Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Is The Standard Of Service Of Government Hospitals Below Par?

Expat blogger Duncan D. Horne's wife gave birth to a beautiful baby on the 15th of June at a government hospital in Kuantan.

Mr Duncan and family are not happy with how they were treated and the service they received at the hospital and Mr Duncan has written a letter of complaint to the authorities.

Although I believe that some government hospitals in Malaysia do well in their service to the public as evidenced by the occasional letters to the press, by and large, the Malaysian public's perception and experience of them are not positive.

Some of my comments published in Mr Duncan's blog on the matter, which I reproduce below, reflect my personal feelings on the subject.

Duncan, welcome to the Malaysian standard of service! It is a service the government tells us is second to none in the world, but one we long suffering Malaysians know better. But of course the government knows better and whatever it says, who are we to contradict? If we are not happy, they will tell us, we could go back to tiongsan (China) for the Chinese or to India for the Indians. But I don't know where the Malays are supposed to go back to - Yunnan? You see, it seems that civil servants here can do just about anything they want, serve you in whatever way they want because even if there are rules or regulations, who are going to enforce them? A government job here is a sinecure and nobody bothers a fart if they perform or not. You leave me alone and I leave you alone. Kita sama-sama cari makan. (We are in the same boat seeking a living, so don't rock the boat, or something like that lah). I sympathise with you and your family. It is disgraceful the type of service you get from government departments and hospitals sometimes, or should I say often times? I am not too sure they will bother about your complaint. Most likely they will give you the go-around and just lay the blame on a misunderstanding, but not on themselves. Malaysians are fed-up with the government and the only way to rectify the bad service is to vote out the ruling Barisan coalition and give the opposition coalition Pakatan a chance to run the show.

Well, what do readers think? Is the standard of service of government hospitals or, for that matter public service in Malaysia, up to par or what?

3 comments:

  1. Hey, nice to see you've written a piece on this matter. Thanks for linking to my blog. I wonder how other Malaysians view government hospitals. My wife was chatting with the other mothers in the ward and they all expressed their dissatisfaction with the nurses and doctors.

    Duncan In Kuantan

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  2. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  3. Duncan, it is high time the government looked into the complaints of poor service in public hospitals. But Malaysians are not optimistic that anything would be done. The ruling Barisan coalition government has been so entrenched in power for some 60 years already, that if it had wanted to do something, it would have done so many years ago. We are just waiting for the coming 13th general election to vote in a new government, otherwise things will just continue for Malaysians as they have been since independence in 1957. In fact, things will just get worse.

    ReplyDelete

Kluang's Little Bangsar

Kluang's Little Bangsar
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Kamini's Indian Wedding - Click To Visit

Kamini's Indian Wedding - Click To Visit
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Yasmin Ahmad - Click To Visit

Yasmin Ahmad - Click To Visit
Yasmin Ahmad was arguably Malaysia's best story-teller, filmmaker and advertiser. She was well known for her Petronas commercials and had won numerous international awards including the Golden Lion award for the 'Tan Ming Hong In Love' commercial. Her feature film Sepet not only garnered her several international awards including for Best Asian Film but also drew multi-racial audiences that rarely happens for a local film.

Genting Highlands - Click To Visit

Genting Highlands - Click To Visit
Genting Highlands Is A Popular Retreat With A Casino

Batu Caves - Click To Visit

Batu Caves - Click To Visit
Malaysia's Famous Landmark. Note The Statue Of Lord Muruga And The 272 Steps To The Temple Cave In The Background

Petronas Twin Towers And KLCC Park - Click To Visit

Petronas Twin Towers And KLCC Park - Click To Visit
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Some Early Morning Views Of KL City Skyline - Click To Visit

Some Early Morning Views Of KL City Skyline - Click To Visit
Some early morning views of the KL city sykline I took from the 3rd floor of the KL Court with a low-pixel hand-phone camera

Kluang Town - Click To Visit

Kluang Town - Click To Visit
Kluang was a sleepy hollow, but is fast becoming a bustling town. You can't miss the bust-shaped gunung Lambak lording over the place and the town is well known for its tv brand coffee powder

Kluang RailCoffee

Kluang RailCoffee
The Kluang railway station coffee shop, now re-branded Kluang RailCoffee, is well known for its cuppa of coffee and the charcaol grilled piping hot buns oozing with butter and kaya...It used to attract standing-room only crowds. It still does, but the last time I was there it wasn't a good experience for me. The famous coffee had somewhat lost its oomph and even the buns...The shop has a long and noted history being first opened for business in 1938 and the place is now run by the 3rd generation LIm family. I hope the next time I return, the coffee would regain its oomph. Click to read more...