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LRT Crash Recap 0 1043

On the night of Monday, 24th May, there was a crash on the LRT running along the Kelana Jaya line. There were 213 passengers who were injured during the accident with 47 of them being in a more severe state. Since then, it has been reported that 6 people are in serious condition and being treated in the intensive care unit. 

Photo Credit: Justin Asahi

This is the first major accident that has happened since the Kelana Jaya rail line was opened in 1998. The crash occurred due to the fact that two trains were headed in the same direction, one of which was empty and being manually driven. Initially the empty coach was headed northbound but due to a faulty automatic service it was taken over by a driver. Apparent human error led the driver to change course and head southbound leading to the devastating crash. 

On Tuesday, 25th May, the Chairman of Prasarana Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman, announced in a press conference that the company would be offering all the victims RM1,000 as special assistance for injuries sustained. This was met with incredible disdain from the community with social media feeds being riled with criticism. Individuals commented on the nonchalant attitude of chairman and dismissed the RM1,000 handout as a silencing tool to placate the victims and keep them from taking legal actions against the company.

Following the press conference on Wednesday, 26th May, news got out that Tajuddin had been issued a letter of termination from the Ministry Of Finance. He spoke to The Star and stated that it was “not a pressing issue or something to worry about.” Since then he has yet to comment further on his handling of the situation or his termination. 

Picture Credit: Hari Anggara

As of today, secretary-general of DAP Lim Guan Eng has called for political reformation through the termination of all politicians who serve as chairman or board-members at government-linked companies. He stated that “Otherwise, this is only a circumstantial ad-hoc sacking that will not lead to institutional reform” and “as custodians of public funds involving tens of billions of ringgit, only competent and qualified professionals should serve as directors of GLCs”. 

Currently, the victims are being treated at HKL with no deaths reported. The individuals and families are in the thoughts and prayers of all Malaysians.

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Moving Into An Endemic 0 1513

Over the past week, new Health Minister Khairy has stated that by October Malaysia will be moving forward from a pandemic to an endemic. This comes after an arduous battle with Covid-19 over the past year and a half with almost 2 million cases and over 18,000 deaths.

What moving into an endemic essentially means is that we’ll all have to adjust to the virus being around, however, due to immunity from the vaccinations, it will no longer be deadly and thus the need for social isolation will no longer be as necessary. Hospitalizations, transmissions and death from the virus will significantly reduce and despite the potential of getting infected, Covid will be treated the same as most other cases of flu. 

A benchmark reference in turning a pandemic into an endemic is the 1918 influenza which took the lives of 50 million individuals. In recent times, Influenza A and most seasonal flu’s have descended from this initial virus, however, they have become much less deadly. Yearly they claim about 650,000 lives which are significant but not bad enough to affect our day to day the way it did when it first came it. 

It all boils down to a shift in immunity and a shift in perception – we’re not afraid of the common cold, we know that we won’t feel good for a few days and we’ll eventually recover. This is what Covid will likely evolve into, something that we are wary of but not fearful of our lives. Even in Malaysia right now, as of 8th September 97.8% of cases, 19.304, were individuals who had no symptoms or very mild symptoms. 

This shows that the vaccines are working and as long as we continue to vaccinate the country’s population in a timely manner, we’ll likely be reaching the end of the road soon and life as we once knew it will return. 

Critics of this decision believe that we are potentially opening up too soon, however, if the vaccination rates are high enough to justify this shift then there is nothing else we can really do. We cannot live in lockdowns forever and the economy cannot halt any longer. It seems like this is the time for a new chapter, hopefully, one that comes with greater health and safety for all whilst a sense of normalcy is returned. 

Do you think shifting into an endemic is the right decision?

So It’s Sabri, Now What? 0 896

Our bed’s been made, I guess we gotta find a way to lay in it 

Looks like our democracy has been disregarded for the time being and no amount of unrest from the citizens is going to make a difference. For most of us, this is our only home so it’s time to make the best of a bad situation and be clear about what we want from the people in power:

Parliament back in full session

If SOPs are in place and MPs are vaccinated, there is no reason for parliament not to reconvene. The voices of the people need to be heard and this is the only way we’ll be able to see that. 

Proper financial aid to the B40 community

Not just one-off handouts, but monthly financial aid to help those who have been struggling to put food on the table for the past year and a half. 

Restructuring of the Pandemic Recovery Plan 

Insanity is defined by doing the same thing and expecting different results – it’s time to rethink, relook and restructure our plan to get us out of this pandemic. It’s not about relying on the vaccines alone but holistically approaching the situation. 

#Undi18

Automatic registration of voters for those ages 18 and above for upcoming elections. 

Vaccinations for those in remote areas

Even though the vaccination rates have been tremendously high, it is clear that those living in the outskirts and the Orang Asli community have yet to receive their doses. 

Better support for our healthcare workers

Without our incredible healthcare workers, we would have seen many more fatalities in the country. They should be given full-time positions with the benefits that they deserve. 

Fair treatment of foreign workers

Foreign workers deserve to have safe working and living conditions that should be mandated under the law. 

Stopping the intimidation of activists 

Under a true democracy, activism, protests and the voices of the people must be heard. Activists should be allowed to speak on their views without fear of being investigated.

These are just some of the ways we want to see a positive change with the “new government”. Let’s hope that there will be some brighter days for us as Malaysians.

What are some changed you’d like to see?

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