Self portrait during Movement Control Order (MCO), 2020. Almost a year without work and all assignments canceled due to the pandemic. I was blessed with my first child a few months before COVID-19 arrived in Malaysia and we had to live just only with the savings. Not being an easy person to share problems caused me depression and life stress at that time. I would spend the whole night crying in the shower thinking how am I going to put food on the table every day?
An immigrant man seen standing inside his hostel as the Malaysia government imposed the Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO) at Pudu, Kuala Lumpur, May. 30. 2021.
Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak greeted his supporters outside the Malaysia’s High Court compound after he had been sentenced to 12 years in prison on all seven charges of money laundering, abuse of power and criminal breach of trust in the first case in a series of sovereign fund linked corruption trials against him, July. 28, 2020.
Despite the convictions, he is still out on bail pending his Federal Court hearing. Since then, he has rehabilitated his image through social media, gaining traction among followers with his incitement against the two governments that succeeded him. Najib also has helped his party win big in two state elections in Melaka and Johor and will now galvanize him politically.
As COVID-19 cases rising, hotspot area around Kuala Lumpur has been put under the Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO) where barbed wire has been installed to curb residents movement from the area.
During peak of COVID-19 in 2021, Malaysia recorded almost 300 deaths daily causing influx of dead bodies that need to be handled immediately. The process of handling COVID-19 victims are more tedious than the regular body as the handlers are required to adhere to the strict COVID-19 SOPs for virus prevention.
An elderly man with disability seen receiving his first dose of COVID-19 vaccine by the comfort of his own home as the authorities have initiated a door-to-door inoculation programme. Dubbed as the Sabak Bernam Mobile Outreach Programme, the initiative has been ongoing since July 1 and is a collaborative effort between the district’s Land and Health offices, July. 7, 2021.
2020- Due to the COVID-19, Malaysian authorities have put a restriction to prevent mass gatherings including shutting down mosques nationwide. JAKIM (Islamic Authorities) has taken an initiative to organize live streaming on Facebook of the prayer at National Mosque, Kuala Lumpur where only five mosque committees performing the prayer while still practicing social distancing.
2021- After a year of battling with COVID-19, the Malaysia government has relaxed the restriction on social gatherings and allowing the public to perform their Tarawih and Congregational prayer at the mosque while maintaining social distancing.
2022- Muslims are able to perform Tarawih prayers without physical distancing. Congregational and Tarawih prayers without physical distancing are also allowed at all mosques and surau in the Federal Territories, in line with the transition to the endemic phase, starting April 1, 2022.
There were about 1000 protesters joining #LAWAN, an anti-government rally organized by Sekretariat Solidariti Rakyat (SSR) in Kuala Lumpur. The rally urges the resignation of Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin due to the worsening COVID-19 outbreak under his care, July 31, 2021.
Two weeks after the rally, Muhyiddin Yassin resigned as Prime Minister after just 17 months in power as he has lost his majority in parliament
A total of 107 opposition Members of Parliament (MP) gathered at Dataran Merdeka march to the Parliament with a banner that read “Mahiaddin & Kabinet Letak Jawatan” (Mahiaddin and Cabinet Resign) after the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government closed the Dewan Rakyat due to COVID-19.
However, the movement of Members of Parliament led by PKR President, Anwar Ibrahim was blocked by the Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) Aug. 2, 2021.
Despite the resignation of Muhyiddin, the opposition were still failed to regain power at the federal level and lost in all state elections that took place during the pandemic.
Pasar Jalan Raja Bot in Chow Kit on Saturday morning, 2 October was a scene of lively normalcy reminiscent of pre-COVID-19 days, giving hope that better times are coming.
Having moved into Phase 3 of the National Recovery Plan, Klang Valley folk appear to be adapting well to the new norms.
Despite the transition, there was no drastic increase in the size of the crowd and standard operating procedures were still adhered to, with vendors and customers practicing social distancing to the best of their abilities.
Students of Pin Hwa High School, Klang attending classes physically after many months of learning online due to pandemic. Schools in the Klang Valley reopen starting today in accordance with the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) guidelines set by the Ministry Malaysian Education and the National Security Council.
Malaysian Armed Forces evacuate residents by boat as floodwaters submerged areas of Taman Sri Muda in Shah Alam on December 20, 2021. Malaysian army and emergency responders scrambled to provide aid in flood-hit parts of the country after rising waters forced residents to flee by boat.
A total of about 2 million books at the BookXcess warehouse in Shah Alam were disposed of due to floods last week. Workers are also sorting out damaged books and cleaning up the affected area. According to Andrew Yap founder of BookXcess and Big Bad Wolf Books, this work may take at least a week to a month, December 27, 2021.
Public park full of families with their children having fun after Klang Valley moved into Phase Two of the National Recovery Plan (NRP), Putrajaya, Sept. 11, 2021.
Dealing with quarantine is a very difficult experience for parents who need to balance personal life, work, and raising children. The lack of support received by children during this difficult times may be the reason for their more pronounced psychological symptoms as well as the impact on the child's growth and development.
Both photos show the general view of Dataran Merdeka during the Pandemic phase in 2021 and the transition phase to Endemic in 2022 in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia is now transitioning into the endemic phase starting April 1. Wearing of face mask outdoors and physical distancing are no longer mandatory since May 1, 2022, in line with the relaxation of COVID-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs).