Two giants of the Malaysian Judiciary served at the courts in Miri. Top right is Tun Richard Malanjum, the former chief justice. On the left is Datuk Supang Lian, who was a former sessions court in Miri (and my boss then).
In 2020, she was elevated to the position of judge at the court of appeal. Datuk Supang is a Kelabit from Bario. An extraordinary achievement indeed!
In Malaysia, since the COVID-19 pandemic began:
29,500 people lost their lives to the virus
800,000 people lost their jobs (up till 2020 only)
77,000 couples got divorced
Over 1,000 people have taken their own lives (for each life lost, 135 people are directly affected)
224,000 calls have been made to helplines requesting for psychosocial and emotional support
30,000 businesses have closed down (up till 2020 only)
I don't know what else it would take for the people in power to show some genuine empathy and humility, and say no to bigger cars, bigger offices, more pay, pangkat, pingat etc for at least a couple more years...
