Malaysians online are protesting against the government’s proposal to raise COVID-19 penalties.
The government is seeking to raise the maximum fine and jail sentence under the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988, which could result in COVID-19 violators having to be imprisoned for up to seven years or pay up to RM100,000 (US$24.000), or both.
If passed in Parliament, that would be a colossal increase from the current maximum penalties of RM10,000 fines and six months’ jail. The amendments are expected to go through its third reading by Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin tomorrow.
“Before this, people get fined RM10k or more for not wearing a mask. Is the government now trying to increase the fine because they do not have enough money?” Muar lawmaker Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman tweeted today. “An individual can be fined up to RM100,000 or jailed for seven years if they fail to wear a mask. What is this rubbish?”
Malaysia’s COVID-19 restrictions include wearing face masks in public, maintaining a physical distance while indoors, quarantine orders for the coronavirus-infected, and a ban on large gatherings. The amendments also sought heftier fines for businesses who violate COVID-19 restrictions, which could increase by 40 times from RM50,000 to RM2 million.
Disgraced ex-prime minister Najib Razak, convicted of bribery and money laundering, also objected to the proposal, saying: “This is crazy. I do not support.”
Blogger Effi Saharudin, aka Obefiend, called the move a form of “tyranny.”
“Tyranny is when commoners will be punished harshly. Let’s protest against the amendment that harms us all.” he wrote online. Another person chimed in, saying that the proposed penalties for not wearing a mask was “excessive.”
Health Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah supported the proposal, saying that the outdated law was not suitable for the nation’s current pandemic situation.
“In 1988, when this act was enacted, we did not take into account pandemics, but was more towards epidemic outbreaks, now it is time for us to review it, and what is more important is it (the act) being a deterrent,” he told reporters yesterday.
The amendments were first read in Parliament on Monday, followed by a second reading yesterday.
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