Saya Bukan Melayu.

Saya bukan Melayu.

Saya bermata sepet dan berkulit kuning langsat. Hidung saya tidak muncung dan rambut saya tidak kerinting. Seimbas lalu, saya sememangnya bukan Melayu.

Akan tetapi, saya berdarah merah sekiranya dihiris dengan sebilah keris – sama seperti seorang Melayu. Seperti seorang anak Melayu, minda saya tidak terkecuali dari segi cita-cita dan impian masa hadapan. Sewaktu saya remaja dahulu, saya tidak malu menyanyi lagu KRU dan membeli tiket menghadiri konsert mereka.

Jadi, penting sangatkah seandainya saya bukan Melayu di negara Malaysia?

Saya bukan Muslim.

Saya tidak membaca kitab suci Al-Quran atau bertanding dengan kesesakan lalu lintas untuk menghadiri sembahyang Jumaat. Saya tiada emosi yang berbara berhubungan isu Palestin dan tidak benci akan orang Yahudi.

Namun, saya percaya pada Tuhan maha penyayang dan kewujudan neraka dan syurga. Saya juga amat mengambil berat isu kemiskinan dan kesihatan golongan yang miskin tidak kira umat atau kafir.

Jadi, adakah relevan sekiranya saya bukan Muslim dalam sebuah negara di mana Islam adalah agama rasmi?

Saya bukan bumiputera atau putera bumi.

Saya bukan yang pertama ataupun yang dahulu sampai di Gugusan Kepulauan Melayu. Salasilah keluarga saya juga tidak akan mendedahkan sebarang akar umbi yang mendalam di Tanah Melayu.

Kendatipun begitu, saya dilahirkan di sini dan begitu juga datuk dan nenek saya. Saya menganggap negara Malaysia sebagai tanah tumpahnya darah saya. Sepanjang tempoh perkhidmatan sebagai pegawai perubatan bawah Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia, saya telah berusaha dengan ikhlas untuk melayan setiap warga Malaysia dengan adil dan saksama.

Jadi, adakah munasabah segala persengketaan ini pasal ketuanan sesuatu kaum tertentu?

Saya bukan keturunan kerabat diraja.

Saya tidak dilahir dan dibesarkan dengan bahasa istana dan istilah istimewa yang berbunga-bunga. Saya tiada keris sakti di pinggul saya ataupun gelaran kehormat yang berlebar-lebar. Saya juga tidak kekebalan tomahan rakyat mahupun undang-undang kebangsaan.

Keluarga saya hanya rakyat biasa yang berkerja keras mencari sesuap makan dan dalam proses itu, menyumbang secara kecil-kecilan kepada ekonomi tanah air. Kami sekeluarga hanya inginkan kedamaian dan kelicinan dalam kehidupan seharian. Sejak kecil lagi, kami adik-beradik diingatkan setiap masa untuk beretika dalam segala urusan dan tindakan kami.

Jadi, jauhkah perbezaan kami keluarga biasa daripada keturunan diraja?
Read more!

Bangkitlah Melayu!

Pada 15 April 2009, akhbar Utusan Malaysia dalam halaman utama telah menyeru rakyat Malaysia yang berbangsa Melayu untuk ‘bangkit dan bersatu dalam berhadapan dengan tuntutan kaum lain yang kini dilihat semakin keterlaluan’.

Sahabat sekalian yang berbangsa Melayu,

Bangkitlah daripada tidur lena anda selama 50 tahun kemerdekaan negara kita daripada jajahan British.

Nescaya selepas setengah abad bawah kepemimpinan UMNO, bangsa Melayu yang bijaksana mampu mengesan budaya penipuan dan omong-omong kosong kerajaan Barisan Nasional.

Sehingga bila negara Malaysia kita perlu berbau perkauman dalam semua aspek kehidupan kita sebagai rakyat biasa?

Rata-rata kita sebagai anak Malaysia sama ada Melayu, Cina, India atau Kadazandusunmurut adalah penyayang keamanan tanpa sebarang kepentingan politik.

Tanpa mengira warna kulit mahupun kepercayaan agama, kebanyakan kita sebagai rakyat biasa hanya berhasrat untuk membina keluarga masing-masing supaya anak-anak kita menjadi individu yang berakhlak dan berguna di dunia ini kelak.

Tiada sebarang kaum yang tengah berkomplot untuk menindas mana-mana komuniti yang lain.

Pendek kata, ahli-ahli politik Barisan Nasional yang diketuai UMNO telah mengeksploitasikan paranoia golongan Melayu untuk kepentingan diri dan kroni masing-masing.

Sampai bilakah warga Melayu rela dijerat dalam ugutan palsu ciptaan politikus hipokrit Barisan Nasional?

Daripada tanah air yang berpotensi dan kaya dengan sumber semula jadi dan bekalan tenaga manusia berbilang kaum yang berkaliber, negara Malaysia kini semakin tercemar dan tandus.

Negara Malaysia tercemar bukan hanya alam persekitaran fizikalnya malah dari segi kemasyarakatan di mana jenayah ganas semakin berleluasa dan gejala sosial semakin di luar kawalan.

