Posted on by Kit

Dr. Basmullah’s jailing – Ismail Merican inconsiderate, callous, heartless and unbecoming of top civil servant

The comment by the Director-General of Health Tan Sri Dr. Ismail Merican that Dr. Basmullah Yusom, the first doctor to be jailed under the Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998 preferred jail to paying the RM120,000 fine in instalments is most inconsiderate, callous, heartless and totally unbecoming of a top civil servant.

New Straits Times today quoted Dr. Ismail as saying that Dr. Basmullah “declined the Health Ministry’s offer to stay out of jail”.

He said the offer was made to the doctor by the ministry’s prosecuting officer.

Dr. Ismail said: “It’s not that we do not care for doctors or are unsympathetic to them.”

If Dr. Ismail really “care” or sympathetic to doctors, how could he use language which is so inconsiderate, callous and heartless?

From Dr. Ismail’s account, it would appear that Dr. Basmullah is a pervert who prefers to go to jail instead of enjoying his personal freedom outside prison!

Dr. Ismail went on to say that if Dr. Basmullah feels he has been harshly sentenced by the Sessions Court, he has the right to appeal to a higher court.

I am just shocked and outraged beyond belief that even up till now, Dr. Ismail does not see or accept that Dr. Basmullah just do not have the means to hire counsel to appeal against the sentence of RM120,000 fine or three months’ jail – when he had not been able to afford the expenses to retain counsel to represent him at the Sessions Court or to take up the “offer” to pay the hefty RM120,000 fine by instalments.

This is why Dr. Basmullah is in jail in Kajang Prison for the past two weeks – creating outrage to the extent that a online “Don’t Jail Doctors Blog Campaign” has been launched.

Many are asking why is the system of justice in Malaysia is so perverted that a doctor could be jailed for not registering his clinic although he has the annual practicing certificate of a medical practitioner, while criminals whether the corrupt or those guilty of heinous crimes can get away scot-free, moving freely in society!

Let me tell Dr. Ismail that nobody “prefers” or enjoys going to jail unless forced by unavoidable financial straits – and he had made a most inconsiderate, callous and heartless statement for which he should be thoroughly ashamed and should have the humility to publicly withdraw and apologise.

I want to ask the Acting Health Minister, Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting why he allowed the Director-General of Health to add insult to injury in the jailing of the first doctor under the PHFSA with the callous and heartless comment that Dr. Basmullah preferred going to jail than paying fine.

Furthermore, as Acting Health Minister, what is he doing to mitigate the breach of promise by the former Health Minister and the Director-General of Health that doctors will not be criminalized or jailed until the PHFSA had been amended as well the gross injustice of the three-month jail sentence passed on Dr. Basmullah?

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68 Replies to “Dr. Basmullah’s jailing – Ismail Merican inconsiderate, callous, heartless and unbecoming of top civil servant”

  1. Can we imagine the agony and stress that Dr. Basmullah Yusom’s wife, children, parents, relatives and friends are going through now?

    He is not a god-damned criminal you stupid Ismail Merican!!!

    How unnecessary of this.

    You want to be a hero.. go and catch those unlicense bomoh, sinseh, fake doctors lar you pathetic [deleted].

  2. An offense under the poisons act only carries a fine of up to RM2000 and imprisonment of 2 years; i.e. a non-seizable offense much like a traffic violation. this quantum leap in penalties is beyond comprehension. Unlike the securities or banking industry, clinics do not deal in millions or billions of RM; the penalties for these industries run to hundreds of thousands or millions because a few thousand RM is pocket change to those in these industries but not to doctors.
    We have to look at other professions and penalties should be similar. How much do you fine a lawyer for practicing without a certificate? or a bogus accountant or engineer.

  3. This fine of RM120,000 is sheer crazy for such offense!
    Come on! Dr. Ismail M. Not every doctor is kaya like you! If GNP / capita for MSIA is RM15000/ year, this is 8 years income lah! Is this a record in the world?

