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Fate of 200 doctors from unscheduled universities

Letters
by Unrecognised doctors

The Star, published an article, “Flunked doctors have a chance”, dated April 10, 2008. We were very saddened to know, that the Health Minister and the Director General of Health, have failed to understand the plight of our situation. This issue should not be treated as a platform for showing ones power or a battle of egos, or a money making scam.

Many of us have graduated from the year 1992. We all have families to support, and not having a steady income, to come up with the finances yet again for this purpose is not only near impossible but even unreasonable. Even if we are helped by the government giving us loans, for those of us who have passed and received our medical degrees over 15 years ago, to go for a compulsory course of 3 years, then sit for the final exam, only to become a houseman seems unfair and impractical. After this process, one has to slave for 2 years as a houseman, and 3 years as a medical officer, and then is eligible for permanent registration. Many of us will be near retirement age, and this proposal seems unrealistic. We seem to be getting the shorter end of the stick, and come to you for support. Continue reading “Fate of 200 doctors from unscheduled universities”

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Bangalore heart trip – self-inflicted malady of Malaysian healthcare

Letters
by GS

When Chua Soi Lek first came to office, he apparently called for a meeting of all senior officers and when asked about the priority of problems at the Ministry of Health, he reportedly was inundated with numerous comments about the dastardly troubles private hospitals had created and how they and their devious doctors were leeching the poor Malaysian public and something had to be done urgently. The gullible Chua, ever willing to show-off the political strongman that he conjured himself to be, wasted no time in implementing the shelved PHFSA and together with his DG, utilizing the BN’s brute but now mercifully clipped majority in parliament, brushing off all objections against the Act just so he can show who’s boss. Needless to say despite all of Chua’s and Merican’s big talk and assurances, the first victim who got thrown into jail was a registered doctor, a stark reminder of the previous government’s callous and appalling methods of governance.

New Health Ministers are almost always a shoo in for our health ministry officials who have become rather slick in cornering incoming, inexperienced and invariably unknowledgeable Ministers into making silly decisions. All Ministers are political animals and make distorted decisions essentially because the minister is fed only half the story or the story he generally likes to hear. And so it is with the new health minister Liow Tiong Lai.

While Tanzanian president, Jakaya Kikwete, was going on an all out war against witchdoctors (read bomohs, sinsehs, etc) who were gorging out eyes of albinos and the Brazilians were calling in the army and possibly Cuban doctors to help battle the mortal incidence of dengue in that country, back in Malaysia, the hapless Liow had thrust upon him a meaningless business turf battle between pharmacists and doctors as his first task. The Brazilians must have wondered about the priority of the Malaysian health minister and cannot be faulted if they thought that Malaysians had indeed licked the dengue scourge and were actually moving on to bigger stuff.

Far from it. The dengue fever outbreak in Brazil had infected 55,000 people, and killed 67 Brazilians so far this year with half of those killed by the mosquito-borne illness being under 13-years-old. But Malaysia’s “Disease Control Director”, Hasan Abdul Rahman reported a proportionately higher mortality ratio of 9,889 people diagnosed, with 26 of them dead for the first three months from January to March alone of this year. Maybe we may have something to learn from the Brazilians or more likely our stats are out of sync.

But these problems will pale into comparison as the new and inexperienced health minister has made a second momentous decision. That of shipping unfortunate children with congenital heart disease to Devi Shetty’s “world famous” heart center 2000 miles away in Bangalore, the Narayana Hrudayalaya. Even Chua, known to be a brusque decision maker refused to take this decision. But the new health minister had no qualms sending these children off….or was he pushed into make this decision.

