THE government announced that Selangor, Johor, Kuala Lumpur and Penang will join Kedah, Kelantan, Negri Sembilan, Perak and Sarawak* under the conditional movement control order from March 5-18, while Melaka, Pahang, Terengganu, Sabah, Putrajaya, Labuan and Perlis are in the recovery MCO category. With the relaxation of movement restrictions, the travel sector has reopened, including wellness centres and spas, recreational parks, art galleries and theme parks. * (until March 15).
As the national immunisation programme to battle Covid-19 enters its second week, health experts say those who have been vaccinated still need to observe the standard operating procedure to protect the community in general.
As of March 11, a total of 249,909 jabs have been administered, mostly to frontliners.
The government targets herd immunity with 80% of the population vaccinated by next February.
Malaysian Medical Association president Datuk Dr Subramaniam Muniandy said those vaccinated would still need to observe the SOP such as wearing face masks, practising physical distancing and sanitising their hands to protect others who have yet to be vaccinated.
Such measures were necessary because it has yet to be established how effective each of the vaccines would be against any new mutations of Covid-19.
“We will also likely require booster jabs to protect against new mutations. For now, we can assume that observing the SOP is needed until the pandemic is declared over or if a cure is available, ” he said.
Medical Practitioners Coalition Association of Malaysia president Dr Raj Kumar Maharajah concurred, saying “there are several unknowns which make wearing a face mask and social distancing important to protect the community”.
“Only a handful of vaccines can claim to give complete protection.
“This may seem counterintuitive but vaccinated people may still transmit the virus, even if they do not display the symptoms, ” he said.
However, Dr Raj said whether one still needed to follow the SOP after herd immunity was achieved was still “too early to tell”.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in its updated guidelines, states that those who have been fully vaccinated can attend indoor gatherings with other fully vaccinated people without wearing face masks.
The guidelines say that those fully vaccinated do not need to stay away from others or get tested for the virus even though they have been around someone who has the virus, unless they develop symptoms.
But the CDC adds that if a person lives in a group setting and is around persons who have the virus, they should stay away from others for 14 days and get tested, even if they do not develop symptoms.
Universiti Malaya epidemiologist Prof Datuk Dr Awang Bulgiba Awang Mahmud, who heads the Independent Covid-19 Vaccination Advisory Committee, said the SOP needed to remain in place while the vaccination programme was ongoing until infection levels became very low
“This is to buy time while herd immunity is being built.
“It takes time for individuals to build up sufficient immunity to resist the virus as many of these vaccines require two doses and it takes a few weeks for the body to respond adequately after each dose.
“It will be prudent not to rush to lift all travel restrictions too soon, ” he said.
Even if herd immunity is achieved, Prof Awang Bulgiba proposed easing the SOP gradually, instead of lifting it at one go.
“We need to establish through epidemiological studies that herd immunity is building up and that it is sustainable.
“Once herd immunity has been established, the SOP can be eased gradually and we can return to pre-pandemic norms, ” Prof Awang Bulgiba said.
He also recommended that the government set up a Voluntary Vaccination Registry to follow up on 50,000 people who have been vaccinated for two years, citing a case in Brazil where a resurgence of cases was seen.
The National Endowment for Democracy (NED), a veteran anti-China foundation financed by the US government, has been discovered to have spent more than $10 million to fund secessionist organizations and subversive activities in China in 2020. In the financial statements published on NED's website in February, at least 69 programs and activities related to secessionists and anti-China forces received grants in the past year, maliciously interfering in China's internal affairs using pretexts like human rights and religious freedom.
NED is notorious for propagating anti-China propaganda and meddling in other countries' internal affairs. Funding for this self-proclaimed private, nonprofit organization, which largely comes from the US Congress, has long been funneled to secessionists in China's Hong Kong, Xinjiang, Tibet, and Taiwan regions, observers have found.
Allen Weinstein, the co-founder of NED, told The Washington Post back in 1991 that "a lot of what we do today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA."
The foundation - once behind some covert operations in Eastern Europe in the 1980s and 1990s - now plays a major role in the infiltration and penetration of US-sponsored hostile Western forces into China, said Cao Wei, an expert on security studies at Lanzhou University.
"Their aim is to contain China's development and rise," Cao told the Global Times.
