Rancangan BLOG di RTM1

Blog dan blogger semakin diiktiraf dan diambil berat oleh kerajaan, membawa kepada satu rancangan BLOG di rtm. Baru-baru nie BLOG menjemput blogger terkenal tanahair, Raja Petra Raja Kamaruddin, kerabat diraja Selangor dengan laman blognya Malaysia-Today. Malaysia-today.net mencecah jumlah hits sebanyak 1.5 juta setiap hari, mengatasi jumlah pembaca akhbar. Untuk rekod, beliau pernah terlibat dalam menaikkan Tun Dr Mahathir sebagai Presiden UMNO dalam pertandingan sengit dengan Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah.

Pasca-PRU 12 menyaksikan ramai pemimpin Barisan Nasional mula menulis blog seperti Dr Mohd Khir Toyo, Tan Sri Muhammad Muhd Taib dan Dato’ Seri Ali Rustam.

Yang terbaru, bekas PM kita, Tun Dr Mahathir telah menyertai para blogger di alam maya. Ikuti komen beliau berkenaan isu semasa tanah air di http://www.chedet.com/

Ikuti temubual BLOG dengan Raja Petra tersebut di link di bawah, antaranya membincangkan good governance, kestabilan politik, kebebasan mendapat maklumat, blog:

Kesian tengok pengacara kena hentam, patut bagi orang lain yang lebih berpengetahuan dan kritikal supaya dapat mengimbangi dan menghasilkan perbincangan yang lebih mantap:

Part 1/3 http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=jWRXtgXdQqM&feature=related

Part 2/3 http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=9igXv_ewW5M&feature=related

Part 3/3 http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=p4MZbTERMHk&feature=related

Semoga rtm meneruskan pendekatan sebegini, mendidik masyarakat, memberi peluang kepada semua pihak untuk menyatakan hujah dan pandangan.

Selamat menonton.

A little boy discovers Politics

A little boy goes to his dad and asks, "What is Politics?"

Dad says, "Well son, let me try to explain it this way: I'm the head of the family, so call me The President. Your mother is the administrator of the money, so we call her the Government. We're here to take care of your needs, so we'll call you the People. The nanny, we'll consider her the Working Class. And your baby brother, we'll call him the Future. Now think about that and see if it makes sense."

So the little boy goes off to bed thinking about what Dad has said. Later that night, he hears his baby brother crying, so he gets up to check on him. He finds that the baby has severely soiled his diaper. So the little boy goes to his parent's room and finds his mother sound asleep. Not wanting to wake her, he goes to the nanny's room and finds his Daddy in bed with the nanny. He gives up and goes back to bed.

The next morning, with everyone at the breakfast table, the little boy says to his father, "Dad, I think I understand the concept of politics now."

The father says, "Good, son, tell me in your own words what you think politics is all about."

The little boy replies, "The President is screwing the Working Class while the Government is sound asleep. The People are being ignored and the Future is in deep shit."

Kami tidak pernah lupa

7 November 2007, bersamaan 27 Syawal 1428H. Dah lima hari aku berpuasa sunat Syawal. Sekarang muslim luruh, di mana daun-daun kuning dan coklat dah meluruh hampir semuanya. Kegelapan malam semakin panjang mengatasi cerahnya siang. Bayangkanlah waktu maghrib, atau terbenamnya matahari pada pukul 4.41 petang dan matahari hanya akan terbit semula pada jam 7.36 pagi. Kesejukannya yang serendah 9 darjah Celsius makin terasa menyebabkan pemanas perlu dipasang lebih kerap dan lebih lama.

