COMMENT | We thought 2020 was bad. Yet here we are, counting the last days of 2021 and not many can say that 2021 was any better.

In fact, one could make a strong case to say that for Malaysia, 2021 was a worse year than 2020.

The year began with floods on the east coast and it ended with even worse deluges in many parts of the peninsula, including in the Klang Valley. The government’s slow response to the worsening floods and insensitive and tone-deaf actions of many politicians have caused widespread anger, which has not abated.

Covid-19, especially the deadly Delta variant, ravaged the country. As it stands, 2.7 million people have been infected by the virus, and a vast majority of these cases occurred in 2021.

Our current death toll stands at around 31,000 and again, most of these deaths occurred in 2021.

We were also subjected to...