TwoSen

THE Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (Fomca) urges the government to take progressive action to regulate and monitor the operations of insurance firms acting as managed care organisations (MCOs).

The recent news of ING Insurance’s proposed new terms for private healthcare specialists as part of their panel network is further evidence that healthcare is becoming more of a trading commodity rather than an essential service for the public good.

We are very much concerned over the projection of the insurers’ influence (as bulk purchaser of healthcare services) into fee-setting and, in extreme cases, even into clinical judgment and treatment protocol.

The diagnosis of a patient must be left to the professional judgment of doctors and not dictated by MCOs. And healthcare cannot be traded like a commodity, for it is not.

It is the right of every consumer to have equitable access to basic quality healthcare and it is the role and responsibility of the state to provide its people with such amenities to sustain a quality and productive life.

The problem with insurance firms acting as MCOs is not about doctors’ fees. It is about these firms denying patients their rights to unhindered professional healthcare treatment.

We call for the government to develop comprehensive laws and guidelines to regulate and monitor the operations of MCOs, and for such regulations to be incorporated in the Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998.

The government should continue to play a provider role, in addition to an enhanced regulatory role in a mixed public/private healthcare system which needs to be functionally integrated. At present, there are no specific laws to govern MCOs, apart from compulsory registration imposed by the Health Ministry.

DATUK MARIMUTHU NADASON President, Fomca

Source: NST – January 15, 2008

DEAR Editor, SEKOLAH Menengah Kebangsaan Bukit Sentosa in Hulu Selangor barely has space to breathe.

With the number of students reaching 3,000 and with fewer than 100 classrooms, the situ ation is distressing.

Those living near the school have the right to send their chil dren to SMKBS.

But what rights do parents liv ing in Taman Bunga Raya, Sungai Buaya and even Sungai Choh have to send their children to the crowded school?

Why are they rushing to send their children to SMKBS when they have modern secondary schools near their neighbour hoods?

Parents may have misconstrued that good results are achieved be cause of the teachers or the school.

Students play an important role and so do the parents.

If your son or daughter is studious, he will be able to achieve good results at any school.

Teachers are merely teaching them the basics. It is up to the individual to excel.
Parents should not think that because a school achieved good results last year, it would be able to repeat the feat this year.

Considering the condition of the school, parents of students living within the area are worried the results may take a plunge this year.

If you are living in Sungai Buaya, register your children in the neighbourhood school.

Taman Bunga Raya has good schools, as does Sungai Choh. Their enrolment is less than 1,000 students each.

You would be doing your children a favour as they would not have to wake up at 5am to get ready for school and can take the time to walk or cycle every day. This is why the government builds schools in every housing estate.

Smart parent
Rawang

Source: Malay Mail – January 15, 2008

DEAR Editor, I WOULD like to share my experience at a food outlet in a shopping complex in the city.

During dinner at a sushi restaurant, we found that a fried dish we ordered was cold and not crispy and complained to the waitress.

The waitress told us that as we had consumed half the dish, they could not replace the order.

She said that if we wanted it hot, we should have mentioned it to the waiter when placing our orders.

Although the waitress re placed the dish, instead of admitting a mistake, she became defensive and blamed the customers, reiterating her point that we should have specified in our order that we did not want cold fried food.

If we are paying for a meal, I feel we deserve to be given our money’s worth. The restaurant should have owned up to its mistake and not take its customers for a ride.

Frustrated
Kuala Lumpur

Source: Malay Mail – January 15, 2008

DEAR Editor, AS a parent, I read with dis tress the recent articles
concerning our children’s safety.

I refer to the case of Sharlinie Mohd Nashar and Haw Qian Tong who was hurt while visiting Zoo Negara in December.

While no one wants to place undue blame on the parents,
it seems that in this day and age, there is no room for mis takes.

I remember when I was young, children could run free in the playground. I still re member the games I used to play with the other neighbour hood children while our fathers were at work and our mothers were cooking in the kitchen.

Such days are gone.

Parents can no longer afford to be lax concerning the se curity of their children and can not look away for a second.

