In another U-turn, the backdoor government of Muhyiddin Yassin has now decided to allow three people from the same household to travel in a same car. Senior Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob claimed the decision was agreed upon after receiving complaints from the public, as well as consideration based on e-hailing rides and taxis that are allowed to ferry two passengers.

 

Last month, we published an article about a junior secondary school student who argued the lack of common sense in restricting a vehicle to only two passengers, but at the same time allows four diners per table. Exactly what took the government so long to realize their mistakes – an admission of incompetence – when a student could easily highlight the ridiculous half-baked rules?

 

After a spike of Coronavirus new cases, thanks to Sabah state election triggered by power-hungry Muhyiddin regime to grab power, a Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) 2.0 lockdown was re-imposed from Oct 14 to Oct 27 in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, and Putrajaya – which was then extended for another two weeks until Nov 9.

But as new cases of Covid-19 stubbornly remain above 3-digit, the government was forced to again extend the lockdown for four weeks from Nov 9 to Dec 6. The government even argued that the situation was so serious that with the exception of three states – Perlis, Pahang and Kelantan – the entire Peninsular Malaysia was placed under the CMCO.

 

However, with the latest relaxation of the number of passengers per vehicle from two to three, does not that mean the clueless Perikatan Nasional government has again shot its own foot? How does it plan to explain that in spite of 1,304 new cases with 1 death on Friday (Nov 13), the “Turtle Egg” Ismail Sabri, who is also the defence minister, now allows more people to go out?

 

Ismail had previously taken the easy way out, telling anyone who needed to transport three people in a car to get police permission. The argument to limit the number of passengers has been the same – to prevent the spread of Covid-19. The minister, for some weird reason, somehow could not understand the inconvenience faced by a couple with a toddler, until today.

To understand how contradictory and inconsistent this government has been, it would be interesting to revisit the first lockdown, the MCO (Movement Control Order), first introduced on March 18, 2020. On the night of April 23, Muhyiddin announced a third extension of the MCO by two weeks till May 12 – with a warning of the possibility of further extensions.

 

A week before the MCO was supposed to end on May 12, however, the government suddenly announced a “conditional MCO”, hence the country’s first CMCO. When the CMCO 1.0 took effect on May 4, the authorities relaxed the one-person-per-car restriction, arguably one of the silliest rules, and allowed vehicles to carry up to four family members in a single car.

 

So, why did the government allow 4 family members in a single car during the CMCO 1.0 (May 4), but restricted only 2 people per vehicle during the CMCO 2.0 (Oct 14)? It appears that even the CMCO is being subjected to double standards. Perhaps the CMCO 1.0 was less lethal or dangerous than CMCO 2.0. But if that’s true, should not MCO, instead of CMCO, be introduced in October?

Yes, the same question keeps coming back. Exactly how the backdoor government justified the need for a nationwide lockdown (CMO) in March when the daily cases jumped to 190 cases, but argued that the same lockdown was not required despite a spike of 691 cases on Oct 6? Even after the daily cases hit all-time high of 1,755 on Nov 6, the CMCO 2.0 continues to remain.

 

It’s not hard to see how CMCO has been misused just so that the economy does not come to a screeching halt, as happened in March. By not going back to MCO, which may be the only solution to “flatten the curve” of Covid-19 judging by how current cases refuse to go down, PM Muhyiddin is gambling with peoples’ life after he himself started the “Third Wave“.

 

Still, while the turtle egg minister has admitted his incompetence with the latest flip-flop of allowing three family members to travel in one car, it does not answer as to why four people can still wine and dine together – if the “table is huge enough”. Why not just allow a family of four members in a single car so that all of them can enjoy their meal together without leaving one behind?

After all, what’s the logic of preventing a family of four from dining at the same table when you can see more than four friends (strangers) happily sharing a table at Mamak restaurants? Did you know how ridiculous it was back in May (CMCO 1.0) when three family members could travel in the same car to a Sushi restaurant, only to be split into two tables due to rules that limit two persons per table?

 

It’s both mind-boggling and hilarious that “Turtle Egg” Ismail Sabri is still having trouble solving the simple math problem involving the number of passengers per car and the number of diners per table. He does not even need to know how to count beyond ten to fix the issue. Perhaps he should stop fantasizing about consuming turtle eggs again.

 

From the beginning, it was laughable to restrict two family members in a private car, but allowed taxis to carry two passengers. It was also a mistake to let the police use their discretion in allowing special circumstances where three passengers needed to travel together in a car. It would only encourage corruption as the authorities saw it as a golden opportunity to ask for “coffee money”.

The point here is not about a family going out for a meal together. It’s about a clueless, confused and chaotic “U-turn government” that keeps changing its own rules or SOPs whenever they like. Perhaps it should make up its mind whether it seriously wanted to flatten the curve or just wanted to make people’s life more difficult and confuse than they already are.

 

Other Articles That May Interest You …

• Confusion Strikes Again – The Clueless Government & Police Can’t Decide How People Should Scan At Petrol Station
• Budget 2021 – Here’s What The Backdoor Government Does Not Want You To Know
• The Best Covid-19 Lockdown Ever – Can Go To The Gym, Parks, Markets, Shopping Mall & Play Futsal, But Cannot Go To The Office
• Confusing Movement Control Order 2.0 – Making Sense Of Two Passengers Per Car, But Four Diners Per Table
• Get Ready For Bad Time Ahead! – As Malaysia’s Economy & Corporate Debt Get Worse, Retrenchment Has Just Begun
• New Wave!! – Power Hungry Muhyiddin Is Responsible For The Spread Of Covid-19 From Sabah To The Entire Country
• Jail Him! – This Minister Who Previously Condemned Sivagangga Cluster Arrogantly Skipped Quarantine Himself
• Reopen For Business – Backdoor PM Muhyiddin Would Be Overthrown If Gravy Trains Do Not Restart
• Lack Of Trust & Respect For Muhyiddin – But The Backdoor PM Can’t Hide Forever Behind Coronavirus Lockdown
• From Doraemon To Finding Coronavirus In Sewage – The Government’s Top-6 Screw Ups Within 14-Day Of Lockdown
• One Person Per Car – One Of The Silliest Rules Hatched By The Clueless Muhyiddin Backdoor Government

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November 14th, 2020 by financetwitter

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