  7. The brainless PHFSA has got only one name at the MOH written all over and it is called ….KHAIRI YAAKUB. Merican is the dumbo who implemented something he clearly has no control over now…The damage has been done. Merican should just go and let someone else do the job or Ong Ka Ting should sack him….If OKT still doesnt come up with a statement….the DAP and other opposition parties must make this an election issue…As for Merican, he should be struck off the medical register for bringing disrepute to the medical profession ……..an utter disgrace to the medical profession..he is talking more like VK Lingam then like a medical doctor…..

  8. Thanks to this ” …inconsiderate, callous, heartless and totally unbecoming of a top civil servant.” We will rally ALL the doctors in Malaysia against the current giovernment rudderless leadership. I believe many doctors will want express thier disgust at the false promises by these people in authority.
    Vote out this BN govt. !

  9. dont expect him to be compassionate. he is enjoying the trappings of life from his position. he doesnt understand that there are poor doctors without the means as he has.
    by the way, where’s the medical fraternity. all cowed into submission and doesnt even dare to utter a word to defend your poor comrade who doesnt have the means to engage a defene lawyer.

  11. ‘Many are asking why is the system of justice in Malaysia is so perverted that a doctor could be jailed for not registering his clinic although he has the annual practicing certificate of a medical practitioner, while criminals whether the corrupt or those guilty of heinous crimes can get away scot-free, moving freely in society!’

    It is the Director-General of Health Tan Sri Dr. Ismail Merican together with the the Acting Health Minister, Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting who are perverted, and the Dr Basmullah, or it could be any Doctor in the future.

    Not only is the Malaysian justice system perverted, the civil service system of Malaysia are filled with mediocre people who are promoted through VK Lingam-Gate strings and we need a Royal Commission to investigate.

    Just look at the 2 recent CJM as mentioned, exclude the one in between the mentioned two. It expounded all.

    The most respected branch of the civil service can stoop so low, what more for the rest of the branches of the service?

    At the end of the day all will be back to status quo.

  12. Readers will have to judge for themselves the right or wrong of the issues here. As to who is right, wrong or to be blamed, Dr. Basmullah Yusom’s predicament has to be evaluated in relation to two issues:-

    First, whether Ministry of Health (“MOH”)’s decision to prosecute him was right; second, assuming he is guilty, whether the punishment meted to him was proportionate to the gravity of the offence.

    On first issue, Director-General of Health Tan Sri Dr Ismail Merican Dr. Ismail Merican’s rests his allegedly ‘heartless’ defence of Ministry of Health (“MOH”)’s prosecution on 3 grounds, which are set out here in (what by my personal view) is the inverse order of cogence & logic: –

    1. the general defence by Dr. Ismail Merican that Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998 (Act 586) (“PHFSA”) was a settled issue accepted by the medical community and the fact that “the ministry has so far approved the registration of 6,322 clinics, 1,439 dental clinics and 51 clinics which offer aesthetic procedures” “spoke volume of support” for it by the community. This kind of statistics is not very enlightening when we don’t know how they stand in relation to the total number of private clinics that require registering, and the number that are not yet registered; secondly, the number of registration per se does not speak volume of support when it is done grudgingly and in protest just to avoid the kind of hassle from MOH that Basmullah Yusom has gone through so far.

    2. Dr. Ismail Merican also said Dr Basmullah had declined MOH’s offer to pay installments of fine of RM120,000 as option to stay out of jail. But how many installments was offered by MOF, it being clear that 12 monthly installments of RM10,000 each (which Dr Basmullah couldn’t afford to pay) is vastly different from 1,200 monthly installments of RM100/- each that Dr Basmullah might be able to afford to pay!

    3. Dr. Ismail Merican further said that Dr Basmullah Yusom was given a chance, after his Al-Hilal Medical Centre Sdn Bhd was sealed on July 11, last year, to register” and procure license at cost of RM1,500 but he still didn’t.