When the NST published their under-researched cum marketing piece for the IJN on the lack of heart surgeons and the need for critical care for paediatric cardiac surgical patients in a center spread on 2/4/08, they didn’t quite delve into the factors as to why this country has not caught up with the rest of the world or at least India, despite the government spending millions to curb the rising incidence of heart disease. Paradoxically, after 50 years of Merdeka, we are in fact sending off patients overseas for treatment just like the Mauritius, Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Bangladesh to the Narayana Hrudayalaya Institute of Medical Sciences (NHIMS) Do we not have the expertise? Elementary. It is just poor management of our resources. Continue reading “Bangalore heart trip – self-inflicted malady of Malaysian healthcare”

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Unrecognised doctors

Letters

by Frustrated doctor

The Star article titled ‘Hope Yet For Med Grads’ (10th April 2008) claims to give the option to unrecognised doctors of transferring credits to local establishments to pursue their goal of becoming doctors . If this article is true , this is a misleading thing the new health minister is undertaking .

Firstly , the option to transfer credits has been there since 1998 when students in Indonesia were allowed to pay 60,000rm to an agent to transfer to Malaysian recognised Indonesian government universities . Many decided not to pursue this option as they didn’t have the money ; and the studies they were doing in other universities which were claimed to be unrecognised in Malaysia were actually on par with the recognised government universities there .

This whole credit transfer came about when 3 JPA sponsored students from Padang came back after only 4 years of theory claiming that they had finished their studies and were posted to do their housemanship . Not having any clinical experience , their peers and dept heads found them lacking and refused to accept them when it was found out that they didn’t do their 2 years of clinicals to be considered doctors in Indonesia . Thus , JPA and MMC tried asking the U in Padang to take them back but the U refused saying that they had ‘mencemarkan nama baik universitas’ . Thus , JPA had to pay hefty amounts to the govt U in Bandung who decided to allow them to continue their studies there . Using this case of credit transfer , an agent worked out with various other recognised Indonesia government universities to accept students . Even local Indonesian students were irritated with this as this smacked of double standards as the same option was denied even to them .

It is a known fact that wherever JPA is able to put students , the U is given recognition in a short time . Malay students were gathered and all placed in an Islamic private medical U to finish their studies . However , due to the large number of non-bumi students there , this U was not given recognition and the Malay students were placed in the govt U in Bandung . However , since they hadn’t finished their 4 years of theory , the Bandung U gave some problems . Then they were placed a 3rd time in the govt U in Medan . This U was not strict with the rules as hefty sums were paid to the rector’s office to close a blind eye . Each transfer involved a sum of about 60K . Three transfers and the JPA would have paid nearly 200K for each chap . This is how much the govt doesn’t mind paying for bumi students from all the Petronas money they have received . Continue reading “Unrecognised doctors”

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Who runs the Ministry of Health?

Letters
by EJB

I refer to the newspaper report “Doctors to be disallowed from dispensing Medicine” NST 29th March where the DG of Health has apparently agreed to a pilot proposal where doctors seeing patients at their clinics only prescribe and patients will then have to locate a pharmacy where they will have to purchase their medications separately. Don’t ask when these negotiations started and who were at the discussions who finally agreed to this proposal. In all likelihood doctors’ representatives were either kept away or presumably threatened with the OSA (Official Secrets Act)

It seems the ruling party has learnt nothing from the last elections. More pertinently one must ask. Is this a dying priority for the Ministry of Health now especially when it reported only these last 48 hours about the lethal outcomes of the dengue scourge which it has repeatedly shown it is unable to control and the rising incidence of resurgent tuberculosis? We will not even discuss about waiting time for patients who queue up to see doctors at 4 am in the morning or of parents begging in the media for financial help to save their sick children.

The DG of Health, one would have thought, would have his hands full trying to pool his resources without digging further holes he cannot cover. But there you are. He appears to have caved in to the pharmacy lobby. This debate is not new. It is ancient in terms of healthcare provisions in Malaysia. The basic contention. Why should General Practitioners or other doctors prescribe when there are pharmacists around? Answer, for the convenience of the patient especially in the rural areas or in locations where pharmaceutical chains open ten stores to show a 30 million ringgit turnover so that they can get into the second board while employing only 5 pharmacists to cut costs. These pharmacists will only be in during shift hours and usually not available after 9pm where the rigors of a 24 hour practice will call upon the dedication and commitment of a medical doctor where treatment and prescription come hand in hand. Continue reading “Who runs the Ministry of Health?”

