Category Archives: Articles

Articles

Response to Asia Sentinel Article

17 January 2020

I am neither an educationalist nor an academician privy to the on-goings or politics in the Ministry of Education (MOE). Notwithstanding, my training as a clinician allowed me to diagnose a vengeful and dysfunctional personality trait after perusing the style and tone of his writings.
https://www.asiasentinel.com/society/islamic-assault-malaysia-higher-education/

To begin with, the writer, in his tweet dated 5/11/2015 alleged that he was dismissed from Universiti Malaysia Perlis. He also attached a letter from the university authorities dated 8/9/2015, informing him of the non-renewal of his contract service which expired on 4/8/2015. So much for his honesty and integrity in his narrative.

Is it therefore any surprise that a colleague who first shared the asiasentinel article with me was put off after reading the initial few lines?

It would seem that his source, a former vice-chancellor (VC), probably had an axe to grind. His VC source was very likely a political VC appointee of the previous BN minister of education. Back then, meritocracy was virtually an unknown entity, and the VC selection process was based on “who you know” and not on “what you know”

The selection of VCs has changed since the days of the BN rule. After various feedback from academia and a town hall session in mid July 2018, a new selection process and system were introduced.

The MOE’s independent VC Selection Committee made their recommendations based on a set of core criteria namely, academic excellence, meritorious scholarship, visionary and intellectual leadership.

To suggest the selection process was instead hijacked by the candidate’s religiosity and affiliation with the minister, other religious personalities or groupings is damning the impartiality and wisdom of the esteemed members of the VC Selection Committee.

The Malaysian Academic Movement (Gerak) in no uncertain terms debunked similar suggestions made by Sabahan political parties upon the appointment of Prof Taufik Yap Yun Hin’s as Universiti Malaysia Sabah’s (UMS) VC.

In their 11 August 2019 press release they stated; “Gerak knows of the quality and integrity of individuals in the (VC) committee and stands by their decision.”

The allegations of the writer smacks of disinformation and malice, let alone being “Evidence Based Research”

Prof Tan Sri Dr Ghauth Jasmon, the newly appointed chairman of UPM’s Board of Directors, in his immediate response to the malicious article wrote; “But for the writer or anyone to allege that I am a loyalist to the former Education Minister, IKRAM etc shocked me beyond belief. The writer is nothing but the best of a SLANDERER that I have known. I leave the matter to Allah, the Supreme Creator and Supreme Judge.”

Unlike the writer, I took the trouble to do a little bit of homework to track the affiliations of the 26 alleged “members of Ikram that Maszlee appointed to Malaysian public universities.”

According to Ikram sources, only six (23%) of those appointed by Dr. Maszlee are registered as members of Ikram. The rest are probably scratching their heads wondering when they filled the Borang Keahlian Ikram! The accusation that the Minister had been favoring and appointing Ikram members is therefore an outright lie.

Probably the only grain of truth in the writer’s long diatribe against Ikram is his suggestion that the; “Ikram leadership, which also appears to be strongly aligned with the Pakatan Harapan government.”

Since the historical electoral events of May 2018, elements of the “deep state” have been on overdrive to malign and undermine the PH government efforts towards nation re-building.

The education ministry, then under Maszlee Malik was a soft and oft-target of these despicable characters and their accomplices. Besides, the Education Ministry sits on a gold mine, RM64.1 billion to be exact, which under Maszlee’s minister-ship, none of these scumbags and cronies could smell a penny. Virtually all the funds were disbursed towards the transformation of the educational infrastructure including wiring them with fast and reliable ICT infrastructure to enhance digital teaching and learning.

Only after his resignation were his detractors, who were foolishly obsessed with the paradigm of black shoes, Khat and Jawi, became cognizant of the overwhelming success of his on the grounds reforms which had benefitted the school going children, university students, relieved the teachers of irrelevant clerical tasks, pleased the National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) and Parent-Teachers Associations. Most importantly, the core values of happiness, love and mutual respect (which is so much missing among the many supposedly adult Malaysians) were being mainstreamed as a pre-requisite towards rejuvenating a harmonious and muhibbah future Malaysia.

Ikram, then Jamaah Islah Malaysia (JIM) in the 1970s, had invested big time in the educational sector and have built educational institutions from pre-school to university and medical school programs. As suggested by the writer, they were aligned with the PH and therefore were a natural partner of the ex-minister in his mission and vision to reform the nation’s educational landscape.

Like us in the Muslim Professionals Forum (MPF), Ikram was one of the founding members of Gabungan Bertindak Malayisa (GBM) aka Plan Of Action for Malaysia (POAM) which is a closely knitted coalition of over 25 NGOs from various ethnic, cultural and religious backgrounds united and committed to address the critical challenges facing 21st century Malaysia and working together to nurture trust and mutual respect of the other, to harness the potential of the various communities, to inspire a common national goal and to achieve a harmonious co-existence which would enhance national growth and prosperity for all.

Ikram’s Zaid Kamaruddin is currently the chairman of GBM, which truly is a microcosm of Malaysia. And most recently, to defuse the war of words over Jawi, GBM organized the “Forum Jawi: Saling Memahami” which among others was attended by the now Director General of the MOE, who according to the chairperson of the Forum “very kindly came down to speak (at very short notice) at the Jawi Forum we organized, and impressed many with her professionalism”

The writer’s unveiled attempt to frame Ikram as an extremist organization bent on a crusade of Islamisation and proselytisation is yet another machination of the “deep state” through its servile agents to abuse the religious narrative to destabilize the nation.

It wasn’t too difficult to expose and debunk the religious non-sense promulgated by this news portal. They were also reporting on a load of medical non-sense. Our medical colleagues in Prince Court Medical Centre suffered gross injustice with irresponsible journalism from the same news portal.
https://www.asiasentinel.com/society/medical-malpractice-nightmare-malaysia/
I would therefore advise all readers to be wary of news emanating from this particular news portal.

Dato’ Dr Musa Mohd Nordin
musamn@gmail.com
Muslim Professionals Forum

Articles

Refugees 1,400 years ago

It was in the early years of Rasulullah’s ﷺ mission. The pagans of Makkah would torture the Muslims every chance they got. It became so bad that Rasulullah ﷺ suggested some of them migrate to Abyssinia or Ethiopia as it is known today. It is not very far from Makkah and its King, known as the Najashi, was just and fair. He was a Christian.

It wasn’t easy. They were leaving behind the only home they knew, their family and friends and all that they held dear. They also did not know how long they would be away for or if they would be back. Najashi welcomed them and finally, they were free from persecution. Free to worship in peace.

But the pagans of Makkah weren’t gonna sit quiet. They had that one trait, we still see today. Dengki! They couldn’t bear the thought of this small group of Muslims living peacefully. They sent 2 reps with specific orders.

“By hook or by crook, get the Najashi to expel them!”

One of the reps was Amr al As (ra) who later became a Muslim himself. He was a good negotiator and knew the Najashi very well. He brought along gifts as bribe (familiar?).

When he saw Najashi he said,

“O King, the people you have given shelter to are troublemakers. Expel them before they bring you problems.”

But the King was fair remember? He said “not without hearing their side.”

The leader of the Muslims was Ja’far ibn Abu Talib (ra). How I love this character. He was Rasulullah’s ﷺ cousin and Ali’s (ra) older brother.

