TwoSen

WE REFER to Query on withdrawal scheme (The Star, Feb 18) regarding using the EPF Housing Loan Monthly Instalment Withdrawal to pay for the refinancing of his house.

The EPF allows members to withdraw part of their savings for the purpose of purchasing or building a house, reducing their housing loan, as well as helping them pay their monthly instalments.

This is in line with our objective to enhance the retirement prospects of our members, as we believe that home ownership forms an important part of retirement security.

In relation to this case, the withdrawal is no longer applicable, as the member had already settled his housing loan seven years ago. The refinancing that was made was intended for purposes other than for purchasing a house.

Nonetheless, if he had purchased or constructed another house using a housing loan, he would have been eligible to apply for the Housing Loan Monthly Instalment Withdrawal to pay for the monthly instalments of that house.

As the nation’s largest retirement fund, the EPF’s primary objective is to ensure that members are well prepared for their retirement.

As such, using EPF savings to pay for the refinancing of a loan will defeat the purpose of building up savings for retirement.

NIK AFFENDI JAAFAR,
Senior Manager Public Relations,
Employees Provident Fund.

Source: The Star – February 25, 2008

THE ideal standard of care for replacing teeth is not a denture or even a bridge anymore, but dental implants.

Dental implants are now used to replace missing teeth, stabilise loose dentures, straighten teeth and rehabilitate patients who have lost parts of their jaw and face due to cancer or accidents.

We refer to the letter “Dental visits a pain in the pocket” (The Star, Feb 13) and wish to express our sadness over the misconceptions of a colleague whose profession we highly respect and admire.

Dentists or dental surgeons are part and parcel of the healthcare providing medical profession and work hand in hand for the betterment of our patients.

We do empathise with his concern for the older members of the population who due to inadequate dental care in the past now require dental implants.

However, the main cause of teeth loss in older people is not aging as stated by medical doctor, but gum disease.

This means that a healthy adult who takes proper care of their teeth and gums will enjoy a full set of teeth for life.

Hardly 10% of dentists practice implantology and also because implants are all imported and costly, the cost of providing the service is still relatively expensive.

Research and development of dental implantology took a lot of time, effort and expenditure on the part of university researchers and implant manufacturers.

The cost of training is still very high because it involves highly trained lecturers, logistics and material costs.

Implantology is not as simple as it looks.

Such treatment can range between simple to highly complex procedures that involve bone grafting, gum grafting, specialised imaging, detailed planning and a thorough understanding of occlusion which may take years of experience to understand and successfully manage.

Special dedicated tools, equipment and materials are needed in implantology.

Dental implantology usually does not incur any more trauma than an ordinary extraction of a tooth, and therefore does not require any extra safety measures that are not already in place in all dental clinics.

Dental implants have helped countless people around the world to enjoy their food again. They are the best replacement for lost teeth.

Though expensive currently, the price will keep coming down due to free market forces.

Like in all professions, some dentists charge more and some less. Find one you can afford.

After all, dentists here in Malaysia are highly trained and yet are still among the most affordable in the world.

The cost for dental implants in Malaysia is one of the lowest in Asean.

This has led many from overseas like Australia, Europe, America and Japan coming to Malaysia to enjoy the benefits of dental implantology at international standards and yet at half the price or less in their home countries.

Dental implantology has placed Malaysia on the map as a major destination for health tourism in this region.

Malaysian Oral Implant Association (MOIA).

Source: The Star – February 24, 2008

I REFER to the letter ‘Vaanavil drama degrading Indians‘ (The Star, Feb 22).

I fully agree with the writer that this is a ridiculous drama and Alai Payude should be stopped immediately from being aired.

I had the (unfortunate) chance of viewing one of the episodes with my mother-in-law, and I must say, the only thing it left me with was higher blood pressure!

It has an utterly illogical storyline and a sickeningly poor reflection of Malaysian Indians.

We, the Malaysian Indians, definitely do not make a living from bringing in innocent Indian brides to sell them off for money, as portrayed in this serial.

