By Tay Tian Yan, Sin Chew Daily

What is "insanity"?

"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

Many believe this quote came from Albert Einstein, but Einsteinian experts say he did not say that.

Anyway, linking it to Albert Einstein shows that this quote indeed has some genius element in it, and should  therefore command a higher referencing value or satirical significance.

On the first day of MCO 3.0 for KL and Selangor, I started my MCO 3.0 life as a law-abiding citizen in full compliance with government SOPs.

Driving along the LDP, the traffic was somewhat lighter, probably because schools were closed, but still busy enough. After taking several turns, I still did not come across any road block before I arrived at the mall prepared to buy my first cup of coffee for the day. The mall was brightly lit, and the shops were all open as usual.

A friend taking public transport told me the crowd in LRT was slightly thinner, but as it was only the first day, the passenger traffic should pick up next week, as during the last time.

I continued with my busy day until I finished work.

If not for the rain, I could have done some jogging at the park after work.

Don't worry, sports venues are not closed, and you can still visit a gym or play badminton.

The first day of MCO wasn't actually much different from any other day of the year.

Oh yes, no dining-in for restaurants and eateries. But for those who cook or take out food, there's no difference at all.

Another thing, Ramadan bazaars in six Selangor districts will stop operating from Saturday. If you really need to go to one, KL, where the bazaars will remain open, is just a short drive away.

Didn't the minister say no inter-district travels? How not to cross district borders for most people who need to go to work, do business or sale?

Setting up road blocks will not stop people from going out, but will only make the traffic worse.

Many used to think there would be major changes this MCO, but after some delays and numerous changes here and there and a great deal of confusion, we realize that nothing much has changed this MCO. Basically, the same old things again.

From MCO to CMCO and RMCO, we are actually doing more or less the same things over and again, save for the MCO 1.0 last year.

Back to the quote of Einstein (or probably not his), doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. This is what we call "insanity", not fighting the virus!

The objective of fighting the virus is to reverse the deteriorating trend lest we fall into the same dilemma as what India is going through now.

The daily new infection numbers remain as depressing as ever. New cases have been reported around us and we so far have more than 400 infection clusters with the authorities now totally clueless how to track down contacts. Hospital resources are being squeezed to the limit and ICU wards are in dire shortage.

The powerfully infective and virulent Indian variant has finally been detected here in Malaysia.

As if that's not enough, the much anticipated phase 3 immunization program may not get to start on schedule due to late delivery of vaccines.

The coronavirus pandemic is a disaster of epic scale. We now see that the storm is approaching, but other than some superficial preventive works, we continue to enjoy our lives. The consequences are going to be unimaginable!

To make things worse, we have a very indecisive government that has taken so long to declare a new MCO which eventually announced is a half-boiled plan trying not to offend the people (read voters) or the businesses.

We don't seem to have any idea what should be allowed and what should not. KL and Selangor may be just separated by a street, but the rules are different. Often even the minister himself doesn't seem to know what he is talking about, and may have to correct himself every now and then!

Our enforcement officers are equally confused. Issuing or not issuing a summons ticket, they will still get slammed by people anyway.

As for our people, while they keep screwing up others for violating the SOPs, many of them don't even follow the rules themselves: traveling out of state deliberately without a permit, socializing at night clubs, hanging around at bazaars and markets, not going for screening tests after they show symptoms, and breaching the quarantine order after they have tested positive for the virus.

No one seems to be in the fighting mode. People still enjoy their lives as usual, do the same old things but expect  very different results. Could this be possible at all?