The Najashi then asked Ja’far to explain himself. Now, Ja’far’s reply remains one of the most beautiful descriptions of Islam. You can look it up or message me and I’ll send it to you.

Primarily, Ja’far said, when they became Muslims, the pagans of Makkah began their torture and abuse and prevented them from practicing Islam freely. So they chose the land of the Najashi, as they knew they could live in peace.

What did Najashi then do? He turned to Amr and basically said,

“pack your bags, take your gifts and go back. No way am I expelling these people. They are free to live and worship in my land.”

Amr tried again the following day but failed to convince the Najashi.

The Muslims lived peacefully in Abyssinia for many years. In fact they only joined Rasulullah ﷺ 7 years after he migrated to Madina. This tells us that they were in no danger at all in Najashi land.

Now when we hear this story, we applaud Najashi right? What a man! He saved a group of Muslims. Had he sent them back, their lives would have certainly been in danger.

Fast forward to 2021. Millions of refugees are fleeing for their lives, seeking safety. Some are here on our shores. Do you think it’s easy leaving their homeland? To a place unknown? And worse, hostile.

But they had to make that journey because their homes are no longer safe. They’re here because they need protection and we are in a position to provide that.

And how do we react? Just like Amr and the pagans of Makkah. We want to send them back to their tormentors, to their deaths.

How can we champion the human rights of one group of people and spit on another? If we stand against oppression, it’s gotta be for all oppressed people. If we stand in solidarity with those whose lives are made a living hell, then their skin colour, nationality, ethnicity, religion make no difference.

Where’s our humanity?

Where’s the Najashi in us? Where?

We are so messed up.

Azra Banu
Chairperson
Carefugees

#seerahchronicles
#theseerahandlifetoday

Articles

Is the First Come First Served Vaccine Rollout Scientifically and Ethically Right?

Is the First Come First Served Vaccine Rollout Scientifically and Ethically Right?
Dr Musa Mohd Nordin
5 May 2021

This narrative may not go down very well with the many young Malaysians who have successfully secured their AstraZeneca-University Oxford (AZ)  doses.

It was a frantic scrambling by the tech-savvy for the 268,000 doses of the AZ vaccine. All vaccine doses were snapped within a space of 4 hours.

Now that they have jumped the queue, some of them have even begun to rationalize the legitimacy of the first come first served vaccine roll out!

Due to the limited supplies of vaccines, like all other global health authorities and agencies, the MOH and JKJAV phased the vaccine rollout based on three major considerations.

  1. To protect and preserve the functioning of our society, namely the healthcare and essential services
  2. To decrease serious COVID disease and deaths by as much as is possible
  3. Reduce the added burden of COVID disease on people facing disparities

These considerations are premised on 4 major ethical principles:

  1. The allocation of the scarce vaccine supplies should aim towards maximizing the benefits and minimizing the harms. The reduction of COVID-associated morbidity and mortality would reduce the burden on the healthcare capacity. The most vulnerable in terms of inevitable work exposure and the other high-risk groups for COVID should be determined by scientific evidence.
  2. To promote justice to advance equal opportunity for all persons to enjoy maximal health and wellbeing as vaccines become more widely available.
  3. To mitigate health inequities and allow every person the opportunity to attain his or her full health potential and is not disadvantaged due to any social determinants.
  4. To promote transparency in the decision-making process to inspire public trust in the implementation of the vaccine rollout.

Pivoting on these incontrovertible principles, during the period of limited vaccine supply, the MOH and JKJAV have identified 5 major groups:

  1. Healthcare Workers
  2. Critical and Essential Services Personnel
  3. Senior Citizens
  4. Person with Co-Morbidities
  5. Physically and Intellectually Challenged Persons (OKU)

One does not sacrifice pristine ethical values simply based on a perception that there is “public fear over the AZ vaccine” because “we understand that is what the public feels”. [1]

Where may I ask is the scientific evidence to substantiate this personal perception? From the very outset, there has always been a substantial proportion of the citizens who have been either vaccine-hesitant or resistant. (Graph I). This has remained fairly consistent for the period Dec-Feb 2021 (Graph II)

Graph I: Malaysians’ acceptance of COVID-19 Immunization

GRAPH I: Malaysians agreeable to be immunized against COVID-19 for the period Dec – Feb 2021

The FDA paused the J&J vaccine (adenoviral vector mode of action like the AZ vaccine) for 10 days to investigate the possible link with blood clots.[2] Unlike JKJAV, they undertook a 50 state COVID survey which showed that:

  1. There was high awareness of the J&J vaccine pause
  2. Vaccine hesitancy and refusal did not increase
  3. The pause did not have any major negative effects on vaccine preferences and attitudes

During the period Dec 2020 – April 2021, when the AZ and J&J vaccines were being investigated, except for the UK, overall, there was no decrease in vaccine acceptance in 8 European countries  [3]

It would seem that the scientific studies and surveys do not validate the presumptions of the MOH or the JKJAV. But if they insist that the socio-demography of the vaccine-hesitant/resistant persons in Malaysia are diametrically different from their fraternity in the US and 8 other European countries, then they ought to provide us with the evidence.

The CDC and FDA paused the use of the J&J vaccine, following reports of 6 cases (1 fatal) of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) with thrombocytopenia, on 13 April 2021 and promptly issued a health alert. [4]

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) met the following day, illustrating a sense of urgency to investigate the association of the J&J vaccine with the blood clots aka Thrombocytosis Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS).

Within ten days, the ACIP presented its findings and recommended to the CDC to lift the pause on the J&J vaccine for use in adults.

We are made to understand that there was an assessment committee to review the AZ vaccine, its plausible association with TTS and its utilization in the Malaysian context. We would appreciate if the MOH or JKJAV can point us to the conclusions of the study and its recommendations. This is in part fulfillment of the ethical principle of transparency and accountability which would inspire confidence among the medical associations and professionals that a thorough analysis of the evidence has been undertaken and contextualized for PICK, National COVID-19 Immunization Program.

This would then facilitate an appropriate and comprehensive risk communications about the AZ vaccine. Some felt that this effort was not forthcoming from the nation’s highest health and vaccine authorities.

An individual who actually took the initiative to frame “KEY FAQS-A set of crucial questions you may want answered before deciding to opt-in or out of the AZ vaccine” wrote in his Twitter preamble “the health ministry couldn’t have been sloppier by just dumping a page of links at us.”

So what is the scientific and ethical basis for the MOH and JKJAV to offer the AZ vaccine  “on a first-come, first-served basis to the public aged above 18 who are willing to have it”? [1]

Britain has the largest experience with the AZ vaccine. More than 50 million doses have been utilized, a substantial proportion of which were AZ doses. [5].

Following the1st dose of the AZ vaccine in the elderly population, 90% of COVID-associated hospitalization had been reduced. One can clearly see from Figure I, that the UK Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization prioritized the age group more than 65 for the AZ vaccine doses.

 

FIGURE I: Rollout of the Pfizer and AZ vaccines in Scotland.

And for the 4 months period from Dec 2020 – Mar 2021, the Public Health England estimated that 10,400 deaths have been prevented in persons above 60 years old in England. [7] The high Vaccine Efficacy claimed in the clinical trains have now been vindicated in the real-world experience.

