Only a handful of the students are using their life jacket. Are the teachers who are responsible for their safety busy giving motivation talk (as recommended by a minister, that, students-parents motivation are best done by teachers and not by NGOs)?

Or, do we need for something bad to happen before the authority start to act again, and the press starts to highlight all the measures taken to curb this issue. Later, 3 months down the road, it comes back to square one!

Where are the regular check by the authority on this express boat? Is their Passenger Safety Certificate still valid? Are there enough life jacket onboard for everyone? Too much question, too little answer, less monitoring (no budget la tu..).

Flying Doctor Service

This patient needs urgent medical treatment. The FDS is no where available and the patient will need to take a 3-hour express boat ride to reach the nearest medical centre. The FDS is an ancient issue in Sarawak. The rakyat are caught in between the operators and the government, tender pricing, etc. Kalau harga itu terlalu rendah (which is most preferrable by the government) of course lah we get poor service. If the government do not solve this, of course lah pot pet sana sini!

Maybe (just maybe and I perceive it that way).. the people in the Health Dept. have been there for too long! Look at FDS, look at the Sri Aman health issues… apa cerita sudah jadi? Satu bos mauk ini, rakyat mauk itu.. itu ini sana sini.. rakyat merinsa! Selamat Hari Raya to all Sri Aman residents yang beramah tamah dengan YAB Pehin Sri minggu ini. Itu spital Lubok Antu kena dipikir-pikirkan juga.. wahai Jabatan Kesihatan.

If anything like this to happen in Lubok Antu, I won’t be surprise because due to its small population, the gomen put the case 30 feet under the ground (plus its a Dayak area – takda apa nak buat cepat, lagi pun dia orang memang orang kita, apa apa pun dia tetap sokong kita).

The Barisan Nasional development policy is funny. If your area have small population, they would make it as low priority and hence, the overdue Klinik Desa expansion in Lubok Antu or relocation or whatever the government term it will only become a reality faster if the people of Batang Ai starts producing children to make it as populated as the Malay kampongs (and hence more development would come it FAST!) Ok ok.. tuan gomen, well that’s the real perception we have on you. So shut up and listen!

It seem that the size of our population is the keyword to bring in development to the people of Malaysia. Funny but its true.

Unlike Lubok Antu, the size of Miri population is not big enough to justify for a bigger (or at least own building) Mother and Child Health Clinic. Previously it rented the ground floor of the Family Planning building, then it moved to a two-lot ground flood shophouse a little distance from the nearest bus station. No one knows the reason for the move except the few top level gomen people (yalah yalah.. so much for the OSA things that you cannot explain to the rakyat).

Its crowded and well.. you can list all the not so good things tagged to it.

So much for 1Malaysia.. People first indeed! Why need the press to highlight to the whole world before you do something or react with the long list of perancangan and peruntukkan and “we will look into the matter soon” sort of responses. Aiyaa… gomen people, those are the few sentences that you need to memorise hard while taking oath. Sudah common la, even small kids knows how to say it nowadays.

Cut the crabs of telling the people – BELUM ADA PERUNTUKKAN LAGI.. when you have announce billions here and there and painting a good picture that money is available and we just need to be patient and wait for the perancangan etc etc… I would say its BILLIONSHITS for now.

Source: The Borneo Post Online

Intolerable overcrowding at Miri clinic

MIRI: The local Mother and Child Health Clinic is often so overcrowded that it is causing undue stress to patients, forcing some of them to get ‘heated up’ and become aggressive towards the innocent staff members.

The situation often becomes terrible enough for some patients or those who accompany them to get so worked up that they almost get physical with the staff who themselves are stressed out having to attend to a large number of patients in a narrow and cramped space.

When The Borneo Post checked the clinic out at 8am yesterday, some patients were seen in the midst of quarrelling and pointing fingers at the staff, blaming them for the small size of the clinic which is hardly enough to accommodate up to 50 patients at a time.

Some even vented their frustration on the plastic chairs that line the side of the pedestrian pathway outside.

The Borneo Post learnt that the clinic, which is actually two rented shops on the ground floor, serves a few hundred patients each day.

There are close to 400 children on Tuesdays and Thursdays and between 200 and 350 mothers on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Yet there are only a handful of nurses (plus a Sister) and a doctor to serve them.

It was observed that behind the uniforms and impersonal official efficiency, they and their patients were clearly acutely stressed and tensed up despite the façade of civil behaviour that they strived to maintain.

While the staff are often busy having a hectic time trying to be fast, the patients on the other hand do their best to sit quietly, resigning themselves to their fate. But invariably, some eventually get restless, resentful that they have to wait for a very long time to be served. After all, time waits for no one.

Patients come as early as 6.30am to ensure that they can secure places on the limited plastic chairs so that they can go home early.

“I came early this morning, at seven o’clock, but the seats were all occupied by then. So I squatted on the five-foot-way outside with my baby,” a mother said.

The mother of four who requested anonymity was taking her three-month-old baby for a monthly check- up.

She was accompanied by her husband who was carrying their other child soaked in sweat under the sun.

The family is from Taman Tunku, about half an hour’s drive from the clinic during peak hours.

“To make matters worse, there is no waiting room or hall where patients can relax while waiting for their turn to see a doctor or nurse.

“As there are not enough chairs many of us simply stand around, while others just sit in the corridor. The rest have to make do outside,” lamented another mother surnamed Chong, who is in her late stage of pregnancy.

She was at the clinic with her two-year-old toddler daughter for her monthly check up.

With so many people confined to a small space, their body heat makes the clinic too warm for comfort. Toddlers and infants make their discomfort known by crying and making other sounds of protest.

It is understood the problem has been going on since September last year when the clinic moved from the Sarawak Family Planning Association premises in Jalan Merbau to the present place at Jalan Hokkien.

Divisional Health officer Dr Muhamad Rais Abdullah could not be contacted yesterday for comments.

RumahDayak.com and MERCY Malaysia were at Rh. Aji, Sungai Selepin, Bakong on Saturday 18th April 2009 to give free health services to the occupants of the longhouse. We brought in teams from the Family Planning office, dental unit, eye specialist and headed by Dr. Kenneth from Miri General Hospital.

Our quarter master for the event was Johnson from Petronas Carigali, who later did a demo on fire fighting to the women and elderly long house folks.

The registration counter manned by volunteers.

A quick briefing to the residents of Rh Aji by Benjamin Chai.

Dr. Kenneth attending to a patient.

A patient getting a blood pressure check.

Getting the correct readings for his new glasses.

Trying her new glasses. All spectacles are given free to those who came.

Free dental extraction too.

Miss Natalie giving free medication to the patients.

While their parents are seeking treatment, we keep the children occupied by organising a coloring contest.

Soft toys given away free to the all children.

Everyone have one..

This man asked for a walker.. and it shall be delivered FOC soon to him.

Another elderly patient who will receive a free walker.

We apologise for all shortcomings and not able to attend to all the patients who came. But, we will be back with more doctors!

Instant road maintenance

We would like to thank the contractor of a nearby oil palm estate for sending the contractors to fill up some part of the feeder road to the long house.

More photos at Life After Forty Flickr.

Special volunteer

A special Thank You to our special volunteer who made it to Rh. Aji despite his busy weekend schedule. To YB Andy Chia, the team Thank You for your effort to come and see how we run this sort of mission.