Di dalam kepenatan minda mengulangkaji syllabus perubatan tahun dua dan menyemak untuk tahun tiga, menelusuri sehari-hari di perantauan ini, sempat juga aku meluangkan masa menjalar di pautan-pautan dan sesawang labah untuk update dengan suasana sosiopolitik tanah air tercinta. Isu-isu pendidikan, jenayah, rasuah, kehakiman dan pilihan raya menjadi kegemaran. Kadang-kadang membaca isu-isu ini di media arus perdana, dan arus alternatif atau rakyat, lebih mengisi dan memuaskan berbanding hanyut di alam khayalan bersama anime seperti naruto, one piece; series seperti Prison Break, Heroes, House, Friends; ataupun movie yang berlambakan di joox. Tidak lupa juga dengan kipas susah mati permainan seperti Pro Evolution Soccer, Championship Manager, Warcraft DOTA, CounterStrike dan lain-lain. Al maklumlah dengan kemudahan internet jalurlebar dan rapidshare yang mampu dilanggan oleh setiap pelajar, semua maklumat yang sampah, toksik mahupun penawar dan pencerah semuanya ada di hujung jari. Semua yang disenaraikan di atas adalah sangat popular di kalangan kami yang juga pelajar biasiswa tajaan MARA, JPA, PETRONAS, TNB, TELEKOM dan yang terbaru Yayasan Terengganu. Untuk pengetahuan semua, kami jugalah bakal teknokrat, profesional yang akan mencorak masa depan negara dalam masa 20 hingga 30 puluh tahun lagi.

Namun begitu, aku beranggapan dan percaya bahawa tidak semua mereka ini bersikap tidak pedulisme, tetapi kebanyakannya hanya bersikap ambil tahu dan beranggapan tiada apa yang dapat atau perlu diperjuangkan di alam mahasiswa (kalau layak digelar sedemikian). Penulis yakin bahawa ada sekelumit rasa peduli dan mahu mengubah keadaan ini dalam darah muda dan panas perantau-perantau ini.

Walaupun kenyataannya, apa yang sedang berlaku di Malaysia sangat mendukacitakan, dan membarah ke akar umbi, namun semangat idealisme perjuangan mahasiswa luar negara akan terus membakar. Siapa lagi kalau bukan kita yang telah melihat dunia- United Kingdom, Republic Czech, Spain, German, France, Holland, Switzerland, Japan, Korea, India, Indonesia dan Malaysia dari segenap perspektif dan kaca mata. Semoga semangat kita tidak mendung dan suram seperti awan autumn dan winter di United Kingdom, dan biarlah ia secerah summer dan semekar bunga spring, dan sentiasa sehijau rumput biar apa pun musimnya.

Malah, dengan kenaikan biasiswa kami yang tidaklah setinggi 97%, kami tetap tidak akan lupa betapa kami berhutang dengan negara, seluruh masyarakat Malaysia, untuk pulang berbakti kepada watan, berjuang membela nasib rakyat miskin dan tertindas, tak kira Cina, Melayu, India, Kadazan, Dusun, Iban mahupun Melanau. Betapa kami akan dipertanggungjawabkan nanti, dan pastinya akan ditanya apakah telah dipenuhi semua itu atau tenggelam dalam nikmat dunia?

Walaupun jauh beribu batu, ketahuilah kami sentiasa mengiringi kalian semua dengan doa semoga berjaya dalam perhimpunan BERSIH nanti. Penulis mencari-cari juga baju berwarna kuning untuk dipakai simbol solidariti dan semangat kebersamaan dalam perjuangan rakyat. Akhir sekali, kalau boleh penulis katakan, KAMI tidak pernah lupa.

Al-Qaradawi Menolak Penjenamaan Islam Dengan Pelbagai Nama

من التعبيرات التي يُشنِّع بها العلمانيون والحداثيون تعبير (الإسلام السياسي)، وهي عبارة دخيلة على مجتمعنا الإسلامي بلا ريب،

Ertinya : Antara slogan-slogan yang dipelopori oleh puak sekular dan kumpulan modernisme adalah slogan 'Islam Siyasi', iaitu satu bentuk slogan asing yang telah memasuki masyarakat Islam tanpa ragu lagi.

وهم يطلقون هذه الكلمة (الإسلام السياسي) للتنفير من مضمونها ومن الدعاة الصادقين الذين يدعون إلى الإسلام الشامل؛ باعتباره عقيدة وشريعة، وعبادة ومعاملة، ودعوة ودولة.

Ertinya : Gelaran yang mereka berikan ini iaitu "Al-Islam As-Siyasi" sebenarnya untuk menjauhkan orang ramai dari kandungan islam yang sebenarnya dan bagi menghambat dari para pendakwah ikhlas yang sentiasa mengajak kepada pelaksanaan Islam secara sepenuhnya, aqidah, syariah, ibadat, muamalat, dakwah dan kenegaraan.

وقد كنت رددت على هذه الدعوة، وفنَّدت هذه التسمية في فتوى مطوَّلة، ظهرت في الجزء الثاني من كتابي: (فتاوى معاصرة)، ويحسن بي أن أقتبس فقرات منها فيما يلي:

Ertinya : Sejak dahulu aku telah menolak ajakan (slogan) ini dan aku juga telah menolak penamaan (gelaran) sebegini dalam fatwa yang panjang lebar yang boleh dilihat dalam juzu kedua dari kitabku "Fatawa Muasiroh", maka eloklah aku memetik beberapa perenggan darinya sebagaimana berikut :-

هذه التسمية مردودة وخاطئة:

وذلك لأنها تطبيق لخُطة وضعها خصوم الإسلام، تقوم على تجزئة الإسلام وتفتيته بحسب تقسيمات مختلفة، فليس هو إسلامًا واحدًا كما أنزله الله، وكما ندين به نحن المسلمين؛ بل هو (إسلامات) متعدِّدة مختلفة كما يحب هؤلاء.

فهو ينقسم أحيانًا بحسب الأقاليم: فهناك الإسلام الآسيوي، والإسلام الإفريقي.

Ertinya :

Ini adalah penamaan (istilah) yang tertolak dan salah

Ia sebenarnya adalah satu bentuk pelaksanaan perancangan yang diletakkan oleh musuh-mush Islam. Dibina atas asas ingin memecah-belahkan Islam dengan pembahagian- pembahagian yang berbeza sehingga seolah-olah ia bukan Islam yang satu seperti yang diturunkan oleh Allah s.w.t, dan seolah-olah ia juga bukan sebagaimana (Islam) yang umat dianuti oleh kita umat Islam. Mereka (telah wujudkan) banyak Islam yang berbeza mengikut kesukaan mereka.

Antaranya mereka bahagikan Islam kepada pembahagian sempadan seperti : "Islam Asia" dan "Islam Afrika"

وأحيانًا بحسب العصور: فهناك الإسلام النبوي، والإسلام الراشدي، والإسلام الأُموي، والإسلام العباسي، والإسلام العثماني، والإسلام الحديث.

Ertinya : Kadangkala mereka bahagikan menurut waktu " Islam Nabawi", "Islam Rasyidi (zaman khulafa)", "Islam Umayi", "Islam Abbasi", "Islam Uthmani", "Islam al-Hadith (moden)"

وأحيانًا بحسب الأجناس: فهناك الإسلام العربي، والإسلام الهندي، والإسلام التركي، والإسلام الماليزي... إلخ.

Ertinya : Adakalanya mereka namakan menurut jenis kaum seperti : "Islam Arabi", "Islam India", "Islam Turki", "Islam Malaysia "(1) dan lain-lain.

وزادوا على ذلك تقسيمات جديدة: فهناك الإسلام الثوري، والإسلام الرجعي أو الراديكالي، والكلاسيكي، والإسلام اليميني، والإسلام اليساري، والإسلام المُتزمِّت، والإسلام المُنفتح، وأخيرًا الإسلام السياسي، والإسلام الروحي، والإسلام الزمني،!.

Ertinya : Dan mereka juga menambah pembahagian baru yang seterusnya : sehingga ada "Islam Thawri (revolusi), "Islam Radikal dan Klasik", "Islam Al-Yamini (Haluan Kanan)", "Islam Al-Yasari (Haluan Kiri), "Islam Al-Mutazammit (Rigid), "Al-Islam Al-Munfateh (terbuka) dan akhirnya wujud pula "Al-Islam As-Siyasi" , "Al-Islam Ar-Ruhi ( ruh), "Al-Islam Az-Zamani (semasa)

تقسيمات مرفوضة للإسلام:

والحق أن هذه التقسيمات كلَّها مرفوضة في نظر المسلم، فليس هناك إلا إسلام واحد لا شريك له، ولا اعتراف بغيره، هو (الإسلام الأول)، إسلام القرآن والسنة.