    Explanation no. 3 places the onus on Dr Basmullah Yusom why after MOH has evinced seriousness in enforcing PHFSA by sealing off his polytechnic on July 11 2007, he still refused or failed to register and procure the additional license from MOH. MOH here argues that it had given Dr Basmullah Yusom an opportunity to rectify his omission but he refused still to be regulated which in MOH’s eyes tantamount to defiance of MOH and PHFSA law, which whether good or bad law, is still law in force. On this ground alone MOH argues that it is fully entitled to enforce the PHFSA by prosecution and ask for deterrent sentence on Dr Basmullah’s conviction.

    There are gaps in information here regarding Dr Basmullah Yusom’s behaviour. If he had known the consequences of being prosecuted with fine of max RM500,000 or jail sentence, would he not have raised RM1500 for additional MOH’s license, and why didn’t he? We would expect with so many banks aggressively pushing their credit cards to consumers, it wouldn’t be difficult for a professional doctor like him to raise RM1500-00 even if he were otherwise impoverished.

    There may well be other explanations in mitigation of Dr Basmullah Yusom’s offence if Dr. Ismail Merican would bother to look closer.

    Here are five of them, which although are (I admit) speculations on my part, may well nigh be the real situation:-

    The first concerns the point on financial implications raised by poster Dranony in earlier thread on this subject. Dranony said that the PHFSA “came along with some new regulations, called “Regulations 2006? which were signed into effect by Chua Soi Lek on 1st May 2006, totally WITHOUT discussion or consultation with private Sector doctors. He said Regulations2006 required clinics to undergo renovations and modifications and additions as well as purchase emergency equipment of disputed efficacy – implying without incurring these costs, one still could not obtain the MOH’s license required by PHFSA. So the financial cost implicated is far more than the sum of RM1500 here, and Dr Basmullah could not afford this even if he could afford RM1500 borrowed from (say) the credit card.

    Secondly, Dr Basmullah might not actually know the consequences of ensuing prosecution; he thought that if clinic was sealed, prosecution won’t follow.

    Thirdly, it may be asked if MOH gave Dr Basmullah a chance in the sense of sealing his clinic first before prosecuting, then in the natural order of things how could it prosecute Basmullah for running a private clinic without MOF’s license when the clinic was already sealed by then – unless one suggests that Basmullah forcibly ‘unsealed’ the clinic, which I don’t think was likely case. Or unless MOH finding that he had still not applied for a license after sealing decided to charge and prosecute him for practising without MOH’s licence before the sealing on July 11 2007. If this were the case, it is odd because after the sealing of his clinic, Basmullah could not be guilty of practising in a private clinic without a MOH license in contravention of PHFSA when the private clinic was already sealed! And if MOH now charged him for practicing without a license before the sealing, then MOH cannot rely on the sealing of his premises on 11th July as an act of giving him an opportunity to correct his contravention, which he was fully entitled to correct by cessation of practice (after the sealing).

    Fourthly, in Basmullah’s own words he was negotiating for sale of his practice or a part of it to some prospective buyer who was in position and was supposed to pay for MOH’s licence under PHFSA. There was therefore a misunderstanding of procedures and timing – not a deliberate act of defiance of MOH or PHFSA.

    Lastly, whatever the real circumstances, if as what YB Kit said that “the previous Health Minister and Director-General of Health Services had given repeated assurances that no doctor would be jailed over a technicality under the PHFSA”, then MOH should not have, with alacrity, pursued a prosecution, much less pressed for deterrent sentence. One of the main misgivings of the medical profession about PHFSA is that the Act requires doctors to be regulated by bureaucrats in civil service like MOH who are quick to shot the moment they perceive their powers or authority questioned. Besides in promoting the passing and enforcement of PHFSA, MOH has cited the principal object of PHFSA was to weed out bogus doctors and charlatans, and Dr Basmullah being in possession of a practising certificate from Medical Council of Malaysia was certainly not the target group that the full rigours of PHFSA were meant to be directed especially in his case there was no mention of mal-practice or illegal and unethical medical practices on Dr Basmullah’s part to compound his technical infraction of the PHFSA. On the contrary unrepresented Dr Basmullah did not avail himself opportunity to bring his ex patients to testify his professional work in mitigation of his offence.

