An honour: CGTN cited Dr Noor Hisham as among the ‘top doctors’ in the world for his approach in handling the Covid-19 pandemic.

HEALTH director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah gets uncomfortable every time the media attempts to extract more about his life.

He has shied away from the praise heaped on him and his team, dismissing the national heroes title, insisting that it’s their service to the ministry which is significant.

However, Dr Noor Hisham hasn’t just become a national figure, he has also gained international attention now.

Every afternoon, at 5pm, Malaysians will be glued to their television sets to have this lanky doctor update them on the Covid-19 situation.

He gives straightforward answers, and that has been reassuring to most Malaysians since the movement control order (MCO) began a month ago.

Sure, sometimes he slips into medical terminology, which can leave us perplexed, but usually, his explanations are clear.

Dr Noor Hisham’s command of Bahasa Malaysia and English is impeccable, and as Malaysians, we feel proud when our leaders are able to speak this way.

Chronicling his early life in a social media post, presumably by a former Methodist Boys’ School (MBS) schoolmate, Dr Noor Hisham clearly learnt well in school.

“All his participation and activities in school had helped him to be independent, self-sufficient, resourceful, mature in engagement with others and to have good communication skills, ” read the post.

The perception outside Malaysia is that we have done well in combating the killer disease.

Every evening, editors of the Asia News Network from 23 countries share updates on the virus, and many of them have expressed their admiration for how Malaysia has tackled the situation.

In Indonesia, social media is ablaze with heated discussions and comparisons made to Malaysia’s management of the crisis.

While the curve has yet to flatten, recovery numbers have gone up and the number of new cases has stabilised, although we’re still not out of the woods.

Last week, the China Global TV Network (CGTN), which broadcasts to the world in Chinese and English, cited Dr Noor Hisham as among the “top doctors” in the world for his approach in handling the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to the report from CGTN, Dr Noor Hisham is recognised as one of three leading doctors in the fight to stop the spread of the Covid-19 virus, along with the US’ infectious disease expert, Dr Anthony Fauci, and New Zealand’s director-general of health Ashley Bloomfield.

The three have been lauded over the weeks for being “calm, clear and trustable” sources of information and facts for their countrymen during the pandemic.

Dr Noor Hisham, who turns 57 in three days’ time, has been the Health director-general since 2013. He has been dubbed a “trusted face” by Malaysians, thanks to his reliance on facts and figures in making decisions to update the public on the virus via his social media platforms.

CGTN said his “low-key image and unassuming air” contributed to Dr Noor Hisham’s appeal, while Bloomfield described him as the quintessential civil servant.

This writer sent Dr Noor Hisham a text message to congratulate him on the recognition accorded to him. He must have received a string of similar messages of commendation.

But he replied swiftly, even though it was dinner time, and again, in the standard and ever-humble tone of downplaying his relevance and prioritising saving lives.

As a Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia product, I, together with my fellow alumni, am enormously proud of him, and the officials from the university have been talking endlessly about him, especially as the National University of Malaysia turns 50 next month.

Dr Noor Hisham received his Doctor of Medicine in 1988 and the Master’s in Surgery in 1994, both from UKM.

He went on to specialise in endocrine surgery and did his training in various universities in Adelaide and Sydney, Australia. His articles have been published in many local and international journals and he has written textbook chapters on endocrine surgery.

That is the factual sheet of his professional resume. Beyond that, he has, prudently, not divulged details of his private life, which have been widely circulated in social media.

When Dr Noor Hisham was asked about the recognition given by CGTN, his answer was that it was an honour for Malaysia and thanked all the government agencies.

Always shunning the limelight, the former Boy Scout and school champion athlete remains a team player. Although he was born in Sepang, he studied and grew up in KL.

No stranger to challenges and difficulties, it’s fair to say Dr Noor Hisham hasn’t taken a day off since the outbreak of the virus, with back-to-back meetings and sometimes, hand-over functions that require his attendance.

He has been updating the media and public on social media late into the night, well past normal working hours.

Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin deserves credit for steadfastly making the right calls, especially when a few ministers have faltered in making rightful, health-driven decisions.

Whether it’s barber shops, hair salons or Ramadan bazaars, he has put his foot down firmly on such luxuries at this time. Let’s give credit where it’s due, without the political bias to score points.

But as UKM pays tribute to our alumnus and the achievements of the university, I must take this occasion to single out Dr Noor Hisham in the roll call for our Golden Jubilee milestone.

Going out safely: People wearing face masks seen on the East Lake after the lockdown was lifted in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province. — Reuters

CHINA bashing is continuing even as the world struggles to fight the killer Covid-19 virus. In fact, the blame game has intensified, fuelled by some western politicians and the media.

It’s not a good time for Asians, especially ethnic Chinese, to be in Western countries as there have been reported cases of racial abuse and even assault.

Without doubt, these, are isolated cases as the majority of people are reasonable but such incidents have made many Chinese people in these countries feel uneasy and unsafe.

Amid all these, a very important report went almost unnoticed last week. Perhaps most journalists were preoccupied with headline-grabbing news of Covid-19 deaths and lockdown violators.

The report, which has been widely discussed in the scientific community, was carried by some newspapers but CNN and BBC did not find it interesting enough or perhaps it did not fit into their narrative.

Well, for the first time, experts from Britain and Germany have mapped the evolutionary path of the coronavirus that causes Covid-19 and determined there are currently three versions of it spreading around the world.

In simple English, the viruses are mutating – changing their forms – and these scientists have put them in three forms, or variants, as they prefer to call them. But the bad news is that they are still mutating, and more variants could be added later.

The virus, according to these experts – “is constantly mutating to overcome immune system resistance in different populations.”

According to the findings, these researchers reconstructed the early evolutionary paths of the virus as it spread from the epicentre in Wuhan, China, out to Europe and North America.

By analysing the first 160 complete virus genomes to be sequenced from human patients, scientists found the variant closest to that discovered in bats was largely found in patients from the US and Australia – not Wuhan.

They used data from samples taken from across the world between Dec 24, 2019 and March 4, 2020. They found that the closest type of coronavirus to the one discovered in bats – type A, the original human virus genome – was present in Wuhan, but was not the city’s predominant virus type. The Chinese city was initially the epicentre of the outbreak.

The finding said type A was also found in Americans who had lived in Wuhan, and in other patients diagnosed in the United States and Australia.

However, the report did not elaborate who were the Americans who had lived in Wuhan and how they got infected.

The most common variant found in Wuhan was type B although this appeared not to have travelled much beyond East Asia before mutating, which the researchers said was probably due to some form of resistance to it outside that region.

Type C was the variant found most commonly in Europe based on cases in France, Italy, Sweden and England.

It has not been detected in any patients in mainland China, though it had been found in samples from Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea, the study said.

Dr Peter Forster, geneticist and lead author from the University of Cambridge, said: “There are too many rapid mutations to neatly trace a Covid-19 family tree.”

But the researchers concluded that variant A was the root of the outbreak as it was most closely related to the virus found in bats and pangolins. Type B was derived from A, separated by two mutations, while type C was the “daughter” of variant B.

“The Wuhan B-type virus could be immunologically or environmentally adapted to a large section of the East Asian population, ” Forster said.

“It may need to mutate to overcome resistance outside East Asia. We seem to see a slower mutation rate in East Asia than elsewhere, in this initial phase.”

But one thing is for sure. It is not a good time to travel as the virus has been transmitted at an unbelievable speed.

For example, the study reported that one of the earliest introductions of the virus to Italy was found in a Mexican traveller, who was diagnosed on Feb 28, came via the first documented German infection – a person who worked for a company in Munich on Jan 27.

The German contracted the infection from a Chinese colleague in Shanghai, who had recently been visited by her parents from Wuhan. The researchers documented 10 mutations in the viral journey from Wuhan to Mexico.

