KUALA LUMPUR, May 13 — Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Malaysians can expect a very different Aidilfitri celebration this year as the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) is extended until June 9 and interstate travel to ‘balik kampung’ (returning to hometown) is strictly prohibited.
As expected, the recent “no balik kampung” announcement by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has received mixed reactions from netizens.
Engineer and Facebook celebrity, Ir Abdul Rahman Bahasa said the government’s decision should be taken positively because elderly parents were known to have a weak immune system and highly susceptible to the virus.
“Do not let our eagerness to celebrate Raya by returning to our hometown and by visiting here and there, make us regret it later, if our parents become infected.
“It will be okay if they recovered, but what if they succumbed to the virus? We can’t even send their remains for the burial, isn’t it very sad?,” he said in his post that was shared over a thousand times by netizens.
Abdul Rahman stressed that the war on the virus was not over yet by highlighting two new cases in Sitiawan, Perak as an example, because the virus carrier was unknown.
Meanwhile another Facebook user, Noriyati Mohd Shaari from Beranang, Selangor said those who live far from home, should try to make their parents understand the current situation which disallowed them to celebrate Raya together in their hometowns.
Another netizen Hasimah Sim echoed Noriyati plea for understanding and encouraged Muslims to supplicate and remember God more.
Meanwhile, Patrick Khoo also encouraged people not to ‘balik kampung’, with an on-point comment: “It is okay not to have a lively Raya for just one year, rather than being unable to celebrate Raya forever.”
Malaysia is now on the best track to break the pandemic chain with 16 cases reported yesterday, the lowest number recorded since the start of Movement Control Order (MCO) on March 18.
— BERNAMA