NED's spending on splitting and subverting China in 2020. Graphic: GT
Supporting Hong Kong rioters
On its website, NED published the list of grants for China in 2020 covering four main regions: Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Tibet Autonomous Region, and the rest of the Chinese mainland. With a total of $10.2 million, the grant funding in 2020 was much higher than the $6 million it unabashedly spent in these regions in 2019, the Global Times found.
Hong Kong seemed to be an investment priority for NED in 2020, with more than $2 million in grants being targeted to at least 11 anti-China organizations and projects in the region that year, the NED's website revealed.
The National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) and the International Republican Institute (IRI), two major US-based organizations included on China's sanctions list for supporting anti-China forces to create chaos and engage in extremist, violent and criminal acts in Hong Kong, unsurprisingly became recipients of grants by NED once again in 2020.
NED gave the Hong Kong teams of NDI and IRI $350,000 each in 2020, which are the two largest recipients in Hong Kong.
Angelo Giuliano, a Hong Kong affairs observer from Switzerland, told the Global Times the US government has always adopted a strategy of funding NGOs, instructing them to "help" particular countries to change course into more "civil societies," which is, in actuality, a blatant attempt at interfering in the internal affairs of other countries or even subverting their administrations.
NDI's key members reportedly met rioters in Hong Kong to support the violence there. Adam Nelson, a senior program manager of NDI's Asia team, met some of the leaders of the Hong Kong rioters in December 2019 at a local restaurant. The organization's president, Derek Mitchell, was also seen talking with riot leader Anson Chan Fang On-sang in Hong Kong one day in November 2019, just after the region's council elections ended, local media reported.
NED was actively seeking foreign allies for the Hong Kong rioters, in addition to providing funding. The foundation said it spent more than $75,000 in the name of building international solidarity and support for Hong Kong in 2020, openly interfering with China's internal affairs with foreign forces.
NED increased its investment in Hong Kong after the "Occupy Central" movement in 2014. It spent an average of $450,000 every year on the city to instigate acts of sabotage between 2015 and 2018, according to the local news outlet wenweipo.com.
"NED is only the tip of the iceberg, the visible side," Giuliano told the Global Times. There is probably more hidden and complex financing when it comes to Hong Kong, which may have started even before the 1997 handover," he said, suggesting the logic behind it is the US' increasing fear of China and some complex practical interests.
Making waves in Xinjiang and Tibet
China's Xinjiang and Tibet regions are major regions where the US' anti-China forces attempted to make waves in 2020. NED spent $1.25 million in Xinjiang and $1 million in Tibet to support secessionist groups and activities there, according to the financial disclosures it published on its website on January 25.
More than half of its Xinjiang-related grants went to the notorious separatist organization, World Uyghur Congress (WUC), and its Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP) in 2020, the Global Times found.
Based in Munich, the US-backed WUC, which was reportedly found to be linked to terrorist groups, aims to split Xinjiang from China and this goal has never changed, Weinsheimer, a German scholar on China's ethnic groups, told the Global Times.
In February 2020, WUC triggered widespread anger after using photos of some Xinjiang locals to spread rumors during the 43rd session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland. The group printed many photos of Uygur people and concocted false allegations, alleging they were detained or had gone missing in Xinjiang.
One of the persons in the photos happened to be Halat Abudurehman, a friend of Mahemuti Abuduwaili, deputy director of the institute of history at the Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences, who was then also in Geneva. Mahemuti told the Global Times that he was surprised to see his friend's photo there. He later called Halat and found the latter was on a walk.
UHRP was active in spreading the recent mass rape allegations against Xinjiang, which involved a woman named Tursunay Ziawudun who claimed to have been gang-raped in a county in Xinjiang. However, the interviews she gave to Western media before did not include allegations of rape or harsh treatment.
UHRP helped Tursunay get to the US where she applied to stay, BBC reported in February. After UHRP stepped in, Tursunay began to claim to have been raped in training centers in Xinjiang.
NED and the separatist groups it funded in Xinjiang invoke human rights and democracy as a cover, but their actions and activities of maligning the Chinese government and deceiving the world have exposed their real political intentions for dividing China and disrupting Xinjiang region's development, Cao Wei remarked.
What NED kept doing in Tibet follows the same old gimmick, said Wang Hongwei, a professor at Renmin University of China's School of Public Administration and Policy.
"Its grants were used to finance the NGOs that explicitly support 'Tibetan independence,' and to foster illegal publications, broadcasts, or media that keep distorting the history and current situation of Tibet on international public opinion stage," Wang told the Global Times.
