MERDEKA DAY 2019

Commenting on:

https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2019/08/31/malaysia-was-built-on-tolerance-mutual-respect-reminds-dr-m/

So why are we not enforcing the law and not putting people who make incendiary speeches in jail so that they can STFU?

People like Zakar Turun? Why are we sucking up to people like lhim and giving him all sorts of privileges like permanent residency and asylum when he is a wanted man in India for terrorism-related activities, including money laundering?

Why cakap bukan seperti bikin? WHY? WHY? WHY?

You don’t need to know your Clausewitz or Sun Tzu to know that divide and rule has long been a strategy to subjugate the masses.

In the midst of all this ketuanan Melayu supermacist jingoism, the Malays are like kacang lupakan kulit - they forget that they are basically culturally and linguistically Hindu with a thin veneer of 500 years of Islam. 75% of Malay vocabulary has Sanskrit or Tamil etymology, not just words like madu, melati, suka, and duka but 75%. Take out the Portuguese, Dutch, English and Arabic loan words and you are left with Sanskirt and Tamil. The Layu people forget they were once subjects of the Hindu Sri Vijaya and Majapahit empires.

Even the word Melayu was invented by Sir Stamford Raffles as a collective umbrella term for the various ethnicities found in the Nusantara (Indonesian and Malay archipelago).

Ask any Malay what “Duli Yang Maha Mulia Sri Paduka Baginda Yang Di Pertuan Agung” means and the best he’ll come up is a single word answer - “king.”

Ask any Tamil-, Punjabi- or Urdu-speaking person and they’ll tell in detail the tale in the Ramayana how an emperor to please his second wife made his second born son his succesor but the new emperor refused to sit on the throne while his eldest brother was in exile for ten years and had placed his brother’s sandals on the throne until he came back to reclaim what was his rightful inhertance. 

Its not funny that most meLayus will have no idea what I am talking about in the previous paragraph.

Such ignorant and clueless people talking about supremacy - what supermacy? Certainly not intellectual supremacy. They are best characterised by mediocrity and a spoon-fed mentality relying on handouts by a manipulative government who wants nothing but their votes, in order to gain and remain in power.

The government does not appear to be serious in making this nation a better place. Just mucking about here and there with ad hoc non consequential minutiae when what we need is a coherent, rigorous and integrated stategic plan for a sustainable collective future. A future where public health as a social safety net is a given. Where healthcare infrastructure has kept up with population growth. Instead of complaining about over-crowded hospitals, they should build more hospitals. Instead of making headlines of remeh temeh issues they should limit population growth by encouraging recreational instead of procreational sex. There is an unsaid agenda to allow the Layu people to breed like rabbits to increase the voter base relative to other ethnicities.

If I had my way, I could do so much to screw their heads on right. Rafidah Aziz was correct to ask “Until when will they need crutches?” but she provided no answer.

The answer is until they get their heads screwed on right. If Mahathir or Anwar are unable or incapable of doing it, I will, as I have always done.

Just say it as it is, the truth is eternal.

Enough bullshit, we want to see results. Deliver or get kicked out at GE15. That’s not an idle threat...

Copyright 2003-2019 Azlan Adnan. This blog post is sponsored by The Green Party of Malaysia

CHALLENGES FACING THE DENTAL PROFESSION IN MALAYSIA

Commenting on:

https://www.facebook.com/100002048184721/posts/2392264154185167?s=1759664068&sfns=mo

The Problem

This is an excellent analysis of the situation the profession currently faces. While not totally preventable, it was definitely foreseeable.

Option 4 is not an option. Dental surgeons chose to undergo a long and rigorous course of study and training to practise dental surgery; not to become product salesmen, or whatever. Same goes for option 3. No doubt there is a pressing need for professionally-or vocationally-trained dental technologists, one needs to undergo a dental technology course such such the degree offered by the Manchester Metropolitan University, not a dental surgery degree. Some estimate there is a need for 7 dental technologists for every dental surgeon.

Background and Context

Initially, the 3-year compulsory government service was a form of national service for nation-building, an attempt at capacity building. In the years after merdeka, not onlly dental surgeons, but also other professionals such as medical doctors, pharmacists, architects and engineers were required to undergo compulsory government service.