With access to probably the largest data-set for the AZ vaccine rollout, the UK Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization, recommended, “based on available data and evidence, it was preferable for adults aged under 30 with no underlying conditions to be offered an alternative to the AZ vaccine where available” [8]

How does the MOH and JKJAV scientifically and ethically justify the AZ vaccine to young adults from 18-30 years old, considering that the UK with the largest and widest experience with it’s homegrown University of Oxford vaccine has advised otherwise?

An interim risk-benefit analysis of the AZ vaccine and TTS can be accessed here. [9]. It references the European Medicines Agency (EMA) which has meticulously analyzed the data to stratify the very rare risk of blood clots with the benefits for different age groups and COVID incidence rates. [10]

 

Table I: Summary of cases per 100,000 persons after 1 dose of AZ vaccine in a HIGH Infection Rate Country

Per 100,000 persons Under 50 years 50-69 years 70+ years
Risk of blood  clots 2 1 0.5
Hospitalizations prevented

 

 89 266 893
ICU admissions

prevented

 10 39 94
Deaths prevented 4 30 453

 

The 4-5 per million often touted is actually the risk of blood clots in persons beyond 70 years old as per the EMA analysis. The risk is actually 4 times higher in persons below 50 years of age i.e. 20 per million.

The risk of being admitted to hospital and of dying from COVID in a 70 year old is 1786 and 906 times respectively, when compared to the risk of suffering from a blood clot.

Thus my suggestion to prioritize the AZ vaccine rollout in the high infection rate states, namely Sarawak, Kelantan, KL and Selangor, with the first right of refusal to the groups at the highest risk of severe COVID disease and deaths, i.e. those above 60 years old. Only when these high-risk elders have been protected, then the AZ vaccine can be offered to others. This makes medical sense and it is the ethically right response, within the context of limited vaccine supplies and the presently known risk benefit analysis.

It is probably the less than impressive odds in the younger age groups that have persuaded many health authorities in European countries to reserve the AZ vaccines for those beyond 50 years old. [11,12,13] Unless the MOH and JKJAV has evidence to the contrary, the deluge of young would be vaccinees may precipitate a more than usual load of life threatening TTS into our already overwhelmed healthcare facilities.

 

References:

  1. https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/astrazenecca-vaccine-dropped-covid19-immunisation-programme-says-khairy-jamaluddin
  2. https://emergency.cdc.gov/han/2021/han00442.asp
  3. https://osf.io/j5hf2/
  4. https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mariefly/HOPE/master/The_Development_in_Vaccine_Acceptance_20210421.pdf
  5. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-51768274
  6. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)00677-2/fulltext
  7. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/covid-19-vaccines-have-prevented-10-400-deaths-in-older-adults
  8. https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/britains-medicine-regulator-says-identified-possible-side-effect-2021-04-07/
  9. https://fimaweb.net/astrazeneca-risk-benefit-analysis-of-vaccines-versus-blood-clots/
  10. https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/news/astrazenecas-covid-19-vaccine-benefits-risks-context
  11. https://www.dw.com/en/germany-restricts-use-of-astrazeneca-vaccine-to-over-60s-in-most-cases/a-57049301
  12. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/19/france-limits-astrazeneca-covid-jab-to-over-55s-despite-ema-green-light
  13. https://www.ft.com/content/3dd76041-d8ac-4465-99a5-4569e8b9706e

 

 

 

 

 

 

Articles

Pemeliharaan Nyawa adalah Tuntutan Maqasid Shari’ah

Pemeliharaan Nyawa adalah Tuntutan Maqasid Shari’ah

Dr Musa Mohd Nordin

20 March 2021

 

Acap kali dunia Islam digoncang dengan berita yang boleh mengancam keyakinan ummat Islam terhadap vaksin COVID yang boleh menyelamat nyawa manusia. [1]

Di Malaysia sahaja terdapat 330 ribu kes COVID yang menyebabkan 1225 kematian (19 March 2021)

Dan angka dunia bagi kes COVID adalah sebanyak 123 juta dan 2.7 juta kematian. [2]

Apakah ini tidak cukup untuk meyakinkan kita bahawa setiap usaha untuk memelihara dan mencegah berlakunya kes dan kematian daripada penyakit COVID sepatutnya diraikan.

Tidakkah ini suatu usaha insan yang murni untuk menyahut panggilan Ilahi didalam Surah Al-Maidah, ayat 32?

Barangsiapa memelihara kehidupan seorang manusia, maka seakan-akan dia telah memelihara kehidupan semua manusia.

 

Bukankah jihad untuk memelihara nyawa manusia keutamaan kedua selepas memelihara agama didalam Maqasid Shari’ah (keutamaan Shari’ah) [3]

Lagipun isu penggunaan bahan haram didalam perubatan merupakan isu yang lapuk yang telah pun dikaji dan dirumus oleh ulama Islam yang tersohor  didunia.

Semasa dunia memerangi pandemik polio, Majlis Fatwa dan Kajian Eropah (ECFR) yang dipengerusikan oleh Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, bersama lebih daripada 100 ulama terkemuka Islam telah pun membincangkan tentang pengunaan enzim Trypsin didalam pembuatan vaksin polio.

Berikut adalah rumusan daripada fatwa yang telah dikeluarkan oleh Majlis Fatwa dan Kajiaan Eropah:[4]

  1. Apa yang dilarang oleh ugama kita ialah pemakanan khinzir, dan enzim Trypsin tiada kena mengena dengan pemakanan khinzir
  2. Jika kita masih menganggap enzim Trypsin sebagai haram, ketahui bahawa,  bahan enzim Tryspin yang digunakan untuk membuat vaksin teramat kecil. Dan jika kita guna pakai kaedah fiqh “2 qollah air boleh sucikan najis” maka sudah pasti enzim Trypsin ini telah pun suci dengan cecair didalam badan kita yang melebehi 2 qollah.
  3. Lagipun, enzim Trypsin ini telah pun ditapis dengan sepenuhnya dan tiada terdapat enzim Trypsin didalam vaksin yang dihasilkan
  4. Jika kesemua dalil ini tidak diterima, maka ketahui bahwa didalam keadaan darurat, bahan yang haram dibenarkan oleh Shari’ah agama kita.

 

Enzim Trypsin diguna untuk membelah protin kepada unit yang kecil. Ia juga mengaktifkan virus dan mengasingkannya dari cell kultur. Amat sedikit sahaja enzim Trypsin yang diguna pakai.

Ia diproses dengan sinar gamma supaya bersih

Selepas fungsinya tamat, ia ditapis sehingga tiada lagi terdapat didalam vaksin yang dijana.

Khinzir diplih kerana ia selamat daripada penyakit Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (Cow Mad Disease) yang boleh menyebabkan jangkitan didalam otak manusia.

Majlis Fatwa dan Kajian Eropah juga menyeru kepada Majlis Fatwa yang lain dan juga ketua negara supaya lebih cermat didalam menangani vaksin polio yang terbukti menyelamat nyawa kanak dan mencegah mereka daripada terencat akal dan fizikal dan membawa kebaikan dan maslahah kepada kesihatan kanak sedunia.

