APRIL 3 — The Malaysian Parliament should explore the possibility of holding an emergency 'virtual' Parliament as it is imperative that Malaysia adopts a “whatever it takes” strategy not only to win the Covid-19 war but to survive the post-coronavirus pandemic economics.

In the past 24 hours, at least nine new grim milestones in the invisible global war against the Covid-19 pandemic had been reached which highlight that the world has still a long way to go if we are to survive the pandemic. These nine grim milestones are;

These grim milestones are also grim reminders of the urgent need for the Malaysian government to adopt a “whatever it takes” strategy not only to win the Covid-19 war but to survive the post-coronavirus pandemic economics.

The delay in announcing an economic rescue package for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is an example that the Malaysian government has still to adopt a “whatever it takes” strategy to face the unprecedented crisis confronting the country to both save lives and livelihoods.

An American economics writer, Derek Thompson has written about the “four rules of pandemic economics”, namely: —

The United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres has called on the world “to prepare for the worst and do everything to avoid it”.

He issued a three-point call to action, based on science, solidarity and smart policies:

First, suppress transmission of Covid-19.

Second, tackle the devastating social and economic dimensions of the crisis; and

Third, recover better.

We are in an extraordinarily crisis which calls for extraordinary solutions. In the war against Covid-19, governments have to put the economy into an artificial coma but must keep the patient alive.

In a normal recession, the answer is to boost demand. But in pandemic economics, at least in the short-run, the objective is not to boost demand but to freeze the economy and for the people “stay in and hold on”.

The challenge is how nations can survive the pandemic economics with the possibility of a resurgence of Covid-19, until a vaccine is invented in 12 — 18 months’ time.

As Derek Thompson concluded his article:

“We need to get people money, or they will die. We need to get companies cash, or they will die. But if we don’t clear the way for health-care workers to treat the sick, or for scientists to treat the disease, people and companies are going to die, anyway. There is no such thing as a normal economy until we contain the virus. But if we can’t contain the virus quickly, we might not have anything normal to return to.”

* Lim Kit Siang is the DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.

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