On Friday (3 July), Middle-East centred media Al Jazeera, posted a documentary video regarding how Malaysia is handling the Covid-19 pandemic.
The video brings into focus Malaysia’s seemingly racist actions towards foreign workers which has since received major backlash from many Malaysians for its biased and sensationalised reporting.
In the video posted by 101 East (Al Jazeera English) titled “Locked Up in Malaysia’s Lockdown”, the news site claims that undocumented foreign workers are discriminated and treated unfairly during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“When you look at these raids you can’t help but think, is this the practical reality of dealing with a pandemic? Or is it racism?” a reporter is seen saying to the camera.
“I learnt that the foreign workers here have value just like a dog only,” an interviewee says.
The video also shows a reporter telling a police officer at an Enhanced Movement Control Order area that “we’re within our rights to report from here”, to which the police officer responds, “This is a lockdown area. Off your camera please”.
The video shows how migrant workers are placed into trucks to be taken for tests and screenings and claims that detention centres filled with undocumented foreign workers is the perfect condition for the coronavirus to spread.
The video even points out how the Malaysian government “defends its actions” by highlighting Defence Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s statements that the government is putting foreign workers into “the best place to care for their health”.
The video at the end urges Malaysians to treat migrant workers as part of the community as they silently contribute to Malaysia’s economy as well. The narrator adds that “it is foreigners who are paying the price in this pandemic” in Malaysia, “a nation that struggles with race relations”.
The comments of the video were disabled, however, it received more than 183,000 dislikes at the time of writing.
the likes and dislikes ratio of the video
The video posted on Facebook received many comments condemning Al Jazeera for reporting one-sided stories and for being utterly biased and racist.
Here’s the video:
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