What's the price of healthcare?

After enjoying a remarkable recovery by Arsenal in beating Middlesbrough, 5-3, I went through this Jeff Ooi Screenshots article What a turn-off! Full credits to the battling Arsenal players, zero marks to Malaysia, the citizen and the government. Well, what else can we, normal Malaysian citizen, have to say on this?

I first read about her yesterday at the USJ.com.my bulletin. It was also featured in the community's own forum board , Now, she is in the news again.

The past month have seen the un-necessary death of few toddlers, who, unfunnily enough, were already at the hospitals, places where they should be saved at all cost, in the first place. The ones with religious intuition would definitely quote that living and dying is the work of Allah s.w.t., or whoever, they difined as the Superior Being, controlling the whole works of the world. As much as I also subscribing to the former belief, I still find it hard to accept this fact lying down.

The latest child related health issue involves a two-year old girl, sufering from HLH. Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is a rare disorder primarily affecting young children at a very early age and is a life threatening situation. Only Allah swt. knows what is going on through the minds of both parents.

Qin Wei is currently hospitalized in one of the mushrooming private hospitals in the country, SJMC, Subang Jaya Medical Hospital. A member of Sime Darby Group, SJMC is not the only private hospital in the country. Malaysia is full of private clinics, private hospital, private roads, private colleges, private TV stations, and the whole works. Privatisation of services in the country is the brainchild of the present ruling government. The same government who has been ruling the country since independance day. Bit by bit, essential services has been slowly taken away from the rein of the country's budget into the pocket of each paying citizen.

Even though born 10 years after independence day, 31st. of August, 1957, I guess, if given the choice I would still chose to be ruled by the colonial masters rather than the present similar-colored masters. In the early age, prior to the eventual inception of privatisation by the past prime minister of the country, Tun Mahathir Mohamad, I have seen life in a very easy and light perspective. We don't pay much for food, schooling do not cost anything except few token ringgits to cover the small budget for sports and parent-teachers association activities, people do not hold multiple jobs to cover daily expenses, night life or activities almost non existed, and automobile drivers still give way to the pedestrian and cyclist. Well, how many automobiles do you have at that time? However, I don't see a stressed-out individuals when looking at both my parents, may Allah bless both of them!

Then came the industrialization of the country, led by the same silly old man who believed that the only way forward for Malaysia is to emulate the Japanese in producing goods for the whole world. From an agricultural-based income generating country to a manufacturing nation? Little does he realized that the japanese model and the malaysian model is as similar as diamond is to glass. Malaysian goods are only suited for and sufficient for the consumption of the cleverly-manipulated locals.

Short of being a mediocre product, local products which are not associated with the major global brands could also be rated as unfit for human use. How could these be marketed globally? The product produced in the country under supervision of external parent bodies, such as Matsushita ( Japanese producer of consumer items) and American Intel processors could not be put on the same quality level as the locally produced Proton cars, Perodua multi purposes vehicles and Modenas' bikes. They are rated as the worst product to be had, but were still being used by all and sundry in Malaysia. This is due to the restrictive pricing strategy formulated by the scheming government. To get extra incentive from international media, different specifications of similar product were exported away, yet, earning scant reviews overseas. Ventures of Proton in Turkey and Great Britain are known to be a failure by normal standard of global automotive producers.

With industrialization came rushed living style, broken homes, increament of social and criminal deviationist works, and the whole works of hell-derived stuffs. Inteligence and common sense of the Malaysian citizen seems to erode in tandem with their desire to gain material wealth.

Coming back to the girl issue, as well as the dearly departed ones, as mentioned earlier. Community and social services should never be made the responsibility of the paying citizen. It should always be made a compulsory service by the ruling government. A free service to the whole humanities living in the country; legal citizen as well as the whole bunch of illegals who managed to creep through the so-called 'well-guarded' borders. Appropriate amount has to be set aside in the annual country's budget for quality health services, free but excellent education institutions (and system) from primary level to the highest possible, well-managed transportation system, affordable housing and cheap staple food supplies. One may question as to where in the hell would the country gets its fund from? Proper tax system and the eradication of corrupt practice is a good start.

Do I see this fenomena to change in my lifetime? Not, unless the citizen wakes up from their slumber zombie-like life and kick the ruling government officials up their behind!

Jalan di M'sia - a roady patch, errr, isn't it supposed to be rocky instead?

The other day, I have posted on August 7, 2004 05:11 AM, my opinion of the roady issue at Sarini.net. Here it is:-

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Hi yer.Nice entry, good weblog.
It seems that every other person next to you on the road is a pain in the a** these days. The wild riding motorcyclist, the slow moving industrial tippers, the non-law-abiding motorist and the big bullies on fast and furious driving heavy vehicles. Hey, don't forget the un-lit roads, not properly designed routes, poorly maintained surfaces or badly-timed maintenance or upgrading works.

Ooohhh, almost everything on the road is driving every other person up the wall. We don't need to be bitten by any radioactive spiders to provide us with spidey-power to do so. If I were 'a not-so-busy with politics-academician', I could easily come up with loads of phD works to address all these issues. Might win a few awards with the work as well.

What turns the situation as they are now? I have 1 simple guess. Respect of rules and regulations is non-existence in Malaysia and every other human is for themselves, forget about the right of others.

The forefathers of independence might have seen this coming. Part of the Rukunnegara have "KEDAULATAN UNDANG-UNDANG", there's a part on "KESOPANAN DAN KESUSILAAN", and not forgetting "KELUHURAN PERLEMBAGAAN". However, are these in place these days? I don't have to keep on guessing because all the proofs showed that it is otherwise.

What should we all do? Keep on talking about the issues in blogs? It doesn't solve the issues. Everyone has to play their part, tackled the bull by the horn. Use your contacts to deliver your dis-satisfaction and forward your suggestion(s) to mitigate the issues.

Could we do this? I cannot guess the answer to this. I have not been able to do so, all these whiles. Have no contact what-so-ever, no avenues to express my ideas without fearing for retribution to my life due to my action. So, maybe I could just share with you what I have in mind instead. These ideas of mine would slowly, but surely elemininate the problems on Malaysian roads.

a. Greater presence of enforcement officers. Maybe we need to recruit additional numbers of them, or re-allocate their duties to the areas needed most. Not just employing those enforcers just to do the donkey work for their political masters.
b. Immediate severe sentencing of corrupt practice of law enforcers and bribe-givers (attempters).
c. Overhaul of road and transport regulations to address the various factors of driving and mode of transports.
d. Park and rides to complement the exercise to improve public transport system.
e. Relocation of housing and industrial areas of the states to eleminate / reduce problems associated with competing for road space. This should include relocation of places of high traffic volumes, e.g. business parks, schools, offices etc.
f. Elemination of the practice of time recorders for workers. Instead provide flexi-timing. Rushes to clock-in could be mitagated to nil.
g. Improvement to the current road network and design.

h. Improve tele-marketting, promote non-presence selling technique with emphasise in changing the mindset of malaysian of needing sales people to be in person to sell product. Encourage teleconferencing marketing and the use of multimedia and to capitalise on internet.
i. I could carry-on with more, but I want to spare you the pain of reading a blog in a blog. He he he. :)

Loughs asides, lastly, I have a very pessimistic outlook on changes being implemented with the current ad-hoc mitigation policies of the country, all the times, when subjected to problems of any significance.

mamat.
ps: Why do we have all the problems with rules, regulations and respect? Our fellow citizen are merely looking to emulate the successful politician running the country. If those self-centred no-brainers could get away with murder, why not the others? Throw everything at other people, make sure you succeed at any cost.