KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 3 (Sin Chew Daily) — Chinese groups, Chinese business associations and Chinese education groups are urging politicians on both sides of the divide to focus on fighting COVID-19 and prioritize the people's interest instead of indulging in power struggle.

Chinese community leaders are of the view that political instability will have negative impact on the economy, aggravating the outflow of foreign funds where Malaysia will lose its competitive edge.

People are the ones suffering from all these negative setbacks, they said.

Tan Sri Goh Tian Chuan, president of Federation of Chinese Associations, Malaysia (Huazong), said politicians on both sides of the political divide should not be making use of COVID-19 to gain political mileage. The battle against COVID-19 pandemic should be carried in a professional and effective manner.

Goh told Sin Chew Daily Malaysians wished to see that the focus and resources are placed on fighting the pandemic instead of power struggle. 

Huazong urged the people and politicians on both sides of the divide to prioritize battling the pandemic and work as one team so that normalcy could be restored as soon as possible.

Datuk Tan Tian Meng, Secretary-General of the Associated Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry Malaysia (ACCCIM), said the government should be focusing on fighting the pandemic without further delay.

The economy, families and individuals had been badly affected by the lockdown measures during the past two months, he said.

"During this critical period, the government should be focusing on efforts to flatten the infection curve, speed up vaccination, enhance mass screening measures, trace those who have tested positive and apply stringent standard operating procedures (SOPs) to curb the virus," he added.

Tan said herd immunity should be achieved earlier by having government and private hospitals work together to carry out vaccination throughout the country by purchasing more vaccines.

Tan said ACCCIM had received complaints from the association's members as well as business community to request the government to reopen business and work resumption by allowing 50% of staff to return to work.

The Federation of Malaysia Lim Associations president Tan Sri Datuk Lim Soon Peng said the political instability had impacted the pace of economic revival.

Political chaos would further aggravate the repatriation of foreign funds to other regions, he said.

Lim said he was relieved that many Chinese organizations had come forward to offer help and provide jobs to the unemployed.

Datuk Michael Kang, president of SME Association of Malaysia, said the government should set up a professional team comprising medical personnel, pandemic experts and others to find a way to curb the pandemic instead of focusing on political fights.

"If the government is unable to handle the pandemic, then leave it to the experts. Vaccination should not be politicized," he asserted.

Tan Tai Kim, chairman of the United Chinese School Committees' Association of Malaysia (Dong Zong), urged political parties to put aside politics and work together to combat the virus.

He said measures to fight the pandemic were not carried out well due to political instability.

Datuk Seri Tang Ying Lik, president of Asean-China Investment Association said the battle against COVID-19 pandemic should be the priority of all.

Malaysia was not successful in curbing the COVID-19 outbreak for the past 500 days as there was no sign of improvement up till now, he said.