By Kaki Bedal
Malaysians are in distress.
The latest campaign regarding the raising of the white flag is among a few indicators that there are more and more people who are needing help as the nation tries to weather the Covid-19 storm.
It is an eye opener that money, by the billions, still cannot be the solution when lives and livelihoods are at stake despite the various measures against the pandemic.
While the government cannot be faulted to a certain extent, the challenge is whether the current efforts will be able to overcome the pandemic as early as possible or as hoped by end of 2021.
Time is of the essence.
Time will tell how much progress we have made to eradicate and stem Covid-19 after the billions spent and the vaccination campaign still ongoing.
The suicides as reported by the media recently is proof that more help or aid is needed, not less so the utmost importance is still about the exit strategy.
There are voices out there who have encouraged us to be more giving and help people in need and this has been happening.
For others, like preacher Ebit Lew, his scope is much bigger.
His absence for a few weeks is felt in Malaysia as he helps spread the culture of giving in Gaza, an occupied land of Palestine.
There he shares his thoughts and sees for himself the terrible plight of Palestinians under the apartheid rule of zionist Israel.
Cooking and helping out Gazans and then coming back to Malaysia to see how things has also not been easy with many hit by the pandemic infected economy with the white flag campaign, he must have felt just as concerned.
The only thing that Malaysians have in their favour is that the majority are willing to help others in need, doesn’t matter where and when.
However, regrettably some has chosen this exact moment to extend the blame game and muddy the waters further with politicking.
The raising of the black flags is one such example with some in the social media asking cynically whether a multi coloured flag is next.
The challenges in Gaza and Malaysia are different but at certain level at the same time are also the same – how to overcome threat to lives and livelihoods.
Gazans facing the threat of occupation while Malaysians minds ‘occupied’ with problems of an unseen enemy.
In Occupied Palestine, it is the ending of occupation that is the goal for more than seven decades but is replacing the government the answer for Malaysians?
Malaysians who have a long memory will remember that they have replaced a long serving administration in the last election. And, look what happened.
- The writer is an experienced analyst and media practitioner of nearly 30 years in the industry
