Some statement from a Taiwanese doctor on a TV show sparked backlash for saying Malaysia “embarrassing” itself for failing to contain the COVID-19 pandemic despite having hot weather.
It’s a TVBS show that published on Facebook on Apr 5, Dr Lee Bing-ying, who is the chairman of the Paediatric Infectious Diseases Society of Taiwan said it is easier to control viral diseases in tropical regions based on an article he read.
He also said it’s not totally immune to the disease.”Let’s take influenza as an example. We have the influenza epidemic every winter (in Taiwan) and we still receive some cases during the summer.
“I came across an article about research on influenza vaccines. The research results… I realised that there are three to four tropical countries with a lower influenza prevalence.
“if you are in a tropical country where the weather is hot, and yet you cannot control the viral disease, it is embarrassing.” Dr. Lee said.
But according the a statement from World Health Organisation (WHO) dated today (Apr 6). Exposing yourself to the sun or to temperatures higher than 25C degrees DOES NOT prevent the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Dr Lee also criticised Malaysians for not wearing masks and claimed that we are “American-England kind” of people
“Other than that, I also saw some footage and pictures from Malaysia and they are not wearing face masks. I think they are like the American-England group, they are the same kind” he continued.
The host of the show added that Malaysia was ruled by the British before and claimed that Malaysians do not like to wear face masks because the weather is too hot which causes discomfort.
After that, Dr Lee said, “The Malaysian government then announced Movement Control Order (MCO), but at the end of the day, the people are still not wearing face masks, wearing face masks is the most important and most effective preventative step.”
He also criticised our government’s decision of MCO will starve people to death, while other show’s guests compared Malaysia with other “poor” countries and said such a “lockdown” will put many citizens into unemployment and they will starve to death.
Dr Lee’s comments made on the TV show sparked outrage on social media, netizens doubting his professionalism and criticised the TV show on spreading false information about our country.
“Pretending to be an expert? Malaysians do not wear a mask? Then why are face masks all sold out? You do not understand and yet commenting on our implementation. This is what so-called experts in Taiwan! Frog at the bottom of the well,” said a Facebook user.
Another angry netizen asked, “What do you mean by a tropical country that couldn’t control virus outbreak is embarrassing and ‘American-England kind’ of people? Are you trying to show your stupidity?”
Anyhow, Dr. Lee is trying to explain that in the show he only mentioned those countries that do not use face masks but he did not pinpoint any country. He said he knew a lot of Malaysian Chinese is using a face mask. Malaysia in terms of curbing the spread of the virus is way better than US and European countries that do not believed in the use of face mask. He apologies if there is any misunderstanding.
Source : Facebook