Infamous separatist organizations, including the Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), and the Tibet Justice Center (TJC) were on NED's 2020 grants list.
Based in India, TCHRD has frequently accused the Chinese government of arresting people in Tibet, which were proved to be no more than baseless attacks.
The US-based TJC was once turned down by the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. TJC aimed to split China and its separatist activities had gravely violated the purposes and principles of the Charter of the UN, said Zhang Yishan, then Deputy Permanent Representative of China to the UN.
Students for a Free Tibet (SFT) was one of the organizations that received more funding from NED in 2020. It got $150,000 under the grant category: strengthening the Tibetan movement - campaigning, training, and strategic organizing. This US-based separatist group was found to have participated in the deadly March 14 riots in Lhasa in 2008, according to China's public security authority.
A more flexible, covert strategy
NED's grant information also showed the anti-China forces' attempt of further infiltrating the Chinese mainland in 2020.
The foundation spent at least $5.8 million in funding more than 30 institutes and projects targeting the mainland, including a $1.2 million grant used to defame the Chinese government on an international scale under the guise of "freedom of expression," observers found.
Among those on NED's long grants list, the organization Solidarity Center (SC) appears to have received more than $1 million to "raise workers' rights awareness," and the US-based secessionist news site, China Digital Times, collected a grant of $125,000.
The data on NED's regional funding and financial statements reveals it has a clear plan and strategy for containing China, Cao Wei said.
Compared with other more intense struggles, the strategy of encouraging these ideologically biased organizations to promote rogue political movements, or to incite hatred under the banner of safeguarding rights, is now more likely to be used by Western anti-China forces, said Cao.
"The strategy is more flexible and covert, less costly, but very effective," he told the Global Times. "It may cause social unrest and even lead to a color revolution in serious cases."
Wang pointed out that NED's primary mission is to serve US foreign policy interests, and a very important part of that mission is to obstruct countries that threaten the US by agitating internal conflicts to weaken and defeat them.
NED has used tactics such as propping up the opposition in general elections or venting at scandals by the ruling party during elections, funding illegal publications, broadcasts and media, and leading figures in the opposition to create images of persecuted heroes to generate public sympathy, Wang said. "All of these tactics have been used on China in recent years," he told the Global Times.
Cao suggested Chinese authorities should actively implement laws and regulations on the management of foreign NGOs and strengthen international cooperation, cutting off the channels of collusion between anti-Chinese forces and their external links, and preventing the formation of rumor mills and fake news proliferation globally.
In recent years, the Chinese government has imposed sanctions on important figures tied to NED, amended the laws on the management of foreign NGOs and counterintelligence, which have achieved certain results, observers said.
Apart from reinforcing the oversight of NGOs in China, Wang suggested the Chinese government strengthen ideological education for people to be more confident in the country and avoid being easily tricked by rumors and slander, he said.
Domestic drive: The US has endorsed ‘Buy American’ policies, which would favour domestic producers but would be blatantly illegal under WTO rules.
https://youtu.be/vcn5Lxshw20
US multilateralism is coming back in many areas but in trade, many retrograde policies of the past are continuing.
AFTER the end of the Trump presidency in January, multilateralists around the world heaved a collective sigh of relief.
Gone would be the wrecking ball aimed at international institutions.
Gone would be the go-it-alone approach to dealing with global problems. Gone would be policies towards the rest of the world premised on “America First”.
Gone, hopefully, would be the capricious trade wars, some of them directed at American allies.
To a large extent, these high hopes have proved justified.
Within its first 40 days, the Biden administration has reversed many of its predecessor’s disengagements from multilateral institutions and processes.
It has rejoined the Paris Agreement on climate change, which the United States had abandoned in 2017.
It walked back to former president Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the World Health Organisation (WHO), which was due to take effect from July 6.
It has pledged US$4bil (RM16bil) for the WHO-sponsored Covax initiative which aims to distribute Covid-19 vaccines to the developing world, which the Trump administration refused to join.
It has agreed to endorse an allocation of special drawing rights – the International Monetary Fund’s hard currency – which would provide additional resources to poor countries without adding to their debt, and which former Treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin had declined to support.
Given that the World Bank is the world’s biggest financier of climate change-related investments, its president David Malpass reasonably expects that the Biden administration, for which battling climate change is a priority, will be supportive of its mission.
