PETALING JAYA: It is not enough for Khairy Jamaluddin(pix) to be a better health minister than his immediate predecessor Datuk Seri Adham Baba, Lim Kit Siang said today.
The DAP veteran congratulate Khairy as there is no doubt that he has proved that he is a better and more effective health minister than his immediate predecessor.
“But I want to tell Khairy that this is not good enough as he must prove himself to be the best Health Minister in Malaysia, better than all his 20 predecessors who had helmed the Health Ministry since 1957, namely V.T. Sambanthan, Ong Yoke Lin, Abdul Aziz Ishak, Lim Swee Aun, Abdul Rahman Talib, Bahaman Samsuddin, Ng Kam Poh, Sardon Jubir, Lee Siok Yew, Chong Hong Nyan, Mak Hon Kam, Chan Siang Sun, Ng Cheng Kiat, Lee Kim Sai, Chua Jui Meng, Chua Soi Lek, Liow Tiong Lai, S. Subramaniam, Dzulkefly Ahmad and Adham Baba,” Lim said in a statement today.
The Iskandar Puteri MP said he is disturbed by the persistent high Covid-19 fatality rate in Malaysia.
“Yesterday, Malaysia recorded 6,630 new Covid-19 cases and 78 Covid-19 deaths, including 17 Brought-in-Dead (BID) cases,” he said.
“In contrast, Indonesia recorded 760 new Covid-19 cases (eighth consecutive day where the daily new Covid-19 cases in triple-digit numbers) and 33 deaths – 42% of Malaysia’s death figures although Indonesia has eight times’ Malaysia’s population.
“I am still waiting for Khairy’s long-delayed explanation about Malaysia’s high Covid-19 fatality rates, the high BID rates and why Malaysia is the worst-performing nation in ASEAN on Covid-19 fatality rates.”
On both the categories of “total Covid-19 deaths per million population” and “daily Covid-19 deaths per million population” Malaysia is above the Asian and world averages, Lim said.
The Asian average for “total Covid-19 deaths per million population” for Oct. 21 is 247.78 and the “daily Covid-19 death per million population” is 22.58, while the world average for “total Covid-19 deaths per million population” is 626.01 and the “daily death per million population” is 58.05.
Malaysia is above both the Asian and the world averages, as Malaysia’s “total Covid-19 deaths per million population” is 861.42 and “daily Covid-19 death per million population”’ is 189.47.
“Can Khairy explain these shockingly high Covid-19 fatality rates in Malaysia, both with regard to total deaths and daily deaths, when Parliament reconvenes for the 2022 Budget on Monday on 25th October?” he asked.