الإسلام كما فهمه أفضل أجيال الأمة وخير قرونها، من الصحابة ومن تبعهم بإحسان، ممَّن أثنى الله عليهم ورسوله.

Ertinya : Semua penamaaan dan pembahagian ini ditolak dalam Islam. Tiada Islam kecuali hanya satu Islam dan tiada sekutu atau pelbagai jenis baginya. Tiada harus memberi pengiktirafan kepada selainnya, yang diiktiraf hanyalah Islam yang terawal yang bersumber dari Al-Quran dan As-Sunnah. Islam yang difahami oleh sebaik-baik generasi dan kurun dari kalangan sahabat dan tabien yang telah dipuji oleh Allah dan RasulNya.

فهذا هو الإسلام الصحيح، قبل أن تشُوبه الشوائب، وتلوِّث صفاءه تُرَّهَات المِلَل وتطرفات النِّحَل، وشطحات الفلسفات، وابتداعات الفِرَق، وأهواء المُجادلين، وانتحالات المُبطلين، وتعقيدات المُتنطِّعين، وتعسُّفات المُتأوِّلين الجاهلين.

Ertinya : Inilah dia Islam yang benar, sebelum dicemari kekotoran dan kekarutan ideologi, falsafah, rekaan puak-puak, hawa nafsu para pendebat, penyusahan oleh puak pelampau, dan salahguna puak pentakwil yang jahil.

Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi

Rujuk artikel asal

Hantu Altantu-dari Mongol meletup di Malaysia

assalamualaikum. ...

rasenye pasti ramai yg aware pasal kes warga mongolia yg kini sedang hangat perbicaraan nya di malaysia.esok, insyaallah perbicaraan bersambung kembali...mungkin ramai yg follow dan mungkin ade yg setakat tau je.perbicaraan ni penting sebab ianya melibatkan negara asing serta boleh menjejaskan kredibiliti negara dan juga institusi kehakiman... ...

ape2 pun,saya sekadar nak berkongsi dengan rakan2,sedikit analisis yg saya buat dan ingin juga berkongsi sedikit ilmu undang2 berdasarkan pengetahuan cetek undang2 yg ade di dada ini.juga ingin berkongsi beberapa fakta menarik (pada pendapat saya a) sepanjang perbicaraan ni berlangsung. mase final year aritu,ade belajar pasal criminal evidence and kes altantuya ni sgtlah relevant dengan ape yg saya dah belajar.

antara dilema paling utama dalam criminal evidence (bukti2 semasa perbicaraan criminal) adalah "real truth" vs "trial truth" ataupun "ape yg sebenarnye terjadi" vs "kejadian seperti yg digambarkan di dalam court". untuk pengetahuan semue,malaysia mengamalkan system adversarial.

adversarial system ni bermaksud due pihak akan berlawan menyampaikan kes masing2 di hadapan seorang umpire atau hakim (kire macam main bola,boxing, lawan pedang atau yg sewaktu dengannya) pihak yg berjaya meyakinkan hakim akan menang...jadi, as a result,maka timbullah dilema seperti mane yg saya nyatakan di atas. pihak pendakwa dan peguam bela x semestinye akan cube menyampaikan kebenaran yg mutlak,tetapi kebenaran yg di reka seolah2 nampak mcm kebenaran yg mutlak untuk memenangkan anak guam masing2....

kirenye,seseorang tuh maybe bole menang di court,tp x semestinye dalam realiti die x bersalah and vice versa.antara faktor yg menjadi pemberatnye adalah bagaimana pendakwa atau peguam bela menyampaikan kes tersebut bagi mempengaruhi hakim...

so,skang ni berbalik balik pada kes altantuya.ape yg menariknye?skang ni,biasenye akan jadi pertentangan 2 penjuru sahaja.ape yg cube di sampaikan oleh pendakwa vs peguambela.

dlm kes altantuya ni,skang ni dah jadi seolah2 3 penjuru!!!!!

pendakwa vs peguam bela vs keluarga altantuya!!! (ini hanyalah inference saya semata)

kenapa saya berkata sedemikian? ini penaakulan nye :-

1) terdapat msg2 yg ingin di sampai kan oleh pihak saksi dari keluarga altantuya yg munkin x relevant pun utk kes. cth, rekod imegresen yg terpadam....

