Farewell Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham

The scientific rationale was never released.

According to government statistics, the Covid-19 pandemic tragically cost the lives of more than 36,000 Malaysians. We are now seeing the collateral damage resulting from the Movement Control Orders (MCOs), which include growing poverty and business bankruptcies. The number of households in abject poverty, rose from 27,158 in 2019 to 136,000 in 2022.

Little, vital economic public relief was provided for locked-up citizens, which critics say drove the economy into the ground. People relied on charity to feed themselves, many famously tying white flags outside their homes to indicate distress.

With Covid-19 relief packages amounting to over RM 600 billion over the last three years, public debt has risen to 61.3 percent of GDP, as at September 2022. Money supply increased 25 percent over the pandemic, resulting in a leap in inflation, particularly hitting the food sector hard.

The MCOs were not ordered by Noor Hisham according to any reliable medical or research studies, data, or proof that these measures actually work. He actually ignored the advice of experts in the field, who advised against the measures. Fourteen former presidents of the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) urged a winding back of the MCOs, which was also ignored. There were questions about Noor Hisham, who is a surgeon by training, had the expertise to make public health decisions, unilaterally without expert advice.

Even after Muhyiddin Yassin, as prime minister announced on national TV the MCOs would be wound back, Noor Hisham publicly contradicted him, disagreeing on the decision.

On March 21, 2021, photographs of Noor Hisham were circulated online showing him breaking his own standard operating procedures (SOPS)during the MCO. These photos showed Noor Hisham at a party with other family members standing closely together without masks at a wedding reception for his daughter Khairin Afiqah.

Malaysians are still suffering financially from decisions Noor Hisham forced upon the nation. The Malaysian government is in very high debt because of necessary financial relief due to the MCO. This will reflect in budgetary policy in years to come as future government will have to repay this debt.

4.      Questions over vaccine procurement

More and more evidence is emerging by the day, that pharmaceutical companies paid governments and officials to secure the sale of their vaccines. In the light of growing evidence, the vaccine procurement process requires a thorough review, and explanation by the then health minister Khairy Jamaluddin and DG of the Health ministry Nor Hisham.