Are Malaysian lives so cheap...?

Fri 210809

Yup, how much do we Malaysians consider each of our lives are worth? Guess it depends on from whose viewpoint/perspective one looks at the issue at hand. And yup, there is always more than one viewpoint/perspective.

On the one hand, if it is viewed from our own loved ones / family perspective, then each life is worth more than any sum of money can buy or am I wrong?

Then there is the other view... namely that of the powers-that-be. Yup, the view of the authorities handling any issue that may mean life or death to each & every one of us!

As is...and as stated in my earlier post...to such ppl in power, each citizen is just a number. Just plain statistics. No feelings, no emotions, simply zero...in any official announcements made in the current A H1N1 health crisis.

Yesterday, if me not wrong, no. of infections rose to 569 cases and today it's 380! What the authorities seemed to place emphasis on is just one simple fact...yesterday there was only 1 death & today there is no death! Don't the increasing figures mean anything? Even the possibility of more deaths? In proportion to the increasing no. of cases? Just because these ppl have not died yet, doesn't mean they won't possibly die in the near future...

Recently, the no. of deaths shot up to a collective 6...maybe even more? ( I just can't remember...sorry)

I remembered reading about someone commenting in one website that Mumbai closed all its schools, educational institutions eg colleges & universities, etc, even though it had just a total of 16 deaths from the virus!!

Our death tally has reached 68 of our citizens!! What is in the minds of our powers-that-be?

The country of origin of the A H1N1 virus (Mexico?) took similar action...even to the extent of affecting its economy! Lives of its citizens took top priority! And guess what? It's now NOT in the list of top countries with increasing infections & deaths!

So what is Malaysia waiting for? Does anyone know or can clarify? Please....?

A reminder? According to a quote reported in Internet News Portal, Malaysiakini :

"President of the Association of Private Hospitals Dr Jacob Thomas warned that the current H1N1 situation may drag on until April next year."

And because of the lack of urgency & rather mild actions taken by our powers-that-be, me could see our fellow citizens here in A/Star going about their daily "outings" eg to markets, malls, hypermarkets, etc, like there was no virus threat at all!! No one was wearing face masks! In spite of MOH advice to curb the spread of the virus. Is it a case of "Ignorance is Bliss" syndrome? No fear wan...phew!

Wear face masks? Can such masks truly curb the spread of this virus? Another quote here from Malaysiakini pages...by the same doc...

"face masks do not [totally] prevent one from being infected with the virus. It is a droplet infection that could spread through coughs or sneezes."

However, the doc did admit that the ...

"chances of catching the virus is not as much as if you do not wear a face mask".

Btw, if me not mistaken, there was a kind of guideline by our MOH that stated that the authorities would move to the next phase of action to be taken if infections exceeded the range of 200 to 400 infections in a day. Well, we did exceed that yesterday, didn't we?

And considering what WHO said about multiplying the reported cases by 20 to get the actual picture of the no. of true cases, what a huge figure, right? Let's see...569 x 20 = ?????

Our total no. of cases this far has exceeded the 5 000 mark! Almost reaching 6 000 now. How many more must suffer, live in fear, or even die in vain before each & every Malaysian life is deemed invaluable and subsequently protected seriously & urgently?

YOU tell me....

Anyway, on a happier note, me would be having another busy weekend. Yup, KL & family are making another visit to Lot 10 tomorrow. And yup, it's for a special occasion. Sorry, me not letting the cat out of the bad....yet...

So do forgive my absence from here for a few days after this weekend. Yup, me have to recover from the activities of the coming weekend activities. Ha ha!

Have a good weekend, everyone! And do wear at least a 3-layered face mask should you need to go anywhere where there might be a crowd. Be safe, ok?