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What we want now

Letters
by Steven

Nowadays, by just reading the newspaper and watching TV news, mostly it was related to political news. Well, I admit that most of the Malaysian are kinda shock, surprised or attracted to the past election news. The most important thing is how to improve the quality of life of Malaysians. I really don’t see how these issues were handled carefully in the past. I believe that some people would agree with me. We always know how to compare with others countries, but correct me if I am wrong that the comparison made was always with poorer performance countries. I don’t really understand this. Why we don’t want to improve our nation by comparing to the developing countries? We had already achieved independence by 50 years. Please do not always feel satisfied with what we have achieved nowadays because there is still much room to improve.

Malaysia is a blessed country with many resource like rubber, tin, petroleum, fishes and others. Why we are not utilizing them and make benefits of them for the good of society. Sometimes, I would think that why so many youngsters leave Malaysia and go abroad to work. Of course, the most attractive factor is money, living environment and safety. I still remember that when I was small, our money currency was almost equivalent with Singaporean. But looking at it now, we are much much lower than Singaporean, Euro, Australian and others major countries currency. Please don’t tell us that we are okay nowadays by looking at Malaysia Ringgit vs US Dollar. It was just USD is weak and not Malaysia Ringgit strong. Please awake and do something now before it is too late. I am not financial expert who has the right comment on our Malaysia Ringgit performance. At least I notice that our Ringgit is much depreciated. Please learn it from other countries. I worked in US before, the costs of buying goods like a comb of bananas doesn’t change much from time to time, it was ~USD1 in 2002 and also in 2007. But for us, everything is up. I can’t deny that there is an inflation factor counted in Malaysia’s economy. We would think that the inflation number reported is not right, every year is also low. Does the inflation number reported is just solely based on the controlled goods? Overall, our Ringgit and Sen is weak? Continue reading “What we want now”

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Education – for Malaysians or Races

Letters
by Chopin

My concern is always the above. With five children at schools and rising cost of living I find it rather difficult to cope with today’s Malaysia education systems. I find it rather messy, complicated, grade-oriented and so on. Not to mention the teachers’ grumbles and tight red-tapes in its ministry level. Therefor, I would like to line up the followings if Uncle Lim could somehow bring it up or perhaps to YB Dr. Halimah Ali of S’gor Exco in charge of education.

1. Primary and Secondary Education

I would like the education system could emphasise on Child’s Creativity and character build-up rather that grades oriented. It’s a shame that teachers in our Primary education is a Maktab Perguruan graduates with little knowledge on Early Child Education. Even, I found out recently our children as young as 5-6 years old in Kindergarden are having tuitions now! Are we becoming something like S’pore now? Teachers should be a graduate with specialization in early child education or related to that. A master degree and PhD would be better. (There is always a gap between primary school teachers and secondary school teachers and the first is a bit low, so to say)

I strongly feel that with strong foundation in the early education our children would have better understanding of their future and their career path, in a crude word, they should know what they want to be. If a child says that he/she wants to be a lawyer, or a policeman, or an army personnel at least the path for that is always there for them to venture. Continue reading “Education – for Malaysians or Races”

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Plight of JPA medical scholars

Letters
by Frustrated JPA scholar

I am a medical student sponsored by JPA to study in Ireland about to complete my studies. I write to you after reading your article on the rot of the Malaysian healthcare system. We JPA scholars here have been very frustrated with the JPA enforcing us to immediately return to the country upon graduation, barring us from continuing training as interns (equivalent of houseman) in the countries where we graduated from This would mean we cannot obtain the sufficient exposure that would make our training complete, and would off course, mean a waste of taxpayers money as there would have been no difference with studying locally.

JPA had announced recently that none of its medical scholars overseas will be allowed the opportunity to do further train overseas even at their own expanses, and are to return ASAP upon graduation. No scholar would be allowed to stay on regardless of the training posts they obtain upon graduation. To add to the spice of JPA’s foolishness, it seems that JPA gives priority to romantic relationships over the academic achievements of its scholars by giving exception to remain overseas to those who are married to a fellow JPA/MARA sponsored student who are still commencing studies in the foreign country concerned.