Ibu pertiwi kita ketandusan bukan sahaja dari segi penyalahgunaan wang rakyat dan pembaziran sumber bumi tetapi juga dalam bentuk ‘brain drain’.

Sejak Mei 13 1969, Malaysia dianggarkan telah kehilangan sebanyak dua juta tenaga professional dan intelektual daripada semua kaum kepada negara asing di seberang Selat Tebrau.

Anak-anak Malaysia yang telah berhijrah ini tidak sama sekali patut dituduh sebagai penderhaka negara yang tiada semangat kenegaraan dan jati diri.

Sebagai pengerusi Pemuda UMNO pada tahun 1987, Perdana Menteri Najib Razak telah menyeru ahli-ahli UMNO untuk membasahkan keris dengan darah Cina.

Budaya mengugut dan melancarkan keganasan atas masyarakat minoriti Malaysia ini kian menjadi tradisi UMNO.

Pada tahun 2004-2005, perwakilan di perhimpunan agung tahunan UMNO telah berikrar untuk menonjolkan kewiraan Melayu jati dan bermandi darah menentang masyarakat bukan Melayu.

Kempen menabur perasaan benci dan curiga terhadap masyrakat bukan Melayu semakin hangat semenjak pilihan raya Mac 2008. Parti UMNO kerap kali menyebarkan desas-desus yang tidak berasas dengan tujuan UMNO akan sekali lagi menerima sokongan pengundi Melayu.

Warga Melayu Muslim yang ikhlas dan berpegang teguh kepada ajaran agama perlu bersatu, bangkit dan menolak ketagihan keganasan yang semakin menular dalam parti yang memperlihatkan dirinya sebagai penyelamat ugama, bangsa dan negara.

Sebab mengapakah masyarakat Melayu Malaysia terus bergantung pada Dasar Ekonomi Baru (DEB) apabila bangsa Melayu secara semula jadi adalah bangsa yang gagah dan berbakat yang lebih daripada mampu untuk berjuang di persada antarabangsa?

Sejak 1970, DEB bukan sahaja gagal membanteras kemiskinan di negara kita tanpa mengira kaum malah telah meluaskan lagi jurang pendapatan dalam setiap komuniti masing-masing.

Melayu yang kaya dan berkepentingan politik dalam UMNO semakin berada dengan kontrak and tender lumayan manakala Melayu yang miskin semakin terdesak dalam kehidupan harian.

Cina yang berharta dengan talian MCA semakin meluas monopoli mereka sementara Cina yang berkeperluan terus dinafikan peluang walaupun hanya untuk menjadi empunya tanah kecil yang didiami bertahun-tahun di kampung-kampung baru tersusun.

Masyarakat bumiputera Sabah yang papa sejak turun temurun terus tertinggal dalam alaf baru tanpa akses kepada perkhidmatan kesihatan manakala ahli politik yang bernama Pairin dan Ongkili berjuang sesama diri untuk diberikan kuasa dan kedudukan yang lebih.

Sememangnya, DEB bukan sahaja gagal menjadi pemangkin mobiliti golongan miskin malah menjadi batu penghalang kepada pencapaian dan keupayaan Melayu sejagat.

Tanpa pertandingan terbuka yang sihat dan adil, anak-anak Melayu dari segenap lapisan masyarakat sama ada pelajar sekolah mahupun professor universiti semakin leka sebagai jaguh kampung tanpa sebarang motivasi dan tekanan untuk mencabar wilayah selain Tanah Melayu.

Seruan untuk membubarkan DEB daripada pelbagai pihak bukanlah untuk merencatkan pembangunan masyarakat Melayu sebaliknya menyediakan komuniti ini untuk menghadapi dunia pasca moden yang tiada sempadan.

Pembaziran aset nasional oleh perompak Barisan Nasional atas nama Dasar Ekonomi Baru ini tidak boleh berlanjutan lagi.

Ibu pertiwi kita bukanlah lombong minyak yang tidak terhad.

Sedarkah Melayu sekalian identiti Melayu bumiputera semakin dicabuli oleh opportunis yang hanya bergelar Melayu semata-mata kerana mereka mengidamkan hak-hak istimewa bumiputera?

Kaum India-Muslim mamak seperti menteri besar palsu Perak, Mohd Zambry Abdul Kadeer dan bekas Perdana Menteri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad bukan saja berlambak-lambak di dalam parti UMNO malah menerajui kedudukan yang berkuasa di peringkat negara.

Dalam keghairahan untuk terus berkuasa dan memperkaya diri dan kroni, UMNO tidak ragu-ragu menggadaikan identiti Melayu sejati.

Dari Selangor ke Sabah, warga Indonesia, Filipina dan Pakistan dikurniakan kad pengenalan Malaysia dan seterusnya mengisytiharkan diri masing-masing sebagai bumiputera Melayu pada hal mereka hanya berminat untuk menerima ‘hak-hak istimewa’ yang terkandung dalam Dasar Ekonomi Baru.

Saudara-saudari yang berbangsa Melayu,

Bangkitlah engkau untuk menentang mereka yang mencuri dan memperbodoh identiti Melayu dan bukan mereka yang berganding bahu untuk membangunkan ibu pertiwi kita.

