Minister Muhadjir: There Will Be No Extraordinary Changes After The COVID-19 Event

JAKARTA - The Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture (Menko PMK) Muhadjir Effendy assessed that there would be no extraordinary changes after the outbreak of COVID-19, including in the new normal phase.

"For me, I have a somewhat conservative view. We should not imagine that there will be any extraordinary changes after this COVID. Because in a disaster there is rehabilitation and reconstruction," Muhadjir said in a discussion broadcast online on YouTube, Tuesday, June 9.

For Muhadjir, the new normal phase is the same as the rehabilitation and reconstruction phase after a disaster.

Even so, Muhadjir did not deny that a number of new habits would emerge during the new normal phase. But for him, the habits in this phase will not occur predominantly.

For example, teleconferencing activities that are often carried out recently. He said, this activity could become a new style in the next life after the COVID-19 outbreak. However, teleconferencing does not necessarily replace face-to-face meetings.

"It doesn't mean that in-person meetings are gone. I see. Maybe it can even complement. So this kind of teleconference can complement official face-to-face meetings," he said.

The former Minister of Education and Culture (Mendikbud) added that even though the activities during the early days of COVID-19 used a lot of technology, conventional methods should not be forgotten, for example tracing contact for COVID-19 transmission.

"WHO (World Health Organization) recommends that traditional methods should not be abandoned and technology is only a complement," he said.

Therefore, he believes, in the new normal phase, there will be no drastic changes in society. "There must be a permanent change in behavior coming in. But that doesn't mean there will be anything radical, revolutionary," said Muhadjir.