Recognition of specialists: let’s stop the bickering

 

From Dr RA Lingeshwaran

It has been almost three weeks since the end of the last Parliament meeting.

Many bills were debated and highlighted, but nothing has been as seismic as the future of the parallel pathway programme for trainee medical specialists.

All ministries are important, but the health ministry is arguably the most important as it deals with the lives of Malaysians.

Having been the director of a public hospital before, I worry for Malaysians if this impasse is not resolved soonest.

Suffice to say, healthcare, which is a public good, affects the lives and livelihood of all Malaysians.

There is no substitute for a robust and progressive healthcare system which continues to serve the needs of our nation as a whole.

One of the questions I raised regarding parallel pathway training has now become a national debate and a tug-of-war involving the health ministry, higher education ministry, the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) and those who oppose it.

It has reached a stage where many individuals and groups, including those claiming to be eminent personalities, have resorted to mud-slinging.

They are jumping on the bandwagon and making senseless and factually incorrect statements from a narrow-minded perspective.

Some of their claims are almost comical, which begs questions of their much-lauded credentials.

Now, to clear the doubt once and for all, let me declare that before joining politics, I was the director of Sungai Bakap Hospital in Penang.

This qualifies me to give views from my experience in government hospitals.

I have witnessed long lists of patients needing treatment, and even longer waiting times for operations because of the lack of trained specialists, which also results in poorer outcomes for our patients due to delayed diagnosis and suboptimal treatment.

I have felt helpless many times when facing families of relatives who have lost loved ones, simply because we could not give safe and timely treatment to their fathers, mothers, or children.

I have seen the tears in the eyes of my own hospital staff as our surgeons were outnumbered by the sheer number of patients – some of whom were in pain.

Some of the surgeons were so tired after being in operating theatres for 24 hours that they just simply could not muster enough energy for another life-saving surgery.

This is the current situation in our public hospitals that many out there do not seem to realise.

As I had stressed in my debate in the Dewan Negara, we currently have about 17,000 registered specialists in the country.

However, we will need at least double or triple that number if we are to benchmark against developed countries like Singapore, Japan, the US and Australia.

According to higher education minister Zambry Abdul Kadir, the local masters programmes have only produced about 7,000 specialists since they were first introduced in the late 1970s.

Simply put, we have a severe lack of specialists in this country to give optimal and timely care.

We need to act now, and it must be fast. The longer we delay the specialist training and recognition, the more lives will be at stake.

Our existing training pathways are simply not enough to meet the rakyat’s needs.

To put it in a nutshell, the demand for specialists is high, but the production of qualified specialists in this country is low.

So, who suffers?

Well, it can be you or me, or worse still, our loved ones. As we bicker and point fingers at each other, does it actually solve the problem?

A former academic who labelled surgeons who graduated from certain countries as “haram” is being reckless.

Has he forgotten that these surgeons actually have saved so many of our loved ones while forgoing their sleep and family time?

I have an honest and humble plea. I beg for everyone involved to be less emotional and more rational as the lives of our loved ones are at stake.

We should not be thinking of a win-lose or lose-win result. Healthcare cannot be a zero-sum game.

We should be thinking of a win-win target when it comes to healthcare. If local masters programmes need help to meet the trainer-to-trainee ratio, let’s join hands to make sure we max out their training capacity.

If the standards and quality of the parallel pathway programme are in question, let’s help to ensure that it is run with quality at set standards to augment the production of the much-needed number of specialists in the country.

We need to synergise, not antagonise. Let’s stop the bickering! Let’s augment the national masters programme and help to expand its training capacity. Let us also recognise the parallel pathway programmes which are sanctioned by world-renowned colleges.

If there are any questions about their quality, why not we put up additional mechanisms to safeguard the quality of our specialists? Let us get the best healthcare delivered in a safe, timely, effective, efficient, equitable and patient-centric manner for our rakyat.

