, was appointed as menteri besar by Sultan Nazrin Shah after assembly members from PAS and Bersatu pledged their support through the presentation of sworn statements to the sultan.

Syed Arabi said the Perak model could also work at the federal level, but without the use of statutory declarations. He suggested that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong ask leaders of political parties to state their preferred choice of candidate to be prime minister.

“It should not involve individual statutory declarations as MPs are known to jump ship, complicating matters. But the King could call all political leaders from the Peninsula, Sabah and Sarawak. Let them state their preferred choice and based on the majority, a new prime minister can be appointed,” he told FMT.

Constitutional expert Bastian Pius Vendargon said the Federal Constitution states that when the prime minister resigns the entire Cabinet resigns with him.

However, the prime minister would be acting unconstitutionally if he refused to resign after losing a confidence vote in the Dewan Rakyat.

If that happened, the King could demand that Muhyiddin resign or remove him, Vendargon said.”The King can appoint someone who in his judgment commands the majority in Dewan Rakyat,” he said.

KUALA LUMPUR: A day after opposition MPs attempted to march to Parliament to protest against its closure, 12 senators have gathered on a bridge near the building, asking for the Dewan Negara to reconvene.

The special Dewan Negara sitting, originally scheduled for Aug 3 to 5, has been put off, following the postponement of the final day sitting for the Dewan Rakyat scheduled for yesterday.

One of the senators, Yusmadi Yusof, said Parliament was safe as all the SOPs were in place and the majority of the staff and MPs and senators had been fully vaccinated.

“In our opinion, we have followed all the rules. Last Friday, we all had Covid-19 swab tests.

“Parliament is safe to be used as a meeting place because 99% (of parliament staff) have been vaccinated.”

The senators also submitted a letter to a representative of Dewan Negara president Rais Yatim, expressing their concern over the closure.

The letter stressed the importance of reopening the Dewan Negara for the sake of representing all people, as there are senators appointed specifically to represent minority groups such as the Orang Asli and people with disabilities.

To deny its sitting, they said, would mean denying the rights of these groups.

They also echoed calls made by their lower House counterparts for the emergency ordinances to be tabled and debated.

“It is appropriate for the Dewan Negara to correct the error that occurred in the Dewan Rakyat when the proclamation and the ordinances were revoked by the Cabinet without going through both Houses,” the letter, signed by 16 senators, stated.

Yesterday, opposition MPs attempted to march to Parliament from Dataran Merdeka to protest against the two-week suspension of the Dewan Rakyat, but were eventually stopped by police and members of the Federal Reserve Unit.

KUALA LUMPUR: Opposition MPs who gathered at Dataran Merdeka have begun their march to Parliament to protest against Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and his Cabinet, calling for their resignation.

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, Amanah president Mat Sabu and many others were some of the marchers.

Cries of “reformasi” rang out from the group as they began their walk. There was a sizeable police presence to manage the crowd.

Chants of “Hidup Rakyat”, and “Daulat Tuanku” rang from the crowd of MPs, who on a number of occasions had to speak to the police to allow the march to proceed.

However, Federal Reserve Unit officers with riot shields blocked the entrance to Jalan Parlimen from Dataran Merdeka.

Earlier, Lim told the MPs and supporters at Dataran Merdeka that while the people were no longer under an emergency, they wanted to also be “free of an economic downturn and a failed government”.

“We also want to be free of a prime minister who has gone against the Federal Constitution and the constitutional monarchy system,” he said.

Lim said MPs wanted to attend Parliament to discuss the issues affecting the people and not to table a motion of no confidence.

He said while there were those who were afraid to attend the sitting because of Covid-19, MPs were more afraid for the future of the coming generation and those who lost their income due to the pandemic.

“This is why Muhyiddin should resign.”

Former youth and sports minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman called the current administration a “morally bankrupt government”.

The government, he said, told youths not to take to the streets to protest and advised them to use the proper channels.

“Yet, the government decides to close Parliament where MPs can voice the people’s concerns.

“If this isn’t being cowardly, I don’t know what is,” he said, adding that the excuse cited to postpone the sitting – a Covid-19 outbreak – did not make sense as the positive cases were less than 1%.