LETTER | Still waiting for clarity on lockdown

LETTER | Many, many households and offices in the country are at a loss over the announcement that a total lockdown will come into force on Tuesday.

Confusion, anger, disappointment, anxiety and frustration reign. Many business owners are frantically trying to get information from wherever they can and to answer queries from their staff. 

International companies are busy holding conference calls with their local offices to find out what is going on and what the impact will be. 

Sadly, no progress would have been made and in the eyes of the international companies, we would have been made to look stupid as the only answer we would have had would have been, "I don't know. Details to be provided later."

While most may have understood the need for a lockdown, many, if not all, could not understand the manner in which the announcement was made nor the lack of information provided. 

We are all just told to wait. To sit and wait. Just like we had to wait after every movement control order (MCO) was announced.

At the time of writing, which is almost 20 hours after the announcement was made, there is still no clarity of what will be allowed and what won't be.  What one can do or what one can't. 

How are businesses supposed to plan and come up with contingency plans to address the lockdown and maintain the livelihood of their staff? And let's not forget about the general public. 

Will supermarkets be open? Restaurants? Food stalls? So please don't blame people who may run out and buy food and stock up.

Most of us, if not all, are no longer questioning the need for a lockdown, especially with the rising numbers. What we are questioning though, and not for the first time, is the lack of a coherent and cognisant rollout strategy. 

 It is rather counterproductive to announce a lockdown without all the proper policies and procedures put into place. 

That just shows a complete disconnect and disregard for the rakyat and business community and by extension the global community.

So really, where is the prihatin or concern for the rakyat? 

Going by the way things are being handled currently, I guess there isn't very much. 

One can only hope that this latest lockdown will show some results or else we are really in big trouble.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.