PETALING JAYA: DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang (pix) says if Malaysia had a local doomsday clock, the events of 2019 would have moved the hypothetical clock close to apocalypse.
Referring to the event last Thursday which saw the Global Doomsday Clock moving 100 seconds to midnight, Lim Kit Siang said: “As lies, fake news and hate speech had wrought unprecedented havoc with the important task of Malaysian nation-building, the past year would have moved the clock like the Doomsday Clock 2020 closer to apocalypse.”
Using the coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak as another example, the Iskandar Puteri MP lamented the fact that every issue is being framed through racial and religious lenses.
“Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted between animals and people. Detailed investigations found that SARS-CoV was transmitted from civet cats to humans and MERS-CoV from dromedary camels to humans. Several known coronaviruses are circulating in animals that have not yet infected humans,“ said Kit Siang in a statement today.
“With this background for Coronavirus, it is most irresponsible for any person to make use of the social media to disseminate lies, fake news and hate speech just to cause fear, panic, inter-racial and inter-religious animosity, distrust and hatred.”
Kit Siang, however, expressed hope for change in Malaysia and urged everyone to stay positive.
“The Year 2020 is the year for Malaysians to distance themselves from the merchants of intolerance and hate and ensure that the positive vibes overwhelm the negative vibes of the past year, to renew the hopes of the overwhelming majority of Malaysians for a New Malaysia,” he added.
The global Doomsday Clock which was founded by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, represents how close humanity is to global catastrophe after taking into current events.