Till today, I have yet to comprehend the narrow minded policies set by the JPA. JPA seems to fail to understand that by allowing its scholars to stay on for postgraduate training, many will be offered positions in world-renowned healthcare institutions. The exposure and experience gained through these positions would be an invaluable asset to the country and the rakyat in the future. Unfortunately, JPA seems to be adamant in having fresh graduate doctors returning to receive Malaysian medical training, instead of allowing these fresh grads to further train themselves and one day return as first world specialists who will reform and infuse new uptodate skills in Malaysian Healthcare a few years down the road. Continue reading “Plight of JPA medical scholars”

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Siapa yang biadap sekarang

Letters
by Md Asmawi Md Nor

Saya bersetuju bahawa Saudara telah tersilap dalam isu majlis angkat sumpah MB Perak tetapi saya juga sangat hormat apabila Saudara dengan cepat menyedari kesilapan tersebut dan dengan segera memperbetulkannya dan melakukan tindakan yang tepat dengan memohon maaf kepada pihak istana secara peribadi. Tahniah atas tindakan anda tersebut.

Nah, sekarang Terengganu pula menghadapi isu yang sama dimana 23 Adun dengan segera mengumumkan untuk memboikot majlis angkat sumpah MB Terengganu yang dijangka akan diadakan esok sebaik sahaja ayam tambatan mereka Idris Jusoh tidak terpilih sebagai MB. Seperti biasa, media UMNO Utusan Malaysia akan bersikap ‘double-standard’ dalam menanggani isu ini. Maksud saya secara spesifik ialah bila mana Saudara mengeluarkan statement dalam isu MB Perak dulu, Utusan Malaysia dengan segera dan ‘bold’ terus dengan muka depan “DAP Biadap’, dan dikuti dengan pelbagai rentetan propaganda dan provokasi lagi. Saya sebagai rakyat Terengganu mahukan perkara yang sama kali ini dilakukan oleh Utusan Malaysia dalam menanggani isu 23 Adun yang biadap ini termasuk Idris Jusoh. Tajuk yang perlu keluar dimuka depan mereka sekurang-kurangnya ’23 Adun Biadap’. Mereka semua juga perlu memohon maaf seperti mana yang Saudara lakukan dahulu.

Saya amat berharap Saudara dapat memantau isu ini dengan diberi perhatian istimewa agar UMNO khasnya sedar jangan hanya pandai melihat orang lain biadap tetapi mereka sendiri boleh bersikap biadap dan bertindak sesuka hati mereka. Macamlah negara ini tiada undang-undang.

Sekian,

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Penang housing development – comment

Letters
by Steven

I am a regular employee who works for an international company in Penang Bayan Lepas Free Trade Zone Industrial Area.

I have been working here close to seven years.

What I notice something seriously is the Penang landed housing property is going up tremendously.

I think that it is fair for the housing developers to buy the Penang lands and build whatever they like.

Realizing the Penang land price expensive, of course it is normal scenario to maximize the gain to build either luxury condominiums, three stories link houses or bungalows.

A quick check on the price is going to above RM600,000 and some could reach millions of dollars. As a result, only the upper income community or foreigners (who wants to utilize MMH2) can purchase these types of properties. Continue reading “Penang housing development – comment”

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MCA to blame for marginalisation of foreign Malaysian specialists

Letters
by LTT

I refer to Dr. LMK’S letter “Eye specialist problem – another multiracial problem”, and sympathize with this ophthalmologist who wants to come home but is prevented as a result of bureaucracy pertaining to his postgraduate qualifications.

Some have commented that Dr. LMK should just go on to another country where his skills will be better appreciated, but this would be in essence giving in to racist policies that have now slithered into our professions. It would also mean that the change that all those Malaysians were yearning for when they took to the streets and turned up in massive numbers at all those ceramahs leading to the ruling party losing in five states and at the same time almost politically annihilating the previous government would have been for nothing. Further, all the efforts and sacrifices the DAP/PKR/PAS have made to seek a just Malaysia that practices equitable policies may come to naught. Malaysians must stand their ground and must unearth or hunt down the zealots and charlatans who prey on this country’s masses and in this case its medical institutions.

