Pandemic, Politics, and a Fairer Society in Southeast Asia: A Malaysian Perspective

Governments in Southeast Asia have introduced and enforced harsh legal measures to stem the spread of COVID-19. These measures are disproportionate to the crisis and disregard fundamental human rights. Against this backdrop, public trust in government among Southeast Asians nevertheless remains relatively high – paradoxically, people living in authoritarian regimes tend to trust their governments more compared to people living in democratic regimes. The chapter examines the impacts that anti-COVID-19 legal measures have left on the protection of human rights and the seemingly paradoxical divorce between public trust and the diminished respect for fundamental human rights. Based on this examination, this chapter also proposes elements that any global treaty for future pandemic response must include in order to ensure the protection of human rights.

Politics is ubiquitous in every crisis, and public health issues have always been weaponised to advance political mileage of leaders. This chapter first analyses the link between COVID-19 and populism in the Philippines and Malaysia. During the coronavirus pandemic, an exodus of opportunistic leaders in both countries took advantage of the health crisis to cement their control and maintain power. Strong and charismatic leadership helped Filipino populist politicians spread their influence with solid support from the people and less resistance from the opposition. Meanwhile, Islamist populism and ethnonationalism were utilised by Malaysian leaders to secure authority and earn people’s recognition. Then, it explores how generations of national issues, such as corruption, inequality, and instability, also contributed to the rise of populist leaders in the Philippines and Malaysia. Finally, the chapter argues that the future of populism in these countries will remain strong due to the vulnerability of the people. In one way or another, COVID-19 and populism affect global movements, not just political and social, considering their generational and historical developments. The chapter seeks to answer the following question: what factors contributed to the rise of populism, and what are the future of populism in both countries?

The analyses of civil–military relations during public health emergencies are traditionally confined to applications in international and humanitarian action related to conflict and disaster. The expansive global response to the COVID-19 pandemic fused health and national security issues, and such a response involved extensive collaboration between the military and civil sectors. The expanded scope and centrality of the military in government pandemic response have been noted globally, and Southeast Asia presented interesting developments. This study investigates how the pandemic affected civil–military relations in the region by looking at the cases of the Philippines and Malaysia. First, it assesses the extent to which the pandemic has been framed within the security language through war analogies that rationalised military response. Second, it investigates the roles of the military in the respective governments’ public health emergency response, providing clues on how the increased military intervention affected people’s trust and confidence in public institutions during the pandemic. The study finds that securitising the pandemic correlated to expanding the military’s power and scope in the government response, but notes that civil–military relations remained dependent on the historical roles of the armed forces in politics and society. The two countries have similarly framed the pandemic as a security threat, but the military’s participation in Malaysia’s response shows development opportunities, while the case of the Philippines reveals how a military-centric pandemic response could lead to deleterious effects.

The COVID-19 pandemic is a disaster that triggered serious economic downturn, social unrest, and many human security threats in all countries across the world, including Indonesia. The Indonesian government has imposed many regulations, from soft to hard measures. However, the number of COVID-19 victims and death rate is high. Moreover, many people do not comply with government regulations. Therefore, the government collaborates with religious institutions, including Islamic institutions, to convince people about the danger of COVID-19 and the necessity of complying with government regulations. Using the lens of human security, this chapter aims to examine the role of Islamic institutions in handling the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia. It is found that the roles of Islamic institutions are essential to protect and empower the people. Its roles can be categorised as (1) socialisation and education, (2) donation, (3) regulations, and (4) community assistance. Learning from Indonesia’s experience, we conclude that promoting human security, including during the COVID-19 pandemic, needs a comprehensive collaboration between the government, civil societies, and the people.

The debate between modernity and post-modernity has taken centre stage of philosophical discourse since before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Even after the advent of the pandemic, it has yet to be resolved with each camp claiming to be the victor over the other, and therefore sealed a permanent dichotomy between both schools of thought. With COVID-19 menacing the world, it is timely to revisit the debate and to come to a conclusion that once and for all will dissolve the fissure between these two dominant theoretical paradigms. It is also hoped that the conclusion made can pave the way for a new theoretical paradigm that is more comprehensive and efficient in facing the post-COVID world. By referring to Southeast Asian communities namely the Malaysian, Indonesian, and Singaporean publics, the chapter puts forward the argument that the existing dichotomy between these two theoretical frameworks could no longer sustain its status-quo. This is because the abruption of confusions amongst the public over the issues surrounding the COVID-19 vaccines – and hence on modern science and modernity itself – requires us to stop from rigidly devoting ourselves towards either one of these theoretical paradigms. Based on the case studies, the chapter then suggests for revisions to be made by benefitting from the best of both theoretical paradigms and by omitting those concepts that are no longer effective to be adopted in facing the post-pandemic world.

This chapter discusses the development of public opinion polls in Malaysia, especially those related to politics and elections in the state. It traces the early attempts at public opinion polls and their relatively recent development in estimating electoral outcomes in Malaysia. In analysing the efforts, the chapter relates the conduct of opinion polls with changing trends in Malaysia’s elections, particularly the shift from a dominant party system to one of two-coalition systems since the 12th general elections (GE12) in 2008. The chapter also discusses the role of the various actors who are involved in opinion polling, and the usual contents in such polls. It evaluates the possibility and difficulty of the polls in estimating outcomes of elections. In view of the new norms developing since the spread of COVID-19 in 2020, the chapter also explores the challenges and opportunities of public opinion polls in articulating public sentiment.