I love Malaysia, and I earnestly do not wish to see more lives lost due to the lack of specialists in our beloved country. - FMT

Dr RA Lingeshwaran is a senator and a former public hospital director.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.

DUA MASALAH UTAMA PAS (ORANG PAS SILA BACA).

 Here is another interesting video by RPK - Raja Petra Kamaruddin. Its an interesting observation about PAS. 

But when I watched the video I was intrigued by RPK's shirt, or windbreaker or rain poncho.   Very colourful Bang. Cute headgear too.  Lama tak jumpa Bang. Its been over 14 years kut?

Anyway its a brief video. I have some comments.

 

My Comments :

Pas menghadapi dua masalah utama. 

Satu daripada masalah itu sangat mudah diatasi, penyelesaiannya sangat senang tetapi susah juga untuk Pas laksanakan-nya. Masalah inilah yang mengakibatkan Pas berpecah tiga kali atau mungkin empat kali (seperti mana disebut oleh Raja Petra Kamarudin dalam video) dan juga menjadi sebab utama Pas masih dilihat sebagai parti lebai kampong.

Masalah kedua lebih besar dan juga lebih susah di tangani tetapi bukan impossible. 

Kita lihat masalah No 1 yang mudah diatasi dulu.

No.1 - Masalah yang mudah di atasi adalah  tradisi Pas kekalkan pemimpin seumur hidup. Apabila seseorang itu dilantik jadi presiden atau mursyidul am maka dia akan pegang jawatan itu seumur hidup. Ini yang sudah menjadi tradisi parti Pas sejak berpuluh tahun.

Dato Fadhil Noor pegang jawatan presiden daripada 1989 sehingga beliau meninggal pada 2002 - tempoh yang panjang selama 13 tahun.

Di ganti oleh Dato Sri Hadi Awang menjadi presiden mulai 2002 hingga sekarang (2024) ia itu selama 22 tahun dan berterusan lagi.

Dato Sri Nik Aziz pula menjadi Mursyidul Am Pas selama  24 tahun (1991 - 2015) dan Menteri Besar Kelantan selama 23 tahun (1990 - 2013). 

Sistem, budaya, tradisi atau kelaziman Pas untuk kekalkan pemimpin dalam jawatan untuk tempoh yang begitu lama telah gagal membawa perubahan dan pembaharuan dalam parti itu. Sistem yang serupa juga telah sangat merugikan UMNO sehingga UMNO kalah pilihanraya dan hilang kuasa politik.

Yang lebih merugikan dan juga mengancam  masa depan parti ialah perasaan hampa dan kecewa pemimpin muda dan barisan pelapis (successors, second tier leaders atau succession planning) yang tiada peluang membuktikan kebolehan dan kemahiran mereka apabila mereka sudah cukup pengalaman dan cukup matang memimpin parti.  

Lama-lama mereka menjadi frustrated terpaksa menunggu belakang pemimpin lama yang makin tua, uzur, tiada idea-idea atau rancangan baru untuk majukan parti tetapi tidak mahu lepaskan jawatan. Maka berlakulah perpecahan dalam parti. Pemimpin muda tidak diberi peluang menduduki  pimpinan tertinggi parti. 

Penyelesaian masalah ini sangat mudah. Pas mesti hadkan tempoh pemegang jawatan utama seperti presiden, mursyidul am, menteri besar, ahli Parlimen dan ADUN selama SATU penggal pilihanraya sahaja. Tak kiralah berapa pandai, cantik atau handsome pemimpin atau Wakil Rakyat itu tempoh pegang jawatan itu dihadkan selama SATU penggal pilihanraya sahaja. Maka Pas akan senantiasa mempunyai pemimpin baru, new blood atau 'darah baru', menjana pemikiran baru, boleh cepat perbetulkan kesilapan pimpinan lama, elak daripada kewujudan "barisan orang kuat penyokong pemimpin itu dan ini" dsbnya (warlord-ism). 

