Disclaimer: In Real Life is a platform for everyday people to share their experiences and voices. All articles are personal stories and do not necessarily echo In Real Life’s sentiments.
2021 was undoubtedly a really eventful year for Malaysians. It felt like a really long year because of how much happened.
It was ultimately a year full of losses and little joys. Yet Malaysians are like cockroaches: we just keep going.
Let’s take a look at what Malaysians faced over 2021:
COVID-19
Although some are sick of hearing about the pandemic, its effects on the country cannot be ignored. Malaysia suffered a total number of more than 30,000 deaths. Many of us lost friends and family to the virus.
Source: Yusof Mat Isa
The vaccine roll-out was very shaky at first, especially with AstraZeneca. Many had wanted to register for the vaccine, but were prevented from doing so. I myself was unable to even load the page.
Heavy criticism was also levied at the MySejahtera app, which users have reported to be buggy and full of illogical inconsistencies. This is especially problematic because of how much the government utilises the app to inform users of vaccine appointments and suchlike.
Malaysia also saw the uprising of antivax beliefs – something that many had thought was solely a Western issue. Sadly, a number of Malaysians have expressed these antivax beliefs: some tout ivermectin, some believe that the vaccines are a way of monitoring people, and yet others have said that the virus was manufactured in a lab in order to boost Big Pharma’s profits.
Regardless, a huge number of Malaysians have gotten vaccinated since the vaccines have been made readily available in Malaysia, from senior citizens to teens. The current issue is the accessibility of booster shots.
Politics
In August this year, we saw another protest that was called due to the mismanagement of the nation during the pandemic. The #Lawan protest was attended by around 1,000 people who were mostly the country’s youths. However, the protest was successful in calling for Mahiaddin Yassin stepping down from the role of Prime Minister. He was replaced by current PM Ismail Sabri.
Source: Telegram
Malaysian mothers whose children are born overseas to non-Malaysian fathers also have cause to celebrate – their children can now be acknowledged as Malaysian citizens! Some of these mothers had been fighting for their children’s rights for years. The courts had ruled in favour of the mothers (represented by Family Frontiers), but the government had filed an appeal against the ruling. Fortunately, justice has prevailed and Malaysian women can rest assured that they now have equal rights to confer citizenship upon their children.
Besides that, the country’s youths have scored another historic milestone: the voting age was lowered from 21 to 18. The win can be attributed to UNDI18, a movement that has been working for years to secure the right to vote for youths between 18 – 21 years of age. The same group had also organised the Parlimen Digital event that saw 222 youths representing constituencies in an effort to show that Parliament can meet digitally.
Environmental issues
The year ended with horrific floods all across the country. Many residents of Malaysia immediately responded to the disaster by organising relief efforts, similar to the community efforts of the #KitaJagaKita and #BenderaPutih campaigns that aimed to help those affected by the pandemic.
Source: Ebrahim Harris
Yet many wonder how the increasingly urgent climate crisis may continue to affect us. For example, how bad can we expect the droughts to be during next year’s hot and dry season? And how much worse will the flooding problems get during the monsoon?
Like Africa, Southeast Asia is a region that has very little impact on the planet as developed nations are those who contribute the most to waste and emissions – yet we are the ones who will suffer the brunt of the climate crisis.
This has opened up discussions of deforestation and practices of logging (illegal or otherwise).
The new year in Malaysia has arrived in the midst of hardship, poverty and political instability.
But Malaysians have proven to be tougher and stronger than the circumstances we find ourselves in. Citizens have found themselves rallying together with the foreign residents of the country with the hopes of building a better nation.
More and more over the past year, Malaysians have found themselves empowered by community action. In many ways, we have proven that we are greater than the sum of our parts.
For more stories like this, read: 5 Ways Malaysian Politicians Responded to the Flood Crisis & What’s Really Wrong With It, Are Malaysians Getting Complacent About COVID-19?, and Malaysian Income Inequality Is Getting Worse – What You Need To Know.
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