COVID-19 is a global pandemic that was unprecedented in human history. The scale of infection was unusual with most countries succumbing to this disease. Various mitigation plans were introduced by governments around the world to contain the spread of the virus. The Southeast Asian region is not spared from the harmful effects of COVID-19. Most Southeast Asian countries responded swiftly to COVID-19 by introducing stringent policies such as contact tracing, mandatory quarantine, restriction of movements, cancellation of public events, health screenings, and border closures early on to tackle the rapid spread of the virus. The adoption of technology for contact tracing such as MySejahtera (Malaysia), TraceTogether (Singapore), PeduliLindungi (Indonesia), Mor Chana (Thailand), and Stay Safe (Philippines) shows the rapid response from the governments to contain the spread of COVID-19. The variation in the degree of success stories at different timelines in managing COVID-19 in the region indicates that COVID-19 management requires short and long-term planning, especially in the public health policy. In the case of Malaysia, the first phase of movement control order (MCO, 18–31 March 2020) took place on the background of political turmoil. The newly formed government under the leadership of Muhyiddin Yasin announced the first phase of lockdown in Malaysia to control the rising number of COVID-19 cases. The lockdowns then evolved into different forms at different phases of implementation until it was announced on 8 March 2022 that the country is transitioning to the endemic phase on 1 April 2022. This study shows that the respondents to our survey during the first phase of MCO are highly aware of the government’s initiatives to manage COVID-19 and the Malaysian public has a high level of trust and confidence in the government’s initiatives. The stringent measures taken by the government in the first wave of COVID-19 were seen as a necessity and it provided legitimacy to the government despite being the first unelected government in Malaysian history.

The 2021 Malacca state election was the first state election in West Malaysia held post-2018 general election during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a state where the governmental power fell into the hands of Pakatan Harapan (PH) during the 2018 general election before switching hands to Barisan Nasional (BN) and Perikatan Nasional (PN). After losing majority support, the state assembly was dissolved to make way for a fresh election. Although the Chinese voters in this election did not show much swing towards non-PH party, the support for PH is no long as enthusiastic as before. This chapter studies the political landscape in the 2018 general election focussing on Malacca before analysing the 2021 Malacca state election result that was held during a global health crisis.

Children in Malaysia, just as children in many other countries, are vulnerable to poverty. They are exposed to different forms of deprivation and the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated their predicament. Concerns have been raised about the impact of the pandemic on children’s well-being, as this health crisis had intensified the educational and economic disparities among children in Malaysia, and for some children the impact will be lifelong. It is important to recognise the multidimensionality of poverty in regard to deprivation among poor children; however, such concerns are less pronounced in public policy discussions. Demands for greater policy attention intensified following the increasing number of unemployed parents and bereaved children who lost their parents due to the pandemic. The scope of poverty alleviation policies failed to consider the varying poverty gaps between recipients and the various forms of deprivation experienced by children in poor and larger sized households. As a result, the allocation of funds for the improvement of children’s well-being has been insignificant. The aim of this chapter is to provide a thorough overview of child poverty in developed and developing countries and how child poverty has changed in Malaysia. The analysis in this chapter seeks to provide deep insights on the development of policies that address poverty among children in Malaysia. An analysis on budget appropriations reveals that efforts to address other dimensions of child development were steadily improved, but policy commitments for such purposes need to be intensified in the post-pandemic era when hundreds of thousands of families and children have been plunged into poverty. It is timely for policymakers to acknowledge the need for separate policy considerations for children since they experience poverty differently from adults. The fulfilment of their needs should be prioritised, and the recognition of this fact would produce desirable plans of action for children living in poverty.

Gender equality is a part of the United Nation’s championed sustainable development goal which reflects the global policy priority of bringing women to the table as decision-makers. The year 2021 has seen the highest record of women serving as heads of state and/or government and political representation at national parliaments. However, there seems to be a greater challenge for women to achieve equal political representation as the COVID-19 pandemic that hit the world in 2020 has slowed down women’s political progress at the global level. Until April 2021, COVID-19 has resulted in more than six million casualties and many countries have resorted to taking strict measures to contain the widespread of the virus especially prior to the administration of the vaccines. The strict measures taken by governments worldwide include border closures, extensive contact tracing, physical distancing, and restriction of movements. The pandemic is proven to be precarious not only to public health but also to democracy around the world as governments are given a free pass to silence protests, clamp down on opposition and critics as well as greater control over public movements by using COVID-19 management as a justification. This also has halted the progress made by women’s movements and political activists in championing women’s political representation. Malaysia is one of the countries that imposed long and strict COVID-19-related security and safety measures. This chapter seeks to analyse how COVID-19 is utilized by political institutions specifically the state to embrace or resist changes. COVID-19 is a possible critical juncture that provides opportunities for the state and political parties to renegotiate their structures, values, and positions in society to accommodate women. To explore the gendered responses of political institutions to COVID-19, this chapter identifies two areas to be examined within the Malaysian context (1) the gendered effects of the changes in state structures due to political instability during COVID-19, and (2) government policies that address women during the peak of the COVID-19 period. The results of this study will provide useful insights into the important factors that influence the utilisation of critical junctures either to break a new path or maintain the existing path dependency on political institutions’ policymaking related to gender issues.

The COVID-19 pandemic was unprecedented and has disproportionately affected the lives and livelihoods of people worldwide. Many governments restricted social and economic activities to curb the virus, and with the availability of the COVID-19 vaccine, many see it as providing hope to return to normalcy. Within such a context, China, Russia, and the United States (USA) have leveraged their vaccine diplomacy to gain and expand their influence. Vaccine diplomacy could help major powers cement their influence well beyond the pandemic if successfully deployed. By examining the vaccine diplomacy race in Southeast Asia, this chapter reveals the factors that motivate major powers to engage in the race and the strategies used. This chapter also assesses China’s vaccine diplomacy in Malaysia and how it has contributed to cementing a stronger bilateral relationship between Malaysia and China that would probably outlast the pandemic.