Face Masks Also Compulsory in Certain Places in M’sia; Fine is More Expensive Than Ours

There are many theories in the world:

• Spending $300 on 4D and Toto every week will eventually make you a millionaire
• Making a police report your own crimes so you won’t get caught
• If everyone wears a mask, Covid-19 will be stopped in its tracks

While some theories proved that they are unsound, others seem more believable, like the mask-wearing one.

For example, New York showed that making it compulsory to wear a mask works more effectively than safe-distancing measures.

Even Donald Trump, the president of the US and all-around advocate against Covid-19 preventive measures, has started asking people to wear their masks.

And now, another country has joined the list.

Face Masks Also Compulsory in Certain Places in M’sia; Fine is More Expensive Than Ours

On 23 July, Malaysian Senior Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced that people in Malaysia must wear masks when taking public transport and in crowded places starting from 1 Aug 2020.

And the reason they’re doing that?

It’s because new clusters are emerging in Malaysia.

Malaysia went into lockdown earlier than Singapore (18 Mar 2020) and exited the lockdown later than Singapore on 10 Jun 2020.

So if we were to make it a comparison game, they’re now winning in another factor: the harshness of penalty for not obeying the rules.

In Singapore, if you’re caught not wearing a mask, you’ll face a composite fine of $300 (for first-timers).

In Malaysia, anyone who was caught not donning the masks at these places faces an RM1,000 fine (~S$325.03) from 1 Aug 2020.

So Why Not Before?

The most interesting point to note in Mr Ismail’s speech isn’t the fine or the ruling, it’s the government’s reason for putting it off until now.

The reason why they did not make mask-wearing compulsory is that they did not want to add on to the burden of the lower-income group.

“The government has all this while not made it (use of face masks) mandatory as we understand the situation faced by those from the lower-income group in purchasing the disposable type.”

He added that disposable masks are only good for three hours before they had to be thrown away and replaced with a new one, which can make it costly for large families.

But with WHO’s guidelines on non-disposable masks, Mr Ismail says the health ministry will be issuing guidelines for those who are stitching their own masks to ensure that they meet the standards and keep people safe.

He also advises people to start wearing masks now instead of waiting until 1 Aug 2020.

Compulsory vs Complasory

Okay, obviously, I just came up with the second word above to make it rhyme but basically, it simply means: Compulsory vs Complacency

Moving on.

In Singapore, wearing a mask in public is compulsory, yes?

But things like this is still happening:

See, people are told that they have to wear masks as long as they’re outside their homes except:

• when eating and drinking
• when smoking

Some people decided that this is a loophole to be exploited when approached by safe-distancing officers and ambassadors.

Matter of fact is, the authorities are willing to take any privileges back from Singaporeans if it’s deemed “too dangerous” in the current Covid-19 situation.

And if we’re not careful, our privilege of getting to eat and drink outside could just be taken away if, say, there are 1,033 new Covid-19 cases reported today, 245 cases in the community and 25 new eateries are added into the Ministry of Health’s list.

Obviously, that didn’t happen but if it did? Yeah, we might have to dabao food back home again.

And nobody wants that, right?

So while the authorities can come up with rules that’ll enforce the whole situation, whether it works or not depends on each and every person living in Singapore.

So let’s all keep to the safe-distancing measures and pray hard for a vaccine to come along, yeah?

All while keeping what precious little freedom we have now.