Public Policy & Healthcare as Social Safety Net

As the years went by, the situation of the country has changed. While the national population has grown, healthcare infrastructure has not kept up with increass demand due to population growth. Earlier this month, I commented on an article that complained that our hospitals are in critical condition because there are too many patients. I would argue the issue is not too many patients but the pace of healthcare infrastructure development did not commensurate with population growth. Free public healthcare is a social safery net we must upkeep. Instead of investing in military hardware and iconic mega towers, we must address real needs, not in ego building to glorify one’s self or family.

Even to enter the compulsory government service program, there was at one stage a waiting list of three years, now I believe it is down to seven months, thanks to pressure brought on the government by members of the MDA and MDC, to name just two.

The Reality

Starting a new dental clinic and surgery on your own for a new dental surgeon is not easy. Quite apart from the issue of funding, it must be borne in mind that a private practice is a business operation. Dental surgeons are trained as clinicians, not in the skills of running and marketing a on-going business, let alone initiating a start-up (quite different business management and marketing skills need to be applied).

An Initiative

In this regard, I must commend the initiative of IDAM, the Islamic Dental Association of Malaysia, in successfully organising annual Dental Entrepreneurship conferences for the past three or four years. We must build on this, definitely. I have suggested to your president the production of a series handbooks or manuals and we will proceed to discussions as soon as I am discharged (I’m admitted until Sept 8 ). I am bored stiff, so I welcome visitors if you wish to come here to discuss.

Self-Determination

As to the issue of limited skills practised at a Klinik Pergigian, I was made to understand that dental surgeons were given the opportunity to undergo rotations or internships with various specialists at the district and general hospital level. Perhaps this need to be better organised. There needs to be structure and transparency, perhaps Pegawai Pergigian need to take the initiative and request for it. 

I cannot over-emphasise that the onus is on the dental surgeon himself or herself to learn. On average is takes a minimum of 8 years after obtaining a basic dental degree to have the necessary work experience and postgraduate training to reach the professional pinnacle - the fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons.

While this may not be the ultimate goal of every dental surgeon, even undergoing a masters in clinical dentistry in a dental speciality takes four years of postgraduate study.

Alternative Paths - There are Many Ways to Skin a Cat

There are clinically-rigorous certificate-level courses a young dental surgeon can undertake in dental implants, orthodontics and even oral surgery.

Dental Hospitals

Perhaps, it is time for the dental profession to pressure the government to open not just a dental hospital but a string of them, one in each state. They would serve as postgraduate teaching hospitals for postgraduate clinical dental courses at both masters, PhD and postdoctoral levels. Its been to be remembered that clinical courses been to be hospital- not campus-based, unlike purely academic courses. Masters students are already APCs holders so an earn-as-you-learn business model may be viable and applicable. The alternative - to give up two years of your professional earning life to pursue a full-time course has too high an opportunity cost.

In the Meantime What Can We Do?

From the business side, senior dental surgeons, particularly specialists, can provide mentorship programs with the eventual goal of opening additional clinics under a franchise program with the mentor. Dental Surgeons leaving government service after the three-year compulsory government service would be the target market. With a GDP as a PIC, these clinics will also provide referrals for patients who need speacialist treatmenr by their mentors. This is truly a win-win scenario.

A group practice model with perhaps dental surgical assistants, dental therapists, dental hygienists and even dental technologies working together perhaps under a cooperative model is something that needs to be explored and requires further study.

Now is the time to think out of the box and explore new business models and paradigms because we already know the same old same old ideas no longer work as they have broken down.

Disclosure

I am not a dental surgeon. I am trained in international business and management and provide a different perspective, a helicopter view from a management eye lens. I have a minority interest in a dental clinic. My daughter, ex-wife and many of my friends are all dental surgeons, some specialists. I am the founder of the Green Party of Malaysia, our principles go beyond socialist and deep ecology ideology but a more holistic approach to managing our biotic-associations with not just other species with which we share this planet but with all planetary resources. I am guided not just by Islamic principles of stewardship but also Buckmister Fuller’s Critical Path, an approach for a sustainable future for the planet. At the end of the day, sustainability is all about the survival of the human species. The planet does not need Homo sapiens, in fact, I dare say the planet would be better off without this destructive species. But Homo sapiens needs this planet to be in a clean, pure and healthy state if it wishes to survive as a species. Spaceship Earth is our only home, our whole evolutionary biological development was geared to living on this planet, not on Mars.

Copyright 2003-2019 Azlan Adnan. This blog post is sponsored by The Green Party of Malaysia