Has the prime minister achieved celebrity status? Photos of what looked like a wildly popular visit to a COVID-19 quarantine center yesterday appeared to show this.
Muhyiddin Yassin greeted a huge crowd from behind a glass panel during his visit to the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang yesterday, inviting comparisons to other personalities including North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and spawned memes featuring Blackpink’s Kpop star Lalisa Manoban and even zombies.
“HOLD UPPPPP! IS THIS MALAYSIA OR NORTH KOREA? Is this Mahiaddin or Kim Jong Un?“ @Hilmiehafiz said today, comparing Kim to Muhyiddin during the visit. He referred to Muhyiddin by his birth name, which is “Mahiaddin.”
Faham? Kalau faham angguk. pic.twitter.com/AGl0kWMqVa
— Murah Rezeki Injang (@InjangNation) January 19, 2021
Muhyiddin was at the MAEPS center along with Health Minister Adham Baba and Selangor Chief Minister Amirudin Shari to meet with patients and frontline workers on duty at the facility.
“I had the opportunity to meet with the frontline workers at the facility. I’m proud of their effort and strength to take care of patients’ welfare,” the 73-year-old said last night. He didn’t mention anything about the lack of social distancing among the crowd of people, some of whom even gave him the finger heart.
MAEPS houses low-risk COVID-19 patients who show mild or no symptoms. More than 9,000 people have occupied its 10,000 beds. Other than Blackpink’s Lisa, imaginative social media users even incorporated scenes from The Walking Dead series and a grumpy-looking Kurama from the Naruto anime in their memes.
Lisa waving to the fans at MAEPS pic.twitter.com/EIEjMJ4Q02
— Faizal Rosly (@ijaicool) January 19, 2021
— ixslee8 (@ibsleezxm) January 19, 2021
I just had to…. pic.twitter.com/mlXsOSNBmA
— w l l f l w r (@ordinarywllflwr) January 19, 2021
Bukan biasa biasa lah! pic.twitter.com/iC7ptn4ejA
— Murah Rezeki Injang (@InjangNation) January 19, 2021
Malaysia has recorded 165,317 COVID-19 cases as of yesterday, with 3,631 new infections. The death toll stands at 619. The whole country except for Sarawak has been placed under the stricter Movement Control Order starting Friday.
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