the worst

that's the superlative my colleague proclaimed a few days ago.

he was berating the way the nurses ill-prepared for his surgical case. i had to agree with him. it was messy & it slowed down the whole OT list.

i do miss those days when the nurses were more dedicated, competent, conscientious & thorough in their work.

when things run like clockwork with minimal self-inflicted disruptions.

when there was just one or two private nursing schools.

just in case you didn't notice, private healthcare isn't what it used to be. ringgit & sen, now more than ever, precedes service.

i am sure you have your own horror stories or even personal experiences to tell.

camping out

finally, the boy is roughing it out......

tent - checked

sleeping bag - checked

bottles of drinking water - checked

note book - checked.

it's his scouts' camping trip. was it held out in the forest or forest reserve? outdoor camping site? on a field?

actually, none of the above.

it was held in the school compound. still, that hasn't dampened his enthusiasm for the outdoors, for roughing it out away from the comforts of home & for bonding with the fellow scouts.

however, he did call for help...to replenish drinking water for the 3-day camp out.

GST.....the final word.

seriously, none of us thinks the govt has thoroughly thought & worked out the breathe and depth of the GST.

how is it they were flip-flopping over the GST for pre-paid top-up cards?

is healthcare exempted or not? if not, why announce otherwise?

why the need now to consider to increase the number of medicines to be exempt or zero-rated?

be assured the saga will not end with this recent confusion.

how is it that they didn't learn from countries that implemented GST ages ago & avoided their mistakes?

i know for sure GST, as a consumption tax, is a fairer form of tax collection, but perhaps the timing is premature, or that it should have started at a lower level, say 2-3% first.

& there should be no exemption nor exception. tax everything but at an affordable & less painful bracket first.

while the government is whipping up confusion at every turn of the implementation process, the rakyat is suffering.

aren't you?

sigh!

GST 2.0

i stared at this for some time.....

while many are fortunate to be able to seek attention at medical centres & specialists' hospitals, this booklet is stark reminder that, while we often take things for granted, like clean running water & electricity, there are those on the other side of the social divide who are not so privileged, having to make do with river water & kerosene lamps.

& then there are those whose healthcare needs can only be met in government-run facilities.

i had a middle-aged lady recently who was admitted to the ICU for a critical illness. after a week of intensive treatment, we managed to get her thru the most difficult period but by then, her family's fund was running low & they requested for her to be transferred to the ICU of the local public hospital.

believe you me, it's extremely difficult to get such a vacant ICU bed but by a twist of events, we managed to get a vacant bed the next day. she was promptly transferred but unfortunately, she passed on after 2 days.

it's impossible to say if she'd have a better chance at survival had she remained at our hospital but it did leave a hollow feeling in me.

with the expected RM22b to be collected this year from the recently imposed GST, hopefully we'll get .......

.......a better public transport system instead of a luxuriously-furbished jet plane for the private use of the elite few

.......basic necessities for the rural folk instead of a monthly million ringgit electricity bill for just one dwelling....

......and well-trained medical staff in well-equipped public hospitals instead of mushrooming private medical schools recruiting mediocre students.

GST

goods & services tax.

or, government say thanks.

or, a mean april fool's joke.

but i say...

"Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's" matt 22:21

the govt is determined to get its pound of flesh. you can't change that now, even collectively, but you can determine who rules at the ballot box.