The administration has also vowed the US’ “unshakeable” commitment to Nato, which Trump had derided as an outdated organisation that imposes excessive burdens on the US.
But there is one critical area where the Biden administration is hesitant to support multilateralism, and that is trade.
Here, multilateralists can be grateful for some small mercies.
At least the administration has affirmed its commitment to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) – the custodian and enforcer of world trade rules – which the Trump administration all but ignored during the last four years and even threatened to leave.
It has also broken the impasse over WTO’s leadership, by endorsing the candidacy of Nigerian-American economist Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala for the post of directorgeneral, which was supported by the majority of the WTO’s 164 members, but which the Trump administration had blocked.
So, after being leaderless for almost six months, the WTO now at least has someone in charge.
Modest ambitions
But beyond that, and judging by actions rather than words, the multilateralist ambitions of the Biden administration on trade appear modest.
It has made clear that it will not pursue any trade agreements until it restores America’s competitiveness by investing trillions of dollars in areas such as energy, education and infrastructure.
It has endorsed “Buy American” policies, which would favour domestic producers and would be blatantly illegal under WTO rules.
Citing “systemic problems”, it has continued the Trump administration’s policy of blocking appointments of new judges to the WTO’s appellate body, which functions as a “supreme court” that adjudicates trade disputes.
The body has been unable to issue any judgments since Dec 11, 2019, because it did not have the minimum of three members required to issue a ruling.
Currently, with all judges having completed their terms, there is not a single judge on the body. This means that any appeal against a judgment by a lower panel at the WTO disappears into legal limbo, and the judgment is not binding.
In September last year, a lower panel ruled in favour of China, which made the case that the 25% tariffs levied by the US in June and September 2018 violated the WTO’s cardinal principle of non-discrimination.
The US is appealing that judgment, but the appeal cannot be heard, as the US would know, so the tariffs will remain in place.
Indeed, the Biden administration appears in no hurry to lift the Trump administration’s tariffs on China, all of which are likely to be WTO-illegal, according to trade experts.
It wants to use these tariffs as leverage to secure concessions from Beijing, including its compliance with the phase one trade deal negotiated by the Trump administration under which China was supposed to buy US$ 200 bil worth of US goods and services split over last year and this year, but is falling short of the target.
It has also continued the Trump administration’s policy of designating Hong Kong’s exports as “Made in China”, citing “national security” concerns – which means that in the US view, that issue, too, cannot be adjudicated by the WTO.
In short, a return to multilateralism on trade does not seem to be a priority for the Biden administration.
‘Elephant in the room’
The rise of China is one of the main sources of this reticence.
Like the Republicans, Democrats believe that the WTO is not fit for purpose in dealing with all of China’s alleged trade malpractices.
The case for this is well articulated in a 2016 paper by Harvard Law School Prof Mark Wu, now a senior adviser to the US Trade Representative’s office.
He argues that the main problem is that WTO rules – which were crafted before China joined the organisation – were not made with China’s distinctive economic system in mind.
WTO rules can address only those among China’s trade malpractices which are shared by other countries – such as requiring foreign investors to partner with local firms and buy from local suppliers, or granting exclusive rights to local firms to import or sell goods in the local market – which are practices that are not unique to China, and for which case law already exists.
But problems arise in cases where the boundaries between state and private enterprises are blurred, as is often the case in China. It is then not easy to judge whether a preferential transaction is of a private commercial nature – which falls outside the WTO rules – or amounts to a state subsidy.
At the heart of the problem is what constitutes a “public body”, which in China is not as clear as in other countries.
It is widely accepted, including by WTO itself, that WTO rules need to be updated, not only relating to China but also to issues such as digital trade, competition, services, labour and the environment.
But China, which is involved in the majority of trade disputes involving major economic powers, is the “elephant in the room”.
However, updating the rules should not mean sidelining the WTO in the meantime, which is what seems to be happening.
In a departure from the unilateral approach taken by the Trump administration, the Biden administration says it plans to deal with China’s trade practices in concert with other countries.
But there is no better way to do this than in a multilateral forum like the WTO, which applies a core set of principles to trade disputes such as non-discrimination, has mechanisms to monitor and enforce its rules and which would accommodate the concerns of multiple countries, which is how multilateralism should work.
Besides, China has a good record of complying with WTO rulings that go against it, and not such a good record of caving in to bilateral pressures.
