That heartbreaking incident is what drove a man and his wife to act and ensure SOP compliance upon seeing the chaotic scenes at the Rumah Prihatin@Grand Seasons welfare centre in Jalan Pahang, Kuala Lumpur.
In tears over what he was seeing – when even policemen could only stand and watch – the man known as “Sir Shakib” on social media swung into action, getting his mates to help bring order at the centre, buying cones and tapes at their own expense.
He said he and his wife, Umirah Taib, had sworn to take care of their parents during their golden years.
“But we did not get the opportunity. Instead, it was replaced with a video call of the funeral process far away in Johor,” the online tuition teacher wrote on Instagram.
Since the death of his father-in-law on July 19, whom he affectionately refers to as “abah”, Shakib said he prayed everyday for an opportunity to dedicate something to him.
“I have tried various things, done in the name of abah: educating people about Covid, distributing Covid kits to those in need and more. But I was not satisfied, (it felt like) something was still missing.”
Then came an unexpected twist yesterday, when the couple witnessed a large crowd of people queuing outside Rumah Prihatin while heading out to buy necessities.
Umirah posted a video of the crowd waiting for their vaccination and welfare aid, without observing physical distancing. The video soon went viral on social media.
“For some reason, I suddenly dared to speak up about this issue, even though I am a very shy person and do not like the spotlight,” said Shakib.
“I then realised that my prayers were answered with this big opportunity for my wife to serve not just abah, but the many fathers out here.”
Frustrated at the authorities’ lack of action to ensure SOP compliance, Shakib gathered the staff at MCplus online tuition centre to take matters into their own hands.
The team set out to buy 100 traffic cones and multiple rolls of tape to set as markers for vaccine recipients to distance themselves in the queue by 1.5m.
Documenting the process on his Instagram, Shakib and his team worked late into the night to lay out the tape and cones outside the welfare centre, which he said extended up to 300m.
“It doesn’t matter if the government doesn’t want to do it, we, the rakyat will do it. This could be the people’s rebellion, but in Malaysia we don’t use rifles, we use tape,” he said in one of his videos.
Shakib also congratulated Umirah for her efforts in raising awareness about the situation and helping to save other people’s parents and children from Covid-19.
“Seeing your face back to being excited and happy (it’s been a long time since I’ve seen such a happy smile), makes me feel satisfied,” he wrote to his wife.
“Let’s continue your good work, this is just the beginning.”