KUALA LUMPUR: Amid the Covid-19 outbreak, it is important for leaders to set a good example to the rakyat, former health minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said today.
"Any double standard in treatment will only infuriate the people which will then lead to them disobeying the rules made by the government," he said.
The Kuala Selangor MP said this when commenting on Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Dr Mohd Khairuddin Aman Razali who violated the government's quarantine rule, which saw the minister being slapped with a RM1,000 compound.
Khairuddin had also said he would donate his May to August salaries this year to the Health Ministry's Covid-19 Fund.
Dr Dzulkefly, however, said such a move only gave the impression that Khairuddin was trying to deflect the real issue.
"The issue here is about a minister's dignity, who consciously broke the rules made by the Health Ministry.
"If the leaders don't obey the rules, don't dream of seeing the public following them because the people can see how easy it is for a leader to be spared from punishment.
"It's unfair that the public are being charged (in courts) and condemned while a minister gets to walk free easily," he said in a press conference at the parliament building here today.
Khairuddin had found himself in the spotlight of late, after claims were made that he failed to observe the mandatory 14-day home quarantine after returning from a trip to Turkey on July 7.
The Health Ministry said it had issued a RM1,000 compound against the minister on Aug 7 for his failure to comply with the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 (Act 342) and that the minister had since paid the amount.
Nevertheless, since there are almost 30 police reports lodged against Khairuddin, the police are now investigating the matter.
Between July 3 and 7, which were the alleged dates of Khairuddin's trip, Turkey registered more than 5,600 new cases and 93 deaths. The country has since registered more than 250,000 Covid-19 cases and a total of 6,061 deaths from the virus.
The public had voiced unhappiness on social media platforms over the alleged double standard treatment by the government where they quoted several recent cases which saw some Malaysians being sent to jail for violating quarantine rules.
The restaurant owner linked to the Sivaganga Covid-19 cluster, Nezar Mohamed Sabur Batcha, was charged with four counts of breaching quarantine on four different occasions and was issued a compound of RM1,000 on July 23 before being charged in court on Aug 13 and fined RM12,000 and jailed five months.
A senior citizen, Nur Emah Mohamad Hashim who was spotted wearing a pink quarantine wristband in public was sentenced to a day's jail and fined RM8,000, in default of six months' jail, by the Magistrate's Court in Ipoh, Perak on Aug 4.
In the Dewan Rakyat this morning, Datuk Mahfuz Omar (PH - Pokok Sena) pointed out that Defence Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob had said on Aug 13 that the authorities will no longer issue compounds to those who breach their Covid-19 quarantine but will take them straight to court instead.
Mahfuz then asked Minister in Prime Minister's Department (Special Functions) Datuk Seri Redzuan Yusof to explain why Khairuddin was told to pay the RM1,000 compound instead of dragging him to court.
"The public see this as double standard, like the 'Antara Dua Darjat' (film) by P Ramlee and S Kadarisman. I want an explanation," Mahfuz said.
Redzuan responded by saying that the government will uphold the rule of law and that Mahfuz should ask Ismail Sabri himself if it was true the Defence Minister made a mistake regarding the government's decision on quarantine violators.