Senior Minister for Security Ismail Sabri Yaakob has denied claims that he breached Covid-19 SOPs, after pictures of him at a restaurant in Melaka allegedly failing to practice physical distancing went viral.
The pictures, which circulated on social media yesterday, showed Ismail with Chief Minister Sulaiman Md Ali and state assembly speaker Ab Rauf Yusoh without masks and sitting less than a metre apart around a dining table.
Ismail clarified the matter in an Instagram post.
“Several pictures (are circulating) with slanderous material against me and the chief minister of Malacca and the speaker of the state assembly of Malacca when I made a working visit to Malacca last Saturday – supposedly showing no social distancing between us,” he said.
Ismail said that those who shared the post mischievously took a picture from the side to make it seem that they were very close, and that was no social distancing.
“But this is the real picture. May Allah opens the hearts of these people so that they will no longer slander anyone in this way,” he said.
Responding to comments that even the picture he uploaded showed him seated less than a metre from the rest, Ismail said having a chair between diners was enough distancing.
“In a restaurant, as long as there is a chair in between (diners), that is already enough,” he said.
Ismail, who is responsible for daily public briefings in which he announces how many Malaysians are arrested or issued summons for violating the SOPs introduced to stop the spread of Covid-19, appears to have been reacting to a social media post by activist/artist Fahmi Reza.
Fahmi had posted a picture of Ismail and the other political leaders at the same event with the apparently sarcastic comment:
“Sometimes we see photographs in which many people are seated at a meeting closely around the table, but in fact, it is at different times in different places, but thanks to modern technology the picture can be put together as if to make it seem like they are all meeting together.”
In his latest riposte to Ismail’s post, Fahmi posted another photo at 11am this morning on Twitter. His photo highlighted that Ismail was not wearing a mask and appeared to be significantly less than a metre away from Sulaiman.
Fahmi also included an infographic from the National Security Council which emphasised social distancing guidelines at a table.