The Covid-19 outbreak is a 21st-century global crisis for humankind that has led to catastrophic outcomes across the globe. The situation has caused governments worldwide to take on mitigation measures and strategies to battle the COVID-19 pandemic.
In response to the ongoing COVID-19 calamity, the Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia (UiTM), organized an outstanding virtual international discourse on “Policy Response to COVID-19 Pandemic: Malaysia & Indonesia experiences”. The program was organized by the Policy Analysis of Executive Master’s in Administrative Science students, led by Muhammad Syahzami bin Badd Saibi, and attended by more than 500 participants comprising UiTM students, academic staff, and members of the public via the Microsoft Teams virtual platform.
This program served two main objectives; to provide exposure to students on both Malaysia and Indonesia governments’ mitigation measures in dealing with the issues and challenges brought forth by the COVID-19 pandemic and to compare both countries’ policy strategies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The event was honoured to receive four distinguished guest speakers to share their experience and wisdom on the issue. The guest speakers consisted of academics and a high-level public officer from Malaysia. They were asked to share their views and experiences on how both governments are managing the ongoing crisis. A notable Professor in Political Science from Airlangga University, Indonesia, Professor Dr Kacung Marijan, also shared his views on the Indonesian government’s COVID-19 pragmatic policy approach in combatting the outbreak. The event was also made more special with the appearance of National University Malaysia’s Associate Prof. Dr Kartini Aboo Talib@ Khalid, the Deputy Director of Institute of Ethnic Studies (KITA), and Mr Abdul Halim bin Abdul Aziz; the Deputy General (Policy) of the Economic Planning Unit (EPU), Prime Minister Office, Putrajaya. Also present was Associate Professor Dr Nor Hafizah Mohamed Harith, from the Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. The session was moderated by Associate Professor Dr Azizan Zainuddin, also from the Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.
The intellectual discussion focused on the ongoing policy implementation by the Malaysian and Indonesian governments to curb the COVID-19 transmission. Speaking from the lens of academics, the panelists from Airlangga University, National University Malaysia and UiTM drew attention to both governments’ proactive and pragmatic roles in managing the COVID-19 crisis. Interestingly, the main highlight of the webinar was the presentation by the Deputy Director of EPU, Malaysia, on the recent Malaysian Economic Strategic Action plan formulated to cushion the impact of the pandemic. The session was concluded with a question & answer session between the panelist and the audience of the virtual webinar. The webinar was impactful and provided knowledge to the UiTM students and members of the public on the importance of policy response to break the chain of COVID-19.