2) bapak altantuya yg keciwa tidak di panggil oleh polis utk memberi keterangan sedangkan die ingin sgt memberi keterangan.mcm banyak bende je die nak cerita lagi.....

3) gamba altantuya dengan seorang lelaki "najib razak" yg lagi a xde kaitan dengan kes tp di sebut juge dengan selambenye oleh saksi dari pihak altantuya..

4) saksi PENDAKWA RAYA sendiri (teman wanita tertuduh pertama) mengakui ade "lelaki misteri" bertopi hijau pada malam tersebut yg tidak diketahui identitinye. pendakwa kemudiannye mencabar balik kredibility saksi (jadikan die sebagai adverse witness @ witness yg bole dipertikaikan ) mereka sendiri untuk mempertikaikan fakta tersebut!!!! jarang (tapi ade je) di dalam sesebuah trial,pendakwa atau peguam bela akan mencabar kredibiliti saksi sendiri.

inilah antara bukti dilema real truth vs court truth td.katekan a mmg wujud lelaki misteri tuh,die akan lenyap begitu sahaja once pendakwaraya dapat menjatuhkan kredibility saksi tersebut.maka, lagi susah a "real truth" untuk di cari....

5) terdapat bukti2 yg di bantah bukan sahaja oleh pendakwa raya, malahan oleh PEGUAM BELA!!!!!!!! ini jarang berlaku sbb jarang peguam bela hendak mempertikai kan bukti2 yg bole menunjukkan "something fishy" (eg kehadiran pihak ketiga) yg mane,untuk kes bunuh, kalu ade sedikit je karaguan (reasonable doubt),kes tersebut boleh di buang dan tertuduh boleh terlepas.... ..pelik kan?

nampak SEOLAH2 ade perkara yg masih lagi tersembunyi di dalam trial ni tetapi, ianya di halang oleh pendakwa dan peguam bela....inilah kelemahan adversarial process.mcm mane sesuatu kes tuh nak di sampaikan,terpulang ikut lawyer2 tersebut.suke hati dieorang a mane evidence yg dieorang nak tunjuk,and mane yg dieorang nak sorok....... biasanya dieorang akan produce evidence yg membantu dieorang..tp, dalam kes altantuya ni,evidence yg mungkin membantu pun dibantah.... pelik.... ...

selain tuh,terdapat juga beberapa fakta "menarik" yg keluar setakat ni.antaranya: -

1) rekod imegresen yg terpadam.rekod imegresen tuh....gile ganas sesiapa di sebaliknye yg berkuasa untuk memadamkan atau mengarahkan memadam rekod kedatangan seseorang di negara ni.kalu xde orang suruh pun,cuai gile mamat or minah yg kerja imegresen tuh.patut dikenakan tindakan tuh....

yg peliknye, bile tunjuk tiket kapal terbang dan boarding pass,boleh lak diterima sebagai bukti mase rakan altantuya tuh ingin pulang. sampai sekarang ni,masih blum ade laporan polis di buat mengenai rekod yg ilang tersebut.

2) gamba altantuya bersama seorang yg bernama "Najib Razak" yg dikatekan adalah TPM kite (yg ni x berapa pasti.gamba tersebut blum di jumpai.so mungkin bukti palsu) nevertheless, TPM kite kata mase pilihanraya Ijok kate die x kenal pun altantuya.hanya tgk gambarnye di dalam surat khabar.namun, kawan altantuya mengatakan die penah melihat gambar altantuya bersama razak baginda dan juga seorang yg berjawatan besar bernama "najib razak".

hingga ke hari ini,wakil TPM kite masih mengatakan "no comment" dan masih lagi stick dengan press conference di Ijok dahulu. sekali lagi ingin saya nyatakan disini,bukti ni masih lagi belum di prove kan.mungkin palsu,mungkin benar.....pendakwa kate akan pergi amek gambar tersebut.Wallah hu alam.......again, sebenarnye x penting pun gamba ni.x membuktikan ape2.just pelik kenapa ianya di brought up......