Ia merupakan perkara khilafiah yang terbuka kepada pandangan yang berbeda. Dan kita yakin ia tidak bertentangan dengan nas yang qatie’ didalam Al-Quran dan Hadith Nabi (SAW)

Pengunaan enzim Trypsin juga telah saya kaji didalam pembuatan vaksin Rotavirus. Tanpa kecuali semua Majlis Fatwa sedunia membenarkan kaedah ini melainkan segelinitr Majlis Fatwa diAsia Tenggara, [5]

Saya ingin mengkahiri penulisan ini dengan peringatan berikut:

The Federation of Islamic Medical Associations (FIMA) has endeavoured to mainstream evidence based medicine (EBM) of the highest quality and which should henceforth  dictate our best clinical practices. And importantly, it is sanctioned as Shari’ah compliant by the highest authorities of jurisprudential scholarship among Muslim scholars world-wide.

This excellent collaboration of the best brains in medicine and jurisprudence has lightened the burden upon the Muslim Ummah (community). It has not only truly embraced the jurisprudence of facilitation (Fiqh Taysir) but also the jurisprudence of realities & priorities (Fiqh Waqi’ah) and the jurisprudence of balance (Fiqh Wasatiyah).

We urge the religious authorities to take cognisance of the invaluable heritage of medical fatwas that is before us and not attempt to reinvent the wheel. They should instead incorporate these shari’ah compliant best clinical practise into the corpus of our nation’s jurisprudence in medicine.

 

1. https://www.cnnindonesia.com/nasional/20210319114944-20-619537/mui-astrazeneca-tetap-boleh-digunakan-karena-darurat

2. https://www.outbreak.my/world

3. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/228816994.pdf

4. https://www.infosihat.gov.my/images/media_sihat/slaid/pdf/02_pelalian_pelindungan_ummah.pdf

5. http://mpf.org.my/wp/?p=1535

Articles

Islamic Digital Economy – Islamic Fintech – Malaysia’s New Frontier

Islamic Digital Economy – Islamic Fintech
Malaysia’s New Frontier

Yuzaidi Yusoff
January 5, 2021

Changing Economic Landscape
The World Bank reported that top 15 economies in the world represent 75% of the overall global GDP in 2018, which totalled USD86tn. United States captures 24% of the world total, or USD26tn, followed by China, Japan and Germany.

It is interesting to note from a projection by Standard Chartered, that the next decade will see some significant changes in the global economic ladder. In 2030, China will be the largest economy in the world with USD64tn in GDP, followed by India at USD46.3tn. United States will drop to 3rd in the ranking at USD31tn as its projected GDP in 2030.

What is more interesting is the rise of the developing countries. Indonesia, Turkey, Brazil and Egypt will jump to no. 4, 5, 6 and 7 in the world respectively, overtaking the likes of Japan and Germany as the leading world economies. The developed economies will still grow, but not at an exponential rate as the countries mentioned above.

Malaysia Economic Monitor (MEM) 2020 report by World Bank says Malaysia is not expected to recover fully from the pandemic shock within the next few years, creating a challenge to the medium term fiscal outlook. Malaysia has used up much of its fiscal space. By the time it is out of its crisis, it will be saddled with more debt and contingent liabilities.

It went to suggest that Malaysia should refocus its fiscal policy on sustaining public financing for long-term growth, seizing new growth opportunities and bold structural reforms.

Opportunities for Malaysia
It is said that Malaysia needs to enhance its industrialisation economy and not rely solely on her commodity revenue. Fortunately, there are opportunities out there. 2.3bn of them. That is the number of Muslims in the world by 2030, forecasted by Dinar Standard as reported in the State of the Global Islamic Economy Report (GIER) 2019/20. It said that Muslims are expected to spend USD3.2tn by 2024 from USD2.2tn in 2018.

Islamic finance (assets) is forecasted to contribute USD3.5tn with a CAGR of 5.5% in 2024 from 2018 as reported in the same Report. In 2018, the Islamic finance (assets) stood at USD2.5tn with a 3.5% growth y-o-y. Malaysia is ranked third with USD521bn.

In fact, Malaysia is ranked #1 in the Global Islamic Economy Indicator (GIEI) ranking, followed by UAE, Bahrain, Arab Saudi and Indonesia.

In 2018/19, investment in Islamic economy companies is only USD1bn, a fraction of the global investment in consumer and financial services of USD596bn. The same report also reveals that 66% of consumers are willing to pay more for ethical products.

Thomson Reuters projected the sharia-compliant assets worldwide to reach USD3.8tn by 2022.

The recently signed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Agreement on 15th November 2020 resulting in the establishment of the world’s largest trading bloc, will give Malaysia the opportunity to capture 30% of the world population. World Bank estimates that Malaysia is expected to see a net gain of around 1% of the GDP from RCEP. There is a huge opportunity to capture.

Among the hot sectors for growth that Malaysia can and should be focussing on is in Islamic finance, especially in Islamic Fintech, particularly in peer-to-peer (P2P) finance and insure tech/Takaful. Islamic social finance, i.e. zakat, waqaf, microfinance; and Islamic trade finance are the other sub-sectors to watch out for growth. Malaysian Islamic Fintech can and should increase adoption and in addressing UN Sustainable Development Growth (SDG) objectives. An ethical purpose and approach easily understood by the non-Muslims.

Bullish and Aggressive
According to the Department of Statistics of Malaysia’s (DOSM) report, Malaysia’s GDP per capita for 2018 shows that they are uneven across the states. Kelantan has the lowest GDP per capita at RM13,700 or 69% below the national average of RM44,700. Kedah, Perlis and Sabah are the other poor states in the country with RM21,400, RM24,400 and 25,900 respectively.

The Khazanah Research Institute (KRI) paper, “Improving Income Inequality: Fact or Fiction?” stated that the income gap on absolute term in the country has widened. In 1970, the Top 20 households (T20) earned RM3,300 more than the Bottom 40 households (B40). In 2016, the T20s earned RM13,200 more than the B40s.

Islamic social finance can and should play a bigger role in reducing poverty, inequality and addressing environmental challenges. Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) recently launched policy document on Licensing Framework for Digital Banks inviting applicants to offer banking products and services primarily to underserved and unserved market through digital means helps to address this gap.

The Shared Prosperity Value 2030 (SPV30) is a commitment by the Government of Malaysia to make Malaysia a nation that achieves sustainable growth along with fair and equitable distribution, across income groups, ethnicities, regions and supply chains. Its primary aim is to provide a decent standard of living to all Malaysians by 2030. The SPV30 preaches the concept of inclusivity, leaving no one behind. Islamic Fintech can be that engine, that driver, for financial inclusion for all Malaysians at all levels.

Two of the Key Economic Growth Activities (KEGA) outlined in the SPV30 is Islamic Finance Hub 2.0 and the Digital Economy. Malaysia strongly believes the potential growth of these activities as it aspires to achieve high value economic development.

The SPV30 is very focus to position Malaysia as an Islamic Finance Hub 2.0.

Malaysia was a leader in “Wave 1” of Islamic banking back in the 1990s. Malaysia is ready to lead the “Wave 2” of Islamic finance, adapting to the digital Fintech world. Malaysia is strategically placed in ASEAN to serve as the gateway for Islamic Fintech, particularly to Indonesia.

Malaysia has the right ingredient and ecosystem to build a Global Islamic Fintech Hub in the region as it:
• has a matured Islamic finance environment;

• is conducive and has a cost-effective business environment;

• is blessed with academicians, Islamic finance experts and shariah scholars;

• has sought after local and international talents in Fintech and Islamic finance;

• has established proven Islamic finance framework and structure; and

• progressive regulatory bodies.

