COMMENT | Earlier this week, the government tabled the bill on temporary measures to lessen the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic for its first reading in the Dewan Rakyat.

According to reports, the "Temporary Measures for Reducing The Impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) Bill 2020" seeks to support the various economic packages announced by the government as well as to "reduce the financial and social impact brought about by the pandemic".

Other countries have also enacted laws to deal with the impact of the coronavirus that has ravaged the world for most of 2020. Singapore, for example, tabled and passed its version of a Covid-19 law in April 2020.

There is no question that there is a need for such a bill to be enacted in Malaysia. After nearly two months of the movement control order (MCO) that was implemented to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, we are now...