It is annoying enough to see the actors (who are supposedly Malaysian) behaving immorally in the name of being ulta-modern.

Please, take this series off the Vaanavil channel.

VG,

Klang, Selangor.

Source: The Star – February 24, 2008

I HAVE a 12-year-old son who will be sitting for the UPSR exam this year.

The school had given a registration form to fill that my wife was going through when she found something absolutely absurd.

One had to fill up one’s race and religion.

Is this information really necessary for them to know and how can this affect the exam grading?

It makes me wonder if they are evaluating a student purely based on his or her competency or by their ethnic race and religion.

Another thing is that the UPSR exams have been scheduled for September 2008. What happens for the next three months after the exams?

The children are under tremendous pressure to finish their syllabus within the first nine months.

The teachers don’t care. They breeze through the lessons because they have a time limit.

The child has to go through additional coaching via tuition and extra classes.

How many children can afford tuition?

Why is this happening?

I urge the ministry to do a thorough revamp of our education system and move towards achieving world class excellence. I hope something will be done and all those parents who are in a similar predicament please speak up.

MARTIN D’SILVA,

Shah Alam, Selangor.

Source: The Star – February 24, 2008

I TOTALLY agree with the letter “Varsity needs water and internet access” (The Star, Feb 19). I have been facing similar problems on campus at the university.

Water is a basic amenity but in certain residential colleges, water cuts occur at least once a week.

Not only is water shortage a problem but water coolers are non-functioning; and even if they are working, their filters have not been changed for a long time.

Most of our grouses have fallen on deaf ears and no efforts have been made to improve our welfare.

We students have almost given up on our pleas for Internet access after years of sending letters, requests and waiting.

Matriculation colleges and even some fast food outlets have wireless Internet access, why can’t UM do better?

How are university students supposed to complete assignments and do research without access to Internet?

Besides that, there are also many problems such as transport within the university campus, state of cleanliness, etc. that go unheard because of the lack of a proper feedback system. Student-leader dialogues usually get polite answers without any prompt action.

It is hoped that when the University earns that RM312mil in a land deal, part of the money will be used wisely to address these pertinent issues that students are facing.

STJCL,

Kuala Lumpur.

Source: The Star – February 24, 2008

SOME of my friends who visited the hotel-like toilets at the PLUS Tapah rest area had nothing but praises for the place.

I too have visited this place several times and in my opinion, they are some of the cleanest toilets in the nation.

The open-air concept is much applauded as well because whatever stench and smell there is will be dispelled into the air, leaving the toilets fresh and airy.

For those on long journeys, the Tapah rest area provides excellent toilet facilities and should be an example for other rest areas in the country.

NAZREEN,

Mersing.

Source: The Star – February 24, 2008

I AM a teacher from Peninsular Malaysia and I have been teaching in Sarawak for almost 30 years.

I am married to a Sarawakian girl and I have three children born in Sarawak but I am still considered non-resident in Sarawak.

I have been told outright that I cannot apply to be a permanent resident in Sarawak as I am a government servant and I can only do so upon retirement.

My concern is if I am not granted PR status when I retire, I may have to leave my love ones here and go back to my hometown where I would feel most alienated as well after having left the place for so many years.

I still have to use a passport to work here. As a teacher, I have devoted my entire life here to educating and nurturing countless successful students.

After 50 years of independence and 44 years of the formation of Malaysia, can I plead for someone to help the many of us who share the dilemma, misery and uncertainty?

KUCHING.

Source: The Star – February 23, 2008

I REFER to the letter Cheaper to do dental implants here in The Star, Feb 18. Implants in Malaysia costs between RM5,000 and RM9,000. Let us say it is RM7,000 on the average, which is the equivalent to 7,000 cups of coffee or three months’ pay of a government medical officer’s salary here.

In Britain, it is £2,500 which is about 1,500 cups of coffee there or less than a month’s salary of a government medical officer.

