LETTER  No other prime minister in the history of our country has faced a host of nerve-racking challenges than Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

Crude oil prices were low and our palm oil was mounting unsold as a result of a spat with one of our top customers, India. He lost no time in normalising the precarious situation with his charm and "live and let live" diplomacy.

Malaysia and Singapore were all smiles when Muhyiddin and his Singapore counterpart Lee Hsien Loong greeted each other at the midpoint of the Johor Causeway in a symbolic gesture to kick start the stalled Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link project.

"Thank you for settling the agreement (RTS) with us," said Lee to Muhyiddin, who replied: "Thank you for working hard." 

His most formidable challenge was when our country was besieged by the very deadly invisible enemy in the form of Covid 19. Muhyiddin was abruptly thrown into the deep end of the problem.

His talent, however, lay in the way he picked the right person for the right job. His choice of Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah as the Health director-general could not have been better.

The knowledgeable Dr Noor Hisham showed total passion for his job with dedication and finesse so much so that the World Health Organisation (WHO) sat up and acknowledged that Malaysia has a robust health system with universal health coverage (UHC).

WHO went on to say that the health system of Malaysia has a strong foundation to combat the Covid-19 pandemic with its high-powered leaders.

It is said that the nation that controls technology will control the future. But the irony of the matter is that first world nations with state of the art technology and expertise cannot even control the present Covid 19 situation, let alone the future.

Just see how some of the first world countries are in shambles trying to combat the virus.

The PM allocated RM500 million for MOH to combat Covid-19, including RM100 million for appointing 2,000 new healthcare personnel, and allowed Employees Provident Fund (EPF) contributors aged below 55 to withdraw from Account 2 to mitigate the financial impact of Covid-19.

It is a fact that the economic crisis due to Covid-19 is far sinister than the 1997/1998 financial crisis and the recession in the 1980s.

The PM shrewdly deemed not to depend on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) during a time when some 100 other countries had sought help from the fund to help their ailing economies back to normal. He had quite rightly focused on domestic economic development to arrest the rapid decline in private sector spending and investment.

But the PM's pick of another able lieutenant in the name of Tengku Zafrul Aziz, an experienced and successful banker, as the Finance Minister saw the implementation of the Prihatin Rakyat Economic Stimulus Package to actively assist the economically stricken citizens and industries.

He also launched the ePenjana credit programme worth RM750 million to boost consumer spending in the country. The government has given the green light for more businesses to operate and inter-state travel to resume (except to areas under Enhanced MCO), which will promote domestic tourism, one of the country's hardest-hit economic sectors.

Zafrul said: "The rise in the FBM Bursa Malaysia KLCI to date signals investors' confidence to contribute again to the economy and hence accelerate the recovery process". It is no exaggeration to say that we should thank our government for keeping us safe while so many are dying like flies elsewhere.

Muhyiddin has done reasonably well as PM to tackle the unprecedented health, economic and social challenges brought about by the global Covid-19 pandemic and the fall in world crude oil prices. Hats off to him. It can only get better.

DR A SOORIAN

Seremban

https://www.nst.com.my/opinion/letters/2020/09/625588/hats-pm-government