Senior Minister Deletes Tweet About Visiting His Constituents In A Possible Breach Of MCO
Mustapa Mohamed's actions are in a possible breach of the current COVID-19 lockdown measures under which people's freedom of movement has been restricted, a point highlighted by several netizens.
By Sadho Ram, Alyssa J. Oon — 12 Apr 2020, 04:42 PM
Minister of Economic Affairs Mustapa Mohamed has deleted his tweet in which he stated that he visited his constituents in Jeli, Kelantan
In his now-deleted tweet, the Minister, who is a Member of Parliament for Jeli thanked Allah for being able to visit the people in his constituency in a possible breach of the Movement Control Order (MCO).
"Alhamdulillah, today I managed to head back to Jeli to visit my constituents. I have not been able to return for three weeks," read his tweet that was posted on Saturday, 11 April.
Mustapa was quote tweeting a tweet by his communications team, which stated that "Tok Pa Mustapa Mohamed spent time visiting and sending his regards to residents of Jeli."
The tweet by his communications team, @TokPa_Commss, has also been deleted.
However, screenshots of the minister's tweet have since gone viral on the social media platform.
The senior minister's actions are in a possible breach of the current COVID-19 lockdown measures under which people's freedom of movement has been restricted, a point highlighted by several netizens
"If the Ministry of Health has advised Malaysians to adhere strictly to the MCO by only making essential journeys, errant citizens are being fined RM1,000 and students remain stranded at universities, why is a senior government minister allowed to gallivant across the country?" asked Mikhail Hafiz.
While Lucius Maximus accused the government of having double standards.
"Other families are separated because of MCO. But we, the rakyat, obey," he wrote.
"Minister can still say 'Alhamdulillah' when returning home to visit constituents during the MCO. The government really loves double standards yeah?"
Others also pointed out that officials and ministers in other countries are facing consequences for breaching their lockdown measures
"Scotland's chief medical officer has resigned after making two trips to her second home during the coronavirus lockdown," wrote Azfar Zainal Abidin while sharing a BBC report about the incident.
In another similar incident highlighted by the Twitter user, New Zealand's Health Minister was demoted after he ignored national lockdown rules and drove his family to a beach.
Previously, Defence Minister Ismail Sabri said that the RM1,000 fine imposed on those breaching the MCO is probably not enough
"I don’t know why many people are still flouting the MCO, I can’t be sure…maybe the RM1,000 fine is too low," Sabri said during his daily press conference on MCO on Friday, 10 April.
He used an example of Singapore's steep fine.
"If we look at other countries, Singapore for example, starting 17 April, anyone who commits the first offence (against such order) will face a fine of SGD10,000, while for the second offence, SGD20,000."
