There’s should be no place for politics in a pandemic when all Malaysians, notwithstanding race, religion, creed and even political affiliation are suffering.
I believe it is a heartfelt question many of us are asking today in light of COVID-19 – do ALL Malaysians have enough to eat on a daily basis?
The question has put the spotlight on Malaysia’s Minister of Women and Family Development – Rina Harun, and on the immediate and long term plan for food security by the Ministry and the Federal Government, particularly for the B40 community.
For once, I ask all of us to put aside our political affiliations for a moment. Why do I say this? The reason is simple – Ipoh Barat – the constituency that I represent, have not received any of the purported 1000 food baskets from Rina Harun’s Ministry to be distributed to head of families in the B40 category.
We are now in the 4th phase of the Movement Control Order (MCO) and yet we have received nothing; and this contradicts Rina’s statement in the media that no one will be left out in the aid distribution.
Nevertheless, my team and I are doing our best to help ease the situation in Ipoh Barat. The same is also being done by other Parliamentary representatives at their respective constituencies who have not received any aids from Rina’s Ministry.
In Ipoh Barat, there are about 1,500 families who have asked for assistance and to date, we have managed to reach out to 200 plus families. We have also been supporting three (3) NGOs who are working tirelessly and around the clock to prepare and distribute food to about 1500 persons on a daily basis.
Sadly, with limited financial resources and manpower which can only come from the Federal Government and Rina’s Ministry, there are many families and their children who are going to bed hungry every night during this extraordinary time.
To make matters worse, there are many conflicting messages from the Federal Government on this matter.
A few days ago, Rina Harun said she will look into claims that welfare aid meant for families affected by the MCO is not reaching opposition MPs; and today, Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob has clarified that the food basket worth RM35 was not from the government. Instead, he said that the food aid came from non-governmental organisations (NGOs), who sent the food baskets to the Social Welfare Department (JKM) to be distributed.
To this I say: “Politics must never deny anyone the access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, safe and nutritious food”.
With bigger urban constituency such as Ipoh Barat which has nearly about 200,000 people, my team and I do not have the financial strength to reach out to all within the B40 community which a responsible federal government should take upon themselves.
Since 2 April 2020, numerous of our attempts to reach out to the relevant welfare authorities in Ipoh Barat and the Kinta level district failed and when we finally managed to get connected to the Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat at Kinta District, we were told that all of the food items have already been distributed.
We asked the Big Question: to whom were the food aids distributed to?
The answer made us truly sad and frankly disappointed: the food aids were distributed to UMNO, PAS and BERSATU divisions.
The fact that these divisions do not electorally represent the Ipoh Barat constituency is a secondary matter. More importantly, we ask why such an important aid did not reach the most vulnerable.
It is obvious that the Federal Government and in particular the Ministry of Women and Family Development has violated its own policy and rules of distribution of food aid. Such an attitude is morally irresponsible.
There cannot be double standards where in one Parliamentary constituency food is distributed through a Parliamentary representative while others are deprived of such treatment since they are from the opposition.
Is this the type new Malaysia we are witnessing under PERIKATAN NASIONAL that is helmed by BERSATU, UMNO AND PAS, MCA AND MIC?
The PH led federal government never made scapegoats out of opposition states when it was in power.
It is important to note that even former Prime Minister Najib Razak had instructed the federal government in 2017 to help Penang when it was hit by floods and saw thousands of people forced to flee their homes.
Najib said that it was the Federal Government’s duty to render aid in times of disaster even to opposition states, an admirable act that puts this current PN aministration to shame.
There is absolute no place for politics in a pandemic. Our country and its people are hurting and reeling – medically and economically so please get the food aids to the hands and mouths of families and children who are truly in need.
Therefore, I would like to urge Rina Harun to come clean on the food distribution for Ipoh Barat and other constituencies, and adhere to the Ministry’s own guidelines on the distribution of food aids to Malaysians in need.