AUGUST 16 — July 28th wasn’t just historic in terms of Najib Razak being found guilty for criminal charges related to the largest financial scandal the world has ever seen. He was also the first ever Malaysian ex-Prime Minister to be charged in court and convicted, news that rocked headlines globally.

However, July 28th was also remarkable for being the same day that one thousand of Najib’s supporters converged upon the Kuala Lumpur High Court, completely disregarding all physical distancing requirements. At the same time, many of them also failed to wear masks or did not wear them properly.

While most other Malaysians had been thoughtfully abiding by Covid-19 SOPs out of basic consideration for the health and safety of others, this large group of protesters flouted them despite repeated warnings by the police.

How it must have broken the hearts of Dr Hisham and all our exhausted frontliners who have been working day and night just to prevent a second wave.

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When news of the protest got out, Malaysians were afraid that such a massive gathering would explode into another super-cluster, the way the Tabligh cluster did and sent Covid-19 figures in the country soaring high. Up until now, the Tabligh cluster remains the largest cluster in the whole country.

What’s striking is the fact that this mass protest must have been organized and coordinated well ahead of time. Across different news portals, it was reported that these clamouring crowds were brought in by twenty buses from across Peninsular Malaysia.

Has anyone stopped to wonder – who organized it, despite fully knowing the public health dangers it posed to our country? When was it planned? Who gave funds to make this protest possible? Where did the funds come from?

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Ever since Malaysia went into lockdown and even after it slowly opened up in stages, there hasn’t been any gathering this large in size and certainly not with zero physical distancing.

Yet, despite this blatant mass defiance of SOPs, was any stern and immediate action taken against them? Did we read reports of police rounding up protesters and arresting them for wilfully and deliberately breaking SOPs? Was anyone fined and charged?

So far, the only action that has been taken is the mere recording of statements from nine protesters and the very quiet submission of investigation papers to the higher ups. Whether this would actually result in any firm action remains to be seen.

Such a muted response truly pales in comparison to how swiftly many were fined and charged for breaking the rules during the MCO period.

Just imagine, if this was a Bersih rally or a gathering protesting trumped up charges against Lim Guan Eng and Betty Chew, would the response by the backdoor government have been so mild? I believe we all know the answer.

*This is the personal opinion of the writer and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail