Why do they want to implement this Act that is being so adamantly objected to by the medical profession?



On They threatened me with OSA: Ex-MMA president

Dr Chris Anthony: The Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998 must be scraped as we come to know more of the unscrupulous tactics that were used to pass it. It simply goes to show that all is not well with the way the Act was passed. The ministry is not telling us the truth. Why do they want to implement this Act that is being so adamantly objected to by the medical profession?

It is deeply regrettable regarding the stance taken by the Consumers Association of Penang (CAP). CAP should realise the Act seems to bring about 'criminalisation' of the medical and dental practice in the country. We do not need a draconian law to discipline a few black sheep in the medical profession. CAP must see that there is some sinister ulterior motive behind the implementation of the Act.

Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek and Health director-general Datuk Dr Ismail Merican, both being medical doctors, should seriously search their conscience to see whether the Act would actually benefit their fellow doctors now and in the future. If they cannot do anything good for the fraternity, at least do no harm. This was the basic lesson we were taught in medical schools.


On Time to hike sugar prices to curb shortages?

KSN: I fail to see the logic, or the lack of it, with Fomca calling for an increase in the controlled price of sugar so that sufficient supply is available for our consumption. In the same breath, it also said that the shortage was caused by the smuggling sugar to neighbouring countries. The solution is to stop the smuggling out of sugar and not increase the selling price locally. It is as simple as that.

For the rich the increase in price may be nothing but a poor a family of five, it can be a burden. Do not tell them to change their lifestyle! I agree with Fomca that the consumption of sugar must be reduced and the sugar monopoly should be removed. But it is beyond reason to say that the public has to pay more sugar for the inefficiency (corruption comes to mind) of our enforcement agencies.

The government, and in particular the minister and the ministry concerned, have been talking about the shortage of sugar for the last two months. Stop talking and take action against whoever is responsible for the shortages. The public will know that they have done their duty when sugar is readily available over the counter.


On Pak Lah: From soft to hard, nice to not nice

Ibnu Hakeem: On TV3, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said he was not allowing foreign companies majority control of Malaysian companies. To Abdullah's embarrassment Parkway of Singapore has confirmed that they have majority control over Pantai Holdings, the hospital operator.

Now Abdullah says Parkway's stake may be bought over by the government and has asked the Treasury (read Khazanah Nasional) to 'look into it'. This is an admission of wrong. It also means more money wasted because - considering all the negative publicity for Abdullah - Parkway will now definitely demand a higher price.

On top of it, Kumpulan Perubatan Johor or KPJ - a GLC - has commissioned the same Parkway of Singapore as consultant to study and recommend 'medical tourism' projects for southern Johor. Can we really expect our competitor to give us honest advice about projects that will compete against them? All this will stick to Abdullah.

Abdullah and PAC said there was nothing wrong in Khairy's ECM Libra-Avenue Capital transaction. If there was nothing wrong, then why do Khairy and Kalimullah have to sell their personal stakes in the company ? Isn't that an admission of wrong too?

Things are getting more sticky for Abdullah. He is no longer Teflon but more of a periuk hitam.


On Children's fiery end: Did TNB slip up?

EC: Such a tragedy is nothing new in Malaysia. However, all this could have been avoided had the relevant authority, ie TNB, had paid attention and used their common sense when the first short circuit happened.

Such is the "tidak -apa" attitude of the people working at TNB and most government agencies in Malaysia. Nothing will be done until it's too late, ie people died, then only someone pays attention. Their attitude is "you work harder also same pay, you don't work still get same pay".

Sad to say TNB and water company Syabas are 30 years behind advanced countries like Japan, USA, etc. They have all the means to save the day but just couldn't be bothered.


On Anwar to Dr M: Name all corrupt ministers

HL Too: With reference to the news item about Anwar asking Dr M to name corrupt ministers, perhaps it might be a lot easier to name ministers who are not corrupt.


