Activist goes on hunger strike over worsening situation

 

 
Enough talk. Enough press statements. Enough Whatsapp chats.

 
Mahatma Gandhi brought the British Empire to its knees without firing a single shot. He followed two simple principles: Never submit, and never harm another. Maybe we cannot achieve what he achieved (or maybe we can), but we can do as he did.

 
I'm sorry for the inconvenience and stress this will cause my family and friends. Truly sorry. Sorry Debbie especially, for not making date night happen.

 
It is insane to act sane in a time of insanity.

 
For months and years we have all done too little, as Malaysians die of Covid-19.
We have done too little, as Malaysians are forever scarred with the loss of their fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, and children; forever scarred by long Covid.

 
If there is a war going on, and we act as if nothing is happening, we will lose more lives.
And now, our leaders want to drag their crisis on until September - no doubt prolonging their incompetent handling of the Covid-19 crisis that has now led to over 10,000 deaths. With 19,819 cases today, by September, we could lose another 10,000 Malaysians.

 
No. This is not acceptable.  

I don't personally encourage mass gatherings. I don't encourage anything that might put anyone except myself at risk.

 
I will do what any Malaysian can do. I will take a short walk out of my home, and sit at the corner of Jalan Rahim Kajai and Lorong Rahim Kajai 14, in Taman Tun Dr. Ismail.

 
I will do my best to stay there, and not eat, until 5 demands are met.

 
In short:

 
1. Bagi kuasa membuat keputusan (decision making power) sepenuhnya dalam semua hal Covid-19 kepada pakar-pakar, atau adakan sidang Parlimen dengan serta-merta.  

2. Menyediakan RM 500 juta untuk peralatan perubatan di hospital Covid-19.

3. Membenarkan setiap frontliner untuk mendedahkan situasi sebenar tanpa tapisan atau tindakan, dan menerbitkan semua data berkenaan Covid-19 tanpa sebarang tapisan.

4. Menerbitkan senarai penuh syarikat-syarikat yang dibenarkan beroperasi.

5. Bekalan N95 dan sanitiser di semua hospital dan balai polis secara percuma.

In long:

1. Decision making power must be given to a public policy expert. The following are examples: Amar Singh, Khor Swee Kheng, Lokman Hakim Sulaiman, Zainal Ariffin, Adeeba Kamarulzaman. If it must be a politician, only Khairy Jamaluddin has a good track record of fighting Covid-19. If you cannot do even that, then convene Parliament today to sort out the leadership problem. Not tomorrow. Definitely not in September. Today. If you want alternatives, see here: https://www.facebook.com/nathaniel.tan.528/posts/10161030529592786

2. If we do not prepare some RM 500 million to support our hospitals, they will not be able to save the lives of Malaysians. This money should not go through the hospital bureaucracy. Instead, ward doctors should be able to freely and openly list the equipment they need in a transparent manner, with no backlash. If the government refuses to do so, funds can be channeled to the Tzu Chi Covid Solidarity Fund (Maybank: 512491125866) or the Hospital Emergency Fund run by Dr. Munirah Ibrahim of Projek #BangsaMalaysia and Tricia Yeoh of IDEAS Community Projects (CIMB: 8001367104)

3. The section of the Perintah Am forbidding civil servants to speak freely must be suspended. If medical frontliners especially do not tell us what is really happening on the ground, we cannot fight Covid-19 effectively. If the authorities continue to control the data and statistics and not make it freely available, we will not know how bad things are until it is too late. Publish all Covid-19 statistics and data immediately, straight from the source - no censorship, no manipulation.

4. Too many stories of employers forcing employees to come into work, even when they can WFH. Too many factories. Tell the truth.

5. Even doctors, nurses and the police are not given free N95 masks and sanitisers. We want them to risk their lives for us, but we make them buy their own masks? This is unacceptable.
We need change.

 
I can no longer sit and live my life normally while Malaysians are dying due to neglect and incompetence.

Resist.

Resist any and all attempts to delay, to prolong, to play politics.

 
Resist their attempts to lull us into believing things are under control.

 
Things are not under control.

 
Death is coming.

 
Resist.