COMMENT | The people shouldn't be burdened by the 'oversight' over the loan moratorium

COMMENT | It looks like a blunder was made by the government several weeks ago when they announced the six-month moratorium for loans.

Yesterday, it was reported that there will now be a U-turn in the terms of the moratorium, specifically for hire purchases and fixed-rate Islamic financing repayments.

When the movement control order (MCO) was announced more than a month ago, many things were unclear. Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin declared it on national television and the days, and even weeks, that followed were filled with confusion. Many people were unclear about the rules of the MCO.

What ensued were some pretty chaotic moments. There was the panicked rush of people, mainly students, who tried to make their way back to their hometowns because the government said they could go back. Then everyone was dumbstruck when that decision was changed, and they were told they couldn’t.

Many people were caught unaware that they could not go out to exercise even if they did it alone and practised proper social distancing. Some also didn’t realise that going out for essential goods with more than one person (from the same residence) wasn’t allowed. Even the 10km distance rule wasn’t widely known then.

People were arrested and charged due to this confusion because they really didn’t know. Even I was confused in the beginning. The authorities never clearly stated the rules right after the MCO announcement and so can you actually blame the people? What the government should have done was to think things through properly.

Now, we see another confusion happening in the form of the loan moratorium U-turn...