No 2 Masalah No. 2 adalah lebih besar tetapi bukan impossible untuk mengatasinya.

Pas membawa diri sebagai parti agama. Agama mempunyai kesulitan yang unik apabila dicampur dengan politik dan realiti kehidupan harian. 

Di sini saya akan rujuk dua contoh daripada dua agama atau kepercayaan yang lain untuk menjelaskan perkara ini. 

Contoh i.  Agama Kristian percaya perkara ajaib seperti nabi Isa pernah berjalan atas air (Jesus walked on water) dan nabi Isa pernah menukarkan air minum menjadi arak yang diminum (Jesus turned water into wine).

Kedua perkara ini adalah keajaiban (miracles) yang dipercayai orang Kristian. Perkara ajaib ini tidak boleh diterima akal atau tidak mempunyai bukti saintifik tetapi ia sangat bergantung kepada "faith" atau kepercayaan semata. Kepercayaan "bukan saintifik" seperti ini tidak boleh disoal jika seseorang itu ingin menerima agama Kristian.

Dan semua agama, tanpa kecuali,  juga mempunyai kepercayaan yang serupa ia itu perkara ajaib yang tidak boleh diterima akal dan tanpa bukti saintifik.

Ajaran al Quran pula menghendakki kita senantiasa menunjukkan bukti yang kukuh.

قل هاتو برهانكم إن كنتم صادقين

(qul haatu burhanukum inkuntum sadikeen) ia itu  'Katakanlah, tunjuklah bukti kamu jika kamu adalah orang yang bercakap benar'.

Maksudnya kepercayaan agama yang tidak boleh dibuktikan secara saintifik dengan sendirinya menjadi 'non-scientific truths' atau 'kepercayaan yang tanpa bukti saintifik'. Tanpa lojik yang dituntut fahaman saintifik. 

Masalahnya ialah seringkali (atau setiap kali) cabaran hidup, kerumitan realiti harian, penyelesaian seribu satu masalah dunia semuanya perlukan cara yang lojik, saintifik, dengan bukti yang nyata dan mudah disahkan untuk menghasilkan keputusan yang baik. Kita perlukan workable solutions.

"Saya tidak punyai lojik atau bukti saintifik tetapi inilah cara kami dan awak perlu ikut cara ini" boleh menimbulkan masalah besar apabila :

1. cara itu tidak dapat menyelesaikan masalah. No solution was achieved.
2. dalam masyarakat majmuk (plural society atau multicultural) penganut agama lain atau tradisi lain akan lebih tertekan untuk menerima pendekatan 'bukan saintifik' seperti itu.

Apabila sesuatu pendekatan atau penyelesaian itu berteraskan cara saintifik dan lojik maka bukan saja ia akan lebih mudah diterima oleh semua orang tetapi ia akan membawa kepada workable solutions atau penyelesaian masalah yang berguna dan berkesan.  

Contoh No 2 - kaum Red Indian tewas kepada kaum kulit putih

Kaum Red Indian di Amerika Utara telah tewas kepada kaum kulit putih. Antara sebabnya kaum kulit putih lebih faham majukan tanah dan pertanian berbanding kaum asal Red Indian. Orang kulit putih mampu majukan pertanian walaupun di kawasan kering dengan menggali perigi, membuat tali air, telaga tiub, pam air dsbnya. Mereka membawa pemikiran moden dan cara saintifik. 

Kaum Red Indian pula mengadakan upacara tari-menari 'puja' dewa-dewa langit (gambar di atas) untuk menurunkan hujan. Cara itu jarang sekali membawa apa pun. Kaum kulit putih jauh lebih successful usahakan tanah mereka.

Pendek kata segala keperluan dan urusan harian manusia di atas muka bumi Allah swt ini hanya boleh berjaya bila kita menggunakan cara yang lojik dan saintifik untuk menguruskannya. Dan dalam keadaan dunia yang sangat kompetitif (senantiasa bersaing hebat) kita perlu senantiasa moden. Kita perlu senantiasa uptodate atau dalam keadaan terkini.