    On the second broad issue of sentencing procedures – whilst MOH bears brunt of blame, the court/judge presiding, ought, with due respect, consider on its won some of the above mitigating factors above raised. The fact that Dr Basmullah was a first offender, and not represented by legal counsel and therefore could not put the best case forward to mitigate his offence should be given consideration in Dr Basmullah’s favour.

    The court/judge should, in such circumstances, weigh against imposing custodial sentence by not imposing such a heavy fine of RM120,000.

    Who is to say for example that RM12,000 is not sufficient?

    Here the judge/court ought not to heed too much MOH prosecutor’s pressing for deterrent sentence on public policy grounds when, all the factors above being considered, the opposite (ie leniency than deterrence) would have served the cause of justice more.

  13. The MOH DG Ismail Merican must be forced to go. The DG works on contract basis for quite sometimes. Why are they the BN government not having permanent people holding this position.

    Earlier YB Kit has wrote asking him to resign. Too long holding a top post in MOH. DG unable to judge but able to accuse Dr Basmullah’s arrest.

    Not all doctors running a clinic are rich in money. Sometimes they borrow to operate it. Only the doctor knows his financial problem.

  14. Karpal should just go ahead and file a multi million ringgit suit against the DG and his clowns for mala fide……Merican and his goons should not be let off the hook….these guys are just gangsters in the civil service bullying a doctor like Basmulah who has no money…….

  17. This will not happen anywhere else! A hefty fine, beyond the defendant’s ability to raise and to pay, is effectively a jail sentence. If the law says “a fine of not more than $120k or 3 months jail” the court has discretion depending on the seriousness of the offense and mitigating circumstances. This is apparently not the kind of case that calls for a jail sentence.

    A doctor who has served time in jail? What would his patients think? Will he able to get another job? Does not that make a pariah out of him in his community?

    Where is legal aid? I thought indigent defendants could rely on legal aid and be represented by lawyers who work pro bono?? Does he not like all Malaysians have the constitutional right to legal representation? Or am I wrong? There is no such thing as right of due process in backward Malaysia.

  18. “One of the main misgivings of the medical profession about PHFSA is that the Act requires doctors to be regulated …” Jeffery

    More and more industries are being regulated. There is over regulation in all the major industries – a process that has its roots in the 70s, that coincides with the emergence of government or public corporations and statutory bodies undertaking economic services in competition with private enterprises. The banking industry was the first major industry to have to face stringent regulations. This then spreads to other industries.

    Over regulation and over policing of any industry is bad and could hamper the growth of the industry.

  19. “Here the judge/court ought not to heed too much MOH prosecutor’s pressing for deterrent sentence on public policy grounds when, all the factors above being considered, the opposite (ie leniency than deterrence) would have served the cause of justice more.” Jeffery

    Like in other countries our lower courts are prosecution oriented and tend to have views consistent with those of the prosecutor and are not regarded as staunch defenders of constitutional rights and issues like the right of due process and liberty. One would have expected this from the magistrates and less from judicial commissioners and court presidents. Magistrates are invariably prosecuted oriented since they are fresh out of universities and on government bonds, some of whom would go on to serve as SARs and DPPs.

    The High Court and Court of Appeal judges would be less so.

  21. Hey, you know what? Maybe this Dr. iSmile Mexican is trying to create more public hatred towards the BN. Maybe he’s sick of the BN beyond words can describe. By doing all these judgement, he is actually helping us to kick the stupid BN out.

    Im i right Dr. iSmile Mexican?

    Good timing just before the GE ?

    GOD BLESS DAP.

