In this webinar, Dr Serina Rahman and Ms Zaharah Raishan Mohd Yassin examines the state of Malaysia’s battle with Covid-19 under political uncertainty through a well-being lens and will offer some insight into the harsh realities of the average Malaysian on the ground.
REGIONAL SOCIAL AND CULTURAL STUDIES PROGRAMME WEBINAR
Thursday, 30 September 2021 — This was the final instalment of the 6-part webinar series on “Well-being in Southeast Asia” supported by Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS). The webinar was delivered by Dr Serina Rahman (Visiting Fellow, Regional Economic Studies Programme and Malaysia Studies Programme) and guest speaker Ms Zaharah Raishan Mohd Yassin (lecturer, social activist and founder of FreeMarket Johor). The session was convened and moderated by Dr Kevin S. Y. Tan (Visiting Senior Research Fellow of ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute). This webinar session examined the state of Malaysia’s battle with Covid-19 under political uncertainty through a well-being lens, and offered some insight into the harsh realities of the average Malaysian on the ground.
Dr Serina began her talk by introducing the developments in Malaysia’s COVID-19 situation. Originally, there was a religious cluster in 2020 and the first MCO (Movement Control Order) was imposed. Later, COVID cases spiked again after the Sabah state elections in mid-2020. This year, the second and third MCOs were enforced. At the time of this webinar, 9226 people had died from COVID and Malaysia is currently trying to recover and move on to an endemic situation.
Dr Serina then highlighted the economic struggles faced by Malaysians and in particular, women. For instance, unemployment among heads of households was 12% as of March 2021 but the unemployment rate among female heads of households was 16%. It is also reported that 6 in 10 female heads of households live in absolute poverty. This has resulted in lack of savings, difficulties in being able to purchase food or paying bills on time. Given that the majority of employees in the manufacturing or services sector are women and these sectors are the worse hit due to Covid lockdowns, Dr Serina argued that the pandemic has exacerbated gender inequality in Malaysia. Schools too, have been closed, leading to learning loss for the children and added stress for female caretakers without the help of daycare centres.
On mental health, Dr Serina raised the issue of family members dealing with long term separation and the link between increased reported cases of domestic and sexual violence, to confinement among the urban poor. There has also been rising frustration among the public against politicians who appear to be breaking MCO rules with impunity. Furthermore, the urban middle class appear to be struggling with more and more selling their cars and homes. Aid is not reaching this economic group due to bureaucratic red tape or due to their sense of shame in being seen taking help from the government.
It is within this environment that Malaysian NGOs have stepped up to provide a myriad of services such as setting up food banks and providing internet access to children who need to continue schooling. Founder of FreeMarket Johor, Ms Zaharah Raishan shared how her NGO has been on the ground in Johor to aid those who are struggling. Her NGO was established in 2015, targeting the urban poor, underprivileged families, senior citizens, single mothers and orphans. During the first MCO, Ms Zaharah and her volunteers had to change their approach by focusing on COVID centres and hospitals to provide equipment such as masks on top of cooked meals, dried goods and fresh produce.
During the Question and Answer session with the audience, the moderator and speakers discussed the following issues: criteria for distributing aid, impact of the current political missteps on the work of NGOs, COVID cases in Johor and challenges faced by FreeMarket Johor. 57 people attended this webinar.