Being Malaysians living in Malaysia, we may not be aware of our government’s efficiency in handling the Covid-19 (novel coronavirus) situation. But apparently, the Japanese has been praising the Malaysian government’s preparedness in the current outbreak.
The Department of Information (Jabatan Penerangan) had been sharing infographics and statistics regarding the latest coronavirus outbreak, Covid-19, on their official Twitter account (@JPenerangan). However, the typical responses on their tweets were limited because us Malaysians don’t really care about the account. An interesting incident occurred when Kura-Kura Net, a Japanese blog (that is based in Malaysia), retweeted a guideline for employers to follow.
We assume that Kura-Kura Net is a news and lifestyle blog to provide the latest updates and news for the Japanese ex-pats and tourists who are staying in Malaysia.
Here is the original guideline posted by Jabatan Penerangan:
Since the retweet, tons of comments had been flooding in, and the Japanese people are absolutely in awe with the guideline given to Malaysian employers. Many expressed their disappointment regarding the Japanese government’s response and attitude towards the virus outbreak.
They’re praising how the Malaysian government is doing the right thing to prevent the virus from spreading. One netizen even expressed they wished to be born in our country.
A few other Japanese netizens began ranting on the internet about the Japanese government’s response, expressing dissatisfaction towards their current situation that is seemingly helpless.
This particular netizen said that their government is making people’s lives difficult because the sick employee’s salary will be deducted since it would affect productivity at work. Thus, the employees would choose to take medication to feel better and try their best to go to work, which would definitely result in transmission.
This netizen had also suggested a comparison between Malaysia and Japan:
We’re definitely surprised to see how an advanced country like Japan will react positively to Malaysia’s response to the outbreak. Understanding that Japan is undergoing the worst hit by Covid-19 outside of China, we hope that its people can stay safe. Also, instead of blindly complaining about our government, we should really be grateful for the Malaysian government’s efficient response, as well as our diligent medical teams.
Also read: Japanese Government Gives 2,000 FREE iPhones to Passengers Quarantined on Coronavirus Infected Ship