  22. But just FYI, Medical is different from Legal Profession here. The Malaysian Bar is like Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) but by no means the Bar Council (by Legal Profession Act) is like Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) Medical Act 1971. Whereas Bar Council’s members are elected by the members of Malaysian Bar and therefore champions and articulates position of the lawyers, I am not to sure the same relationship subsists between MMA and MMC though both concern with reulating and disciplining those in medical profession. Take for example, Dr Basmullah’s plight which MMA is sympathetic and has made an appeal for leniency via its president Datuk Dr Khoo Kah Lin who also said the association was disappointed with the strict implementation of PHFSA – something that Datuk Dr Hj Mohd Ismail Merican, the president of MMC is not sympathetic to. By Para 1(1) of the First Schedule of the Medical Act, the President of MMC – the curent one being Ismail Merican – is also the Director General of Health (under Ministry of Health), and hence he wears two hats on one head, which sometimes make me wonder if it may be fraught with oportunities of conflict of interest developing in some instances.

  23. If Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia wishes to be respected, then there are many wrongs which needed to be corrected and not just imprisonment because of failing to register a private clinic.

    The Prime Minister calls for an efficient government delivery service. What sort of efficiency is there if in and out patients have to wait for hours to obtain the service ? 1 hour waiting for the doctor to examine them. 1 hour to have blood checked. 1 hour to obtain medicine from the pharmacy. Then months later, follow up. By this time, it would not be surprising if the patient never shows up. And you wonder why there are so many private clinics ?

    It is wrong to sign a blank cheque, giving away an excellence award to one who is not as hardworking as the next person in the same unit. A lot of the states’ pengarah kesihatan do not know who that person really is and he depends on a mere annual confidential report to decide who should receive the excellence award. He does not know that by his action, he is creating conflicts among the people under him. What sort of respect will KKM commands if the people who receive the excellence awards are as not as excellent as the next person who should deserve the award ? Adding to this insult is the new requirement that one has to do some research in order to be considered for the award. This is to say that KKM is reluctant to give away the excellence award to the deserving ones. In this case, KKM should withdraw all the excellence awards from workers who fail to live up to the standard. Take away the certificate. Order them to give back all the presents. This is one of the ways of making people respect KKM. If not, KKM and the people working in KKM are nothing but laughing stock.

  24. Surely there must be a law that provides for the fine of up to 120k or a jail term of three months. So the issue is also why do we have such a law in the first place? Why the law gives so much leeway to the “prosecution oriented” magistrate? I suspect most of our laws are like that, giving lots of discretion to the prosecution and the magistrates/judges to do some “selective” prosecution and sentencing.

  25. This is the same ministry that derecognised the CSMU on political grounds…….despite repeated warnings that the PHFSA will end up hanging a doctor for no reason……no one listened….and now it has happened……no point running after our family man…Chua Soi Lek…..Ong Kah Ting must now answer why a registered doctor is in jail……it has been two weeks now…….

  27. “I suspect most of our laws are like that, giving lots of discretion to the prosecution and the magistrates/judges to do some “selective” prosecution and sentencing.” limkamput

    Magistrates in other jurisdictions in countries like the U.K. are also prosecution oriented, tending to give a lot of leeway to the public prosecutor which should not be read as siding with the prosecutor. It’s not the same. That’s the way the system works.

    If you’re arrested and you are brought to face the magistrate before the 48 hours are up, and the prosecutor asks for additional days so the police could complete their investigation, chances are the magistrate will grant their request even though the police are really have no evidence to justify holding you.

    The subject of selective prosecution is another matter. Just like the matter of prosecutorial misconduct. You could argue that the detention and charge of the hindraf 31 is an example of the latter.

  31. Ismail Merican should take a look at how the private hospitals are fraudulently ripping off their patients especially those with insurance coverage. Some insurance companies have even blacklisted these rogue hospitals. Such blacklisting should provide enough grounds for the Ministry to take criminal action against these misfits of society. But to date, these rogue hospitals are continuing to thrive on the expense of the sick and poor, while some desperate insurance companies continue to conspire in cohort.

  32. Oh yes, toyolbuster i agree with you loads….

    imagine, insurance companies now have to hire medical experts to evaluate each and every apparatus/medicine used in a surgery or for a patient to evaluate and assess each and every claim….

    I fail to understand a need to charge RM 60 bucks for a pair of earphones during one patient’s treatment…..if i am not mistaken, for a bypass….

  34. All candidates running in the coming GE need to be required by law to take an IQ test and the test results displayed on the voting slips so that the voter can avoid voting for the village idiots in civilized clothing

  37. “why is LKS giving special preference to this criminal doctor?”

    Zack, you missed the entire point. The point here is that of a badly drafted law that have passed the half pass six law makers in a parliament dominated by BN. The way bills are passed under the current regime, we will see more selective prosecution of innocent Malaysian under defective laws. So, LKS raised this matter is to warn off future problem. It can be any other profession and not just doctor

    Dr. Basmullah is criminalized by a poorly drafted law which aimed on bogus doctors but not a legit doctor.

    May I ask Zach, are you trying to imply that LKS is supporting a criminal?

  38. The medical fraternity should stand up for one of their kinds. Get cowed and you’ll end up like the judiciary today, nobody give them any respect. The government will continue to shackle you into submission unless you stand up to their bully. Do it now before it’s too late. This is what happened when you believe people like Chua Soi Lek. Take a leaf from Hindraf and do your part.

  39. zack,

    as usual your comments are there to object for the sake of objecting. criminal doctor…please la. he is not a criminal.

    this is stupid…i guess the lower courts just want to be in the good books of the AG as their progress depends on the AGs blesssing. The MOH prosecutor should not have pushed for a harsh sentence more so when MOH said no doctor will be jailed.

  40. “Why is LKS giving special preference to this criminal doctor? Doctor or not ..if commit a crime you must pay for it! Nobody is above the law and why is this doctor so special to LKS ….” Zack

    If all you need to do is to fail to comply with regulations to become a criminal then Zack is as much a criminal every time he fails to pay his parking fines. But do not expect him to understand that.

  43. The succession of dramas, begining from VK Lingam’s “looks like me, sounds like me but…”, Chuah Soi Lek’s confession and now the case of Dr. Basmullah, sent to 3 months jail by some magistrate after the Ministry of Health’s prosecutor pressed for detrrence sentence has made some doctors very wary of lawyers judging from comments in their blog (Malaysian Medical Resources) for example, this one posted from one with handle “poor doctor” –

    “I can only say, a lawyer is much more “cunning” than a doctor. Doctor is taught to be honest but lawyers are taught to play with words.

    Lawyer can simply reply,” I cannot remember whether I hold a practising certificate. It looks like I dun have a practising certificate but I would not say I have a valid practising certificate or I dont have a valid practising certificate”

    But a doctor will confess to his wrongdoings “I am the man in the tape”.

    Another poster said that he would encourage his son to study law instead of medicine.

  44. “May I ask ZacK, are you trying to imply that LKS is supporting a criminal?”

    … You said it … and if you don’t respect the law what will become of our country and if there are flaws in the law… you go back to the parlimentarian but don’t accused them as “half past six” or whatever just because they don’t satistfied your ideals ….. or you can always challenge/appeal whatever verdict in court … you don’t begin to insults everybody ….

  45. “” ..i guess the lower courts just want to be in the good books of the AG as their progress depends on the AGs blesssing…..”

    This is contempt ….. how are they going to govern if they don’t any respect to the court !!!

  46. Why is LKS interested in the good doctor?? Because the law is flawed and needs to be amended. darkhorse

    I thought you have always maintained that a law is a law and we must uphold it no matter what. Please be consistent.