Malaysia should be in the driver seat in leading the Islamic digital economy for the region. For the last fifty years Malaysia has been successful in the electrical and electronics (E&E) sector. It has the experience, the ingredients, and the know-how for a similar transformation of the Islamic digital economy. It needs to create an ecosystem for its Islamic digital economy that incorporates reforms to its infrastructure, policies, talents, production, innovation, intellectual property (IP), research and financial support.

Malaysia is located in an ideal location for the regional hub not only with a sizeable market, but also offers the opportunity to scale-up into the region, especially capturing the more than 280m Muslims in the region.

Take The Bull by The Horns
To maximize the opportunities at hand, Malaysia needs to fill the gaps and overcome its shortfalls. Funding availability has always been the issue for the Malaysian startups, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurs. Many feel Singapore is friendlier and offers more funding opportunities for them. Malaysia also needs to find ways to attract more venture capitalists (VCs), investors, fund managers to support Malaysian unicorns-to-be. Government agencies should play a bigger role in providing ease and support for setting up operations and business in Malaysia. There needs to be more active engagements by regulators and offer more welcoming regulatory environment.

Malaysia can take the cue from Bahrain Fintech Bay (BFB) that has the support from the Islamic banking community, boasting eight (8) of the largest Islamic banks in the Kingdom as partners. The Association of Islamic Banking and Financial Institutions in Malaysia (AIBIM) can play a bigger role in supporting the Islamic Fintech ecosystem in Malaysia.

In UAE, the DIFC Fintech Hive, located in the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC), a global hub for Islamic Fintech, is driven directly by Dubai Islamic Economy Development Corporation. It is attracting local and foreign Islamic Fintech start-ups including Malaysian own shariah compliant gold digital savings platform, HelloGold.

Malaysia should learn its bitter lesson from the Malaysia-born, Singapore-based unicorn, Grab.

Indonesia just launched the Indonesia Islamic Economic Masterplan 2019-2024 (IIEM 2019-24). This is a country with the largest consumer of halal products in the world.

With a population that takes up more than 3.5% of the world’s total population, Indonesia spends more than USD215bn in all Islamic economic sectors. Indonesia is poised to be the developing country to be reckoned with. It is not surprising that the projections from Standard Chartered, placed Indonesia as the 4th biggest economy in the world by 2030, behind China, India and the United States. Indonesia has
identified strengthening Islamic finance and digital economy as two of its four main
strategies in the IIEM 2019-24.

Nevertheless, Indonesia has its own challenges to overcome in the Islamic banking.

They include skilled resources, regulations improvements, research & development (R&D) to ascertain opportunities, and education & socialisation on Islamic banking.

Malaysia has a lead-start on some of these areas. It cannot rest on its laurels and must act fast, as the window of opportunities (some say survival), is closing in fast.

The Covid-19 pandemic has given Malaysia the opportunity not only to revitalize the economy but also to REFORM the economy.

“Countries become good at certain industries only because they decide as much, and not because they are destined to do so.”
– Prof. Ha-Joon Chang, University Cambrige

Recommendations
Immediate actions could include the following:
1. Establish an Islamic Fintech sub-committee within a special committee of Islamic Finance under the Ministry of Finance.

i. Formulate a national Islamic Fintech strategy linking to Islamic and ethical economies;

ii. Work closely with key stakeholders across the ecosystem to drive the strategy roadmap;

iii. Design an Islamic Fintech framework;

iv. Execute and monitor the Islamic Fintech strategic plan;

v. Act as the point of reference on anything related to Islamic Fintech in Malaysia;

vi. Define and design the Islamic Fintech industry parameters – providing clarity

in roles of incumbents and new entrants;

vii. Rationalize standards, working closely with other countries, making Islamic finance standards as the leading benchmark for ethical finance practices, to reach beyond Muslim-owned businesses and to drive economic growth.

2. Enhance the existing MDEC’s Orbit and as an Islamic Fintech cluster.

i. Provide Islamic Fintech companies an access to multinational companies (MNCs), Islamic financial institutions (IFIs) and regulators;

ii. Serve as an advisory service centre including on shariah compliant financial matters;

iii. Act as an accelerator and an incubator, provide access to international market especially to Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), and RCEP countries; iv. Act as a soft landing for foreign Islamic Fintech players in making Malaysia as its hub or base in this region; v. It can emulate the Bahrain’s BFB structure with a Public Private Partnership (PPP) between the Ministry of Multimedia and Communication (KKMM), MDEC, AIBIM, and Malaysia IFIs.

3. Redefine Islamic social finance for an inclusive Islamic Fintech
Malaysia needs to revive institutions that encourage mutual help and generosities to people in need. One of them is waqaf. The basic concept is not too different from endowments. In fact waqafs are the precursors to modern day endowments or foundations, where properties or other assets are donated to be used for the benefit of society.

Development of waqaf is one of the significant social instrument for social development, greater public good and wealth distribution. During the Abbasid period of Islamic history when waqaf dominated the economy, medical services were provided free of charge by waqaf-funded hospitals. They competed with each other to provide the best free services, as the ones with better reputations would attract more donors.

i. Collaborate with UNHCR Zakat Fund;

ii. Establish synergistic collaboration with zakat collection centres, institutions and regulatory bodies across the respective states in Malaysia;

iii. Increase adoption of sustainability in Islamic social finance products, maximising social impact and addressing SDGs;

iv. Establish structured and well governed philanthropic-based institutions that include:
a) Zakat;
b) Infaq;
c) Sadaqah;
d) Waqaf.

i. Establish cooperation-based institutions that include:
a) Qard (loan-based cooperation);
b) Contemporary Islamic microfinance institutions.

i. Securities Commission recently launched Waqf-Featured Fund Framework to facilitate the offering of Islamic funds with wakaf features is a step in the right direction;

ii. Taking advantage of Fintech to be put in place like zakat information system, waqaf information systems, and enhancing the collection and management of the zakat collection and distribution;

iii. Encourage the use of big data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to spur growth of innovation and improve the quality of service delivery;

iv. We need more shariah-compliant Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) in the market to encourage start-ups in providing investors with a globally diversified Islamic ETF portfolios;

v. Proper branding and awareness to the Muslims on zakat, waqaf, etc and that environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria goes beyond corporate social responsibility (CSR);

vi. Build a Fintech culture within the Islamic finance fraternity, in particular the Islamic social finance space.

Articles

OF HEROES AND WORKING SAFELY IN A DANGEROUS TIME

Bby Mazeni Alwi

“Where are the enemy?”

Benjamin waved his hand expansively.

“Over zere.” Benjamin spoke English – terrible English.

“But where?”

Benjamin, a Polish Jew whose mother-tongue was French, must have deflated George Orwell’s enthusiasm in “Homage to Catalonia[1938]”; an enthusiasm driven – one may assume, by the purest of motives when he signed up as a volunteer to defend the nascent Spanish republic against the military revolt led by General Franco.

Soon after arriving in Barcelona in the early part of the civil war he was quickly sent to the frontline near Zaragoza. The “front” was not as what he had imagined – trenches in straight lines, with a mere 50-100 yards across no man’s land separating him from the enemy.

