The Chief Secretary to the Government should step in to resolve the attire issue

 

I have read the explanation given by Hospital Kampar director, Dr khairul azha Azam.

        I think it deserves some scrutiny. Although none of us were there at the scene, and it is now a "she says, they say" kind of story, anyone with a right frame of mind would not believe what was being said. 

        Should the case be even brought to court, the Honorable Judge would have to weigh the facts. 

        Here was a lady who was rushed to the hospital nearly midnight. She must be in a critical situation, or else, she would be spending the evening with her friends having teh tarik after the badminton game.

        The medical officer should have immediately given her the medical treatment instead of ensuring that she was "well-dressed for the occasion." 

        To me, her explanation is simply not plausible, and if anything, it was just too lame for the Honourable Judge to accept. 

        If the woman had been told that the medical officer will provide the proper attire for her, who on earth would take the trouble to go back home to look for another pair of pants? 

        Sometimes, truth has to surface, and it is better that, when a mistake is made, for the individual to admit it. The longer this drags on, the worse it can get. 

        Or else, some people or perhaps my fellow journalists should just test out the system from time to time. I may do this, walking into a health clinic with a pair of short pants after a morning walk. 

        Knowing that I hardly walk around in shorts, this would be 'abnormal' for me, but we will know if the same incident repeats itself. 

        For the hospital in Kampar, if Kampar people are willing to test the system, and a similar incident happens again, Dr khairul would have a lot of explanation to make. This time it is the medical officer, next round, it could be the guard who has no right to stop people from entering the hospital.

        This is not a racial issue, and to make it non-racial, perhaps, our Malay brothers and sisters can test the system, too. 

        This is but a matter of decency which is subject to one's own interpretation. Although I am of the older generation, I cannot help it but to accept that social norms have changed.

        Young people are more likely to dress down. It is not only in Malaysia, but I see even young people from Japan walking in singlets, shorts and a pair of sandals in a four-star hotel. The same is also happening in other more affluent Asian countries.

        Therefore, as long as these people do not suddenly take off their t-shirts and walk around, we should not be judging them by their dressing. 

        More so, the medical officer should look beyond the dressing and attire. Her job as a doctor is to treat the patient, regardless of race, religion and NOW, their dressing code. 

        I do not wish to elaborate further, except to say that the parties should mend up and if need be, make the public apology. It just takes one party to apologise for the oversight, and the other party will follow. 

        But to deny and come out with all sorts of explanations that do not appear plausible is to make one's integrity being questioned further by the public. 

        Since this dressing code keeps cropping up, and within just the span of one month, I would like to put forward a suggestion by respected activist, Lee Lam Thye who sent me a brief message:

        "Stephen, I think the Chief Secretary to the Government should step in and resolve the matter once and for all. The dressing guidelines are all done by his office. Make it clear for all."

        The rest is just politics trying to bring down the unity government. I read some netcitizens' (perhaps, read as 'cybertroopers') comments. To use the Rukunegara to argue this is about morality and decency, it is, as I have said, subject to one's interpretation. 

        What used to be seen as hippie's torn jeans are now a fashion, and people pay hundreds of Ringgit for the pair of torn jeans. So, please stop using Rukunegara to argue the point as Rukunegara has never defined anything. Any standard operating procedure set must take into consideration the importance of the public official's call to duty above dress code. 

        The local hospital director should, in this case, be more upfront in dealing with the problem instead of giving all sorts of excuses typical of their director-general, at a time when we are more interested to know how this all happened and why the psychiatric patient was unrestrained and had access to the knife. 

        Haven't we heard enough of these kinds of excuses, and don't we already know, Sir, "It can happen anywhere"? I guess the members of the public deserve a better explanation based on facts, why common sense was not even used to ensure that the patient was not restrained or accompanied by a security guard, rather than some lame excuses that the "stabbing was done by a psychiatric pt brought in by the police."

Please give your views and comments below instead of sending me the comments via Whatsapp. Thank you.