https://www.scmp.com/rss/503611/feed Dr Swee Kheng Khor is a Malaysian physician specialising in health policies and global health, with fellowships in three international think tanks. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Malaysia has had a difficult time with Covid-19. The country’s efforts to contain the pandemic have been clouded by political instability and shifting allegiances, with the most recent drama being Umno’s withdrawal of support for the government. Public trust is crucial for any government, but trust is eroding in Malaysia. Last month, two of the top trending Twitter hashtags were #KerajaanPembunuh (#MurderousGovernment) and #BenderaPutih (#WhiteFlag). The former started to trend when statistics... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3140890/malaysia-cannot-hope-overcome-covid-19-without-plan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3140890/malaysia-cannot-hope-overcome-covid-19-without-plan?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 13 Jul 2021 20:00:04 +0000 It is a universally acknowledged truth that a world in possession of vaccines must be in need of equitable vaccine distribution. The calls for vaccine equity are growing louder. Last month, the People’s Vaccine Alliance mobilised 170 former heads of state and Nobel Laureates to sign an open letter to the Biden administration. In March, over 1,000 experts in science, public health and law published an open letter in the British Medical Journal addressed to all global leaders. And yet, there have... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3132204/coronavirus-vaccine-hoarding-three-reasons-its-rich-countries-own?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3132204/coronavirus-vaccine-hoarding-three-reasons-its-rich-countries-own?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 05 May 2021 17:30:18 +0000 As of March 15, travellers to China can enjoy easier visa applications with fewer requirements, but only if they have received Chinese-made Covid-19 vaccines. The lack of international opposition to this and unusually muted diplomatic reactions signal that other countries could be considering similar or even stricter vaccine-specific entry requirements. The danger is that such actions could divide the world into vaccine blocs. There has been no clear explanation of Beijing’s decision, although... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3127514/covid-19-vaccine-visas-risk-dividing-world-east-vs-west-vaccine?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3127514/covid-19-vaccine-visas-risk-dividing-world-east-vs-west-vaccine?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 30 Mar 2021 20:00:15 +0000 As the coronavirus situation in East Asia and Europe stabilises, countries are inventing a new vocabulary to describe their efforts to reopen borders. Many countries have begun the process, calling their policies “travel bubbles”, “travel corridors”, “air bridges” or “green lanes”. Australia and New Zealand announced a possible trans-Tasman bubble in early June, but implementation could be as far away as September with parts of Melbourne entering a new lockdown on July 4. On June 8, Singapore... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3092045/coronavirus-travel-bubbles-must-be-rooted-science-not-politics?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3092045/coronavirus-travel-bubbles-must-be-rooted-science-not-politics?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 06 Jul 2020 23:00:16 +0000 Everyone wants to know when Covid-19 will “end”. The short answer is when we find a vaccine and administer it to 80-95 per cent of the world’s population, which will be mid-2021 at the earliest. Twelve months is a long time to be making crucial Covid-19 decisions in a volatile and unpredictable environment. Lockdowns have generally worked, but they are blunt instruments and cannot last till mid-2021. We all want to restart our economies and societies as safely, quickly and widely as possible.... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3083848/until-theres-covid-19-vaccine-here-are-three-ways-governments-can?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3083848/until-theres-covid-19-vaccine-here-are-three-ways-governments-can?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 11 May 2020 12:00:21 +0000 The Covid-19 illness is now in more than 100 countries worldwide, and the number of infections and deaths will continue to spike before this outbreak gets better. This is a species-level war between Homo sapiens and coronavirus, not between countries or individuals. Yet, the nationalist instincts of governments and societies are increasingly expressed through travel bans and xenophobic rhetoric, worsened by a social media “infodemic”. This is normal because outbreaks are political, social and... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3074328/coronavirus-are-travel-bans-effective-way-curb-covid-19s-spread?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3074328/coronavirus-are-travel-bans-effective-way-curb-covid-19s-spread?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 Mar 2020 23:00:23 +0000 There’s no such thing as a good moment for a country to endure political chaos and instability but Malaysia’s timing seems particularly bad. Malaysia is already dealing with a slowing economy, the ongoing corruption trial of former prime minister Najib Razak and stalling civil service reforms. Now this week’s high-level resignations and shifting coalitions have created an extra layer of political turmoil. Interim Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has no cabinet, meaning Malaysia must handle the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3052446/how-will-malaysia-fight-coronavirus-no-health-minister-amid?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3052446/how-will-malaysia-fight-coronavirus-no-health-minister-amid?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 26 Feb 2020 10:00:12 +0000 In April 2019, humanity saw what was previously thought unseeable when Nasa released our first picture of a black hole. Black holes are so dense no light escapes from them, making them invisible and any pictures hitherto impossible. We produced that picture because a whole bunch of scientists worked together, representing the height of our species’ collaborative abilities. Hundreds of astronomers, astrophysicists, computer scientists, engineers and mathematicians from tens of countries worked... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3050493/doctors-arent-enough-fight-new-coronavirus-we-need-all-science?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3050493/doctors-arent-enough-fight-new-coronavirus-we-need-all-science?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 16 Feb 2020 23:30:13 +0000 As a frontline doctor in a Malaysian public hospital during the 2009 H1N1 “swine flu” outbreak, I witnessed first-hand how trust and public confidence are as important as isolation rooms and antiviral medicines. Outbreaks have always caused strong emotions of fear and panic, and now perhaps even anger after the death of the whistle-blower doctor in Wuhan. But how is this new coronavirus outbreak different from previous ones and what can we do about it? Fear is normal during times of danger –... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3049532/coronavirus-fight-between-species-not-countries-we-need-science?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3049532/coronavirus-fight-between-species-not-countries-we-need-science?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 08 Feb 2020 02:30:11 +0000