Another enlightening weeekend on-call came to pass.
patient A, a middle-aged woman was admitted for sudden breathlessness. amidst desparate gasps for air, she made a startling request - that she wanted to be treated to be well enough to travel.......to singapore for proper treatment. because she's singaporean.
(hey, aren't we good enough for you...you stiff upper-lipped inhabitant of one small dot on the world map?)
actually, she's got a point. she lives in an affluent society with easy access to some of the best medical facilities in the region. if not, why would the president of a BN component party have his hip operation there? or, why a recent deceased state assemblyman should seek cancer treatment down south?
it's perfectly human behaviour to desire the best for ourselves - the most stylish car, the biggest house, the most profitable investments, & of course, the best medical specialists. why, even famous european footballers go to a particular knee surgeon in colorado, USA, to get their career-ending injuries fixed - remember van nistelrooy, shearer & del pierro? similarly, the texas heart institute can lay claim to fame by counting royalty & dignitaries amongst its patients.
unlike A, who has to seek emergency treatment here while on vacation, patient B came from another neighbouring country to seek redress for 3 previous surgeries done back home when he was younger. to say they botched it, is putting it mildly. this unfortunate teenager, or his family, has absolutely no idea what befell him, resulting in the last few days with gut sticking out of his abdomen. not a pleasant sight, but he had corrective surgery done here & is currently recovering from the ghosts of his past.
the point is that A intends to go back home for definative treatment because she knows she'll get it there. B came here because his family thought he'll receive better care here. they are both probably right, as are the thousands who go abroad for the perceived better medical treatment & facilities.
this reminds me of the dentist joke:
dentist : i'm going to give you some local anaesthetic to numb the pain.
patient : doc, if it's ok with you, can i have the imported stuff instead!
i think we ourselves are guilty of perpetuating the myth that foreign/imported is always better. that the grass on the other side is always greener.
however, i am consoled & comforted by the lyrics of an old, old song by petula clark:
The other man's grass is always greener,
The sun shines brighter on the other side!
The other man's grass is always greener,
Some are lucky, some are not,
Just be thankful for what you've got!
image : source
12 comments:
That dentist in the pic needs to be censured!! for not wearing proper masking protection while treating a patient.
From another inhabitant of the stiff inflexible dot down south. ;P
Ooop! I have a confession to make. In this case, I have been an established member of the "greener pasture's club" since the 80s.
Yan
LM,
you can get away with anything in cartoon-land! notice, he doesn't wear gloves & his operating lights are in the opposite direction!
come over to boleh-land & lose that stiffness & inflexibility.
yan,
so tell me, is the pasture really greener there?
or, is that just an illusion?
Health-related decisions are always influenced by one's financial situation,like it or not.But does it mean the rich get to live longer?
just me,
that's an emphatic "NO!"
i strongly believe the life-style of the rich, as we know it, does not help make them live longer.
ask methuselah!
doc,
It's certainly not 'illusion".
It's certainly not 'greener pastures'
It's the service
that homeland can't provide
This is Sarawak!
It's the service
that homeland won't want to provide
Talking of this, my eyes well with tears. Another time, another place I can share.
I am still very "Malaysian" while outside the country! Like all journalists in this boleh land!
Yan
Maybe I should say that the sick rich people get to spend their last days in a more comfortable environment.
I know. The rich could be more prone to getting gout etc.because of the rich food they consume.However, some death threatening diseases like cancer attack the rich and the poor.
yan,
if it's any consolation, there are a lot of essential services which the Mainland also can't or won't provide. too much emphasis on egocentric mega-projects & neglecting the basic needs.
thanks for sharing!
just me,
yes, sickness knows no boundaries, whether physical, cultural or socio-economic.
nowadays, as the gap between the haves & have-nots narrows, even the middle-class & the poor are prone to diabetes, heart & kidney disease.
hi doc,
we are all very familiar with the 'greener pasture' syndrome. People from les developed countries come here for medical treatment. We in our turn, go to more devleoped countries.
The greenest pasture of all is heaven but I do not see many people eager to go there.
hi alex,
i couldn't have said it better myself!
& how often have we read of the psalmist, yet remained disobedient:
"He makes me lie down in green pastures...."
Post a Comment