Ministry of Health should be doing more to educate the public

The BN claims to be the federal government in Malaysia but yet does not seem to overly care about the people of Malaysia even though the haze is getting worse. Information is hard to get and the health minister Datuk Seri S Subramaniam should be doing more to educate the public.

One of the most important issues is that of the face mask at a time when Malaysians are complaining about breathing difficulties and chest pains due to the choking effects of the haze. At this moment, the public are only told to get face masks and there is no proper governmental control over the stocking and sale of the face mask.

One of the issues that the BN has failed to educate the public is that the N95 is a US standard and a similar face mask of European standard is known as the FFP2 or the FFP2NR. The FFP2 or the FFP2NR has similar qualities as the N95 and the government should educate the public on that and how to purchase the mask as well. Don't just give out the masks to selected areas, make sure there are ample supplies of masks and teach the public on the different types of masks that can be used should the N95 masks run out.

If one needs to follow an example, it is the example of the Chief Minister of Penang, YAB Lim Guan Eng who has directed for the stock up of the N95 face masks in order to help the people. This is a classic case of a true people-centric government as compared to the BN.

At a time of crisis, a government must show that it cares for its people. If the BN thinks it is the legitimate government of Malaysia, they have to show they care otherwise everyone can see they are just after power and the people of Malaysia are not their priority.