Apabila kita bukan saintifik dan bukan moden maka kita akan menjadi bahan curiosity atau 'tourist attraction' pula. Orang lain akan minta bergambar selfie dengan kita - serupa tourist asing suka bergambar dengan kaum Red Indian yang sedang menari di atas itu.

Mereka tidak akan pandang serius kepada kita. 

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.

GiatMara Bagan Datuk naik taraf jadi Malaysia-China Institute

 

Zahidi Hamidi melawat GiatMARA Bagan Datuk yang dinaik taraf sebagai Malaysia-China Institute (MCI). (Gambar Facebook)

BAGAN DATUK: GiatMara Bagan Datuk dinaik taraf sebagai Malaysia-China Institute (MCI) bagi melatih tenaga dalam bidang pendidikan dan latihan teknikal dan vokasional (TVET) tempatan yang akan mendapat kepakaran China.

Timbalan Perdana Menteri Zahid Hamidi, berkata pada peringkat awal, pusat itu akan melatih 2,000 tenaga TVET yang mendapat tajaan latihan ke negara berkenaan.

“Ia telah pun bermula dengan seramai 650 pelajar TVET tempatan sedang mendapat latihan awal di GiatMara Bagan Datuk dan telah dihantar ke China.

“Tajaan ke atas pelajar TVET ini adalah tajaan penuh organisasi China dan pelajar hanya perlu membiayai kos tiket sahaja, itupun kita telah dapatkan tajaan untuk mereka,” katanya kepada pemberita pada Majlis Rumah Terbuka Aidilfitri Parlimen Bagan Datuk.

Zahid yang juga pengerusi Jawatankuasa Majlis TVET Negara, berkata bagi melicinkan perjalanan GiatMara Bagan Datuk sebagai MCI, proses naik taraf kemudahan dan infrastruktur akan dilaksanakan termasuk membesarkan kawasan kampus tersebut dalam masa terdekat.

Pada Januari lalu, dilaporkan sebanyak 17 institusi TVET China bersetuju dan bersedia untuk bersama dalam penubuhan MCI.

Komitmen dizahirkan institusi TVET China terhadap penubuhan MCI itu adalah dengan menawarkan 2,000 kuota latihan sepanjang tahun ini bagi meningkatkan kemahiran kepada pelajar TVET Malaysia.

Peluang latihan yang diberikan itu meliputi pelbagai bidang termasuk berkaitan kenderaan elektrik (EV), kecerdasan buatan (AI), teknologi Internet Pelbagai Benda (IoT), solar, teknologi maklumat dan pemesinan.

Sementara itu, Zahid yang juga Ahli Parlimen Bagan Datuk, berkata sebagai permulaan sebuah organisasi dari China akan menaja 2,000 pelajar tempatan dalam bidang tenaga boleh diperbaharui, kereta hidrogen, dan telekomunikasi.

Menurutnya, ia juga sebagai terjemahan jalinan kerjasama antara Malaysia-China dan penambahan pelaburan dari negara berkenaan ke Malaysia.

“Sehubungan itu China amat perlukan pekerja mahir dari negara kita dalam bidang berkaitan,” katanya sambil menambah pelajar yang dipilih daripada pelbagai latar belakang dan kaum termasuk Sabah dan Sarawak. - FMT

Selangor PH to continue working with BN despite likely MCA, MIC polls snub

 

Selangor PH respects the decision by MCA and MIC to possibly stay out of the Kuala Kubu Baharu polls, says election director Ng Sze Han. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: Selangor Pakatan Harapan has vowed to continue working with the Barisan Nasional leadership in the run-up to the Kuala Kubu Baharu by-election after two of the coalition’s component parties set conditions to help with the campaign.

“We want to maintain the momentum of the unity government in the state,” Selangor PH election director Ng Sze Han told FMT.

BN and PH formed the unity government in Selangor following the state election in August last year.

