In Denial Syndrome

When I came across the Star's headline on Friday 28 May 2010, I thought what Idris Jala said at the KL Convention Centre is a wake-up call for the Nation when he said if nothing is done to close the budget deficit the country would end up like another Greece by the year 2019. What shocked the people is on the very same day the PM was asked to comment on the revelation, he stated that it is just a projection.

What sheer nonsense is happening in this country whereby the PM is downplaying the findings of his own Minister who is obviously bent on saving the country from bankruptcy but the stark forebodings seemed to be ignored more or less by his numero uno. This is a sheer example of the PM being in-denial of the truth.

Idris Jala is a technocrat and he does not politicise the hard facts, but not his boss, and it would not be long that his famous labs which are aimed at turning the country around would be redundant. The scenario could be somewhat be compared to the Roman Emperor who fiddled while Rome was burning. Poor Idris Jala, now his credibility as the Minister in charge of the GTP is in question. Being a raw Member of the administration he thought what he did was the right thing, perhaps he forgot to abide by the other maxim, that is it should be revealed at the right time and at the right place.

Now we can expect the uproar amongst public in response to the coming crunch which would be likely to be translated into votes for the next GE. Little wonder that the foreign PR consultant had been hired to deal with such eventualities where damage control mode now is in operation. We will see what happens after this.

Getting Past The Gatekeeper

On Tuesday 18 May 2010 I managed to keep an appointment with The Director of the Institute of Respiratory Medicine of HKL which is situated just next to the Jalan Pahang interchange. I began to see this specialist more than ten years ago upon my return from attending a senior administrative course at LBS in London when I complained of chest pains.

It was my officer who suggested that I see this specialist because he was acquainted with both husband and wife when he was in the Health Ministry and I consented. It was quite a breeze then to fix the appointment because I was still a serving officer and this specialist doctor was a junior specialist.

Although I had been a patient but my file is not that active and the last visit was less than two years ago. So when I phoned up to make an appointment to see the top gun in that place, there were many questions asked and I almost abandoned the hope of seeing the doctor.

Since I am now a pensioner, the gatekeeper being unfamiliar with my name as the patient gave many excuses so that I just go and see other doctors there although it was not directly suggested. But I insisted that the doctor knows me as I had been treated a few times over a period of time way back when I was still in service.

It was only after mentioning the name of my former officer who introduced to me this particular specialist that I managed to make the appointment. The moral of the episode here is when you have retired from service the entitlement to see a specialist will be closely vetted and only the persistent ones gets through the gatekeeper. That is the way of the world.

The Ma(i)d Hassle

The problem of getting someone reliable and dependable to help out when you need it most has been a classical theme from a single family unit right up to various sectors in our service industries. I had the experience of a maid whom my son employed when his first child is still an infant, who ran away right under my nose one day while I was dozing off in the living room. When I woke up and realised that my grandson was alone sleeping, it dawned upon me that the maid could be outside and called out for her but to no avail. Only after I saw her sandals missing, I sensed something wrong was happening.

When I asked my wife if she had seen the maid, she too gave me a negative answer. Two weeks later my son told me that the agent informed him that she died of dehydration. Apparently she took refuge at her friend's house and went down with diarrhoea but being too afraid to go and seek medical aid since she had no papers on her, she died probably after losing so much fluids.

Today at about 11.00 a.m. the Maid who stayed with my sister in Seremban to help her looking after my aged father left her house when she had to go to hospital for an appointment.We took this new person after the previous one went home and her replacement had not been able to settle down with her work and we sent her back to the agent. But due to some unavoidable circumstances, we took her back because we had no choice. The haggling between the two countries on how much maids should be paid seemed to have taken a toll on many.

So I had to go along today with my brother to the Police Station to make a report on the missing maid. Fortunately the procedure is simple and straightforward, as we have to submit the report to the authorities responsible for her visa.Since the maid took her passport with her, she could easily claim that her stay here is legal, but once the work visa is cancelled, her stay here is deemed illegal. Now we have to sort out with the Immigration Department and the effort to find a replacement has to start all over again. This is what I mean by a Ma(i)d hassle.

Speedy Recovery Ustaz

On Monday 03 May 2010 I was informed by my former colleague who worked with me during my sojourn in Putrajaya that Ustaz Husin Ahamad who was at one time served with Legal Aid Bureau as the Deputy was in a bad shape after he collapsed when attending a meeting in Malacca. Being a Shar'iah Judge on the Apellate Court he is still serving as Judges serve until the age of 65.

He endeared himself to all who worked with him owing to his cheerful disposition and I wondered how he had to keep his reserve while on the bench. I recalled that he presided on the case of "Harta Sepencarian " when the divorce of Datuk K took place upon him marrying Siti Nurhaliza, that celebrity singer.

I reached his house at 12.45 pm and he had just moved in to Bangi barely six months ago. When I arrived he had just finished the massage session conducted by one of his kin who came all the way from Jeli in Kelantan. When I whispered to him that I came to visit him, he gave me a cry as he could not utter a word. We had been postponing many a time to keep a lunch date and here I managed to see him as a helpless patient whom the doctors said nothing could be done and ask his family to take him home.

It is such a pity to see him in such a condition and fortunately all his family members rallied around him to help him to recover. I supplicate to ALLAH S.W.T. that Ustaz Husin will be able to recover speedily, IshaALLAH.