Taking opportunity of the weekend to get away, I took another attempt to reach that elusive waterfall which defeated me about a year ago. My car got stuck then and the knee deep mud devoured my slippers and effectively ended my attempt.
But now, it has a paved road and I could drive right near to the waterfall, only trekking for 500m. Looking at the sight, I couldn't resist dipping into the waters. It was damn cold, I think it was at least 15 degrees! My whole body quiverred but it was well worth it. Better than any shower at any 5 star hotels. Where else can you find clear, clean fresh water without chlorine.
The numerous ferns and plants lined the area.
It started drizzling later in the afternoon and we headed for home after the refreshing trip. The road was covered with mist and visibility was about 20m only. We drove past wonderful people, numerous buffaloes (and their poos lining the road) and chickens, and magnificent sights of mountains. All I can say is, this is the great outdoors!
I'd better rant this off before losing steam.
Have you noticed a new generation of bureaucrats in M'sia who are obsessed with form over function? Or it has always been this way..
If we were to built a space shuttle to space, these bureaucrats would be more concerned if the rocket is painted red or blue, if the rocket has a signage writing "Made in Msia"..in the right font and size. If the writing is in black or blue color. And if the engineers building it had taken their PTK exams. If not, you will not be paid and no lift off.
These attitudes of bureaucrats who are essentially controlling the administrative system has bred a new generation of M'sians with stifled thinking. Not to blame our young people, coz the system has forced them to toe the line according to the bureaucratic stupidity. Like must print out in A4 size paper, must write in capital letters, must use black and not blue pen, must use 2B pencils, font must be New Roman size 12 with double spacing...etc. Or else it's no go, it will be rejected. This robotic stupidity has caused a new generation of Malaysians who think that form is more important than function. They worry that if they don't do exactly according to these stupid instructions, they will be rejected. Thus their creativity and critical thinking are stifled.
Never mind if the rocket's engine is not powerful enough or if the design is unsuitable for spaceflight, the most important thing is the colour of your rocket. Alternatively even if your rocket is highly sophisticated and sought after by many countries, it will be rejected by our M'sian bureaucrats if the words "Made in M'sia" painted on it is the wrong font size.
This stupidity exemplified the system we are in now. And the frustration of the people under these administrative conditions. The few really clever ones will manipulate the system to their advantage but by and large most will suffer. The honest ones.
Why have we evolved into this stupid bureaucratic system? Because M'sians of substance have left the country and we are left with many graduates with dubious qualification and training absorbed into the civil service administration. We are producing so many graduates and somehow the government must provide jobs. And since these graduates cannot comphrehend substance, they can only worry about the form. Sad..sad..
Administrators are essential for any organization but when they lose touch with the core service providers and set their own standards based on their whim and fancies...
Admin : We cannot achieve our "Piagam Pelanggan" ( Clients charter) of providing a medical report in 4 weeks when requested by patients. We need the doctors to complete a report by 2 weeks and submit to us. We can only achieve our "Piagam Pelanggan" 30% of the time.
Doctors : Well, 2 weeks is too short. Doctors have other important work to do also...and sometimes doctors go on leave, for courses etc..
Admin : Why doesn't the department assign certain doctors to write medical reports only? ( and not by the doctor who treated the patient ). Thus it's easier for us to track down the couple of "medical report writing" doctors. (basically it means to harass them periodically for the reports)
Duh...yeah I wonder why.
Well for starters, hell I'm going to write a report for a patient I've never seen in my life. It's like asking me to write an MC for a patient I've never seen in my life. Nobody can force me to write any report for someone I've never met in my life nevermind treated. This is my absolute professional perogative and it's wrong to do so.
And if the admin ever read any insurance claim form, the first line would be "How long have you been the claimant's medical attendant?" or "Are you the claimant's usual medical practitioner?". According to the proposed system of "medical report writing" doctors by the admin, the right answer would be "Never seen the patient in my life. I've been asked to write this report based on the case notes". Then the doctor can legally and with conscience sign at the end of the report at the column "This report is written as truthfully possible in my best of knowledge" Doesn't it sound ridiculous?
Well, this is the result of setting your own "Piagam Pelanggan" without consulting your doctors. You could have asked your doctors what is the reasonable time for providing a medical report before coming up with your piagam. Taking into account the lack of doctors and heavy workload.
To be fair I think the admin officers are being harassed by the patients for their reports also. Well, it's just too bad. The patients will just have to wait. This is not a concierge service.You have been given essentially free treatment, free medications and you are well now. It doesn't hurt to wait for a couple of weeks for your report. Overburdened doctors have other pressing matters to attend to like getting a bed for ventilated patients. We hardly have the time nor the place to prepare your reports quickly. And to make matters worse, we cannot do it after office hours because we are not allowed to bring your case notes home.
However, some doctors love writing reports because they are paid a token fee by the patients through the hospital. So if you write say 30 reports a month, the additional income could be useful. But as for me, most of my patients don't even have enough money for bus fare to the hospital, how could I ask them to pay for a report? So it's charity work as usual. And I can't remember when it was the last time I got a check from the admin for my occasional paid medical reports. Ironically the most common report I'm asked to fill is to the welfare department asking for financial aid.
And compare the token fee for a medical report to some contract prepared by a lawyer...it's kinda insulting.
The missus enthusiastically asked me to watch this old Korean music video. I don't know the Korean language but she somehow knew the story behind this music video.
".....it's about this photographer who knew this girl (became ?girlfriend) and one day she accidentally spilt a photo developing chemical into her eyes and became blind...He donated his cornea to her...She didn't know....was hoping he'll be there when she opens her eyes. She was disappointed when he did not come to visit her in hospital and broke up with her....one day she went to the motorbike racing track..and found him there...blind...and found out the truth..."
A tragic and touching love story. How many of us would be willing to do that? The missus say I'm a sucker for these mushy mushy stuffs...
And what if he wants back his cornea later?
I know there will always be an ethical debate on non-related live organ donor.
And dang...I should have gotten a Nikon camera and maybe I'll get to shoot that pretty model too hehehehe
On and off I do come across some hilarious debates with patients. Brightens up the day. Usually they are the very elderly ones from interior districts. Usually they have some chronic disorder, not too serious but may not be too benign either. And they inevitably will refuse any invasive investigations.
It usually goes like this (via translation sometimes):
Me : Makcik kenapa tak mahu?
Makcik : Takpe lah, dah tua. Bagi ubat saja lah.
Me: Tapi kalau tak tau apa sakit, apa ubat nak bagi?
Makcik : ...ubat sakit-sakit...ubat dugal...sini sakit...sini ada angin...sini asam...etc..
Me : Makcik...macam kereta...kalau tak jalan sudah mesti bukak enjin tengok apa rosak...Kalau itu kilang rosak...mesti tengok apa yang tak jalan...
Makcik : (smiling)
Me : Macam kereta...badan tak ada spare part...mesti baiki jugak.
Makcik : Takpe lah..sudah tua...lain kali sajalah
Me : Kalau lain kali...nanti sudah lambat...nanti...nanti...
Makcik : ...boleh terus masuk gol lah...hahaha...
Another familiar conversation:
Pakcik : ...sudah tua...sakit sini..sakit sana...
Me : Masih muda pakcik...boleh hidup lagi sampai 100 tahun
Pakcik : Hahaha...dulu masa zaman Jepun...bla...bla...bla...dulu ada sakit-sakit sikit tapi sekarang jalan pun susah...
Me : Ya pakcik..memanglah macam ini...macam kereta...minyak enjin tak cukup, tayar sudah botak...jalan pun bunyi-bunyi...
Pakcik : Ya betul...betul...doktor, terima kasih banyak-banyak
Interesting to converse with analogy :)
It doesn't end. There is no beginning and there is no end. There will always be another patient. Another admission. Another referral. There is no end to what should be done.
Where does the doctor's responsiblility end?
Patient defaults - Why didn't you trace him up?
Patient defaults because he wants to do...on that date - Why didn't you adjust the schedule for him?
Patient has no money for whatever - Why didn't you refer him to the social worker/social NGOs?
Patient refuses treatment - Did you explain it yourself? If yes, then your explanation is no good...
Patient got no transport - Why didn't you ask for an ambulance?
Patient is cachexic - Why didn't you ask for high caloric diet?
Patient did not take medication according to instructions - Did you explain it to him?
Patient's investigations got screwed or delayed - Why didn't you ask him to do privately?
Patient's sample got missing - Why didn't you bring it yourself to the lab?
Patient's result not available yet - Why didn't you call and trace?
Patient developed complications - Why didn't you tell him it can happen?
Patient developed further complications - Why didn't you refer to that department earlier?
Patient developed more complications - Why didn't you refer to Dr X instead?
Patient passed away and family unhappy - Why didn't you explain to the relatives of the risk?
Patient gets better and wants to claim insurance fast - Why didn't you write the medical report faster?
Patient doesn't want to go home and thus no more beds - Why didn't you discharge him earlier?