Judicial paralysis
Shutting down the WTO’s judicial function by effectively neutralising its appellate body is especially ill advised.
Some concerns about the way the body functions and its alleged “judicial overreach” may be legitimate, but even if so, this applies only to a minority of cases that the body has adjudicated.
Disabling the WTO’s appellate body prevents the majority of cases, including those unrelated to China, from being resolved.
Besides, for all the criticisms levelled against it, the appellate body has a proud record.
In its 25 years of operation, it has resolved 195 disputes compared with around 160 cases completed in 74 years by the International Court of Justice, with 15 standing judges. Moreover, it has disposed of cases within a few months on average, compared with a few years in the case of other international adjudicating bodies.
Recounting these achievements in her farewell speech on Nov 30 last year, the last appellate judge to finish her term, Dr Zhao Hong, pointed out: “Though there was room to improve, the appellate body distinguishes itself for its outstanding performance among all international adjudicating bodies.”
By continuing to paralyse its functioning, the Biden administration undermines multilateralism and perpetuates the law of the jungle on trade issues, where might is right.
So while the administration has made a good start by re-embracing multilateralism in many areas, its trade policies still leave much to be desired.
-By VIKRAM KHANNA— The Straits Times/ANN
Diplomatic realpolitik
AS double-think runs wild in the White House, Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MBS) of Saudi Arabia must be enjoying a quiet chuckle. Diplomatic realpolitik has been accorded precedence over the severe action that was expected of President Joe Biden in the context of the US intelligence report that the Crown Prince was complicit in the ghastly killing of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018.
The Washington Post columnist was allegedly drugged and his body dismembered. Every tenet of human rights was thus violated.
By advancing what they call a “free pass” to MBS, America’s President has proffered a feeble excuse to justify his defence of the de facto leader of the desert kingdom. Biden, who had referred to Saudi Arabia as a “pariah kingdom with no redeeming social value” in course of his election campaign, has now softened his stance to a dramatic degree.
It thus comes about that in the somewhat surprising reckoning of the US President, the price of directly penalising Saudi Arabia’s crown prince is “too high”.
He may be right when viewed through the prism of certitudes of foreign policy.
The US President was reportedly convinced by his newly formed national security team that there was no way to formally bar the Saudi crown prince from entering the United States or to take a call on the criminal charges against him.
Altogether, it was feared by the current US administration that a drastic reprisal would have breached the equation with one of America’s key Arab allies, not to discount the flutter within the Arab region generally.
There is said to have been a consensus in the White House that the price of that breach was quite “simply too high” in terms of Saudi cooperation in the fight against terrorism and in confronting Iran.
Biden had been urged by a section of the establishment to at least impose the same travel restrictions against the Crown Prince as the Trump administration had imposed on others involved in the plot.
The White House appears to have drawn a fine distinction between MBS and the Saudi military. While the Crown Prince is unlikely to be invited to the United States in the immediate perspective, the establishment has denied that the Saudi ruler is being given a “pass”.
It is pretty obvious though, that the coveted International Visitor Program (IVP) will not be denied to the Saudi Arabian Crown Prince. Going by the terms of protocol, he may yet be treated as a state guest in America.-Reuter
Seven years may have passed since the fateful day Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 vanished, yet loved ones of those onboard are still struggling to cope with the loss.
This was the sentiment shared by Grace Nathan, 31, whose mother Anne Daisy, was among the 239 people on board the aircraft that vanished while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in 2014.
Grace said many of them were still waiting for closure.
“Some continue to wait and some have not accepted that their loved ones may not be coming home, ” she said while hosting the 7th Annual Remembrance Event for Missing Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 by ‘Voice370’ yesterday.
While some could have accepted the reality of not seeing their loved ones again, Grace said, they all had a longing for answers.
“There is still this undying need or desire to know what happened to them so that we can understand why they are not coming home ever, ” she added.
Her mother Anne, 56, an executive with a learning and development firm, was on her way to to visit her husband, Department of Civil Aviation official VPR Nathan, 58, who had been posted to the Chinese capital.
There were also families of passengers from China, who were likewise struggling to cope, she said.
“A group of elderly next-of-kin are still looking for answers. They have been going to the MAS office every day for the last seven years to ask for updates, ” Grace said.
She said counselling should be provided to these families in China, to help them cope with their emotional anguish.
Grace also reiterated the request of families of those missing for the Malaysian government to release military radar data of Flight MH370 on March 7 and 8,2014.
