Fix SOPs in your first full week as DPM, Ismail Sabri told

PETALING JAYA: With his new post as deputy prime minister and the powers afforded to his office, Segambut MP Hannah Yeoh has called on Ismail Sabri Yaakob to amend “nonsensical” SOPs in place during the lockdown.

If he fails to act appropriately in his new role to help struggling Malaysians, it would show his appointment was a mere political stunt, she said in a Facebook post.

“Only a wicked government would sit back and do nothing when all it takes is one coordination meeting to be chaired by the newly minted deputy prime minister to immediately provide relief to the people,” she said.

One item that should be on his agenda as he begins his first full week in office should be the reopening of all stationery shops, currently only allowed in Phase 2 of the national recovery plan, she said.

The Perikatan Nasional government wants people to work from home and students to do online learning, but has ordered all stationery shops to shut.

“Books do not fall from the sky and papers do not fly on their own. This baffling SOP creates hardship for people who have to move from shop to shop just to photocopy, print or bind documents,” she said.

Yeoh also said all outdoor morning markets should be able to reopen with strict SOPs in place, as traders need income. An outdoor setting with minimal crowding should allow these areas to operate safely.

“Where is the logic in this SOP when all other roadside stalls are allowed to operate during this lockdown?” she asked.

Finally, she said, Ismail should provide greater consistency by reopening more of the personal health, grooming and wellness sector, using the previously established SOPs set during previous movement restrictions.

“I have been informed that chiropractors are not allowed to operate during this lockdown while physiotherapists can. Why would a physiotherapist be less likely to transmit the virus than a chiropractor?

“With his newly acquired powers as the deputy prime minister, I urge Ismail Sabri to heed his own advice to stop politicking and focus on helping the people by fixing some of these basic discrepancies with the lockdown SOPs immediately.” — Free Malaysia Today