Dr. LMK should be commended that he wants to return home to make this country a better Malaysia. All right thinking Malaysians who have helped transform the political landscape should help him and other Malaysian doctors who plan to come home, by ensuring that the doctors who have hijacked this country’s healthcare system are flushed out once and for all. Dr. LMK should rest assured that there is nothing wrong with his Fellowship qualifications. The problems are all here with the so called “Master’s programs” and the muddled policies at the Academy of Medicine and the Ministry of Health which have been put in place by self-serving specialists who suffer a serious dose of inferiority complex. Continue reading “MCA to blame for marginalisation of foreign Malaysian specialists”

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Eye specialist problem – another multiracial problem

Letters
by Dr. LMK

I am an eye specialist (ophthalmologist) currently practising in UK, I
cannot come home because of my specialist degree.

“FRCS(Glasgow) in Ophthalmology” (hereinafter refer as FRCS) is a
specialist degree recognised by the whole world, the eye specialist
must go through a proper training and exam in order to get this
degree. Many eye specialists in many are holding this degree
including our famous eye specialists in Tun Hussain Onn Eye Hospital.

FRCS was confered by 4 boards, ie, Edinburgh, London, Ireland and
Glasgow. In 1999, UK has decided to change its training service due
to the European Union. FRCS exam was be replaced by MRCS exam. For
your information, MRCS is not a recognised degree in Malaysia.
However, Glasgow board is STILL offering this exam for this degree
until NOW. Continue reading “Eye specialist problem – another multiracial problem”

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Little Napoleon at SK Sungai Puyu utterly unrepentant

I have received a letter from “A Parent” that the Little Napoleons at SK Sungai Puyu are utterly unrepentant about their excesses, abuses of power and insensitivity about the views of the parents and the best interests of the students. The letter is reproduced below.

With the country poised to kick off the 12th general election campaign with Nomination Day tomorrow, this is an era of the government at its best conduct as part of the highly-orchestrated campaign to mislead the voters to vote for the ruling coalition once again so they have the blank cheque for the next five years to do what they like!

If during this period, when the Barisan Nasional government would not challenge any claim that “The People Are The Boss” (although BN leaders would strut about as the People’s Bosses for the next five years after a great general electoral victory), Little Napoleons are still so unrepentant and uncontrollable as illustrated by the following letter, one can only imagine the lengths these Little Napoleons and Little Mullah Napoleons will go in the schools, universities and the public sector in the next five years after the March 8 vote! Unless, of course, the voters exercise their vote wisely! Continue reading “Little Napoleon at SK Sungai Puyu utterly unrepentant”

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Just Vote opposition to deny BN 2/3 Majority

Letters
by Richard Teo

I would like to refer to the Malaysiakini article ‘Finally a chance to wrest Penang.’

In this article, Ronald Quay seems to contradict himself.His caption seems to suggest there is a good chance of the opposition wresting Penang from B.N and yet in the same breathe predicted that’B.N will still win the General Elections ,hands down’What is perhaps galling is his statement that’the Barisan national is still the best party to govern Malaysia today’.

If Ronald is so confident that his theory of opposition contesting the State seats as oppose to contesting the Continue reading “Just Vote opposition to deny BN 2/3 Majority”

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More bull by DG Merican

Letters
By EJB
13.2.08

It appears that there is no end to the spin of Annie Freeda Cruez for the yarn she creates for DG Merican. Today the NST highlighted an article, “Malaysia’s rural health service second to none”. They forgot to add that it was for the year 1965 when you had to worry essentially about cholera, typhoid, malaria and hookworms.

