As of 31 Jan 2021, the\nnumber of daily new case COVID-19 infections had increased to 5,298, while the\nnumber of daily active cases had risen to 48,150. Indeed, the figure did increase\nthe following day and remained in the five thousands for three days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sadly, a total of 262\npeople had died due to COVID-19 infection in our country in the first 29 days\nof 2021. From the 262 deaths recorded from 1 Jan to 29 Jan 2021, 92% or 240\ndeaths were citizens and the remaining 8% or 22 deaths were non-citizens. More\nmen died with 174 deaths or 66% than women with 34% or 88 deaths. Ninety-four\nper cent of the 262 deaths were aged 40 and over and 90% of the deaths had a\nhistory of chronic disease. The most common chronic diseases affecting the 262\ncases of COVID-19 deaths are high blood pressure (64%), diabetes (59%), kidney\n(30%), heart disease (19%), dyslipidemia (16%), stroke (8 %) and obesity (5%).\nSelangor, Sabah, and Johor recorded the highest deaths during the 29 days.\nOlder people with chronic diseases are at high risk who will get various\ncomplications when infected with COVID-19. (Ministry of Health Malaysia Face\nBook, 30 Jan. 2021).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From the world\nperspective, the total cumulative number of positive COVID-19 cases worldwide has\nexceeded 103 million. The latest data by the Johns Hopkins University shows\nthat the United States remains the worst-affected country with over 26.26\nmillion cases. This is followed by India with 10.75 million and Brazil with 9.2\nmillion cases, while countries with more than three million cases are the\nUnited Kingdom, Russia, and France. Other countries which have recorded\npositive numbers between 100,000 and 300,000 cases include Malaysia. (Astro\nAwani, 2 Feb. 2021).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Indeed, New Zealand is a\ncountry worth emulating in fighting the pandemic. If the president of a country\nwants a cup of coffee at the coffee shop, chances are s\/he will surely be\nserved. Not so in New Zealand whose prime minister was actually turned down\nfrom the coffee shop due to COVID-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the land of the Kiwis,\neveryone follows the law from the waiter up to the prime minister. Jacinda\nArden was turned down by the restaurant because it had reached its capacity.\nMost countries have two problems. First, people do not follow rules, and\nsecond, politicians are above the law. When politicians are above the law, it\nis a signal to everyone that the law does not matter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Indeed, the law has to be\nrespected. No exception is made even for the president of the country because\nthe virus does not care who one is. Until 2 February 2021, only two active\ncases in the New Zealand community were recorded [health.gov.my]. Indeed, New\nZealand has managed to flatten the COVID-19 curve. Shops, restaurants, cinemas,\ngyms are allowed to open for business again. The rules are adhered to by the\neconomic sector. If we were to adopt the\nsame mentality, perhaps we might be able to beat the pandemic again as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Indeed, not only are New\nZealanders law-compliant, they have been proven to be Islamic\u2013compliant as\nwell. This has been discussed in an experts consultation organised by the Institute\nof Islamic Understanding (IKIM) on 22 December 2020 entitled “New Zealand\nis the Most Islamic Country: How about Malaysia?” <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Indeed, New Zealand has\nbeen named the country most in line with Islamic teachings. In the 2019 Islamic\nCity Index (ICI), it topped the list of countries followed by Sweden, Iceland, the\nNetherlands, Denmark and Ireland. Malaysia, on the other hand, dropped four notches\nto 47th place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ICI, which was\nfounded by the Islamic City Foundation based in the United States, measures the\ngovernment’s compliance with the principles of Islamic teachings as stated in\nthe Holy Qur’an. This includes complying with interest-free financing,\neducational equality, property rights, animal rights, and others. New Zealand scored\nhigh marks in all the categories including anti-corruption laws and provisions\nto reduce poverty. In terms of Islamic fundamental values on integrity and\nconsensus, New Zealand does very well. Speaking the truth to the government is\na fundamental aspect of Islam, yet not all Muslim countries allow such a right.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ICI was developed by\nHossein Askari. Born in Iran but has spent most of his life in the US, Askari\nis an economist with a Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of\nTechnology (MIT). He teaches at universities in the US, and has served on the\nexecutive board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). According to Askari,\nthe index should be seen as a benchmark rather than an allegation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whether one succeeds in\nflattening the pandemic COVID-19 curve depends on the attitude of the people\nand politicians in the country as the virus does not know its victims. Significant\ndifferences are shown between the US and New Zealand. While the US has totalled\n26.26 million positive cases thus far, New Zealand only has recorded two.\nAlthough the USA is a country with technological sophistication and boasts the\nbiggest economy, it is still unable to curb the COVID-19 pandemic, all because\nof the attitude of its people and politicians.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As of 31 Jan 2021, the number of daily new case COVID-19 infections had increased to 5,298, while the number of daily active cases had risen to 48,150. Indeed, the figure did increase the following day and remained in the five thousands for three days. Sadly, a total of 262 people had died due to COVID-19 infection \u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_analytify_skip_tracking":false,"_wpzoom_pinterest_image_url":"","_wpzoom_pinterest_hidden_image":"0","_wpzoom_pinterest_description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[139],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-new-straits-times","category-139","description-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28598","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28598"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28598\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}