3) "lelaki misteri" yg di dakwa oleh kekasih kepada Lans Koperal Azilah.mcm mane pendakwa raya tidak mengetahui mengenainye dan kenapa kekasih Azilah tuh x ckp awal2 mase beri keterangan? mungkin juga lelaki tuh x wujud,nevertheless, pihak pendakwa patut siasat dulu sebelum membuat laporan polis terhadapnye. kalu x wujud,tangkap a kerana mereka (fabricating) bukti.tp,kalu wujud camne?

dah panjang sgt ni.so,to wrap it up,menarik a kes ni.really encourage rakan2 untuk mengikutinye. .....harap rakan2 akan dapat sedikit ilmu undang2 evidence dari tulisan ini.kalu x pun,at least dapat summary kes ni sedikit....

namun,bile berakhirnya trial ni nanti,adakah the "real truth" akan keluar,ataupun hanyalah the "court truth" yg akan come up,susah untuk di pastikan.... ..ape2 pun ingatlah, segala perbuatan kite ni akan di catit.

mungkin kite akan lepas di dunia,namun tidak di akhirat..... .

lihat,dengar dan berfikir.... ....

wassalam

Originality preserved, from a graduating law student

Our 'Boleh'land Health System

May 16, 07 1:42pm

Once upon a time, I vowed as a naive medical student to serve fellow Malaysians with my utmost sincerity. Despite much disappointment with the mediocrity of our local university, I was determined to repay the rakyat for the subsidy they provided me with. It has finally dawned on me that it is practically impossible to provide optimum healthcare in a pathetic healthcare system like Malaysia’s. Indeed, ours is a system that is flawed at its very roots, and top. Instead of putting in concrete efforts to overcome simple problems with simple solutions, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has instead chosen to busy itself with efforts of vanity and exhibitionism. Penning a rosy Piagam Pelanggan and a lofty misi dan visi (mission and vision) for every single sub-department will not translate into better services. Putting our healthcare personnel through time-wasting, brain-washing Kursus Induksi (induction courses), Biro Tatanegara (BTN) and Penilaian Tahap Kecemerlangan (PTK) programmes will not produce more skillful and knowledgeable staff. Holding weekly perhimpunan pagi hospital (morning assemblies) and singing patriotic songs will not miraculously make anyone serve their fellow Malaysians with greater commitment and efficiency. Forcing our doctors to don bacterial-laden white coats and equally lethal neck ties is the perfect example of style without substance. Seeking and attaining MS ISO accreditation is far from reflective of the quality of services our patients are receiving. These fanciful so-called recognitions have instead added unnecessary red tape and rigidity to a clumsy, obese system already burdened and bloated with excessive bureaucracy and paperwork. The MOH’s misplaced obsession with ISO recognition and protocol is holding everybody back – doctors, nurses, lab technicians, radiographers and everyone else trying to fulfill their duties in a system that frustrates. While healthcare in much of the rest of the modern world is cruising ahead, Malaysia’s is so very wedged in the medieval ages, with no signs of any prospective improvements under a greedy government more concerned about serving the interests of its cronies in the money-loaded field of medicine. Arrested in medieval ages The typical government hospital has no computer networking system to store and track patients’ records and investigation results. When a patient is readmitted, there is no inkling what was done in the previous admission. Crucial investigation results are rarely returned to the respective patients’ notes. Almost everything is traced by phone in an age when people across the globe are downloading music, movies and any form of data at the click of a mouse. Doctors and nurses are kept crazily busy tracing investigations taken weeks and months ago, instead of seeing and attending to patients like they were trained for. Elsewhere in the medical laboratory, lab technicians are answering relentless phone calls from their clinical colleagues stationed throughout the hospital instead of performing chemical tests and analyzing specimens like they were trained for. Sending specimens and collecting results are all done by foot, resulting in senseless delays in a field that requires a constant sense of exigency. At a time and age where information transfer has never been much easier, our doctors, nurses and hospital attendants are still scurrying about like messenger pigeons chasing after scraps of paper that could be anywhere in a hospital of 600 beds. Consequently, a simple two-minute test like a full blood count can be delayed up to hours. Receiving its results can take an eternity. Not uncommonly, some important investigations can never be successfully traced which in bulk, translates to wasted millions as tests are repeated merely because the first ones were nowhere to be found. All that is needed to address this crippling deficiency is a cheap, simple networking system any computer-savvy secondary school kid is capable of setting up. Time is golden they say, and this is particularly true in cancer, where the difference between a week and a month may mean the difference between survival, morbidity and death. The histopathology services in our government system squirm along at a sluggish pace. It is totally not uncommon for one to wait months for a tissue diagnosis of a suspected malignancy, by the time which the cancer would probably have metastasized. Occasionally and not surprisingly, diagnostic reports disappear altogether, leaving the patient without a final diagnosis. Frustrated with this gaping weakness of our healthcare system, most doctors choose instead to convince patients to perform their tests in private laboratories and hospitals - at a costly sum, needless to say. The patients’ loss is the cronies’ gain, as friends of Barisan Nasional (BN) in healthcare businesses stroll gleefully on their way to the bank. Medical wards or refugees camps? Fifty years of merdeka and liberation from colonialists yet our medical wards are still very much like overrun, pre-war, post-disaster refugee camps. Sixty patients with a spectrum of ailments are packed like solid popiah into a single ward no larger than a badminton court. The immunocompromised HIV patient lies beside the old man with active tuberculosis who is coughing towards the immunosuppressed cancer patient on chemotherapy opposite his bed. There is hardly any observation of barrier nursing or isolation. It is far from surprising that our ill patients are succumbing to multiple infections. There is zero room for privacy in the typical general ward. Screens