Having observed many countries' policy responses to COVID-19, several aspects of Malaysia's response are baffling to me:
1/ No structural shift to work from home- even ecommerce switched back to in-person shifts after 1st MCO. Why do our firms find it so difficult to adapt? https://twitter.com/imnormgoh/status/1352952589202067458

2/ We never used radio & TV to help kids learn remotely. Even cities in the Brazilian Amazon & tiny Maldives did this back in May. Here, the assumption seems 2b that COVID would end soon & schools would reopen as normal;

3/ Zero emphasis on the message "outdoors is safer than indoors". Instead, policies are extreme- fully reopening indoor dining one moment w/o capacity limits...then closing public parks the next.

No investment in public spaces;

No investment in safer outdoor dining spaces.

4/ Limited awareness on how the virus spreads. Setting up thermal checks worked for awhile, but then led to complacency - "aiya if no fever then ok lah". Loss of smell/taste wasn't recognized as an official symptom until much later. Not much awareness re. asymptomatic carriers.

5/ Finally, reluctance to share data & use it for better policy-making/awareness. @aidilarazak's team has been doing a great job with the @KiniNewsLab tracker but surely this is something @KKMPutrajaya can/should do? How is my data in @my_sejahtera being used for contact-tracing?

6/ To end the monologue: what worked for the 1st wave will not work for the 2nd wave. Just as the virus evolves, so must our policy response. Gov & private sector need to adapt/innovate to new normal rather than just waiting for things to go back to the old normal.