AS the country grapples with this "new normal" called the Movement Control Order (MCO), many pay tribute to the front liners made up of medical staff, health officials, law enforcement officers and personnel as well as delivery riders, among others, and rightly so.
They are out there, risking their health and wellbeing, to make sure the rest of us remain healthy.
Also considered as "providers of essential services" yet not receiving the respect they should, are members of the press.
How are these people being disrespected, one may ask.
Simple, really.
They risk their lives on a daily basis, rushing here and there to gather legit information to ensure that you remain updated despite the MCO.
They too come across situations where they run out of face masks but they still carry on with their duties, in an effort to make sure you are supplied with verified information.
And yet, many still choose to forward unverified materials. To a point I believe that many consider "copy dari group sebelah" to be as legitimate a media organisation as our national news wire Bernama is.
It is heartbreaking, especially when one is on the inside looking out, knowing how hard these journalists and photographers work, only to keep seeing fake information being passed around social media and messaging applications.
Here's a simple example: a message forwarded on WhatsApp says "you cannot be out on your lawn from 6pm to 7am" and the message is allegedly "arahan ketua polis negara".
At first glance, the message looks absurd and this should be enough for it to not have gone viral. Sadly, it already went viral.
Before forwarding such nonsense, how about spending a few seconds to assess it? The "ketua polis negara" or Inspector-General of Police (IGP) is the country's top cop. If he had infact come out with a directive barring Malaysians from standing in their lawns, don't you think big media organisations would have carried that news?
In terms of the police force, the IGP is as big as it gets. Legitimate media organisations would flock to cover his press conferences. We would also receive his press statements and in times like these, his orders would be top priority for us to publish.
Can you find any legitimate news sites carrying articles of our IGP banishing people from their own lawns? If you can, right now, then perhaps I'll consider applying for a job at this media outlet called "copy dari group sebelah".
So, if you're wondering what to do today, how about you spare a thought for the men and women of the media? We promise not to leave you hanging and you promise not to share crap.
Can we shake (virtually, of course, don't forget social distancing) on that?