Well, to say a lot’s been going on lately would be an understatement.
Migrant issues have long been a bane as undocumented workers far outnumber documented ones. There are various reasons for this including that labour is cheaper and unsurprisingly, more exploitative. The lax enforcement of immigration laws also allow for this excess in undocumented workers.
The existing issues cited came to punish Malaysia and illustratively, other countries such as Singapore, when the Covid-19 outbreak was at its most dire. Realizing the contagious risk that undocumented migrants posed not only to themselves but to others resulted in the government acting swiftly to investigate and apprehend any migrants without the relevant documentation. This was done via any means necessary.
The expedient measures had some in independent media and segment of Malaysia angered as video footage and photographic media found the authorities exerting excessive force on migrants and their families.
The #MigranJugaManusia movement along with the Al Jazeera video-documentary came to expose the blind spots in governance and the migrant victims who suffer as a result. Little sympathy had been shown by government officials and segments of society as undocumented workers are labelled illegals and operating against law and order in this country. It is safe to say Malaysians are more divided than ever when it comes to the issue of how we should treat migrants.
It is fairly alarming to note that where you stand on the issue will determine your political identity and more importantly, your humanity. Personally, I think there is credence to arguments on both sides but that’s for another day.
Throughout the outbreak, we had Dato’ Seri Dr. Noor Hisham bin Abdullah, Malaysia’s Director-General of Health, play a unanimously unifying role in fighting the Covid-19 outbreak. Tuning in every day and watching him eloquently answer every question on the outbreak with almost no hesitation had given Malaysians of all political sways a sense of relief. The man managed to bring Malaysians from all backgrounds together, be it liberal or conservative, under the shared goal of putting an end to the spread of Covid-19.
Sadly, Dr Hisham who has been going on Twitter to voice his opinion on the matter through RTs, has been on the receiving end of a mixture of responses, be it a wave of lashback or support.
Wherever you lean on the political spectrum, I think we can all agree that it is sad to see an end to one of the more unifying voices in our political landscape. But then again, Twitter has a knack for exposing preconceived ideas on what we think we know about a person. Whose next? Sugu Pavithra?
All this aside, we should not be so quick to cancel Dr Hisham. Malaysia is a family after all and as such we have a responsibility to listen to the things he is saying.
What do you think? Is the Director General right in pushing for the wholesale repatriation of undocumented migrants and any expedient measures that come with reaching that objective? Or do you believe that the human dignity of the undocumented minority should rise above ensuring a robust collective safety for the documented majority? Let us know.