are scarce and often impossible in an overcrowded ward. Clinical procedures are performed in full view of other patients and relatives, putting the patient through untold embarrassment and loss of confidentiality. Unless the health minister desires to undergo a digital rectal examination with a strong, curious audience of 60, there is no reason why our mothers and fathers should be put through such ordeals. The general appearance of our wards is a shame. Rusty beds with broken wheels, faulty drip stands held in place by cheap plaster, blinking fluorescent lamps, and noisy mini-wall fans are the norm of the day and make good for a scene in Dark Water. Our febrile elderly patients become dehydrated, and literally fry in the seething heat that epitomizes the current state of our hospitals. Septic patients with high fever, chills and rigors waste away in crammy, stuffy, noisy general wards, while the crooks they elected as representatives recuperate from a simple ankle sprain in spacious, air-conditioned single bedded rooms, oblivious to the sufferings of the simple-minded folk who put them in power in the very first place. As BN-putras plunder the nation even as one is reading this article, ill and sick Malaysians are wasting away in shoddy wards so deficient in so many aspects. ECG machines so crucial in diagnosing acute cardiac events are sometimes shared between two wards of 80 patients. In times of emergencies, doctors and nurses run helter skelter hunting for elusive ECGs, pulse oximetries, ventilatory bags, oxygen tanks, arterial blood gas machines and heck, even blood pressure sets. Not uncommonly, life-saving intubation sets are incomplete or faulty and cardiac monitors are so ancient that the readings cannot possibly be taken seriously. Our patients wait months to undergo CT scans, ultrasounds and MRIs. Ineveitably, some patients meet their Maker way before their appointment date. In one large state in East Malaysia, there are merely two CT scans to serve two million people, one of which is low-grade and substandard. With the rise in vascular diseases, most government hospitals still do not offer CT angiography. In an oil-rich nation, is this beyond our means? In our existing miserable state, doctors, nurses and attendants do not even have working counters of their own and are instead wrestling for limited space to do the ridiculous paperwork bestowed upon them, in stark contrast to the posh, cooling office that the minister sits in. Pitiable corrective measures Some hospitals, in a vain attempt to deal with the overcrowded wards, transfer “stable” patients to so-called extension wards which are commonly separated from the main hospital. Not infrequently, these supposedly stable patients deteriorate and require urgent intervention – elusive help which would not arrive as there is usually no resident doctor on-call in these peripheral units located far away from the main hospital building. Many needless deaths occur due to delayed help in these “recovery units” and “extension wards”. Our clinics are not any better, if not worse. With the massive wealth of Tanah Melayu, it is beyond belief that most of our wards and clinics are not equipped with a computer and printer. Referral letters are hand-written, resulting in unquantifiable confusion, communication errors and disastrous consequences. Specimen tubes have to be labeled manually instead of cheap and convenient printed stickers. Up to five patients undergo consultations simultaneously in a room no bigger than a Proton Perdana. Malaysia Boleh? Government ambulance services are reasonably renowned by now – for the wrong reasons. While the public may decry the unnecessary deaths of Mohd Yusry and Yusnita Abas due to alleged ambulance delay, much more nonsense does not reach public knowledge. Poorly equipped to begin with, most of our ambulances serve as nothing more than a modified human transporter, with no inbuilt oxygenation, no ready supply of emergency drugs, no intubation sets, no communication services save for the driver’s handphone. Patients’ running out of oxygen supply during an ambulance ride is a daily occurence. Essentially, our ambulances serve only to transport an ill patient from one place to another in the shortest time possible. Whatever happens along the way is solely left to God, and beyond the control of any medical personnel, who has few tools to work with. The sad state of our ambulance services is seen beyond emergencies. In many rural districts, ambulances serve as perhaps the only form of transport for poor patients to travel to a general hospital. Our ambulances fail miserably even in this undemanding task. Recovering patients end up stranded for weeks awaiting ambulances from the district hospitals to send them home to their anxious families. Ward beds are occupied unnecessarily. Some patients waited so long that by the time an ambulance is actually available, they developed severe hospital-acquired infections due to an unnecessarily prolonged stay in the ward. Here in Malaysia, the field of emergency medicine is one that lacks a sense of urgency. Uncannily however, such lackadaisical attitude is cleverly hidden during by-elections. Unsupportive support services Our sad state stretches far beyond the clinical scenario. Our hospital support services are equally, if not more pathetic. Faulty elevators lie in ruins, unrepaired for months, causing delay in almost everything and to everyone. The elderly lady with severe osteoarthritis is forced to walk up seven flights of stairs to visit her ailing husband. Is this humane? Far from it. Urgent phone calls lose their very adjective as doctors wait 10 minutes for calls to be answered and a further 10 minutes as operators flip through prehistoric, dog-eared antique phone books instead of an ultra-convenient computerized directory. What could have been achieved in minutes and seconds takes hours and days instead. Replacing a burnt bulb takes a mere four minutes but getting the personnel to actually do so may take up to four months. So much for privatisation of hospital support services. Improvements to our healthcare do not require fanciful slogans so characteristic of the Badawi administration. We do not need more time-wasting, money-consuming kursus (courses) or more standard operating procedures (SOP) that make everything so rigid and methodical. As it is, everything is already moving at snail’s pace. With that statement, I am of course guilty of insulting the snail. We need wisdom and sincerity if we are to improve our healthcare. Both unfortunately, are not synonymous with the BN regime.