DG Merican, just fresh from conning doctors that the PHFSA (Private Health Care and Facilities Act) is not meant to penalize registered doctors but is there actually to weed out bogus ones, has seen to it that, Basmullah Yusom, a registered practitioner, still languishes in Kajang Prison. He shows no remorse for blatantly lying to doctors and to parliament. He appears not to have a conscience either as he goes on another PR jaunt with Annie Freeda Cruez. Today it appears that he is trying to win brownie points by highlighting to the largely gullible Malaysian public that our rural health service is well run and effective. He is, of course, now in danger of believing his own bull.

Merican’s ebullient statistics include a health clinic every five kilometers and that more than 95 per cent of the rural population have access to a doctor. There are also 2,965 clinics and 151 mobile clinics in rural areas and there is one health clinic or centre for every 20,000 people while there is one community or rural clinic for every 4,000 people.

Impressive statistics until one actually walks into one of these clinics and realizes that there is only a nurse or HA who is going to attend to today’s epidemic of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, heart disease and cancer. Their duties – check your BP, sugar, etc and dish out 30 year old medication for the next 6 months packed in two polystyrene bags with a “Kalau mau jumpa doctor…tunggu tiga bulan ya…”. If the patient returns alive on follow-up, repeat above. Any complications, refer to “Hospital Besar” and join the queue where the rest of Malaysia will also be waiting to see not a specialist..but a medical officer in the specialist clinic, who could have been just transferred from the same district the patient was seen. This is the modus operandi of the Malaysian Healthcare System for the last 50 years. Continue reading “More bull by DG Merican”

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RTM’s CNY misrepresentation of Malaysian Chinese

Letters
by Oldtimer

I am appalled by the way the government misrepresented
the culture of the Chinese. On the second day of
Chinese New Year, at 9pm, RTM broadcasted the Panorama
programme which showed what a “typical” Malaysian
Chinese family preparing for Chinese New Year. Instead
of showing a typical Chinese family, they purposely
showed a Muslim Chinese family and passing the family
off as a typical family. They showed the food
preparations and, of course, did not show any pork
dishes. How can you not show pork dishes for Chinese
new year? They also did not show the people going to
temple and worship their ancestors. Instead they tried
to show this Chinese Muslim family celebrating Chinese
New Year the Muslim way.

I have nothing against Chinese Muslim, but they are a
minority among Chinese Malaysians, and do not
represent the majority of Chinese Malaysians.

It is appalling the way RTM is trying to manipulate
the true picture of the Malaysian Chinese. They
purposely did not show the three key elements- pork,
temples and ancestors worship.

If the government is trying to promote Islam among the
Chinese population here they have in fact, created a
bad impression of Muslims in Malaysia. It just showed
how shallow the government’s commitment to plural
society and religious and cultural freedom. By passing
off the Chinese Muslim as a typical Chinese family in
Malaysia, they have gone to the extreme. Continue reading “RTM’s CNY misrepresentation of Malaysian Chinese”

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Kedah School- Sports selection on Thaipusam Day

Letters
by A Parent

I hope you can publish this in your blog. The publication can be an effective deterrent for future. Your blog has helped lots of cases in this way.

I am parent of Form 1 student of Sek Men Taman Hi-Tech in Kulim.

I attended the school Sports Day yesterday (Feb. 4) and I am just shocked at what I saw.

The Malaysian government started the National Service Program, with the objective of racial integration, my foot. That 3-month stint is just a show to make money when the situation in schools are totally different.

This is what I saw yesterday. Continue reading “Kedah School- Sports selection on Thaipusam Day”

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Botched PHFSA – why the Director-General of Health must resign

Letters
by EJB

It is with regret that medical practitioners learn of a doctor being jailed under the Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998 (PHFSA) for not registering his clinic. This is clearly not what was promised to doctors when both the current Director General of Health, Ismail Merican and the previous Health Minister Chua Soi Lek were all gung ho about implementing an Act that was clearly poorly drafted. When the PHFSA came into effect on Nov 1, 2006, there was great resentment and distrust among private doctors. The PHFSA was regarded as an insult to their integrity and demeaning the profession. Many were distrustful about the implementation of a haphazardly written law by a ministry known primarily for its incompetence.

