SHAH ALAM, Aug 31 — The Covid-19 outbreak has forced the nation to adapt to new norms and accept that life has to continue with the virus, says Dato’ Seri Amirudin Shari.
In a statement today, the Menteri Besar said Malaysia is not yet free from the virus as the outbreak is still active in the country and others as well.
However, he said the 64th Independence Day this year differs from the previous year as the majority of the Malaysian people are inoculated against the coronavirus.
“The celebration is like a dejavu from last year’s festival because we are still battling the virus that has claimed over 14,000 lives and infected some 1,593,602 individuals.
“What makes it different this year is that many have received their vaccines, with a cumulative figure of 3,312,825 individuals or 69.75 per cent of the adult population,” he said in his Merdeka Day address today.
Amirudin said the people are celebrating Independence Day in unprecedented times of prolonged health and political crisis.
“The struggles in the past from when the country was occupied to the process of achieving independence should be able to teach us to persevere and be positive,” said Amirudin.
He added that the dark historical event of May 13 in 1969 had led the late Tun Abdul Razak Hussein to chair the National Consultative Council and addressed the idea and principle of Rukun Negara as an effort to steer the country towards national identity