“The data could be released on a non-disclosure basis to independent experts, ” she said, adding that individuals or governments with information should also come forward to help solve the mystery.
On a separate matter, independent expert Mike Exner yesterday said debris that likely came from MH370 was found washed along the beach in Jeffreys Bay, South Africa, sometime between August and September last year.
He said the debris – part of an aircraft’s wing – had been handed over to the South African authorities.
Meanwhile, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong said Malaysia would take any reasonable effort to continue the search for MH370, in cooperation with China and Australia.
“We aspire towards closure as much as the families and friends.
“In the search for MH370, the governments of Malaysia, Australia and China have spared no expenses and resources in the collective effort to locate MH370.
“Our shared aim was always to find the aircraft and get the answers, ” he said in a special message to the next-of-kin during the virtual event.
Dr Wee said that the MH370 tragedy could never be forgotten and yesterday’s event was held in solemn remembrance and with prayers for those who were on board the plane.
“For many, the passage of time these seven years has not softened the painful memory of this tragedy, ” he added.
MH370 was on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 passengers and crew on board when it disappeared from radar.
Investigators deduced that the aircraft had veered thousands of kilometers off course before crashing into the Indian Ocean.
KUALA LUMPUR: Yesterday marked the seventh anniversary of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370’s mysterious disappearance while on a scheduled flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
How and why a sophisticated Boeing 777 carrying 227 passengers of different nationalities and 12 crew members vanished from the radar screen without a trace remain a mystery despite an extensive search.
In remembering the ill-fated flight, Bernama revisited the incident and interviewed some of the next of kin in Malaysia who were disappointed with the lack of closure on the tragedy.
“I feel exactly like how it was seven years ago when I was 17...things are pretty much the same but we are doing okay, ” said the daughter of Andrew Nari, the chief steward on the flight.
The brother-in-law of Goh Sock Lay, the chief stewardess on board, said the family did not want to talk about the incident as they felt sad each time they recalled it.
Family members of some passengers have moved on and feel there is nothing more to talk about.
Even conspiracy theories have abated.
The initial theories – such as hijacking and diversion of the plane to a US military base on the Diego Garcia atoll, seizure of control of the aircraft from the pilots via remote methods and catastrophic systems or airframe failure – have yet to be proven.
But the aircraft’s flaperon, which washed up on a beach on Reunion Island a year later, pointed to the fact that the Indian Ocean may be the final resting place of Flight MH370.
However, there is no way to pinpoint the exact resting place of the wreck in the vast ocean.
Until the plane is found and the enigma of its disappearance is deciphered, MH370 will continue to be an aviation mystery. — Bernama
Mar 8, 2016 ...Malaysia's flight MH370 mistakes reflect stagnant politics; Bad apples in NZ sex
crime.. Malaysia is poised to escape the middle-income trap, .
Jul 2, 2014 ...Malaysia is poised to escape the middle-income trap, but also ready to fall ...
Malaysia's poor response following the disappearance of flight ...
More funds set aside for special plans including adverse reactions to vaccines
Insurance companies are setting aside more funds to expand special plans related to the Covid-19 pandemic, including covering any adverse reaction from vaccination.
While health experts have said that any side effect from Covid-19 vaccines is rare, the coverage is a precautionary measure.
Most insurance firms have extended their coverage of cash aid for hospitalisation and death from Covid-19, which was supposed to end in December 2020, until this year.
The benefits are for existing and new policyholders at no additional cost for an allocated period of time or until the fund limit is reached.
National Association of Malaysian Life Insurance and Family Takaful Advisors (Namlifa) president A.M. Naidu said insurers had been very supportive of the government’s aspirations to include private healthcare providers in treating Covid-19 patients.
“They have allocations to compensate their insured clients on test reimbursement, admission bills and for treating side effects out of the Covid-19 treatment.
“Now, they are ready to cover the costs of treatment for the side effects of vaccination.
“Some insurers even provide a one-time lump sum compensation to their life insurance clients who test positive for Covid-19, ” Naidu said.
These insurance benefits are on top of the government’s announcement to give ex-gratia payments via a compensation scheme to those who experience serious side effects after receiving the vaccine.
Khairy Jamaluddin, the coordinating minister for the immunisation programme, had said details like the payment amount would be announced soon.