Here the frontlines were ridges and hilltops, and across hundreds of meters of barren ravines all he could see were the tiny parapets and flags of the fascist positions. His heart sank further when the weapon he was handed was a German Mauser dated 1895 while the best rifle was given to, in his own words, a half-witted little beast of fifteen (half of the “men” in his company were teenagers from the backstreets of Barcelona).

The narrative of the Covid-19 pandemic has been invested, not surprisingly, with the metaphor of war – the enemy, frontlines, heroism, sacrifice. The Emergency departments, the ward floor and the ICU are our battlegrounds.

The civilian population in turn must contend with the inconvenience of confinement. More stringent curbs on matter-of-fact liberties and uncertain economic future are to follow should this war drag on.

I could not help harking back to Orwell’s account of the enemy he couldn’t see and also the mess he observed when one entered into battle woefully unprepared.

Doctors and other healthcare professionals readily accept that their job often requires them to serve beyond the call of duty even in “peace time”. We are of course cognizant of the fact that occupational death is a risk in some fields of medicine such as one that deals with new, little known infectious diseases. Of this the late Dr. Carlo Urbano comes to mind. A WHO infectious disease expert, he contracted the disease and succumbed to it while working to unravel the mystery of SARS in 2003.

But needless deaths in frightening numbers is something else. Among doctors alone Covid-19 has claimed the lives of 61 doctors in China and Italy each, 24 in Indonesia, 10 in the UK, days before I started writing this. That is an indication of what is very frightening to health care workers about this pandemic.

Frightening but also humbling for we mistakenly thought that modern medicine has at last conquered many of the big diseases that man has long struggled with to find relief and freedom from. We didn’t see that in the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, half a million died, and that too in an era of medicine when antibiotics and ventilators had not yet existed

Over a short period of time we have better understood the enemy – what it is and its genetic make-up and have baptized it with a name. We know how it is transmitted and we can accurately diagnose infected persons even if they don’t show any symptoms of the disease. But the few unfortunate enough to be inflicted the full severity can die even in the best ICU of the best hospital.

The word tragic doesn’t describe enough the sad fate of healthcare workers who lose their lives in the line of duty when we now know that this can be prevented by having the right PPE, appropriate for the level of risk in patient encounters. The recent death of a Jakarta doctor is one such heartbreaking story just as we read about fallen doctors in the Philippines paraded as heroes. Working in such an underfunded healthcare environment, we wonder if doctors, despite being aware of the dangerous odds against them, feel pressured into carrying out heroic deeds by societal expectations rather than out of their own volition. Heroism does not adequately describe their ultimate sacrifice.

But this is not just about an underfunded healthcare system in a third world country where underfunding of basic infrastructure is just one of a myriad of other interconnected problems. The 10th NHS doctor to die of Covid-19 had earlier warned Prime Minister Boris Johnson that frontline workers did not have enough PPE. Except for PAPR which is used in procedures that carry the highest risks of transmission, PPE for obtaining diagnostic specimens and general ICU care of infected patients are not expensive even for the standard of developing countries.

The problem is unpreparedness, logistical issues and lack of concern borne out of ignorance for the safety of those who have to work at the frontlines. Many of these are junior doctors and nurses who dare not articulate their fears of having to work without adequate PPE. If the shocking number of doctors who have died in the line of duty is not enough to jolt those in authority to do the right thing, we hope the protests by healthcare workers from New York to Quetta in Pakistan, and the Zimbabwe government being taken to court over its failure to provide doctors on the frontline with masks, will.

Apart from the great personal cost to the families of the fallen, what is going to happen to society if the ranks of frontliners are depleted to the point that the entire system collapses? We can be certain that the ethics and legal dimensions of this will soon enter the narrative of the Covid 19 pandemic.

Those who don’t know Dr Musa in person are apt to be a little disturbed by the tone of his impassioned open letter to the DG and the leadership of KKM. But his message is a timely reminder before we lose a healthcare worker in the line of duty. That would be a devastating blow not just to the frontliners but the entire medical and its allied professions. And unlike our neighbours, ours is not for the lack of funding, infrastructure and dedicated personnel.

Dr Musa is a respected doctor in the paediatric fraternity who has distinguished himself at the forefront of neonatology. But his other passion is advocacy on vaccines and the prevention of infectious childhood diseases. Dr Musa has the right credentials and the welfare of fellow workers and the people of this country in his heart. If there is such a term as Corona Crusaders, he would be among them, urging the government to do extensive testing, protect the frontliners and guard our borders to prevent a new wave of infections from neighbouring Indonesia.

On the other hand, the Director General and the KKM leadership have earned the respect and trust of the Malaysian public in the handling of the Covid-19 epidemic. Of all the government officials, he is the only one every citizen looks up to with hope in this time of crisis. At the beginning of March, we were like Spain and France in terms of statistics. Short of calling it a miracle, we have not followed suit in the explosion of new cases and number of fatalities. And not to forget, all this was unfolding when we had no functioning cabinet for 2 weeks. Still, we should not drop our guard for the safety of the shore is still some distance away.

In the novel about a fictional plague that took place in the Algerian city of Oran before independence, Camus wrote of hundreds of city dwellers falling victims to it and the ensuing chaos, fear and the tensions brought about by closure of the city gates. The main protagonist, Dr Bernard Rieux, is a physician of supreme clinical detachment who assembled a team of volunteers of disparate individual characters to fight against the plague, bringing and treating the sick in a makeshift hospital and dealing with the dead.

As the plague began to be tamed, in a moment of reflection Dr Rieux spoke to his assistant Tarrou,

”I feel more fellowship with the defeated than with saints. Heroism and sanctity don’t really appeal to me..”

Articles

Let Us Together Flatten the COVID2019 Epidemic Curve

Let us together flatten the COVID2019 epidemic curve

Dato’ Dr Musa Mohd Nordin
Damansara Specialist Hospital
13 March 2020

The WHO officially declared the outbreak of the novel coronavirus 2019 as a pandemic on 11 March 2020. This is the second in the 21st century after the HiN1 influenza pandemic in 2009.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) Malaysia, marshaled by the past Minister, Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad, was on the ball, immediately after the announcement of the first Wuhan case of COVID2019 on 31st Dec 2019.

It is pertinent to take stock of our current containment and mitigation strategies and benefit from best practices elsewhere, to craft our Malaysian plan of action against the SARS-CoV2 pandemic.

We should first try to understand current and best knowledge of this coronavirus which is bewildering most scientists studying it.

The SARS-COV2 is a very smart coronavirus. It does not overkill it’s host unlike SARS-CoV1 and MERS-CoV. Its Case Fatality Rate (CFR) is 2% when compared against 10% for SARS and 35% for MERS.

It therefore lives another day to further infect more humans. This is reflected in its Ro (Reproduction Nought) of 2-4, an index of how contagious the virus is. Contrast this to the less infectious MERS (Ro less than 1) versus the extremely infectious measles virus with an Ro of 13-18.

The mean time from exposure to the manifestation of symptoms, namely fever, cough and breathing difficulties, is 7 days, with a range of 2-14 days.

However, it is now established that he SARS-CoV2 is able to infect others even prior to manifesting clinical symptoms. Analysis of 124 Wuhan cases with clearly documented contact history illustrated an incubation period of 5 days (ranging from 1-11 days). It also showed that 73% of secondary cases were infected before the onset of symptoms in the index COVID2019 case.