“Because we have reconstructed the ‘family tree’ (the evolutionary history) of the human virus, we can use this tree to trace infection routes from one human to the next, and thus have a statistical tool to suppress future infection when the virus tries to return, ” Forster said.

The research team has since extended its analysis to 1,001 viral genomes and while it has yet to undergo peer review, the report has indicated that the spread of the virus has increasingly adapted to different populations and therefore the pandemic needs to be taken seriously.

More importantly, this scientific report could help politicians and the media to understand better the cause of the virus, and end their conspiracy blame game.

I AM not sure if our Malaysian leaders, especially politicians, are aware that their pictures posted on social media are being watched closely – or rather, scrutinised.

Besides their opponents, who are spending much of their free time finding fault and ways to ridicule them, ordinary Malaysians are also following closely what their elected representatives are doing.

You can tell from the Facebook and Instagram posts whether they have been uploaded by their media assistants or by they themselves. If they are deadpan and serious, in an “officialdom” manner, we know it’s the work of the media handlers.

It’s not that they are not creative, but no one wants to run foul, so they rather stick to the same, safe formula. After all, as with most bosses, they know that they won’t be credited when their work is good but are the immediate fall guy with just one mistake.

The more candid posts, with a few grammar mistakes thrown in, are the real ones that come direct from the person crafting these posts.

Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin probably has the best posts with a good mix, as he shares pictures of his personal life, work and even his current fashion choice, with his followers.

He is a natural, and that is perhaps because he was briefly a journalist and TV commentator, with a trained eye for newsworthiness.

So, it’s not just pictures of him at seemingly boring meetings, poring through documents with equally boring looking officials, or sitting around with constituents in villages.

After a while, these pictures become a blind spot, an advertising term which basically means that the audience doesn’t really bother anymore. In short, who cares?

But in the present movement control order (MCO) period, Malaysians are putting our ministers and Members of Parliament under the microscope.

Well, most of us are bored and restless, and are glued to our handphones or computers. We have too much time.

Many of us have noticed that some leaders are obviously not practising what they are supposed to be doing.

They have actually set bad examples, as they continue with what they have always been doing, unwittingly, as a habit. Their officials are not alerting them to this, or are too subservient to tell their bosses off.

One minister has practically ignored social distancing, with most of his officials still seated closely next to each other in pictures.

Members of the media are no better – they are seen huddling around him, putting their microphones up close to him, and exposing themselves to him – remember, droplet transmission is a factor in the Covid-19 outbreak. What social distancing?

It is also obvious that this minister doesn’t like wearing masks, as evident from the many pictures with him “unmasked”.

There is one minister who posed for a photograph after a meeting with others. Some were wearing masks and some weren’t, and at least one person shouldn’t even have been there.

Sure, taking the picture may have merely took a minute, but this is still unacceptable simply because the minister’s job includes promoting social distancing.

Then there are one or two others who have this inane habit of still wanting an entourage of officials to greet them, in a feudalistic manner, at functions and, of course, at their press conferences.

There has been a backlash recently against ministers for arranging unnecessary events merely to show they are working or just for the media attention – all at the expense of the frontliners who rather be working then being mere photo props.

The reality is this – they don’t need any of these functions. The “stay at home” call also covers ministers.

The only one who should talking to the media at conferences are Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, and Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

The rest can get to the media through Zoom, FaceTime or just via a social media post.

At a time when most of us are discouraged from physically collecting documents or food from deliverers, we still see pictures of MPs in the standard food handover functions.

If in the days before Covid-19, we kept seeing our Yang Berhormat riding their kapcai in villages without their helmets, we hope that in the post-MCO period, especially during the Hari Raya period, they at least put on face masks.

The reality is that wearing face masks will be the “new normal” from now in Malaysia, and so will the “Salam Malaysia” greeting (as opposed to handshakes).

The last thing we need is to let our guard down after all our MCO efforts.

Private students

IT’S a less talked about business in Malaysia as the various industry players from the other sectors lament about their struggles to pay bills, cope with cash flows and keep jobs.