Malaysia: a racist nation

Malaysia is currently led by a race-based party i.e. United Malay National Organization (UMNO). Undeniably, discriminating policies which favour the Malay people have been implemented ever since her independent in 1957. A question whether all Malays are racist or not is another story?

Untuk siapakah keris itu dihunus?

Recently, after the victory of Malaysian men's double-Koo Kien Keat & Tan Boon Heong in the All England, the Minister of Youth & Sports was asked about their incentives. She, Datuk Azalina Othman then answered angrily 'Biar mereka main dulu'.

Some said that we have learned our lessons from the gradual slippings of Hafiz Hashim and Lee Chong Wei.

Akhbar semalam melaporkan, pasangan itu tidak layak untuk menerima Skim Hadiah Kemenangan Sukan (Shakam) kerana Seluruh England tiada dalam senarai kejohanan diperakui, berbanding ganjaran yang pernah dinikmati pemain perseorangan, Muhammad Hafiz Hashim ketika menjuara acara perseorangan kejohanan yang sama pada 2003 (Bharian).

Kejayaan mereka bagaimanapun menerima penghargaan dan ucapan tahniah daripada Dewan Pemuda Pas Pusat-Jabatan Sukan dan Kesenian PAS Pusat melalui liputan di TvPAS.com.

The young duo then proved themselves again by winning in Swiss Open in Basel. Indeed, i think they deserved all the credit for winning four titles in six tournaments is not an easy task and have carved a new record for Malaysia, under Rexy Mainaki as national doubles coach.All the best for them in Beijing Olympics.