  47. The punishment must commensurate with the offence.Why doesn’t the good Ismail Merican, the DG of Health also investigate whether the tax payers are overpaying for medicines and other drugs and materials that are supplied to Hospitals?
    Is his department buying at market price or way above market price?

  48. “I thought you have always maintained that a law is a law and we must uphold it no matter what. Please be consistent.” limkamput

    Yes, law is law and no matter how ‘flawed’ or ‘unjust’ it may appear, how convoluted it may be in its results, it is still law until amended or repealed not by you or me or by the lawyers or judges. Bad decisions by judges remain until they are reversed by higher courts which we call Courts of Appeal. The Federal Court is the highest. We are subject to this rule of law. Which part of that don’t you understand?

    Parliament may have passed Article 121(1A) giving rise to the present unsatisfactory state of affairs. Now however flawed the drafting of any legislation may be (drafting is not an exact science) it is still law – until amended or repealed by Parliament.

    We cannot re-write the law just because we disagree with it. We cannot tell the courts to interpret one way and not the other way just because we disagree with the way it is being interpreted. If legislation as drafted has given rise to conflicting interpretations by our courts, that could only mean it is not well drafted which is usually the case. If it involves doubt as to the intent of Parliament when it passes that law, then it has to be sent back to Parliament for it to deliberate and clarify any ambiguity in the law through its power of amendment. The courts are not allowed to speculate as to what must have been the intent of Parliament when it passes that piece of legislation, and interpret the law to give effect to that intent. We cannot call lawyers and judges names just because we disagree with the law. Neither could we ignore the law. If we do then there are consequences.

    You see, if you have not been too preoccupied with putting the other commentator down, you’d not have misunderstood what is being said which is only too clear from your comment above.

    Good law or bad law it is still law until amended or repealed – not by the courts through their powers of interpretation but by the highest legislative body, Parliament. There is a body of what is called judge made law – but that is another matter.

  51. I don’t believe I’d be reading racist comments such as this here in this political blog.

    “Indians with fairer skin type are usually arrogant and cocky. They think they are smarter, more handsome and therefore cocky. I think Darkhorse is definitely one of them. Thambi, be humble ok. What have you got to say others are evasive? I gave you a two paragraphs reply and what have you got – a one word reply “waffling”. Please don’t for minute think you are smarter than others here. You write lousy English too.”

  52. Law should be upheld but there is always just or unjust exercise of prosecutorial discretion or sentencing (which is different issue from upholding the law). Where law is itself contentious and the party promulgating it admits it so, then the application of the law should be tampered with discretion favouring leniency. Proof that “the law (PHFSA) is itself contentious and the party promulgating it admits it so can be found in what ex Health Minister admitted in today’s NST where it was reported “Dr Chua said that when he brought the Act into force on May 1, 2006, he had held talks with the Malaysian Medical Association, the Private Medical Practitioners’ Association of Malaysia and the Malaysian Dental Association. During the talks, the director-general and I agreed on giving doctors some flexibility, and we did”. Dr Chua himself held the view “Nobody is above the law” but he qualified it by saying “although I was shocked and surprised when I read that Dr Basmullah was in jail” which Dr Basmullah would not be if there were proper exercise of prosecutorial discretion on MOH’s prosecutor’s part and proper aplication (at court level) of sentencing principles of not imposing custodial sentence on first offender having regard that PHFSA, though gazetted as enforceable law, is still in a state of contention amongst the various stakeholders in the health industry where all sides agree that there are rucks in the fabric of this law that needs ironing out to remove the iniquities, and pending this ought nopt toi have been rigorously enforced without heed to extenuating circumstances like for eg Dr. Basmullah had a practising certificate which made him an otherwise fully licensed physician licensed by the Medical Medical Council.

  54. “and if you don’t respect the law what will become of our country”

    As in this Law, all legit doctors will be behind bars and bogus doctors roaming the town. This will be a worse case than the case of civil disobedient by rakyat protesting against defective law.