In the United States, it is US$2,500, which is about 1000 cups of coffee there or much less than a month’s salary of a government medical officer. In Singapore, it is S$6,000, which is about 2000 cups of coffee there or less than a month’s salary of government medical officer.

A baby delivery by Caeserean section here - which includes general anaesthesia and few days stay in a private hospital - would cost less than a tooth implant in Malaysia.

So dental implants here are among the most expensive in the world.

Suggesting other alternatives like dentures and bridges is like telling a patient with a bone fracture not to have nailing and plating and just to have plaster casts, as it will heal anyway.

Just as there is government control over food items and other products, there must be a price control over dental procedures. Dental health must be available and affordable to the rakyat of Malaysia.

As can be seen from above, a reasonable charge for an implant would be around 1,500 cups of coffee or RM1,500 by comparing the different prices of several countries. A root canal should not cost more than RM300 and crowns not more than RM300.

Technicians here should be taught to perform implants as there are other more difficult procedures that are also done by technicians. For example, there are midwives doing a good job with examinations, investigations and the delivery of babies.

Ultrasound and echo (for heart patients) are done by technicians, medical assistants are doing examinations, investigatings and treating patients while dental nurses are doing fillings and extractions. In addition, anaesthetic assistants are giving general anaethesia in rural areas.

Medical doctors should be taught to do implants as they have basically learnt all that the dentists have learned such as oral anatomy, physiology, pathology, bone regeneration, bone harvesting etc.

In my rural posting I was taught to extract teeth and do fillings. Implants have now become a common part of dental procedures, just as root canal treatment.

If there is a shortage of oral implantologists then we should recruit medical doctors. I am sure doctors here will fulfil their Hippocratic Oath to serve the public.

Dentists are also bound by Hippocratic oath to serve the public.

ANOTHER DOCTOR,

Kuala Lumpur.

Source: The Star – February 23, 2008

I REFER to English Movie Fan’s letter about the lack of understanding of the English language by members of the Censor Board in The Star, Feb 22.

I do not know the make-up of the Censorship Board but I do believe they are doing a great job moving with the times.

Ten years ago, I might expect the words as mentioned by the writer to be censored out, but today, with an 18SG rating, I quite expect nearly no censorship of such things.

The reason is simple, which 18 year-old doesn’t already know those words and how impolite they are? If our young adults are unable to make decisions on whether to include such vocabulary in their daily conversation, how can we expect them to be the pillar of society they are supposed to be?

The movie was given the appropriate 18SG rating, so did the writer expect little violence? If you think such violence on screen is a big distaste, then do try to stick to movies which do not have an 18SG rating.

The ratings are given in order to help consumers make a choice about which movie to see, and who to bring to see the movie.

This means that they are considered mature enough to guide the younger ones on the more explicit parts of the movie whether political, sexual or violence-related. Are our young adults so immature that they cannot even be allowed to think for themselves so much so that the censorship board needs to guide them?

YOUNG ADULT,

Kuala Lumpur.

Source: The Star – February 23, 2008

A video surfaced recently of mistreated cows in a slaughterhouse in Chino, California. Although appalling, it’s not surprising that such inhumane acts are practised in a world where global businesses claim that time and money is the essence.

In the video, two workers were seen kicking cows, jabbing them near their eyes, ramming them with a forklift and shooting high-pressure water up their noses in an effort to force them to their feet for slaughter. This is a gross violation of the most basic animal rights.

The company in question, Westland/Hallmark Meat Packing Company, has since dismissed those involved in the mistreatment with California prosecutors announcing animal cruelty charges against the two former employees of the plant.

The video raises the need for farming regulations. How are our own slaughterhouses being monitored? The government needs put in place a proper regulatory process to avoid such mistreatment from happening.

Ethical farming methods should be made the priority by the farmers and the government agency entrusted with monitoring. The free range method of animal husbandry where the animals are permitted to roam freely instead of being contained in any manner should be adopted.

As the human race develops further, isn’t it high time we practiced a more ethical way in treating our very own source of food and nutrition?

eta carinae
Petaling Jaya

Source: The Sun – February 22, 2008