Bangkitlah anda semua untuk mengusir mereka yang menyamar sebagai penyelamat umat Islam tetapi mengamalkan budaya dan aksi keganasan yang bertentangan dengan agama Islam.

Bangkitlah bersama-sama mereka yang meskipun kafir dan bukan bumiputera Melayu tetapi sayang akan negara Malaysia kita dan menggembleng tenaga untuk mewujudkan suatu negara Malaysia yang benar-benar adil, makmur dan saksama.

Seperti mana Tok Guru Nik Aziz Nik Mat berkata, “Kita semua adalah anak Adam”.

Sekian.

Read more!

Ukrainian CPR, Russian Life Support and the Boris Yeltsin Classification of Heart Failure IV: Pak Abu Dies

Pak Abu passed on today.

Take a guess why.

It’s all in the ABCs of basic resuscitation.

Someone did not ask for senior assistance when Pak Abu went into distress.

Someone forgot to clear the bloody secretions.

Someone did cardiopulmonary resuscitation on her own without addressing the ‘P’ of CPR.

Pak Abu survived open heart surgery.

Pak Abu pulled through a major abdominal surgery.

Pak Abu cheated death twice, the second time just barely.

Pak Abu worked hard his entire life to send his eldest son to study medicine in Monash, Australia.

His son will now graduate without a father by his side on graduation day.

Pak Abu was a great man in his own right but not great enough to survive that someone from CSMU.

That someone could have called for help but she didn’t.

Perhaps that is why there would be a funeral for Pak Abu tomorrow.

Rest in peace, Pak Abu.

See you at the crossroads.

Epilogue:
To my dear readers from the Russian and Ukrainian medical schools, this short article would have served its purpose if you are outraged after reading it. May your anger and rage be translated into a greater determination for self improvement as opposed to running down the critics and skeptics around you. I am speaking to myself as I write so.

God bless. Read more!

Education For The Illiterate And Enlightenment For The Uncivilised

A short rebuttal before my planned hiatus.

Wow, I never thought that my two truthful encounters with the Russia graduates would ignite such fiery responses and emotionally-charged hate mails.

It appears that the literacy rate among Malaysians is not as impressive as we thought, huh?

Now, way back in 2005, I wrote a lenghty article to the mainstream media and Malaysiakini lambasting the Malaysian Medical Council for abruptly derecognizing CSMU and consequently leaving the students (and parents) in limbo.

My salient points back then were plain and clear – our local medical graduates are not superior to the CSMU students and in fact clearly lacking in many aspects.

Therefore, those who only started reading this blog in the last one week would do well to search through the archive of articles in Malaysiakini for the year 2005 before accusing me of attaching a negative stigma on graduates from CSMU and Russia.

Four years have passed since the CSMU controversy in 2005 and now we are having the graduates put through the baptism of fire i.e housemanship.

The current batch of house officers is in their third month of housemanship.

They outnumber the local graduates in a ratio of 3:1. There are probably around 35 house officers from Ukraine and Russian universities. I am not sure of the exact figure because I am obviously not in charge of administration.

Have I met all of them? Obviously not.

Nevertheless, the chatter among the clinicians is similar – most of these medical graduates are lacking in competency and fall short of their minimal expectations.

Do note my persistent usage of the term ‘most’ and not ‘all’.

Also note my first post stating very clearly that the students / graduates themselves are not to be faulted.

Regardless, if I were a CSMU or Russian student / graduate, I will look at these criticisms not as insults but as a challenge to disprove the critics.

Thus far, the only one who responded in such a manner is him.

Essentially, I am speaking for myself to hear.

With all the doubts over the competency of local graduates, the onus is on the local graduates to prove themselves worthy of the degree conferred upon them, and this is not limited to a medical qualification.

In their unchecked anger and uncontrolled emotions, the illiterate and uncivilized have hurled very colorful verbal abuses upon me without realizing that these are acts that only serve to embarrass oneself.

I shall not stoop to your level and participate in your exercise in vanity.

Instead I shall rest tonight knowing that this blog has truly served its purpose – to expose that which is presumably wrong and await the ripple effect to other sites like the much acclaimed Malaysian Medical Resources.

May I be excused now if you don’t mind - my avocadoes are waiting for me in the blender.

Till we meet again.

You can continue cursing me now.

Signed,
POTS.

P/S: Dear Ken Lui, I have removed your name from the alleged impostor. The posting remains for the purpose of discussion. My humble apologies.
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Lessons of A Lifetime: What I Have Learnt Recently

The butterfly effect does exist. My ‘little corner’ as one reader deemed it to be, is truly experiencing the ripple effect as I had anticipated and hoped for. The nay sayers told me off for writing an open letter to the Malaysian Health Minister yet it was carried forward from here to here and here. Like I said, perhaps, maybe, somehow, the nutrionist himself might end up reading about the sufferings of simple-minded Sabahans currently.