But among the hardest hit is the education business and that means private colleges and universities.

Not many people, including even top government officials, realise that the education sector is a huge revenue-earner.

At least RM11.8bil comes from the contributions of international students, mostly from private higher education institutions, and RM31.5bil more in the form of tuition fees and living expenses through food and rentals.

Education is one of Malaysia’s biggest exports as we have the 10th largest market of international students worldwide.

It’s a multi-billion ringgit business, and it can be regarded as a low-hanging fruit, as Malaysia now desperately needs to find money to keep the country going.

It is not just about keeping the economy from collapsing and saving jobs of Malaysians but finding new ways to help our national coffers.

It is a no-brainer that we can’t continue to depend on crude oil and palm oil.

I spoke to Datuk Parmjit Singh, who heads the Malaysian Association of Private Colleges and Universities, after hearing the growing sentiments of the education sector.

For a start, we have lagged behind, despite the lofty targets as other neighbouring nations have also allowed foreign universities to set up branches. The foreign public universities are competing for foreign students.

Our rules, affecting foreign students, have neither changed nor relaxed. With the arrests of foreign students, including one doctorate student who died from heart attack while in detention, we made news globally for the wrong reasons. Other grievances included the call for better part-time working hours for students.

Some government officials still do not understand that this is a revenue-earner. It has created many jobs. It would help if the government plays less of a regulator but a supporter of this business.

Covid-19 has landed a huge blow to the industry as the movement control order (MCO) came into effect during the peak of a major recruitment season for Malaysian institutions of higher learning, particularly for local students post SPM and STPM.

“Many had to abandon preparations and plans for recruitment activities midway. While some were able to run e-Counselling services, this is not as effective as face-to-face enrolment on campus or during exhibitions and roadshows to address queries from parents and prospective students.

“The impact on recruitment is further compounded for institutions who are, at the same time, heavily dependent on recruiting international students.

“In addition, new intakes that were to have commenced as planned in late March and April, were postponed resulting in institutions being unable to meet cash flow requirements.

“At the same time, all major expenses including staff costs and rentals continue to be incurred during this period, ” said Parmjit.

For most institutions, employee salaries and infrastructure costs take up about 75% of operating costs. Some universities have already suspended the posts of consultants and contract staff, as a start.

And online study is not as simple as downloading a Zoom app, as it much more complex with additional unbudgeted investments to acquire and provide online tools, support resources and facilities as well as cloud services.

The cash flow problem has cropped up because most institutions allow for monthly and semester fee payments by students.

“For example, institutions which have semesters commencing in March and April have been unable to collect fees from a majority of students whilst they are studying online with the MCO in force. Those who have postponed the commencement of the new courses in March and April are equally affected, ” he said.

While one can argue that payments can be made online, the reality is that most students only pay up when they are present in campus.But the fear is that if the MCO or Covid-19 situation prolongs, there will be further impact on all institutions due to deferment or withdrawal from studies, especially by foreign students who have returned to their home countries.

Will the foreign students return? Well, that would depend on how we fight the Covid-19 outbreak, and most parents, would not like the idea of sending their children to Malaysia if it remains high on the list of affected countries. Let’s remember that they have other choices.

Parmjit said: “A number of factors would influence their decision, for example the impact on their personal finances; for those who are sponsored or under scholarships, would their sponsorship or scholarship continue post Covid-19?; travel and/or visa restrictions imposed by their respective countries or by our authorities; students adopting a wait-and-see approach and many will choose to defer their studies or find alternative destinations to complete their education.”

It is has been widely-reported that universities in other countries would face a similar predicament in terms of their international students returning to continue their studies. Many reports have highlighted estimates of between 20% and 40% of international students not returning immediately to continue studying at their host universities.

So what can the Malaysian government do to support this revenue-earning sector as part of a stimulus package in the existing term and long-term post-MCO?

It cannot be denied that the private education industry has struggled and grown totally unaided without any substantial fiscal support from the government compared with other sectors over the last four decades.

