KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 14 — Seputeh MP Teresa Kok has been criticised by Facebook users after a post yesterday where she seemingly called undertaking a Covid-19 test a waste of her time.
Online users were mostly angered by her perceived criticism towards health authorities whom they said were merely following the standard operating procedures set by the Ministry of Health, and many urged her to own up to her own mistake.
“Your assistant made the mistake. The authorities did exactly as they should. They should be praised and commended,” user Wong Ang Lai said in one of the top comments with around 1,000 likes.
“Swab test is to protect you and all the people in Sabah, it’s not time wasting but is to ensure that no one will get hurt in this period,” said another top comment by user Edward Kong with 453 likes.
Another post by user Kok Kiang Long pointed out that Kok should have checked her form carefully before submitting it, if she thought the test was a “waste of time”.
“You should be grateful that the officers are doing their job to help to stop the spreading of the Covid-19,” she added.
In her post yesterday, Kok said that she was told to undergo the test as soon as she arrived in Sandakan, as she had ticked “yes” when asked if she has displayed Covid-19 symptoms.
Kok then explained that it was her assistant that had filled up her form in the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
She said she was taken to Sandakan Hospital where she spent 45 minutes undergoing the test which turned out negative, before pointing out that her whole ordeal was “a waste of time”.
The post has garnered nearly 6,000 reactions and almost 5,000 comments at the time of writing.
The furore came as Kok herself had last month revealed that Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Khairuddin Aman Razali had visited Turkey in an unofficial visit until July 7, but did not undergo the 14-day quarantine rule after returning to the country.
Khairuddin has since been investigated by the police over the offence, with the investigation paper now with the Attorney-General’s Chambers.