No one really gives a damn about Sabah. I have emailed many articles on the worsening healthcare crisis in Sabah to Lim Kit Siang, even sms-ing him to look into the matter. Thus far, the Pakatan Rakyat leaders are simply too obsessed with by-elections to glance over the South China Sea. Too bad, Sabahans – I’ve tried and failed.

Sarcasm is sometimes wasted on the wrong people, like one reader who actually thought I was at all serious about a non-existent Boris Yeltsin Classfication Of Heart Failure.

If one is mentally-challenged and fall short of words and rebuttal, one can always start insulting the opponent’s childhood, family, ancestry and intentions. Avoid the real issue at all costs.

Some people are blatantly uncreative and boring. They won’t even give themselves a pseudonym or nickname in their comments lambasting the writer. One does not have to be ashamed just because one’s name is JACK with the surname ASS.

One can be illiterate and still read medicine. The article on Pak Abu was written in simple and plain English, yet one reader can still accuse lil’ POTS of not doing anything for a soul in distress. How la, Malaysia?

The net monthly salary for a service medical officer is $4,550.00 (RM 10, 935.90) in Singapore, with annual bonuses depending on your performance in the year that has passed.

If you want to increase readership for your blog tremendously, write about Russians.

Even South Park has a mid-season break. It’s time for a short hiatus again. When one writes continuously about healthcare and healthscare, one loses perspective about life out of medicine. It's getting a bit boring. Between April and August, POTS will lie low, kill some ants and work on other projects instead, like mixing music and blending avocado. There will still be updates as and when something interesting pops into my wretched mind.

Until then, God bless.
Read more!

Ukrainian CPR, Russian Life Support and the Boris Yeltsin Classification of Heart Failure III: The Insiders’ Revelation

For perhaps the first time since I started this ‘little corner’ of mine, I’m posting two articles that are not written by myself.

Medical students “Newly Circumcised” and “Moscow Medical Academy Student” would like to share their personal experience studying abroad.

May you lend the two of them a listening ear. I’m reposting their comment in a verbatim state.

Insider I: Newly Circumcised

With all these heated up debate bout CSMU, I guess its time someone from CSMU stands out n clarify things for real.

Firstly i want to prove to all the readers out there (esp CSMU students); I'm not an imposter who plans to destroy CSMU's image.

1) Last week we had Amazing Race Simferopol where all the stupid participants sang "Negaraku" in terrible falsetto voices all evening.

2) MSC president- Mayurran. MCA president- Baba.

3) See Choo is doing hair cuts at weekends at the 1st hostel 4th floor common hall.

4) All the hostel are located at - Rechnaya Street beside the Park Gagarina with the stupid Prom night poster now on 4th Hostel wall.

5) 5th hostel "kiosk" selling Samosa at 2.60 grivs.

CSMU students reading this will know I'm not an imposter.

I'm a "REAL" CSMU student.

Now lets begin with the main issue - why Ukrainian grads lack clinical knowledge?

The answers to this enigmatic question are-poor non-practical teaching systems n lazy, idoitic students.

Here's the details.

For clinical year students the schedule is 1 or 2 lectures a day with 1 class. Needless to say, the lectures r conducted by old Russian uncles or hags in Russian language, e.g Infectious Disease lecture which obviously are boring n totally USELESS.

Now, about the classes. In Malaysia classes r conducted as ward rounds where the clinical instructor n med students discuss, examine n perform clinical procedures together. In CSMU, the students go to hospitals too but everything else is TOTALLY different!!!
After reaching the hospitals, students will go to designated classrooms - so called " uchebnaya komnata". Then, the lecturer will come in, discuss about the tasks, make a break, continue discussion n the students will be free.

We don really get to examine patients because the patients are reluctant, n because the lecturers are lazy!

Why the patients are reluctant?

Because we're foreigners, we come from less civilized country, we're "DIRTIER".

Thus, in average for 1 cycle, students will only see 1 or 2 patients.

I really mean "SEE", most students just go to the patient, converse in broken Russian, make some short notes n that's all.

No clinical inspection, no careful analysis of lab results.

Even if there is, the clinical examination is "CINCAI".

Before the end of cycle, students will do case reports (case histories) which are actually "Copy n Paste" work of other reports. Worse still, we can "Make-up" any fake symptoms, lab results to fit the diagnosis. Cool ha?

What's way COOL is, sometimes we just take other peoples case reports, change the name of the patient n hand it to the lecturer.

U guys must be curious right-how come the lectures didn't notice it?

Of course they wouldn't know, because all the case reports ends up as "Free Toilet Papers" for the lecturers. Unless, they read while they're in the loo, how do u expect students to be competent when the system is so corrupted n vain?

2nd problem-the students themselves. Most students here are "EXTREMISTS".

Here's why.

Some are Extreme Religionists, all they do is sembahyang, attend Bhajans,go church services,Dharma classes. They would even skip classes to attend religious activities.

Some are Business Freaks. Instead of studying they waste time selling stuffs or services. Some sell Char Siew Pau, some Rojak, some Chicken Rice. Some work as "Flight Agents", Avon direct sales, manicure experts, barber n artists.

Then there is the Clubbing Maniacs. These bunch go to night clubs, dance, smoke, get drunk, fight with some Russian strangers. The hardcore ones take drugs e.g Marijuana n visit brothels. Yes. Some CSMU students r STD infected!!!

