Brief Description

In Malaysia, the twin crises of the COVID-19 pandemic and the country’s extreme economic downturn coincided with a national political crisis associated with the collapse of the short-lived Mahathir-Anwar led Pakatan Harapan in late February 2020, followed by the Muhyiddin Yassin-government. Despite this political turmoil, the pandemic was initially curbed due to Malaysia’s highly-subsidized state health system, its lockdown policy, and its largely compliant population. However, its economic outlook remained bleak. Moreover, the premature relaxation of precautionary measures during the Sabah state election campaign in mid-September led to a new surge of infections and a second national lockdown. After a period of recovery, a third lock-down was imposed due to several community outbreaks following the fasting month and the celebration of Idul Fitri in May 2021. This time, the spreading of COVID-19 persisted. 

The prolonged lockdown pushed even more people deeper into poverty and protests erupted over the onerous and seemingly ineffective restrictions. In late June 2021, a white flag campaign emerged that called for people to raise a white flag in front of their houses if they were in need of aid. This was followed by a black-cladded movement which contested the authorities’ failure to save people’s lives and livelihoods. Government relief packages were far from adequate, and despite being called the “People’s Caring Aid”, much of this assistance was actually financed by the recipients themselves via prolonged loan terms from the State and the premature withdrawal of retirement funds. Non-state actors became involved in providing support and distributing aid for the many excluded groups, especially informal sector and low-wage workers, with human rights activists furnishing indispensable support to improve the abusive conditions forced upon refugees and migrants who were restricted to their living quarters irrespective of their infection status.

About the photographer

Hasnoor Hussain picked up the camera in his early 20s and has been a photographer ever since. In March 2017, he was among the earliest staff starting a portal The Malaysia Insight and continuing reporting in visual form; still picture and video. He is currently a photographer at Reuters Malaysia. See http://www.hasnoorhussain.com/. 

The photos were first exhibited at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC) from 17 October to 5 November titled “Who Cares? COVID-19 Divides in Southeast Asia” With the exception of Myanmar, selected photos from the countries’ documentation also served to illustrate the book, “Who Cares? COVID-19 Social Protection Response in Southeast Asia”, edited by Rosalia Sciortino and published by Silkworm Books.