Despite the misgivings of senior GPs, specialists, ex-DGs, ex-MMA chairmen and even a senior judge such as Datuk Mahadev Shankar who was an authority on medico-legal proceedings, both the Minister and the DG ran roughshod over their objections in implementing this law. Doctors still recall how Chua and the DG quickly convened a meeting when medical practitioners threatened to march to parliament. At the meeting, they promised various amendments to the Act. The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) and other medical associations trusted the word of both the Minister and the Director General and did not even push for all the changes to be in writing before the law was passed.

But today it is clear that the word and the credibility of the Director-General means nothing as the regulation has now claimed its first victim, Dr. Basmullah Yusom, a USM graduate, registered with the Malaysian Medical Council with a valid Annual Practicing Certificate. He was fined an unbelievable RM120,000 and jailed subsequently for three months when he could not afford to pay this fine. He couldn’t even afford counsel. Anyone, long enough in the profession will tell you that there are many medical practitioners who serve their communities quietly without expecting too much in financial returns. Continue reading “Botched PHFSA – why the Director-General of Health must resign”

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Will Ong Ka Ting review the PHFSA?

Letters
by RS

With reference to media reports of a doctor being convicted for not registering his clinic, (Jan 19th 2008), it is incomprehensible that this registered doctor was fined a whopping RM120,000 for not registering his clinic. And since he couldn’t come up with the fine, he was sent off to serve a three month jail term at Kajang Prison.

In April of last year the DG of Health, asserted that the Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998 (PHFSA) was enacted to direct private hospitals to carry out their social responsibilities and was not meant to be punitive or detrimental in nature.

He and the previous Health Minister, Chua Soi Lek, further assured the medical community that since the Act was outdated, changes would be made and ratified by the Attorney-General’s chambers.

These changes have yet to be agreed upon or ratified but the Act has already been applied leading now to a doctor being convicted on a technicality.

Will the DG now tell the judge, that she should not have passed this type of sentence? Of course not, because that is not how the law works once an Act is passed. Continue reading “Will Ong Ka Ting review the PHFSA?”

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BU4 school controversy resolved

Letters
by Angelia Ong

Just to let you know:

1. SMK BU4

Hip hip hoorah! You will all be glad that the fiasco at the BU4 school has been resolved. The Headmistress has now conceded to bring back the lion dance, cheerleading squad and other ‘banned activities’. Power to the parents! Fortunately some members of MI4, together with other PIBG members rallied together in a show of force. This new headmistress thought she could push her way around…. not knowing that she is dealing with the super heroes of BU4..

My residents association is very vocal thankfully and now we are continuing our fight to gain our playground/field (which I believe they have been fighting for the last 12 years) and I think a compromise can hopefully be reached.

It’s very sad to see green lungs (seeing the letters in twosen.com) of bukit kiara, kota damansara and Sg Buloh being ravaged in the name of development. Parks and playgrounds being shrunk or built on.

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More about SMK BUD4 (3)…

Letters

by Philip Yong

I am writing this e-mail to you regarding your latest post on my former school, SMK BUD4. What the parent has wrote to you is indeed correct. Although I have left BU4 for good but I still do communicate with my friends and teachers of that school. In fact I still do visit it quite frequently.

After hearing about these issues about the new principal I felt that I should play my part as a former student of this school as well. I have a few additional information I would like to share with you. As Valentine’s Day is drawing near, the Scout Troop of SMKBU4 proposed to sell cookies for that occasion to gather some funds for our activities and charity. But to their dismay the Principal rejected the proposal immediately by the reason that she is a Muslim and does not celebrate Valentine’s Day. As far as I know, Malaysia is a multiracial country. The government is trying to promote multiracial values but their civil servant are going against that.

Besides that, our school hold a Talent Night Event for students to show off their capability and talent every year. The new principal has also said that she does not want the event to be held this year. She told a teacher that if we wanted to attend a contest we can go to the US or other Western Countries. After hearing this I felt that this principal has a real narrow mind. I feel sad for her honestly. Continue reading “More about SMK BUD4 (3)…”