KUALA LUMPUR: The Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia (Huazong) has welcomed the Government’s announcement that almost all economic sectors and business activities in Malaysia will be allowed to resume operations starting May 4, subject to the terms and the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) set by the authorities.
Its president Tan Sri T.C Goh also urged the people, the Chinese community in particular, to give their full cooperation to the Government’s conditional relaxation of the Movement Control Order (MCO), by strictly adhering to the terms and the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) set by the authorities, to prevent the contagious Coronavirus from spreading.
He also described it as a timely move to allow the country and its people to gradually return to a ‘new normal’ life, after being confined to ‘stay at home’ for one-and-half-month during the MCO period.
He especially took serious cognizance of the prime minister Tan Sri Muhyddin Yassin’s revelation in his Labour Day 2020 special message today, that the country loses around RM2.4 billion for each day of the MCO, and to-date, losses is estimated to be around RM63 billion. And, if the MCO continues for another month, our country will lose RM35 billion, bringing total losses to RM98 billion.
“We too are gravely concerned that, if the MCO continues, not only it would devastate our economy and national coffer, it would also inevitably result in millions of people losing their jobs and livelihood, or forced to take a pay cut or a furlough for a long period of time.
“Hence, the Government’s latest announcement of relaxing the MCO to allow most of the economic sectors and business activities to resume operations, with terms and conditions set by the authorities, is certainly a good news which everyone has been waiting for, all these while,” he said.
In a response issued today, Goh also hoped that the Government could get the Economic Action Council (EAC) to expedite the drafting and release of the post Covid-19 economic recovery plan, to better prepare and guide the people and businesses to embrace the ‘new normal’.
He thus proposed the Government to immediately set up a trans-department Special Committee comprising of representatives from various key government department and agencies, and civil society organizations (CSO), to brainstorm on drafting of a comprehensive-and-effective post Covid-19 economic recovery plan.
Meanwhile, Huazong also taken the initiative to come out with a 5-point proposal for the Government to consider, in line with the conditional relaxation of the MCO, as follows:
1. To set up a trans-department Special Committee comprising of representatives from various key government department and agencies, and civil society organizations (CSO), to brainstorm on drafting of a comprehensive-and-effective post Covid-19 economic recovery plan. This is so as to better prepare and guide the people and businesses to embrace the ‘new normal’.
2. To continue to revise, upgrade and reintroduce the ‘Prihatin Rakyat Stimulus Package’ to better assist the people, especially the underprivileged and vulnerable groups.
3. To continue to care for the small-and-medium enterprises (SMEs), big corporations, businesses and those who are self-employed, by enhancing the stimulus packages which the Government catered for them earlier.
4. To fully observe the anti Covid-19 guidelines set by the World health Organisation (WHO), as well as to strictly abide by the SOP set by the Government and the Ministry of Health, in order to ensure the pandemic is well under control to avoid a rebound.
5. Both the Government and the people to continue to remain highly vigilant against Covid-19 while operating under a relaxed MCO.
Ends
