PETALING JAYA, July 30 — Five years after the Covid-19 pandemic, Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad has come out to criticise the country’s public health response in a new book foreword.
In his foreword for the recently published Crisis and Community: Covid-19 in Malaysia, edited by Bridget Welsh, Dzulkefly singled out the closure of Parliament and the lockdown strategy. He previously criticised lockdowns when he was head of Selangor’s Covid-19 task force (STFC).
The health minister’s foreword also made fresh allegations about “opaque” public procurement of vaccines and medical supplies, despite two parliamentary inquiries finding no elements of abuse of power, corruption, or embezzlement.
“As Covid-19 unfolded, it became painfully evident that a failure to prepare and think ahead, particularly in securing life-saving vaccines, was not just an administrative oversight – it was a moral and political failure that cost lives, more aptly described as ‘preventable deaths’,” Dzulkefly wrote in his foreword for Welsh’s book published by Gerakbudaya.
The health minister described the suspension of Parliament during the Emergency Ordinance in 2021 as an instinct by the government of the day to centralise power during a crisis.
“While the intention may have been to ensure swift executive action, the effect was to stifle, nay, undermine democratic accountability at a time when it was most needed,” Dzulkefly wrote.
“A functioning parliamentary democracy must not be seen as a liability in times of crisis, but as a necessary platform for transparency, public accountability, and inclusive decision-making.
“In hindsight, Malaysia’s pandemic governance would have benefited greatly from more robust parliamentary engagement – whether in vetting procurement contracts, debating public health strategies, or monitoring emergency powers. A crisis does not justify the suspension of democracy; rather, it demands its fortification!”
In a speech at Welsh’s book launch in Gerakbudaya last Sunday, Dzulkefly said, “The very institutions to protect the rakyat – that is the Parliament, Auditor-General, independent watchdogs – were sidelined at a time when public procurement, vaccine contracts, and emergency relief needed oversight.
“Let me be clear. Democracy is not a luxury to be paused in a pandemic. If anything, it is more pressing of its necessity.”
In his book foreword, Dzulkefly mostly framed the Covid-19 pandemic response under Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin in the lens of “partisan political interests.”
“The pandemic exposed a brutal truth – political instability and partisanship can kill. Not just metaphorically, but literally,” he said in his speech.
Then-Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, who led Malaysia’s public health response, told CodeBlue in an interview in Singapore last February that he had advised the government to suspend the final day of a special Dewan Rakyat meeting on August 2, 2021, because of an outbreak, not for political reasons.
He felt vindicated after two weeks, when 102 people were infected from the Parliament outbreak, including one death.
“If we had not closed Parliament, I dare not think what will happen if more people—parliamentarians, most of them are 50 and above—get infected and many succumb. Who will be blamed? I will be blamed, if I had not closed Parliament,” Dr Noor Hisham said.
When CodeBlue cited Dr Noor Hisham’s remarks and asked if Dzulkefly disagreed with the MOH response, the health minister said at the book launch event that the government could have held virtual Parliament sessions.
Dzulkefly: ‘Lockdowns And The Lives-Livelihoods Paradox’
Under DG Hisham’s leadership, Malaysia imposed long and harsh Covid lockdowns. Dzulkefly wrote in his foreword for the Covid-19 book that the various Movement Control Orders (MCO) resulted in mounting social and economic costs, despite initial success in curbing viral transmissions.
“The lockdowns, often implemented with little warning and limited social safety nets, disproportionately affected daily wage earners, small businesses, informal workers, and vulnerable populations. Worse, its implementation was infused with partisan political interests,” Dzulkefly wrote.
“The false or convenient dichotomy between saving lives and protecting livelihoods became the crucible in which many moral, economic, and psychological struggles unfolded. The MCO period saw a rise in mental health issues, domestic violence, suicide cases, and financial insolvencies.
“The haunting spectre of those who took their own lives out of economic despair serves as a tragic indictment of policies that lacked empathy, nuance, and support mechanisms.”
Dzulkefly said responses to future pandemics must explore targeted, flexible, and community-based interventions, rather than “blunt instruments like nationwide lockdowns.”