Another group - Rich Bastards. These people r the pampared, spoilt brats of rich Dato or Tan Sri. They'll play their PSP(Playsation Pocket) during lectures n classes. Download or watch movies, play PS or Nintendo wii at their rooms. There is virtually no academic conscience in them.

Luckily, there is-Kiasu Nerds. These students know of their incompetency - the result of the system. And are trying their best to improve themselves. They study Malaysian protocol books, watch n practice clinical examination methods e.g from Macleod or Talleys. But what they're doing is of limited value since real clinical skills come from hands-on experience not some video, or healthy friends to act as ill patients. Well,at least they put in effort to improve themselves.

Unfortunately though, they r the minority. They're being "Oppressed"! Students from other categories ridicule them, alienate them, some even criticize them; labelling them as nerds,geeks,No Life.

These people are good students STPM pointers 3.7-3.9. Some of them were neglected a course of their choice even with good results. Instead they were given courses like Aquaculture, Enviromental Science, Forestry which were not one of the 8 choices selected in the IPTA form.

I, myself, am a victim to the goverments so-called "Meritocracy" even with 3A1B n band 5 for my STP. Worse is our parents are tricked by the agents into sending us to study in Ukraine. They created wonderful yet obviously implausible lies like - it is the best uni in Ukraine, it is world recognized-u can work anywhere in the world with the degree. Feel sad for all the nerds, including myself.

If there really is a time machine, i would never, never, came to study here.

Well,I can only blame bad Karma.

About the students who come here on government funds.

Yes. It's true. They're Bumiputras on MARA or Yayasan scholarships.

How much? About USD 500 per month about 2500 grivens.That's quite a sum.

How do they spend these tax-payers money?

Easy.

Go to Euro-trips n buy whatever they like. I've witnessed them buying Prada shoes from France trip; MAN-U jersey,Nike boots from England trip. Some smoke, take drugs n frequent high class restaurants.

Some just use the extra to get married.

Yes. This is true. MARRIAGE. Imagine.

A pair of med-students with no income marrying.

Guess who's paying for the Kenduri n Euro-trip honeymoon costs?

After some sex the wife gets pregnant, gives birth in CSMU. The child is left at the nursery while parents attend lectures etc.

Guess who's paying for the nursery n baby stuffs?

As a conclusion, I sincerely hope the MMC will implement a qualifying exam for all students alike. Those who fail should be given a workshop or training period. I don't care even if i have to pay. Because i don't want to "kill" my future patients. And i request senior officers not to "stereotype" all CSMU graduates.

Not all are stupid like the Surya. If given proper guidance we can at least, i fervently believe doctors of satisfactory level.

After posting this, I'll probably be in "Extreme Danger".

Some macha would probably want to whack me for good now.

Luckily, I can defend myself with some tae-kwan-do.

Haiya!!!


Insider II: Moscow Medical Academy Student

Sad but true.

I am a medical student from Russia as well.

Best part is, i or rather WE did not choose to come here.

We are all scholars sent here by either JPA or MARA.

If you were to google "Moscow Medical Academy" it is ranked by UNESCO as the second best medic Uni in the world.

DO NOT be fooled by this. Cuz i was one who was fooled as well.

Only after i landed in Moscow did i know that "2nd best in the world" is specifically granted to the Russian Medium of this medical school.

We Malaysians are doing the English medium...& i must say it's an utter shame that the Government actually spent millions of tax payers money to send us all here to study medicine.

The teaching facilities/methods of the English medium here is way below par...way below that of a 3rd world country even.

Some classrooms here even resemble the ones we have in our kampungs in rural areas such as Sabah & Sarawak. (so much for sending us here all the way to Moscow to EXPERIENCE this!)

For your information, this so called Moscow Medical 'Academy' DOES NOT even have a campus to begin with. Classes are scattered all over Moscow. (eg:Klang,PJ,Subang,Kajang,etc.).

We students are forced to travel everyday via Metro, or by foot or bus to attend classes. Also, there are many a time when we would have traveled so far to attend classes only to be told once we've reached there that classed are canceled!

The Government could have spent the money more wisely to educate us all in M'sia/Singapore/India. We get paid almost USD700 per month which i believe is a huge amount of tax payers money.

However, i doubt we will bring back much knowledge to be able to help the patients back home.

While there are some of us who save & spend the money wisely due to the high cost of living here, there are a huge majority of private & sponsored students who come here juz to ENJOY.

FREQUENT Alcohol parties, weekend getaways, world tours, & shopping sprees are very common among students here.

The lifestyle of many Malaysians changes tremendously once they came here. They behave even worse than the "Mat Sallehs" here. Malaysian girls here for instance would walk around ever so skimpily leaving nothing to the imagination (even during winter!)

Watever happen to the MALAYSIAN CULTURE?

Many here have even lost their virginity at the young tender age of 18 or 19 simply because a guy or girl can walk in ever so easily into the rooms of the opposite sex. Believe it or not,we have heard SEX sounds even!