Earlier tonight, MCA said it will sit out the by-election campaign if the unity coalition did not field a BN candidate for the by-election on May 11.

MCA will join MIC on the sidelines, after MIC president SA Vigneswaran also said his party was not taking part in any way.

Selangor PH previously said it would field a candidate from DAP to defend the seat that fell vacant following the death of its assemblyman, Lee Kee Hiong, from cancer last month.

Ng said Selangor PH respected the decisions by MCA and MIC.

Meanwhile, Selangor DAP organising secretary Lau Weng San expressed hope that MCA and MIC supporters in Kuala Kubu Baharu will support the unity government on polling day to ensure that Selangor and the country continue to be administered by those who “care for peace and harmony”.

Nominations for the by-election will be held on April 27. - FMT

Down Syndrome man splashed with hot water in lift

 

Police say the victim, who was initially thought to have been splashed with acid, was treated for scalds at Penang Hospital. (Facebook pic)

GEORGE TOWN: A man with Down Syndrome suffered burns to his body after a woman splashed hot water over him in an apartment building lift on Jalan Rajawali here today.

Barat-Daya deputy police chief Jafri Zain said the incident occurred when the victim, 33, was heading home on the 16th floor and had told his sister he was on his way back at 9.20am.

“Based on the report by the sister, the victim claimed to have been splashed with acid by a woman while in the elevator, causing burns to his body.

“He was taken to Penang Hospital, where doctors later confirmed that he suffered scalds to the front and back of the right side of his body from hot water, not acid burns.

“His condition is reported to be stable,” he said.

Jafri said they had identified the suspect, who lives in the same neighbourhood, but the reason for the attack was not known because the victim had never interacted with the woman, or had any disagreements with her.

He said CCTV footage showed that only the suspect and the victim were in the lift at the time of the incident.

He said the case is being investigated for voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means under Section 324 of the Penal Code. - FMT

We respect Zahid, can’t you do the same for Anwar, PKR Youth tells Akmal

 

PKR Youth chief Adam Adli (left) has told his Umno counterpart, Dr Akmal Saleh, that ‘creating a schism won’t help us achieve what is best for all’.

PETALING JAYA: PKR Youth chief Adam Adli has hit out at his Umno counterpart, Dr Akmal Saleh, over his comments on Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s response to the house arrest bid by former prime minister Najib Razak.

Akmal had criticised Anwar for stating that deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had backed Najib’s attempt to serve the remainder of his prison sentence under house arrest in his capacity as Umno president.

In a post on Instagram, he said it was not a question of Zahid’s capacity, but whether the government was going to abide by the king’s command.

The people, he wrote, wanted an explanation and “not an excuse”.

Adam said Akmal’s comments were a slight to Anwar, who is the PKR president.

“Just as we (PKR Youth) agree to respect your president by carefully choosing our words when giving our views, even for the most fundamental issues, would it cost you to do the same for our president, who is also the prime minister?” he wrote on X.

He said that as a youth leader in a party that was part of the government, Akmal had access to Umno leaders and that of its allies.

And, therefore, any issue that Akmal wanted to raise would not only go unheard but would be responded to.

“Maybe you really want to defend Najib and we won’t stop you, but believe me, creating such schism won’t help us achieve what is best for all,” he said.

Najib is seeking leave of the High Court to commence judicial review proceedings in a bid to compel the government to produce the “supplementary order”, which was purportedly issued by the former Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Al-Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, during the Federal Territories Pardons Board’s (FTPB) meeting on Jan 29.

On Feb 2, the FTPB halved Najib’s prison sentence in his SRC International case from 12 years to six years, and reduced his fine from RM210 million to RM50 million.

Najib, 70, is currently serving his sentence at Kajang Prison and is to be released on Aug 23, 2028.

On April 1, he commenced legal proceedings to compel the government to produce the purported “supplementary order”, claiming that the government was acting in contempt for not executing it. - FMT