This suggests that a substantial proportion of secondary transmissions was acquired prior to the onset of clinical symptoms and signs in the index case. Experts best  estimates is that 12% of carriers can spread COVID19, 2-4 days before the manifestation of the signs and symptoms.

This existence of asymptomatic transmission of SARS-CoV2 makes total containment very difficult and problematic.

In the light of these disclosures of the transmissibility (and fatality) of the SARS-CoV2 we may need to realign and reconsider some of our strategies of containment and mitigation.

I do not think we need to follow the draconian, lockdown methodology of China and Italy. South Korea has been very successful in reducing confirmed cases of COVID2019 from 900 per day to less than 100 per day and declining further. Probably we could learn from some of the salient features of South Korea’s strategy to “flatten the COVID2019 epidemic curve”

We should continue to screen, through fever checks and rt-PCR testing, detect the positive cases and isolate cases. Self-quarantine should be advised in appropriate clinical settings

We should ensure that there is sufficient, rapid and accurate diagnostic test kits and which is undertaken appropriately to conserve the supply chain. South Korea undertakes 12,000 – 20,000 tests per day. Prior to the lockdown of Italy only 20,000 tests were done. Due to restricted and flawed test kits only 4,000 tests were done in the USA prior to the declaration of global pandemic. The US CDC therefore does not have an idea of the burden of COVIC2019 disease in their community, which makes it very difficult to solicit public support for their ensuing public programs.

To facilitate testing South Korea has organized several Drive-Through SARS-CoV2 tests at public areas. This Drive-Through model has been replicated in KPJ Damansara Specialist Hospital (KPJ-DSH) and Hospital Sungai Buluh. In fact, KPJ-DSH has operated mobile Drive-Through COVID2019 testing at several Government Linked Companies (GLC) premises, as part of testing of persons in close contact with Index Case 26.

 Dr Dzulkefly during his stewardship of the MOH emphasized transparency of their work processes, which seems somewhat alien to the work culture of most government ministries. He pushed for the public release of the findings of the independent investigation of the fire incident in HSA in 2016 despite fierce protests from the top officers in the MOH. Tan Sri Abu Bakar Suleiman, vice chairman of the fire investigation commission and myself, as part of the now defunct Health Advisory Council (HAC), advocated for the prompt and complete release of the fire report.

This transparent work culture permeated through Dr Dzul’s handling of the COVID2019 disease outbreak. Apart from being transparent, he made sure the information was accurate, readily accessible and presented in a reassuring and calming manner.

This is extremely crucial, because quick access to accurate information is powerful in debunking fake news and fear mongering. It empowers the rakyat to be active partners of the MOH and the government in the fight against the outbreak

Another strategic decision that needs to be carefully considered is the shift from the imposition of physical and legal barriers towards creating healthy social barriers as advocated in the infectious disease philosophy of social distancing.

The cities that practiced social distancing during the Spanish Flu pandemic in 1918 suffered the least impact from the effects of the H1N1 influenza outbreak.

These social distancing strategies ranged from best practice hygiene practices, cough etiquette, avoidance of large crowds, no handshakes, hugs and kisses, replaced with Hola, Namaste and Eyvallah, staying home when unwell, wearing a mask if unwell and still needing to be out, staying put in homes for high risk groups eg pregnant ladies, geriatrics, those with underlying health conditions, work from home, cancelation of all large events eg games, religious congregation, conferences, to more major closures of schools, theatres, mosques and churches.

Manual contact tracing can be very laborious and time consuming and may still not track the vulnerable persons. It is time for the MOH to utilize GPS technology and information for contact tracing.

In South Korea, all travellers entering the country are recruited into the Self Health Check Mobile App which not only tracks the visitors’ symptoms but also his whereabouts. This has caused some embarrassment in certain circumstances eg those who frequented love hotels etc and has raised issues of invasion of privacy and confidentiality.

And I would like to suggest to the MOH to utilize the Artificial Intelligence (AI) expertise of the likes of Dr Dhesi (previously digital health advisor to Dr Dzulkefly) to team with the group in UMMC under Prof Adeeba to get cracking towards AI

AI modeling, tracking and forecasting of COVID2019.

All of these interventions I believe, will help to flatten the COVID2019 epidemic curve, to delay and spread out the progression of the outbreak, reduce the disease morbidities and mortalities and reduce the burden on our healthcare institutions and essential services. This hopefully will buy us some time until anti-viral agents and a vaccine can be produced and its manufactured up-scaled for global treatment and protection

Articles

Kemenangan Pyrrhic untuk TSMY dan Malaysia (Bahagian III)

9 March 2020

Kemenangan Pyrrhic untuk TSMY dan Malaysia (Bahagian III)

Prof Dr Awaluddin Mohamed Shaharoun
Dato’ Dr Musa Mohd Nordin, Muslim Professionals Forum (MPF)

Dari sudut pandangan Umno, ini adalah penyelamat ajaib daripada kelumpuhan akibat kehilangan kuasa secara tiba-tiba yang berlaku pada tahun 2018. Perpecahan dalaman hasil dari pemimpin terkemuka mereka, yang menghadapi puluhan tuduhan dimahkamah, namun masih degil memegang tampuk kuasa penting dalam parti mengakibatkan UMNO masih belum berjaya mencipta semula dirinya dan mensucikan diri dari runtuhan politik. Ini biasanya dicapai dengan membenteras golongan korup dan menggantikannya dengan darah baru. UMNO masih dibelengui dengan puak puak ini dua tahun selepas PRU14.

Jadi peluang baru ini untuk kembali berkuasa dan menebus kembali imej mereka pada pendapat kami tidak akan membawa kepada sebarang perubahan besar kecuali hanya sekadar mengekalkan status quo. Pada mereka ini bisnes seperti biasa. Kami tidak menjangkakan akan melihat kewujudan UMNO yang segar dan bersih untuk muncul dalam pakatan ini malah akan kita lihat pelakon pelakon lama dan yang sama. Cuma kali ini sekadar memakai pakaian yang baru.

Apa yang pasti, mereka mungkin kembali membalas dendam terutama pada gabungan PH (atau apa yang tersisa daripada mereka) kerana menyebabkan kekalahan mereka diPRU ke-14. Kami jangka DSAI akan menghadapi satu lagi dakwaan tuduhan meliwat. Bekas ahli politik UMNO yang masih kekal dalam pakatan pembangkang akan diajukan dengan tuduhan rasuah. Kebebasan akhbar akan diperketatkan, yang mana mereka gunakan semaksima yang mungkin dalam tempoh 22 bulan terakhir untuk menghina kerajaan PH dan memperkecilkan pencapaian mereka.

Daripada PAS, tiada banyak yang boleh diharapkan daripada sumbangan mereka dalam pakatan baru ini kecuali untuk mengkuduskan dan mewajarkan tindakan kerajaan baru terutama kepada persepsi penduduk Melayu-Muslim. Satu peluang untuk berkongsi kuasa di peringkat persekutuan adalah seperti manna yang jatuh dari langit dan mereka sudah pasti akan berhati-hati untuk memelihara peluang yang tidak dijangka ini setelah menunggu selama 43 tahun supaya ia tidak lagi hilang seperti pada tahun 1977 ketika mereka ditendang keluar dari gabungan BN .