Many Malaysian medical students behave as though they have no self dignity or watsoeva. (However, they potray the best behaviour once they land in Malaysia like as though they are the best Malaysian angels...sadly, we all know their true colours when they are here in Moscow. HYPOCRITES!!!).

These Malaysians are surely to be huge dissapointments to their families as well as to the nation.Exams & studies are the LEAST priority/favourite of many who are here. I wonder why did some people choose to study medicine in the very 1st place.

Let me also give u an insight of the education system here. You want to know why the majority of Russian grads are so incompetent & useless?

Well,1st & foremost we can get away with cheating ever so easily during tests & exams. You may ask how. Many students here aren't bothered about being honest for themselves. Many juz merely do the bare minimum of studying & copy their friend's answers or directly from the books during tests/exams. These students fail to realise that they are only cheating themselves.

The one who helps with the cheating is also going to lose out in the end once he/she is out of medic school & into the real working world. Another method which works really well for the girls is simply to shed some crocodile TEARS during tests/exams & instantly the lecturer/tutor would grant her a mere PASS...it's still a pass u know (better than a fail). How is this fair to some students like me who slog day & night mugging & studying extremely hard with the simple intention of graduating as competent doctors?
After all, these cheaters would be graduating with a MD certificate as well & turn out to be the bad apples in the healthcare system in Malaysia & thus leading Senior Doctors to generalise & say that ALL Russian Grads are INCOMPETENT!

Does anyone have any idea how frustrating this is?

Many students who sit for exams/tests earlier would simply snap a photo of the different set of questions & answers & then distribute it to the rest of the students who have yet to sit for their exams.

How is this helping anyone? Can u even call this an EXAM?

Does it fit the definition of an exam?

So,can u imagine wat kind of Doctors we're producing here?

A bunch of cheaters, liars, & irresponsible future doctors! That's the TRUTH!

Now, no wonder countries like the UK refuse to accept Russian Medical grads for their Postgraduate courses.

Simply because we have never even sat for a PROPER exam per say throughout our 6years of study here.

Look at the UK universities/colleges, do they even allow any student of theirs to bring in PDA's, camera handphones, bags, books into the exam venue?

Do they allow any exam candidate to communicate with another fellow candidate once the question paper has been distributed?

Do students know the exact sample of questions & answers prior to the exams?

HELL NO! These only happen in good old Mother Russia!

So, Wake up people!!!

So, to those of you all who are planning to send any of your offsprings to Russia for a Medical Degree, please, im begging you, think again.

You're not only going to lose your money, but also perhaps the good name & dignity of your family.

This is merely an opinion of mine & not directed to insult, degrade or humiliate anyone. I believe there is nothing wrong in sharing my opinion.

POTS’s disclaimer: Posting the two testimonies above does not in any way imply that I agree wholeheartedly with the writers’ views. However, I sincerely applaud the two brave souls for having the courage to concede weaknesses when they are present and to go against the tide of mob rage.

Following the above post, medical student Ken Lui alleged that his identity was stolen by an impostor. I have removed the relevant details. The posting remains for discussion sake.


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Career Guidance with P.O.T.S

Aspiring doctor Joanne read my UMS posting and exclaimed:

Oh my god! I have just made my application to UMS! Can i know how long is the study duration fot medicine? How many years do i need to endure? XD

This is my humble reply.


Dear Joanne,

Thank you for reading and inspiring this post.

I apologise sincerely if I have inadvertently created a negative impression even before you are in University Malaysia Sabah (UMS).

The medical program in UMS is five years, just like all other local public universities.

The process of learning and training to be a medical doctor in UMS have gotten more difficult in the last one year due to the closure of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

I was told that medical students are now dispatched to Sandakan, Tawau and Kota Belud since some disciplines have shifted their services to the hospitals there.

Anyway, I think your best source of information should not be a socio-political blogger but someone who has gone through the UMS medical program.

Instead of enlightening you about the life of a medical student and doctor, I would instead advise you to think carefully before jumping into the medical bandwagon.

Be a doctor only if you are really interested in medicine and not because your parents are.

Asian families are still very stuck in the conventional thinking of going for professional careers if their children do well academically.

In all honesty, I think we need more smart and creative people outside the circle of medicine.

I might not have said this years ago when I just completed my STPM, but the truth is this – there’s a whole lot of interesting careers out there apart from medicine.

If you are artistic with an imaginative mind, you can always go into filmmaking and wildlife photography. You can produce photo essays for Time magazine or capture scenes of a honey bear enjoying a sunbath for the National Geographic Society. After all, we need to immortalize all these wonderful creatures of God in digital media before the China Chinese devour them all.

If you are into music, do consider a career in the genre of trance. You just might taste worldwide fame not unlike prominent deejays such as Chicane, Darude and Fatboy Slim. Stay out of jazz though. I find it super gay.

Medicine should very much be left to boring and bored souls like myself. Or maybe medicine turned me into a boring and bored person.

Shrug…

Oh yeah, don’t forget sports and athletics. I doubt Datuk Lee Chong Wei and Datuk Nicol David ever regretted choosing their career paths. Just don’t choose football and lawn bowling though. The first is reserved for mentally-challenged intravenous drug users while the second is just plain lame.

