COMMENT | A few days after some 5-star hotels in the Klang Valley had agreed to let their premises be used as quarantine centres, a friend suggested that “it will be interesting to find out how much these high-end hotels are charging”.

He added: “We should know how much we, taxpayers, are paying the hotels to quarantine people”.

Of course, I knew where my friend was coming from.

Still, I tried to believe in the goodness of Malaysians. This is the time for humanity to shine; surely, this isn’t the time to think of profits but to save lives.

So, I responded to my friend with this message: “I don’t think the 5-star establishments and other hotel owners will have the heart to make a kill during this trying time. They will be stupid to attempt any such move. The people are watching all government expenditures now with a hawk's eye”...