Parmjit has appealed to the government to introduce a stimulus package that would help the industry attract international students as soon as travel restrictions are lifted which must include the immediate revamp of Education Ministry Global Services and a review of the eligibility criteria for incentives and facilitation provided by the Malaysia External Trade Development Corp.

Malaysia also needs to make itself more attractive to international students.

According to the United Nations Educational, Science and Cultural Organisation (Unesco), Malaysia is among the most preferred tertiary education countries among international students.

Unesco’s International Students Mobility Survey 2014 ranked Malaysia as the 12th most preferred education destination in the world.The lower cost of living, use of English, a diverse culture, comfortable lifestyle and currency exchange rates have made the country attractive but we need to push ourselves to be more competitive.

It will help if the student visa process is made easier and faster, if the requirements are met after vetting.

There is no point in making Malaysia an education hub if the government does not get the support of all its agencies especially the little Napoleons.

Applicants will be put off if there is a lengthy process in comparison with other countries.

And finally, let’s face it, many Malaysians need to adopt an open attitude towards foreign students, especially the non-Caucasians.

The reality is that a majority of our international students are from Bangalesh, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Africa, China, the Middle East and Central Asia.

They don’t deserve to be treated as illegal immigrants if they have the necessary documents, and there is no reason for the police and immigration to harass them as perceived. Perception is everything, unfortunately.They are here to study and there is no reason for us to make it difficult for them to enter the country because of their appearance or colour of their skin.

It’s good that a permanent help centre is operational at the KLIA but we really need to change our ways.

Last year, there was a reported 130,110 students in Malaysia from 136 countries, mainly those in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa but for the private higher education institutions, there were 89,346 students as of February 2020. As of 2018, there were 92,415 foreign students in these colleges and universities.

The numbers have kept decreasing and with Covid-19, it will hit us even harder.

Mr Prime Minister, please drive the message down, as a former Education Minister, that this is a revenue-earning industry and the sector needs all the backing, as education is essential even in a recession.

FINALLY, the announcement that we had been bracing for – a two-week extension of the movement control order just as we passed the one-week mark.

It has not come as a surprise to most of us as the number of Covid-19 cases has continued to go up.

The Prime Minister, in making the extension announcement, also revealed that the trend was expected to continue for a while before we see a decline in the number of new cases.

It is a good decision by Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, although many businesses had hoped that this extension would not happen.

It is a painful decision as small businesses will collapse with a loss of jobs as their cash reserves run dry. It would just be impossible for many to sustain their business.

Most businessmen have expressed their fear that many small and medium enterprises (SMEs) will not last six months if their sales continue to drop.

For ordinary wage earners, who are still getting their salaries while working at home, they know it’s not a paid holiday. They may not be able to grapple with the enormous problems of their employers who are juggling the bills now, with most facing zero revenue.

For daily wage earners, especially drivers and construction workers, a month without income is a nightmare.

But saving lives is now the priority. Malaysians are entering the most crucial period where we must break down the transmission chain.

This is our last chance. This is the only tiny window that we have to ensure that most of us will get out of this safe, or to put it bluntly, alive.

As at noon today (March 25), the number of people who had been infected by the virus reached 1,796, with the death toll now at 17. The numbers have continued to rise.

The extension of the MCO will mean not enough has been done and if the trend continues, after this extra two weeks, Malaysia will need even more stringent measures, including a total lockdown or curfew.

On Tuesday (March 24), Sarawak became the first state to impose a curfew from 7pm to 7am.

The regulation will last until March 31, and is an additional and stricter measure being enforced by the state government to stem the spread of Covid-19, which has claimed five lives in the state.

The coming weeks will be a rough time for all of us. But surely much more for our hospital staff, who are logging in long hours and working in extreme conditions as they cope with an average of 100 cases a day.

It is a war that we cannot lose. Losing is not an option. Let’s remind ourselves again, that the third wave will be as big as a tsunami – and these are not my words but those of Health director-general Datuk Seri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

The last thing this country needs, at this critical juncture, are Malaysians who post racist and insensitive videos and comments on social media.