Just between you and me, I am constantly dreaming of the life that could have been if I were a professional skateboarder.

The food business is always lucrative and rewarding, even in times of economic crisis. I have already garnered enough capital to open up my very own aquaculture farm. I am still on the lookout for a potential UMNO crony since land is increasingly scarce and in high demand. Do consider the vegetarian food sector. You will be amazed how some people are willing to fork out ridiculous cash just to bite into a shrimp-looking tofu that tastes like, well, tofu.

Money is also abundant in share and currency trading. My cousins are driving fancy cars and feasting in vegetarian outlets way beyond my salary as a doctor, and they are not even vegetarians.

Of course, it’s not all about the money.

Sometimes it’s about the karma and divine retribution.

One can serve the church and God too. You would need a certain degree of vocal prowess and eloquence to thrive in the ministry. Success will come soon enough and it ain’t only in the form of heavenly treasures. Just don’t molest the altar boys and get caught doing so.

When all else fails, you can always go into Malaysian politics. If someone like Muhammad I-Speak-No-English Taib can amass millions without a useful academic qualification, so can you. There might be a window of opportunity in Bukit Lanjan soon. There, you can’t say I didn’t tell you so.

After this long winded reply, if you are still keen to do per rectal examinations for life as a medical doctor, I will still cheer you on and welcome you on board.

Rest assured if you are somehow not up to the mark in clinical practice, you can always join Dr. Rikki in the logistics of quality healthcare.

All the best.
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Ukrainian CPR, Russian Life Support and the Boris Yeltsin Classification of Heart Failure II: The Reign of Chaos

I resuscitated another corpse today. By the grace of God, old Pak Abu was revived.

More than a successful resuscitation effort, it was a failed murder attempt.


The perpetrators behind the latest assassination plot were none other than our Malaysian medical graduates from Russia.

I was only a nonchalant passer-by.

Drama and blood and gore were the last things on my mind.

Yet the sight of a soul in distress was inescapable.

Some people have an uncanny the ability of selective vision to ignore that which is unpleasant to the eyes.

I unfortunately do not possess such a gift.

If I come across a man (or woman) gasping for breath trying to remain alive with the little air they can inhale, I can’t turn around and pretend I see no evil.

Now Pak Abu was obviously struggling to breathe, so much so that he was already unconscious and cyanosed with no heart beat.

I caught the first house officer and made a very quick enquiry about Pak Abu.

“Oh, he’s just sleeping,” was her reply.

It was then that I flipped and threw a fit – a memorable, record-breaking grand mal seizure even by my own standards.

“THE PATIENT IS NOT SLEEPING! HE IS DYING!” I snapped, throwing the house officer into a state of panic and disarray.

Any human being with a minimal amount of common sense could have come to the conclusion that Pak Abu was in critical condition.

I supposed that was why his Filipino caretaker stood by and did budge not an inch away from Pak Abu.

While the staff nurses and doctors left Pak Abu to die miserably, Aminah the Filipino illegal immigrant with no skilled training or formal education did the most sensible thing she could think of.

It was also the only thing she could do in the absence of assistance and professional help.

She pumped precious oxygen into his failing lungs while the Russia graduates left Pak Abu to rot.

Aminah is paid RM 60 per day. That’s RM 2.50 per hour for twenty four hours of cleaning and feeding and diaper-changing with no designated lunch time or off-days in between.

In contrast, a house officer educated for six years in a Russian medical school earns RM 4800 per month, excluding food and on-call allowances.

In the process of a rowdy resuscitation – somewhere in between 1 m of adrenaline and 360 Joules of defibrillation, I grilled the three irresponsible and blatantly negligent house officers one by one.

They did not know the basic A, B, Cs of resuscitation.

They have no inkling what an oxygen face mask is.

They have never performed chest physiotherapy and suction before.

They couldn’t tell a Ryle’s tube from an endotracheal airway or even plaster the latter decently in place.

Sometimes these Russia and Ukraine graduates give answers that can really leave one stumped in disbelief and a locked open jaw.

Do Russians turn blue and stiff and icy cold with no heart activity in sweet slumber?

Do Ukrainians have a normal blood pH of 7.28?

The list goes on.

Very bluntly, it’s a serious issue of aptitude and attitude or rather, the lack of both.

They are a living testimony to the rotten state the Malaysian Medical Council has put us all in.

How many more must suffer and die before they put in place a mechanism of evaluating the competency of trainee doctors?

As it is already, irresponsible and dubious doctors are commonplace in the system.

The disciplinary action and remedial steps however are few and far in between.

The end-of-posting assessments, log books, annual SKT appraisal and incident reporting are nothing but an exercise in vanity.

Anyway, I visited Pak Abu today.

He gave me a reassuring nod of wellness.

Here is one soul that successfully slipped away from the Russians.

How many failed to?
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Ukrainian CPR, Russian Life Support and the Boris Yeltsin Classification of Heart Failure

I resuscitated a corpse today. Needless to say, I failed.



Ukrainian CPR, Russian Life Support and the Boris Yeltsin Classification of Heart Failure

I resuscitated a corpse today. Needless to say, I failed.