When patient goes home - Life goes on. Till the next patient. And it goes again...
The doctor is always left with the burden of doing everything and explaining himself to everybody. This is the end result of lack of personnel, lack of funds, lack of facilities and an overwhelming number of patients. With unrealistic expectations. Worst still if your superior is not living on planet earth...
Treating patients is only part of the doctor's life. There is more to life than the hospital and the job. Patients will never end. Precious moments with family and friends and opportunities in life might be lost in this job. When one can't take it any longer, it's time to say goodbye.
My flu finally abated today and managed to put a little smile back into my face :) No more runny nose, no more sore throat, fever and muscle ache. And I'm taking my mind off work problems for a while...or else it's gonna drown me.
S.M.I.L.E = See More In Life Every Day. Taken from here.
And a rather inspiring "Find something worth dying for" .
*this wonderful pic is from the site as well
It started on a Monday with fever, blocked nose, sore throat and some muscle ache, which lasted till today. Then a friend sms-ed informing us that the squash tournament we were practising for since a couple of months ago is starting on that day! Oh man...
Well, taking a line from one of my books, 'The jungle is Neutral', "...if the mind is willing...the body is usually able to follow". Thus after popping 2 panadols (probably expired), I forced my body to play. Umm...it didn't work out for me like in the book...hehe. Got thrashed by one of the ex-top state players in round one. Over the next few days, I got whacked again and again but only after giving some stiff resistance hehehe. Squash is a game where physical and mental fitness is of utmost importance. Damn this virulent flu...However recent national events kept me alert.
We suddenly had 49 MPs going to Taiwan for a agricultural study tour including the BNBBC Deputy Chairman who is also the MP for Kinabatangan (pic taken from another blog). What I would be interested to know is what have they actually learnt in Taiwan over those several days. I'm sure all Malaysians would like to know how to improve our agricultural industry especially in the constituency of the BNBBC Dep Chairman.
There was also the furore regarding the racist remark by a politician in Penang among other things which resulted in this. A supporter even tored the picture of the ex-Chief Minister. The perpetrator was suspended 3 years but the reporter was ISA-ed "to ensure her safety". But then she was freed the next day...Eh...whatever happened to her "protection"? More on this here and here
Then the Seputeh MP was detained for allegedly telling mosque officials to tone down the call to prayer. This was denied by the mosque officials themselves.
I had lived within 200m from a mosque and have heard the "azan" prayer 5 times daily for 20 years. In fact I can even recite it out. It is a non-issue for me for the last 20 years. The person who alleged Teresa Kok said that is the one who wants to create problems. I mean even if the allegation against her is true (which is not), is this a justification to use the ISA (detention without trial) ? I just wonder if other religions are allowed have their own "call of prayer" to their followers? I shall offer my birthday candle light for them tonight...
Tomorrow shall be the start of another long week...hopefully it's better than the last.
The 10 things which contributed to my irritability last week. Some people says I'm a very patient person but I don't think I am.
1) I freaking hate people who evade their responsibility and pushes it to other people - "tell it to xyz" syndrome. Sort it out yourself man! The term DIY is not only for the hobbyist.
2) I wish people would just do their freaking job. I hate calling up people to ask them to do their job.
3) I just cannot stand inefficiency. I've been doing the same procedure donkey years with the same staff, and still things cannot be prepared properly.
4) Please do not call me up for every damn thing. God gave us all the same brain matter, 2 hands and 2 legs...
5) If the problem lies with the system, revamp the system. I'm not there to bypass the system ALL the time. If the system cannot be revamped, then it's just too bad. Don't make it my problem.
6) Don't tell me if things aren't sufficient/unavailable. I'm not a magician. I don't have a wand in my hand.
7) There are many other people out there which are also working...I'm not the only worker around.
8) I'm not desperate for the on-call claim of RM4 per hour. Adding insult to injury is requiring us to writing every patient's name, time spent and diagnosis in our claim. I'll be supremely ecstatic not to do any on-calls.
9) Before referring any case, please activate some of your own neurons first...if you don't know please bloody learn or find out yourself first.
10) It's not my bloody problem if there isn't enough beds !!!
I hate complaining but there I've said it. I think I shall use the sentence "I'm sorry I can't help you" more liberally. And remember to shut off my handphone. I think I need a break real bad...Sigh, I wonder how long can I endure this before I start using some expletives...
I wish I were away from the hospital uncontactable, looking at beautiful things, listening to great music, taking some great photos, having a wonderful conversation and meeting new people.