    Yes, a law is a law, but a bad law is a bad law. And a bad law in the hand of a bad administrator is akin to Nazi’s law in the hand of Hitler that lead to human holocaust.

    Lets not distract ourselves arguing the principle of law but the administration of laws. We leave the arguing to the judiciary body (if they can maintain independent from the executor). We should focus how laws in this country are administered. A clearly defective law can pass through the ‘all the best law makers’ in this country (should make zack happy if this person cannot tahan name callings) I wonder “what will become of our country”? More crime perhaps…

  55. We cannot re-write the law just because we disagree with it. We cannot tell the courts to interpret one way and not the other way just because we disagree with the way it is being interpreted. darkhorse

    And who is telling you that this is the only recourse we have. Please don’t ask questions and answer yourself. If by now we still don’t know we are talking about unfair and unjust laws and institutions of government, then obviously we still have a long way to go.

  56. Lady Govina, I have every reason to quarrel with this group of _____, you can fill the blank whatever ways you like. May be I just don’t know how to quarrel and that is why I always ended up being accused of this and that. I know who I am. But I am not sure who others are and that include you.

  57. There is no need to jail a bona fide medical doctor just because he did not register his clinic. This registration is purely for administrative purpose only and serve no other useful purpose.

    There is no criminality involved.

    Chua Soi Lek had come out from his ‘sex tryst video’ today and said in NST that please do not vilify him for jailing the doctor because he brought the legislation into force for the benefit of patient.

    That is not so. By mandating the doctor to register his clinic and paying fees and cost related to the registration, the doctors are going to charge more on treatment of patient.

    Do we call that ‘for the benefit’ of the patients? No, No!

  58. Good law or bad law it is still law until amended or repealed – not by the courts through their powers of interpretation but by the highest legislative body, Parliament. darkhorse

    Not entirely correct. That is why we have rule of law and rule by law. Anyway this is another matter. Please don’t think sekolah attap people don’t know jurisprudence, big word used by wannabes like you to intimidate others. Please don’t talk to me about insult, rude, kurang ajar, intransigence, recalcitrance, inconsiderate, racism, and bigotry. You fellow should take a group photograph and frame it up with you, Dracula, bodo and colonel sitting on the front row.

  60. To: limkamput

    Please stop insulting fellow posters! Stop making racist and anti-Indian comments, using words like “thambi” in the way you did to insult our Indian friends. Stop pretending you are supporting hindraf because clearly you are a racist who looks down on Indians. You are not even Chinese to begin with. You’re one confused individual who needs medication.

  62. Count Dracula Says:
    Why not we commit limkamput to a mental institution and throw away the key??

    That is why you are a nobody. If you are somebody, you don’t sign ISA detention order, you make people disappear. That is you, no doubt about it.

    And as for you BlackEye, go back to my posting earlier (16: 30.18 5 hours ago). You are not front row quality yet, but you are getting there soon. Godamn singh is competing with you, so you better hurry.

  63. The reason why you, limkamput, has always something nasty to say about Dark Horse is because you don’t understand anything about law. Merely throwing phrases like “rule of law” and “rule by law” does not mean anything since you clearly do not have any inkling about what they mean. If you do, let’s see you elaborate on that!

    Nope? No can do? Nothing surprising. Oh, I’m not your master and why should you do what I ask?? Haven’t we heard that so many times before?

  65. I’m still waiting to hear what you mean by “rule of law” and “rule by law”. Or is it

    “Nope? No can do? Nothing surprising. Oh, I’m not your master and why should you do what I ask?? Haven’t we heard that so many times before?”

    It sure looks that way. We know for sometime now that you’ve no inkling what is being talked about when it comes to law, and feels so insecure about it that you’d break into tantrums for not being able to join in the discourse the way Jefferey does.

    Why not just admit?

  66. For once, you are right. I am not answering you because it is too difficult for you to digest. But you can go read in another thread about federal state finance. Go learn simple stuff first and don’t tax me too much, ok.

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