Namlifa, said Naidu, would continue its engagement with the Life Insurance Association of Malaysia (LIAM), the Malaysian Takaful Association (MTA) and Bank Negara to ensure transparency and fairness towards the insured public in all their initiatives.
“We are even prepared to engage with the Health and Finance ministries in providing feedback and proposals to the government, ” he said.
Tokio Marine insurance agent Janice Khaw said insurance companies were now extending new medical care assistance in view of the prolonged pandemic and the inclusion of private hospitals for Covid-19 treatment.
“A RM5mil medical assistance fund is allocated to support customers who need to be transferred to private hospitals for Covid-19 treatment under the government’s order.
“Customers treated at private hospitals from Feb 20 to June 30 this year can claim up to RM5,000 under Category 3, RM10,000 for Category 4 and RM20,000 for Category 5, ” said Khaw.
The categories relate to the severity of the disease – from Category 1 for asymptomatic patients and Category 5 for those critically ill.
Tokio Marine Life medical plan customers, said Khaw, could also receive reimbursement for medical bills of up to RM5,000 should they experience any adverse effect from the Covid-19 vaccine, adding that the benefit was applicable from Feb 20 to Dec 31,2021.
Unit manager for Prudential Zaid Mohamed Nyan said although treatment related to diseases caused by a pandemic was excluded from insurance coverage, most companies had initiated special plans for Covid-19 patients as a campaign based on goodwill.
“Prudential offers post-Covid-19 vaccination coverage with a fund limit of RM1mil, which ends on Dec 31,2021, or when the fund limit is reached, ” he said.
The coverage is provided for all Prudential customers eligible to receive RM500 in cash relief for hospitalisation in the country due to serious adverse effects from Covid-19 immunisation.
“Eligible clients can also receive reimbursement based on moderate to severe illness from Covid-19, with up to RM5,000 for Category 3 patients, RM15,000 for Category 4 and RM20,000 for Category 5.
“This excludes home quarantine. Patients in Category three to five who need to quarantine and receive treatment at government hospitals can receive a cash relief of RM1,000, ” he said.
The plans, which are covered under the Covid-19 Hospitalisation assistance and Covid-19 Upgraded Plan Assistance with a RM20mil allocation will end on March 31,2021, or when the limit is reached.
“The coverage is set in an allocated period but can be extended from time to time, depending on the company’s view of the current Covid-19 situation in the country, ” said Zaid.
For Zurich life insurance and family takaful customers, those hospitalised due to Covid-19 are eligible to receive a maximum amount of RM100 per day for up to five days.
“If you own a policy or a certificate that provides death benefit, an additional death benefit of RM10,000 will be provided should death occur due to Covid-19, ” it said on its website.
The benefits are extended to existing and new customers until March 31,2021.
Similarly, insurance provider AIA Malaysia said in view of the ongoing pandemic, it was committed to continuing giving extra Covid-19 coverage.
For instance, eligible policyholders can receive hospitalisation benefit of RM200 per day for up to 30 days if they are diagnosed with Covid-19 and directed to be quarantined at any of the Health Ministry’s designated hospital or quarantine centre.
“Home quarantine and elective quarantine at any hospital are excluded, ” said the company on its website.
In the unfortunate event of death due to Covid-19, an additional lump sum coverage of RM10,000 per life will be paid to his or her beneficiary.
The coverage will only be until March 31 this year.
Plans by other companies such as Manulife Insurance Bhd include coverage for customers who need to observe home quarantine as ordered by the Health Ministry.
“A daily benefit of RM200 will be payable to the insured person upon being diagnosed with Covid-19 and hospitalised at designated hospitals or quarantined at Low-Risk Treatment Centres or at home, ” it said, adding that this had a cap of 30 days.
“The coverage of Home Quarantine starts from Jan 29,2021, onwards, ” it said.
Beneficiaries are also eligible to receive a lump sum of RM10,000 in the event of death caused by Covid-19 while an additional RM5,000 is provided if the individual is a medical staff involved in the handling of Covid-19 cases.
Besides hospitalisation coverage, the Life Insurance Association of Malaysia has also allocated RM8mil for the Covid-19 Test Fund in support of the Health Ministry’s efforts to conduct more tests.
This is applicable for all medical insurance policyholders and takaful certificate holders who undergo Covid-19 tests at recognised private labs.
A maximum amount of RM300 is claimable and the reimbursement is valid until June 30 or when the fund is fully used.
