By Mohsin Abdullah

As I write this, the big talk or rather the big concern among Malaysians is the possibility of a "strict lockdown" after February 4 to curtail the COVID-19 surge.

February 4 is when the current MCO is scheduled to end.

The concerns are justified as we know a "strict lockdown" will be very restrictive, to say the least, which will put more gloom on an already gloomy situation.

And "gloom" is a mild word to use in describing the situation.

Whether such a lockdown will indeed be imposed, we will just have to wait for the government announcement. We don't have any other choice anyway.

A quick recap on how this talk of "strict lockdown" came about, although many would have known by now.

Anyway, a summary of a meeting held on January 22 between MITI or the ministry of international trade and industry and the EU-Malaysia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Eurocham) was somehow "leaked".

According to the summary, MITI secretary-general Datuk Lokman Ali as chairman told the meeting that the health ministry (MOH) had made a clear stand on the matter of a complete shutdown of the economy.

As 99 clusters out of the more than 300 are related to manufacturing, MOH "believes that the manufacturing sector is the main source of infections," said the summary, adding that construction was also mentioned but was not discussed in detail as it is not under the purview of MITI.

However, according to the summary, "the Malaysian government will announce a shutdown or strict lockdown immediately after February 4, 2021". This is if the number of COVID-19 cases does not go down by then.

It has been confirmed that the meeting did take place and as for the summary, people in the know say it is "authentic".

When the summary went viral, Eurocham went on damage control mode, asking the people to remain focused on the bigger picture in doing their part to ensure a lockdown is avoided.

It said the leaked summary does not mean an immediate lockdown. As said earlier, we will just have to wait and see what the government decision would be.

But as soon as the summary made the rounds, former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was quick to pounce on the issue. Taking to Facebook, Najib said waiting for the current MCO to end before imposing tougher restrictions would only prolong the hardship felt by businesses.

"If you want to be stricter, go all out now. Do not wait and force people to suffer for a longer time under MCO 2.0.

"Why propose for it to happen only after MCO 2.0 as 23 days would have been wasted?" asked Najib.

That's not all he got to say. Since the beginning, according to Najib, it has been said that sectors contributing to the majority of COVID-19 cases in the third wave leading to the reinstatement of the MCO is the manufacturing and construction sectors.

"Yet, sectors allowed to operate in MCO 2.0 include the manufacturing and construction sectors," he said.

He went on to say that for that reason, MCO 2.0 should be enforced with the strictest measures without any relaxation, for two weeks.

"Do not enforce a half-baked MCO which will surely be extended numerous times," said Najib, who had a number of times questioned the logic behind the renewed MCO (now known as MCO 2.0) as to "whether its objectives were actually meant to maintain control over the pandemic".

And you know what? Quite a good number of people agree with him!

Najib has always picked on the government's "missteps, flip flopping" and in particular "indecisiveness" to launch blistering onslaught via the social media. And he can be sarcastic as well. But then most times, government actions gave him the opportunity to do so.

In short, the government is often seen to be providing him with the ammunition to fire at itself.

And he gleefully accepts, scoring political points in the process.

Remember the early days of MCO 2.0 when he questioned the government's rationale in ordering certain small traders to close while big furniture and jewellery shops were allowed to operate?

"Since when is selling gold, jewellery, furniture an essential service? Essential service for whom?" he had then said, also on FB.

And he nailed it when he said numerous small traders were not allowed to operate in the meantime – "we must be fair to all."

That went down well with a lot of people, especially the small traders.

And when Kedah menteri besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor canceled this year's Thaipusam holiday for the state, Najib reminded the MB that Malaysia had declared Thaipusam a holiday in several states (including Kedah previously) for many years, and even though this year's celebrations are affected by the pandemic and MCO, "there is no need to cancel the public holiday because Hindu families can celebrate together at home."

That was a direct swipe at "Islamist" PAS, as the Kedah MB is from the party. And since PAS is also in Perikatan Nasional, that is also swipe at Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin who leads PN.

Killing two birds with one stone, as the proverb goes.

Not to mention his attack was (and is still) well received by non-Muslims, particularly Hindus. All "courtesy" of the Kedah MB who presented Najib with the bullet to fire.

Enough said, although there many other golden opportunities handed to him on silver platters, so to speak. And by the scheme of things, sorry, by the look of things, it seems like Najib will continue to get all the ammo he needs. 

(Mohsin Abdullah is a veteran journalist and now a freelancer who writes about this, that and everything else.)