MAY 29 — It was a hot and muggy night. Siti had just taken a shower after preparing dinner for the family. She had also checked her supplies for her small nasi lemak business and was glad to see that she was fully stocked and there was enough to sustain the business for the following week.
She smiled to herself, thankful that the government had not imposed a lockdown like they had a year ago.
Suddenly she was startled by her daughter barging into her room. “Mak! Mak!” her eldest daughter cried out. “They’ve announced another lockdown! Total lockdown they said.”
“Who said? Where? Did Abah make an announcement on TV? Did I miss it?” Siti asked frantically.
“Takde. Not on TV. Just a PDF.”
“Huh? PDF? Apa tu?” Siti asked. Her gut was tightening as she heard the news. ”Total lockdown? Which sectors? Semua ke?”
“Dunno lah. They said all except essential economic and service sectors. They will make the list known in due course.”
“In due course?” Siti asked, flabbergasted. ”Tapi.. but.. but.. it’s Friday. I’ve already ordered all my supplies for the next week! Is nasi lemak considered essential? Can I operate my stall?” Siti collapsed sobbing, not knowing what to do.
She was a single mother and her nasi lemak stall was her sole source of income. How was she going to make ends meet if she wasn’t allowed to run her business? What was she going to do with all her supplies that had already been paid for and some even on credit? What was she going to feed her children?
Meanwhile, in Shah Alam, Datuk Seri Kadir was relaxing with a cigarette after a delightful but simple meal of rice and sardine sambal that his lovely wife had prepared. He sighed as his phone rang. It was his operations manager, KC Lee.
“Lee... apahal ni? Baru makan lah. What’s the problem?” Kadir asked.
“Boss. Total Lockdown lah boss. They just issued circular. Effective 1 June” Lee exclaimed, sounding very agitated.
“Lockdown? But they just said cannot do lockdown. Who said? Nothing televised on TV also. You sure it’s not fake news?” Kadir asked.
“Yes Boss. Not fake. There’s a PDF from PMO.” Lee replied.
“PDF again. PDF tu Prime Disruption Function ke? Sorry Lee, sorry. Not the time to make jokes. So? Are we affected? Kan we are essential service like last time?” Kadir said, sniggering at his own joke.
“Tak tahu boss. List not out yet.” Lee said softly, knowing full well what to expect.
“What? List not out? Make announcement then for what? When is the list out? How are we supposed to plan? What about all our staff? Our suppliers? Our customers? What do we tell them? Looks like we have to work this weekend now!” Kadir said angrily. “Laaa.. set up a conference call with the team. We need to start making plans even if nothing has been announced yet. This is ridiculous.”
Kadir put the phone down in a huff. ”Kiah...Rokiaaahh!” He called out to his wife.
“Ya Bang? Apa hal ni jerit jerit?” she asked as she came running out to the hall.
“Lockdown again. This time full lockdown. But nobody knows what sectors are affected. Esok pi stock up on roti, sardines and all sorts of other stuff. We best be prepared. Go early”
“But Bang! If we all go out at the same time the supermarket will be congested. Tak baik kan?”
“Habis? You tak nak stock up on food? If no food then how? Just go!”
Rokiah knew better than to argue with her husband.
While the short story above may be fictional, it is indeed reflective of what was happening in many, many households the country over.
Confusion, anger, disappointment, anxiety and frustration reigned. Many business owners were frantically trying to get information from wherever they could and to answer queries from their staff.
International companies were busy holding conference calls with their local offices to find out what was going on and what the impact would be.
Sadly, no progress would have been made and in the eyes of the international companies, we would have been made to look stupid as the only answer we would have had would have been: “I don’t know. Details to be provided later.”
While most may have understood the need for a lockdown, many if not all can understand the manner the announcement was made nor the lack of information provided.
We are all just told to wait. To sit and wait. Just like we had to wait after every MCO was announced.
At the time of writing, which is almost 20 hours after the announcement was made, there is still no clarity of what will be allowed and what won’t be.
What one can do or what one can’t. How are businesses supposed to plan and come up with contingency plans to address the lockdown and maintain the livelihood of their staff?
And let’s not forget about the general public? Will supermarkets be open? Restaurants? Food stalls? So please don’t blame people who may run out and buy food and stock up.
Most of us, if not all, are no longer questioning the need for a lockdown especially with the rising numbers. What we are questioning though, and not for the first time, is the lack of a coherent and cognisant rollout strategy.
It is rather counterproductive to announce a lockdown without all the proper policies and procedures put into place. That just shows a complete disconnect and disregard for the rakyat and business community and by extension the global community.
So really, where is the prihatin or concern for the rakyat? Going by the way things are being handled currently, I guess there isn’t very much.
One can only hope that this latest lockdown will show some results or else we are really in big trouble.
*This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
