COMMENT | In early May, Malaysia provisionally lifted the movement control order (MCO) to begin the conditional MCO, allowing certain businesses to open in order to jump-start a stalled economy. It allowed certain businesses to open as long as they adhered to strict health guidelines.

This news garnered a mixed reaction. For SMEs and micro-businesses, the potential health cost and the space needed to accommodate social distancing were seen as insurmountable obstacles, as they observe their income plummeting on a daily basis.

We are now in the recovery MCO and many businesses have opted to carry on working from home till the end of the year as there is a real fear of a second wave. Some have opted to split the teams up and rotate their office time. All this to ensure that should anything happen to one team, the other can still carry on. Retailers in malls are still not 100 percent as employers grapple with health and safety SOPs coupled with the fear experienced by their employees. Those who live with elderly parents are now worried that the risk of infection will increase.

This, juxtaposed with those who are certain everything will be fine and life as we know it is back. The new normal which renews itself every time an alphabet is added to the MCO has forced many to navigate on shifting sands.

Malaysians have witnessed the good, the bad and the ugly from across the country as our leaders grapple with this situation. Observing the Health director-general to the outpouring of goodwill from community leaders, there is much to celebrate.

But we have also witnessed ...