Hunting ....

Since the outbreak of the swine flu here the last few weeks, groups of people can be seen hunting. Hunting high and low to quote the song by a famous 80s Norwegian band, A-ha. No, they are not hunting the swines. In fact they are hunting for protection against swine flu. Sanitisers, alcohol laced wet tissues, thermometers and the coveted face masks. Ironic, just a few weeks ago these items minus the alcohol laced wet tissues were lying about almost untouched. Wet tissues with alcohol content were very hard to get even before. I wonder if it has any relation to the alcohol ban. A more realistic explanation would be the producer of the wipes trying to meet the market demand of this muslim majority region. We are not suppose to have any alcohol contaminating things around us especially our clothings even more so the ones we use in our prayers. Some will say they still smell the branded expansive very likely containing alcohol perfume in the jemaah...... well as in most things, this particular believe is subjective depending on what we accept as the true rule......

If we do a quick survey and spend sometime in a well known pharmacy, you can bet your life 9 out of 10 of the people entering will ask, “Ada mask kah?”, “Ada hand sanitiser kah?”. These things are hot in the market and their prices are on a steep incline... naik harga berabis. Imagine a pack of 5 of those N95 masks costing more than $17! For those still in the dark about the correct type of masks, I am sure not that many, the recommended masks are the N95 type that are designed to prevent the inhalation of airborne particles such as viruses. Off course there are shops trying to make a killing in this trouble times. One particular shop tried to pass off a normal standard dust mask as N95 mask and selling it at almost $4 a piece. Saw a few gullible and desperate people fell into this trap.

Some people suggested the government to provide free masks to each and every one of us. Imagine $3 per piece, 400,000 pieces every other day. That’s almost $3.6M in a week, assuming three pieces per person per week. Imagine this whole thing lasts its two year cycle? A staggering amount of over $350M! That’s equivalent to building SIX new hospitals at current costs. I am sure everyone will agree the money is better spent on building new hospitals especially specialised one for this kind of pandemic and to improve the health service. As for the masks, most of us in our own way can provide our own.....

PS:
I suppose some form of price control can be introduced and the needs of the real needy must be looked after by the government. At the same time, the importance of good personal hygiene must be stressed again and again. A friend said, wash your hands regularly, insyallah we will be alright.