I pumped air and fluids and drugs into a man who was already dead.

Ahmad (not his real name) was stiff as a log by the time I was referred to him, more of a cadaver than a human being in distress.

It was not difficult to see why.

The first house officer was breaking his ribs instead of pumping his heart.

His counterpart had no experience in setting an intravenous cannula ever before.

The third of the trio simply stood by – an idle spectator in the midst of chaos. He should have brought some popcorn with him instead of a stethoscope.

The three had one thing in common – they graduated from medical schools in Ukraine and Russia.

I don’t blame the house officers for the patient’s death.

I blame the deceitftul agents that lured parents into parting with their hard-earned money to pay for a medical education in Russia and Ukraine.

I blame Malaysian parents for coercing and sometimes forcing their offspring to pursue a medical degree despite clear suggestions that their children might not make successful doctors.

I blame the universities that make Malaysian students labor for six years in a foreign land learning a foreign language only to end up as clueless, incompetent quasi-doctors.

I blame the Malaysian Medical Council who for reasons best known to them, accorded unconditional recognition to institutions that are way below par.

I blame the healthcare authorities for allowing half-baked medical graduates to roam about causing immeasurable harm and untold horror.

I blame the public for creating and perpetuating this erroneous impression that the medical profession is highly lucrative and glamorous.

Regular followers of national events will recall the controversy surrounding Crimea State Medical University (CSMU) back in June 2005 where the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) decided to abruptly derecognize the medical school.

This was done so despite earlier recognition and accreditation by the Malaysian Ministry of Education.

Worse, some of the CSMU students were actually government scholars sent over there on tax payer’s money.

After many unruly and loud parliamentary debates, during which a deputy minister was suspended and a barrage of racist remarks were fired by Nazri Aziz, all students already in CSMU then were finally allowed to practice medicine in Malaysia upon graduation.

The flip-flop decision by the Malaysian Medical Council has proven to be a very costly mistake.

At present, hundreds of medical graduates from Russian and Ukrainian universities especially CSMU are out without a leash in our government hospitals.

Most of them don’t know pharmacology or physiology.

Most can’t perform simple clinical procedures like urinary catheterization and intravenous cannulation.

Most can’t deliver acute care to a patient in distress.

They are not well-versed with common medical terms and classifications.

In short, they are a different breed altogether.

The Malaysian Medical Council should be ashamed of itself.

So should all the politicians who campaigned fiercely for unconditional recognition of the CSMU graduates back in 2005 without first understanding the issue in depth.

The MMC should have stuck to its guns and derecognized CSMU if it truly believed in the provision of a safe and sensible healthcare. These graduates from Ukraine and Russia could have been given a grace period of retraining under close observation.

If they prove to be incompetent and fail to meet the minimal standards, they could have been retired from service. It’s how the rules of employment work in most parts of the world.

Instead, they were made instant doctors.

In the process, ill patients were made into instant victims.

What we need urgently now is a way to address these obvious shortcomings among these house officers before they become medical officers and make lethal and illogical decisions.

This is by no means an irrational stigma or witchhunt.

Medical graduates from local universities should not be spared as well.

I am not blindly biased in favor of local graduates for which I am one myself.

Bottomline is this: Malaysians deserve to demand proper healthcare from the government they elected.

It’s not too much to ask, or is it?
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It Doesn't Mean A Thing

Seriously, it doesn't matter.



It doesn’t matter if you were Malay, Indian or Chinese or Kadazandusun, we all bleed red.

It doesn’t matter if you were as charming as Megan Fox or just better-looking than Shrek, age catches up with us all and death will soon beckon.

It doesn’t matter if you had millions of ill-gotten gains stashed away in a Swiss bank or just some meager loose change in your jeans pocket, we brought nothing into this world and can bring nothing out of it.

It doesn’t matter if you were born with so-called royal blood or raised without education in the slums, no human should be immune from valid criticisms and the rightful course of law.

It doesn’t matter if you were an avid follower of the sarcasm in South Park or a long-time Star Wars loyalist, Indiana Jones 4 sucked big time and will leave a bitter, disappointing aftertaste.

It doesn’t matter if you were a pious Seventh Day Adventist or just a really likeable liberalist-atheist, bak kut teh tastes damn good and that’s final.

It doesn’t matter if you were an extreme skateboarder or a bed-bound cripple, you are pretty screwed if that Russian house officer did not replace your foreskin after inserting a urinary catheter.

It doesn’t matter if you adore animals and hate the Jews, grief hurts and cuts very deeply indeed.

It doesn’t matter if you were a born loser in love or the lame winner of Akademi Fantasia, cats are cats and to them you are just human.

It doesn’t matter if you were an anonymous blogger with an open identity or a loudmouth politician with deep, dark secrets, the truth will prevail sooner or later.

It doesn’t matter if you were the son of a former racist prime minister or a dead Mongolian beauty blown into shreds, the Lord God will judge us all.

It doesn’t matter if you were a closet pedophile serving the Catholic Pope or a reluctant jihadist stranded in the tumultuous Middle East, Jesus loves you and I am trying to too.


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