They need to be arrested or to get psychiatric help but luckily for them, we have bigger worries such as fighting the killer virus.

The authorities will get back to you once this is done, as it’s another disease we need to tackle.

An idle mind are the devil’s workshop, but idle time is the bane of the boss’ existence, much to the peril of the employee.

AFTER five days of the movement control order, the average Malaysian office worker has found out that working away from the office doesn’t amount to escaping their bosses.

It is fast developing into a “plague” as workers now have to deal with their bored bosses operating from home.

Most of us agree that if bosses are busy at the office, they would be kept occupied with their endless meetings, business meals with associates, golf with politicians, and entertainment with clients.

These are called essential services – to keep clients happy.

But as the days have gone by, going online has become a virtual nightmare for many.

Just when we thought we could sit in front of our laptop with our ears plugged into Spotify, we are being told we have to “look presentable” even when operating from home.

We might be away from the office, but we’re certainly being watched.

The dress code requirement, even if casual, is a reminder that this isn’t a two-week holiday – work must proceed as normal, only from home.

Since my entire wardrobe is packed with batik shirts, a standard fare these days, I just can’t imagine myself sitting in my room in a batik shirt dealing with employers.

Let’s admit it, our bosses don’t trust us. Not one bit. So, many of them have insisted that online meetings must start at 9am. Previously, office meetings began at 10am because superiors were stuck in traffic jams, especially if offices are in downtown Kuala Lumpur.

Now, this 9am meeting schedule is bad. I’m not sure if it violates the rights of workers. I don’t even know who to ask any more since the Human Resources Minister role has become a revolving door.

Now we can’t even walk away for a teh tarik at the canteen or elsewhere with our colleagues to whine about our politicians and our bosses, in case they buzz us again.

The super-sweet three-in-one teh tarik sachets that we make now at home will kill us with diabetes faster than the Covid 19 virus. This can’t go on for another two weeks. Malaysian workers will turn into zombies.

It’s clear that boredom, and the endless nagging and scolding from the bosses’ spouses, are affecting them. These emotional problems are eating into their brains, like those movies about contagion viruses that we probably don’t want to watch now.

No wonder working class Malaysians have experienced more scolding since the movement control order (MCO) was executed. It’s a chain reaction, bos kena marah kat rumah, bos marah kita lah.

An investment banker friend lamented to me that his clients keep calling him every other hour for advice and decisions since the stock market is in free fall.

He said clients have lost their marbles with the beating their profits have been taking, and the investment in stocks are also seeing red all the way. So harga saham jatuh, kita kena marah pulak. Aduh, nasib kita.

To add to the misery and pressure, Datin No 2 sudah marah because the boss has not gone out since MCO restriction. Datin No 2 sudah buat bising dia lonely.

Then, there is the biggest nightmare – the micro-managing boss who’s digitally illiterate.

The endless WhatsApp texts, FaceTime, online conferencing and calls have little value. These are the bosses who still insist on emergency meetings in the office, even if they’re not in the essential services category. What social distancing?

“What’s not essential? We are going under if we continue like this, of course, it’s an emergency, ” these bosses bark.

Amid coping with the bosses, I also have to deal with the endless texts from friends with messages that look like cut and paste jobs: “Bro, very bored, what are you doing now?” Do I really look like the type who goofs around?

And as a true-blue Penangite, despite having stayed in Kuala Lumpur for close to 30 years, I still crave my nasi kandar, prawn mee and char koay teow. The MCO is literally eating into me with all the kopi tiam closed.

It’s now confirmed that it’s a global conspiracy to force the working class to work 24 hours a day. Trump is right, after all.

And scientists will soon reveal that inactivity, besides work, will make us more susceptible to the virus.

I’ve reached the lowest point of boredom – the proof is watching Sound of Music on Astro at 3pm.

* This is a tongue in cheek piece that is not to be taken literally. The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission is too busy tracing fake news.