Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah has deeply dismayed many Malaysians when he appears to condone the double-standards of allowing deputy minister Edmund Santhara home quarantine which is not available to ordinary citizens. Noor Hisham had explained that Edmund had returned from a low-risk country and had a home suitable for quarantine.
Noor Hisham’s explanation is disappointing when he is behaving no different from a PN politician explaining why Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Khairuddin Aman Razali who was compounded with only RM1,000 without being charged court, after failing to observe quarantine rules upon returning to Malaysia from Turkey in August last year. In contrast, a 72-year old Malay lady was charged in court, fined RM8,000 and a day’s jail for a similar offence.
Edmund had waded into a new controversy of double-standards after another controversial 55-day trip to New Zealand to see his family amid Covid-19 travel restrictions. However, Noor Hisham could not explain why an ordinary citizen, S Mani Vannan, a pilot of Singapore Airlines, could not be placed under home quarantine like Edmund.
S. Mani had criticised Noor Hisham’s reasoning as unacceptable and smacks of double-standards, when S Mani had also come from a low-risk country(Singapore) and sought to be placed in home quarantine so he could care for his cancer-stricken mother. S Mani said his request for home quarantine had been refused last month even after testing negative in seven Covid-19 tests and been vaccinated in Singapore.
Noor Hisham’s explanation raises questions on his Health Ministry’s requirement of a suitable home. Is a home suitable for quarantine only if it is palatial or owned by the rich and powerful? Such double standards between one who is rich and powerful, and one who is an ordinary citizen displays arrogance and contempt for right against wrong.
The PN government should stop its cocky misconception that it can do no wrong or worse, do as it likes without regard for proper conduct and appropriate behaviour, just because Parliament is suspended. That is why it is important that Parliament be restored immediately to ensure full accountability and prevent serial recurrence of preferential treatment of Ministers and Deputy Ministers.