Activist Goes On Hunger Strike, Camps Out In TTDI, Demanding Change To Fight Pandemic

Nathaniel’s demands includes for experts to be put in charge of handling Covid-19 as well as for more funding to be given to medical facilities.

Credit: NatAsasi via Twitter

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“Enough talk. Enough press statements. Enough WhatsApp chats,” writes a man who is embarking on a lone hunger strike demanding political and policy reforms as Malaysia struggles with the Covid-19 crisis.

Local Columnist and Activist Nathaniel Tan will be camping out near Taman Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI) in Kuala Lumpur starting 4 August, refusing to eat until his five demands are met.

Mahatma Gandhi brought the British Empire to its knees without firing a single shot. He followed two simple principles: Never submit, and never harm another. Maybe we cannot achieve what he achieved (or maybe we can), but we can do as he did.
Nathaniel Tan via Facebook.

Nathaniel, who also leads the Projek Wawasan Rakyat (POWR) movement, explained that his starvation was a small price to pay over the unacceptable losses that the nation had suffered through the pandemic.

For months and years, we have all done too little, as Malaysians die of Covid-19. We have done too little, as Malaysians are forever scarred with the loss of their fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, and children; forever scarred by long Covid.
Nathaniel Tan via Facebook.

Here are his demands;

Give professionals and experts full decision making power on matters relating to Covid-19 or convene a Parliamentary sitting immediately.
Provide RM500 million in medical funding to Covid-19 hospitals and facilities.
Allow frontliners to share their stories or reveal what’s actually going on without being suppressed or prosecuted.
The publication of a full list of companies that are allowed to operate (during the Movement Control Order)
Supplying free N95 face masks and sanitisers to all hospitals and police stations.

Though Nathaniel expressed that he was not encouraging the public to gather en masse or do anything to put themselves at risk, his protest has already inspired several followers in solidarity.