On Umno wings push on despite PM's 'no'


Spchuah: What a hypocrite. At first, Umno Youth said it was nothing to do with race issue. The proposition to rotate the CM post was solely based on the idea that the ruling coalition consists of three equally strong BN component parties, and hence the other two parties should be given chance to 'rule' the state. But when PM rejected the idea of rotation, the hypocrite Umno Youth quickly turned their tone to racial one.

Doesn't our executive body practise the collective responsibility principle? If the Malays have been marginalised in Penang, shouldn't Umno state exco members, who claim to represent Malay interest in the ruling coalition, take responsibility and step down?


On Yes, another police report

Azrai: I am a citizen of Malaysia who supports freedom with responsibility. However, this is Malaysia, a multiracial country with a political majority of the Malays. Religion, if not moderated can cause emotions to rule and rationale forgotten.

As much as some of us want to homogenise the people and the country, a few things stand in the way political parties and language namely. It is unfortunate that our political parties were originally set up as racial groups and that there are strong supporters of national-type schools. As much as we wish Malaysians would unite, many of the rakyat will take things in a sensational way and their MPs would not be able to control them if he/she does not appear to go along.

We now have more press freedom to highlight our errors and wrongs, with the intention to put them right. But what is right depends on the values we follow. Some people will not share the same values and since they are citizens of Malaysia, their voice will have as much weight as yours. There is now a top-down political will for a moderate, rational, caring and noble rakyat. The media and press have been given the freedom and bottom-up responsibility to educate and move the rakyat to these good values.

Besides being caring, we want the rakyat to be able to think. They must be able to remain calm and think rationally even when it challenges the core of their beliefs. These are values we need to instil on everyone via stories, messages and examples.

As an addition, jumping to conclusions like what malaysiakini did in Kota Bharu is not in line with the above values. What more since it implied a critical crisis between Dr Mahathir, the police and the government. I would have taken it as a deliberate attempt to destroy stability and confidence in the country. It is fair that you are probed. We cannot have irresponsible journalism and the use of sensationalism to increase readership.


On KL to send troops despite Israel's protest

Devan: We do not have any diplomatic ties with the Israeli regime. Thus, it is absolutely illogical and improper to interfere in the dispute of these two nations, where with one we do not have diplomatic relationship. We should only sent our troops unless invited by the Israel regime.

In this instance, we have no right to interfere in this conflict militarily nor as a peacekeeping force, except giving the Lebanese our moral support and help them with financial assistance, etc. Hence, we should not send our troops to Lebanon because the safety of our troops are not guaranteed as the ceasefire is still fragile.

Sending our troops there just on the assurance of UN is not good enough because even the UN peacekeeping troops were attacked and killed before. Thus, how do UN assurances guarantee the safety of our troops?

As it is, the UN cannot do much because the UN is just a weak body without power of enforcement and can only dance to the music of the strong. We must understand that, if the UN rules and regulations are breached, there is no actionable recourse.

Tom Peters: Israel's position on Malaysia may be due to a culmination of events the past four weeks, beginning with the repeated desecration of their flag by crowds, in particular one that was led by the son-in-law of the prime minister; Malaysia's refusal to censure and hence appearing to lend weight to the Iranian president who repeated his threat to Israel in Putrajaya; Malaysia's rejection of Israel's proposal, through its ambassador to Singapore, for a dialogue with Singapore and Indonesia to discuss the Middle East situation and finally, the odious statement by our foreign minister that Hezbollah be armed by the OIC to fight Israel.

Malaysia, on one hand, had announced that it is ready to dispatch peacekeepers to the region where professionalism and neutralism of such soldiers are pre-requisites, but on the other hand, some of our politicians spew endless rhetoric compromising any notion of professionalism and neutralism our soldiers do indeed have and which they proudly displayed in Somalia and East Europe in recent years.

Taking a cue from our defence and deputy prime minister, key politicians such as our foreign minister should focus on his job in a subtle and professional manner, i.e. foreign policy and nuances of diplomacy and leave the lure of fisting and rhetoric to commentators and the press, especially on a subject where just too many variables come into play.

Such a position has now put the defence minister in a spot but hopefully he will convince the relevant parties that our soldiers, politicians notwithstanding, come with an impressive resume for the job at hand.