Malah, dalam semangatnya kuatnya untuk menjadi sebahagian daripada kerajaan baru, Ustaz Hadi Awang ditanya oleh pihak media baru baru ini sama ada beliau berfikir pemimpin UMNO yang menghadapi tuduhan jenayah harus menjadi sebahagian daripada kerajaan baru. Sebagai seorang ahli politik yang licik, beliau menjawab bahawa fokus utama kerajaan baru itu adalah untuk menyelamatkan ekonomi negara dan pemimpin Pakatan Harapan juga mempunyai menghadapi tuduhan yang sama. Secara implikasinya beliau membayangkan bahawa “jika anda boleh melakukannya, kami pun boleh” dan jika tuduhan dalam mahkamah terhadap pemimpin-pemimpin Pakatan boleh gugur, maka demikian juga kemungkinan bagi pemimpin UMNO Perikatan Nasional (PN).

Suatu tanda yang merisaukan bahawa PAS yang sekian lama menjuarai amar ma’aruf dan nahi mungkar (ajaran Islam yang menyarankan melakukan kebaikan dan melarang kejahatan) sedia bertoleransi dengan pencuri dan perompak untuk mengisi kabinet baru demi kemaslahatan politik. Ini tidak baik untuk reputasi dan integriti kerajaan baru jika sayap keagamaan bersedia untuk menutup mata terhadap rasuah.

TSMY perlu membuktikan kabinet barunya yang kelihatan lebih putih dari putih untuk memenangi hati pengkritik dan mereka yang masih ragu-ragu di negara ini tetapi ini bukan permulaan yang mungkin dia kehendaki. PAS harus mengambil peluang untuk menegakkan reformasi sosial, politik dan ekonomi tulen dan bergerak ke arah masyarakat sivil dan membawa NGO NGO ke dalam perjuangan ini tetapi seperti dijangka kini mengambil pendekatan pragmatik iaitu “jika anda tidak dapat mengalahkan mereka, sertai lah mereka” .

Satu lagi cabaran besar bagi PAS adalah untuk menghasilkan tokoh kebangsaan yang sama handal seperti Mat Sabu, Khalid Samad, Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad (secara konsensus umum seorang Menteri Kesihatan yang terbaik setakat ini), Salehudin Ayob dan untuk mempamirkan keupayaan ahli mereka apabila diberikan jawatan kabinet kelak. Sekiranya watak-watak yang disebut tadi tidak dipaksa meninggalkan PAS, maka sudah tentu mereka akan menjadi contoh peranan pemimpin PAS Islam yang baik dalam memimpin masyarakat berbilang budaya dan ras. Tetapi pemergian mereka telah meninggalkan PAS dengan kekurangan bakat semacam itu tetapi yang tinggal hanya ramai tokoh agama yang layak untuk jawatan Menteri Agama dan yang sewaktu dengannya.

Oleh itu, Ustaz Hadi mempunyai tugas berat untuk mencadangkan nama-nama calon yang kompeten untuk kerajaan baru di mana PAS dijangka memainkan peranan utama. Sebagai sebahagian daripada kerajaan dan tidak lagi sebagai pembangkang, ia menjadi alasan untuk mengharapkan pendekatan yang lebih lembut oleh PAS dalam menangani rakyat bangsa bukan Melayu dan yang berugama bukan Islam terutamanya dengan sahutan mereka untuk melaksanakan hudud dan sebagainya. Sebagai pembangkang, anda boleh mengatakan apa sahaja yang anda suka tetapi sebagai anggota kerajaan yang memerintah, anda mesti bertindak dengan lebih bertanggungjawab dan bijaksana. Ini PAS mesti uruskan dengan risiko dilabel sebagai inhiraf atau menyeleweng dari perjuangan Islam oleh penyokong mereka.

Rumusannya, cabaran yang dihadapi oleh PM ke-8 dan kabinet barunya adalah seperti berikut:

1. Mengatasi ekonomi dengan ruang bertindak yang terhad untuk bergerak akibat situasi geo-politik yang tidak stabil dan pandemik Coronavirus19 yang menjejaskan ekonomi global

2. Teruskan inisiatif pengislahan atau menghadapi risiko kehilangan kepercayaan dan keyakinan dari rakyat

3. Bagaimana untuk meneruskan agenda pembaharuan sementara bekerja bersama dengan orang-orang yang akan paling terkesan akibat pembaharuan ini

4. Untuk menyatukan parti sendiri yang telah retak

5. Mengurus negara sementara himpit oleh dua partai yang lebih besar dengan ideologi yang berbeza

6. Melindungi kabinet daripada ahli politik yang tercemar yang menghadapi tuduhan rasuah dalam mahkamah yang akan merosakkan kredibilitinya serta reputasi negara yang telah terkesan akibat penyelewengan yang silam

7. Membentuk satu kerajaan yang berhidmat untuk semua rakyat Malaysia dan bukan kerajaan hanya untuk sebilangan rakyat Malaysia

8. Menghadapi pembangkang yang kini lebih bersatu dan yang telah dibersihkan dari pengkhianat dan anasir barah, yang dipimpin oleh TDM, lawan yang masih hebat walaupun berusia dalam sembilan puluhan tahun

Yang pasti, rakyat mengharapkan hasil serta-merta dan kurang sabar menantinya sebagai mana kerajaan PH pernah merasai sebelum ini. Kerajaan yang berkuasa dengan merampas kehendak popular rakyat atau secara sinis yang disebut sebagai ” pintu kerajaan belakang ” sudah tentu memikul kepincangan berat dari permulaannya dan akan mengharapkan syafaat dari langit, yang diyakini Pak Pak Lebai dari PAS akan memainkan peranan untuk meneruskan kesinambungan hidup mereka sehingga PRU 15.

Kami bagaimanapun tidak merasakan bahawa TSMY mempunyai satu pasukan impian yang mampu untuk bertahan sehingga GE15, apatah lagi menang.

Peristiwa yang berlaku sebelum ini, mengingatkan kita kembali tentang kisah Pyrrhus seorang raja negara Epirus (318-272 SM) yang berperang melawan tentera Rom. Beliau memenangi pertempuran di Asculum tetapi mengalami korban yang besar bahkan kemudiannya orang-orang Rom dapat menambah kembali kekuatan tentera mereka. Maka pengorbanan askar Epirus ternyata sia sia. Dia dilaporkan berkata “Jika saya mengalami pertempuran lain seperti ini, saya mungkin pulang ke Epirus seorang diri sahaja” Oleh itu, istilah “kemenangan Phyrric “ telah masuk kedalam kamus perumpamaan iaitu satu kemenangan yang dicapai dengan kos yang begitu besar sehingga membawa kepada kerugian.

Jalan politik khianat (angkara bekas ahli PKR dan juga parti Bersatu) telah membuat TSMY berjaya merampas kedudukan PM ke 8 dari cengkaman kedua-dua protagonis gergasi yang sedang bertarung. Dalam memenangi pertempuran PM, atau lebih sesuai diistilahkan sebagai ” pengkhianatan hak rakyat “, TMSY mungkin sebenarnya memperolehi kemenangan “Phyrric”

Walau bagaimanapun, hanya masa yang membuktikan samaada benar atau tidak. Kita menjangkakan dia berkemungkinan akan menyesal hari dia telah meninggalkan gabungannya dengan PH dan mengkhianati mentornya. Buat masa kini, dia harus berhadapan dengan prospek tidur sekatil dengan sepasang rakan yang gharib dan tidak serasi.