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Hari Raya message – four things to make Hari Raya on 50th Merdeka anniversary most meaningful

Hari Raya this year coincides with the nation’s 50th Merdeka anniversary.

Celebrating this year’s Hari Raya on the occasion of the nation’s 50th Merdeka anniversary will be most meaningful if there is a national resolution and government political will to achieve four things:

  • A low-crime Malaysia where everyone, whether citizen, tourist or investor can feel safe again in the streets, public places and the privacy of the homes and where the fundamental rights to be free from crime and fear of crime are not just empty and meaningful words.
  • Zero tolerance for corruption, abuses of power and financial scandals.
  • Restore national and international confidence in a truly independent judiciary and a just rule of law, which will go a long way to enhance Malaysia’s international competitiveness which has suffered considerable erosion in recent years; and
  • A Malaysian national consciousness and identity transcending racial, religious or political differences.

Selamat Hari Raya to all Muslims in Malaysia.

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Reply to ‘Organ transplant: Are we on the right track?’ by FK-506

Letters
by Carpe Diem

I would like to comment on the letter by FK-506. However I will try to focus on rebutting factual inaccuracies in his letter, rather than comment on his insinuations and innuendos as my interpretations of his statements may be flawed.

Quote : “………..it isn’t quite right to place patients on VADs which have a limited life of their own into patients, not knowing if they are ever going to get a heart. This cannot be ethically correct.”

Whether this is ethically correct or not depends on the patient’s wishes, the facilities available and expert opinion. Unfortunately this is one area where opinions matter. An individual may consider it mental and physical torture to be hooked to a machine with no definite end in sight, but another may consider it a lifeline to a possibly better future. Is it more ethical to deny me this option, based on not knowing whether I will get a heart in time, if the expertise is available and I am more than willing?

Quote : “Merican howled that what SJMC and Tan did were improper as ignorant patients may “not have been briefed about complications”. Tan, who pioneered liver transplant techniques at King’s College, London, of course left, preferring to base himself in “less ethical” Singapore, leaving Merican to focus on traditional medicine back here in Malaysia.”

Well I have no love for traditional medicine, but I don’t see how this case affects the current scenario. Anyway, if I am not mistaken the issue against KC Tan then was on unrelated living donors. Please correct me if I am wrong. Continue reading “Reply to ‘Organ transplant: Are we on the right track?’ by FK-506”