“We must avoid the zero-sum game of choosing between lives and livelihoods. Both must be protected through holistic, inclusive, and well-communicated strategies.”
At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021, particularly in the Klang Valley, politicians on both sides of the aisle and ordinary citizens generally supported the MOH’s lockdown strategy.
Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari even publicly disputed Dzulkefly’s announcement in May 2021 that the state government was opposed to a stricter MCO, with the MB saying that lives trumped the economy.
Within the civil service, other ministries also acquiesced to the MOH. Norazman Ayob – who served as deputy secretary-general (industry) at the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI) during the pandemic – told CodeBlue in an interview last February that MITI, the Ministry of Finance (MOF), and Bank Negara were “constantly in that dialogue” with the MOH on balancing between lives and livelihoods.
“But in the end, I think the government, at that point in time, also had to take the medical point of view into consideration,” said Norazman, who is currently deputy secretary-general (policy) at the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.
Dzulkefly: ‘Opaque’ Public Procurement, ‘Potential Abuses Of Power, Corruption, And Embezzlement’
Dzulkefly’s foreword lambasted the public procurement of medical supplies, vaccines, and relief packages during the Covid-19 pandemic that he claimed “occurred under opaque mechanisms, with limited oversight.”
“The absence of Parliament eliminated essential checks and balances, thus opening the door to potential abuses of power, corruption, and embezzlement. This not only eroded public trust but also undermined the moral legitimacy of the government’s response to the pandemic,” wrote the health minister.
He also criticised the global Covax initiative that aimed to ensure equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines, saying that it “fell short of expectations, exposing how nationalism and capitalism superseded solidarity.”
“This inequity delayed Malaysia’s herd immunity goals and prolonged economic hardship.”
Despite Dzulkefly’s criticism today of public procurement during the pandemic, two parliamentary investigations across two administrations cleared the government of any wrongdoing or mismanagement – much less abuse of power, corruption, or embezzlement.
In December 2021, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chaired by Wong Kah Woh concluded that the Covid-19 vaccine procurement process was implemented in an orderly manner and in accordance with MOF financial procedures.
The PAC also found that the government couldn’t afford to take a strategic bet on vaccine makers and make early bookings without clinical information, due to limited financial resources.
Under the Madani government, the PAC chaired by Mas Ermieyati Samsudin – which investigated Covid-19 pandemic management related to expired vaccines, defective ventilators, and excess personal protective equipment (PPE) – concluded in October 2023 that no one could be held accountable for the supply of defective ventilators during the Covid pandemic.
This was due to the absence of a contract between the MOH, Pharmaniaga Logistics Sdn Bhd (PLSB), and ventilator suppliers in China. The PAC also found that decisions related to ventilator procurement had to be carried out on WhatsApp due to lockdown restrictions and the urgency of the situation at the time.
Norazman, who was then the MOH deputy-secretary general (finance), told the PAC that Chinese ventilator suppliers had delivered machines that did not meet specifications, describing it as, “we placed an order to get an apple, (but) we got something else.”
Crisis Must Catalyse Reform
Despite Dzulkefly lambasting in his speech about how “opaque decisions were made behind closed doors” during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 2024 amendment bill tabled by the health minister last year expanded the Health director-general’s powers in such a way that was considered by MPs to be too wide and arbitrary.
Parliamentarians went on to pass the bill in a voice vote in October 2024 despite their concerns.
The new proposed Section 21A of the Act empowers the Health director-general to issue “any directions in any manner, whether generally or specifically, to any person or class of persons to take such measures for the purpose of preventing and controlling any infectious disease.”
“As Malaysia moves beyond the acute phase of the pandemic, we must resist the urge to return to ‘normal’. The old normal was itself the problem – fragile, unequal, and unsustainable,” Dzulkefly wrote in his book foreword.
“This crisis must become a catalyst for reform: in public health, democratic governance, social protection, and global solidarity.”
Crisis and Community: Covid-19 in Malaysia features 18 essays by various contributors, ranging from academics and researchers to practitioners and journalists.
“The essays highlight serious consequences from one of the worst crises Malaysia has endured, exposing and widening vulnerabilities,” says the book’s description.
