MAY 24 — My vaccine appointment was at 11am this morning. When I came home at 12, my wife asked if it was painful. I told her it was, extremely.
I queued for two hours with hundreds of others in the blistering sun and an impending rainstorm along the busy main road outside the gate of the Dewan Komuniti Bandar Manjalara like a herd of farm animals.
So what if it rained, we were ternakan after all. Just lembu. There was absolutely no humanity in sight as I waited with seniors, some unable even to stand, sitting on rocks by the roadside or wherever, doddering on sticks or crutches.
The police and Rela had no idea how to handle the crowd. They ran around like farm animals themselves but with authority, shouting orders at others.
There was only one entrance to the vaccination centre where the infirm and the old had to give way to vehicles (of VIPs?)
Why was there no separate entrance for cars, or for senior citizens or the infirm or those with different appointment times? Why was there no decent waiting area? Why were there no clear instructions?
We have held 14 countrywide elections all on the same day for millions of people efficiently, but we can’t manage a vaccination centre. Who are these people handling the rollout?
To call them amateurs (which they are) would be too kind. One could forgive that, even inefficiency. But the total lack of humanity, cannot. Everyone waiting there was human (I didn’t see any animals).
They were people of all races, all ages, healthy and not, and both sexes. None of them deserved to be treated like domestic beasts, left out to roast in the sun (and possible rain) for hours.
I live in Damansara Heights but why was my appointment in Bandar Manjalara? I met one person from Wangsa Maju and another from Sg Besi. Wasn’t Bandar Manjalara a centre for the neighbourhood?
A policeman told me I could return after lunch; they were open till 4pm. I told him I lived in Damansara Heights. That’s when I decided to return home and to hell with my vaccination appointment.
My wife asked if I was going to register for AstraZeneca. I said, “Why would I want to be treated like cattle again?”
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