In the case of Qian Tong, she was clawed by an animal at the zoo.

Children will be children, meaning that when they come across anything or anyone interesting, they will be curious.

You can teach them to keep away from strangers or restricted zones, but at the end of the day, they should be supervised at all times.

There is no reason to point fingers at the parents of chil dren who have been hurt or gone missing.

My heart goes out to the parents and I am sure all mothers feel the same way.

I cannot imagine their agony.

It is easy to play the blame game, but let us learn from these situations and ensure that we do not let such incidents repeat itself.

Always keep an eye on our children no matter what and never assume that such things only happen to other people.

Why take the chance?

It only takes seconds for something to go wrong.

In that few seconds, we could end up losing those we care about the most.

Concerned parent
Shah Alam

Source: Malay Mail – January 15, 2008

I HAVE no doubt that the au thorities will leave no stone unturned in their investiga tions into the abduction of Sharlinie Mohd Nashar last Wednesday.

I will not pretend to under stand the anguish and suffer ing of the five-year-old girl’s parents.

Only they would know what it feels like to have their daughter snatched away. My thoughts are with them.

But if there is any good to come out of Sharlinie’s kidnap ping, it is that it has jolted us into the realisation that we should never take the safety of our young ones for granted.

Not even if they are playing outside the house gate. Or if they are waiting for us to fetch them from school and we are a few minutes late.

The onus is on parents to make sure that they keep an eye on their children or have someone they trust look after them.

Having said this, I under stand that it is nearly impossible for parents to monitor the activities or whereabouts of their children 24 hours a day, every day.

In any case, it may do little good to our children’s growth process and mental develop ment if they get the message that we are looking over their shoulder all the time.

In this respect, it is heartening to note that Sharlinie’s parents, Mohd Nashar Mat Hussin and Suraya Ahmad, have not become the subject of ridicule by insensitive parties over the disappearance of their daughter.

Instead, everyone who has spoken out has been sympath etic of their ordeal and prays for the girl’s wellbeing and re union with her family.

In contrast, I remember some time ago how a couple who were in the same predic ament as Sharlinie’s parents were accused of negligence by certain quarters with ho lier-than-thou attitudes.

Quite a few called for the parents of missing children to be prosecuted in court. As if the sorrow of losing a child was not punishment enough.

Blaming the parents is not going to help in the concen trated efforts to nab the real criminals — the kidnappers.

But if we can get every mem ber of society to share the responsibility of taking care of our innocent children, then we would be making a giant leap towards creating a safer en vironment for future generations.

We can all start by getting to know our neighbours and res idents in the neighbourhood better.

Sharif Haron
News editor

Source: Malay Mail – January 15, 2008

ON A visit to Bangkok, I came across a report in the Bangkok Post of Jan 12 which had on its front page a news report headlined Number of missing children on the rise.

The report was about missing children and their traumatised families.

The Bangkok news report appeared at about the same time that the Malaysian media provided extensive coverage on another missing child, five-year-old Sharlinie Mohd Nashar, who disappeared from a playground about 200m from her home in Taman Medan, Petaling Jaya.

It cannot just be a matter of co-incidence that missing children are on the increase both in Thailand and in Malaysia.

The matter must be studied thoroughly by the relevant authorities in the two countries as to whether there exists some syndicates that are responsible for these missing children by making use of drug addicts.

They should also examine the existence of paedophiles that prey on young children.

The existence of several cases of missing children in our neighbourhoods should prompt us to tackle the growing issue of child safety more aggressively.

The Malaysia Crime Prevention Foundation notes that the police have begun a massive search for Sharlinie.

We call on all witnesses to the abduction to come forward and help the police.

The entire nation cannot be unconcerned about these missing children, irrespective of race. The brutal killing of innocent children in the past, such as Nurin Jazlin, had touched the social conscience of all Malaysians.

It is high time the entire nation comprising law enforcement agencies, voluntary organisations, parents and the public at large worked with one mind to address the issue of safety for children.

No other task is more urgent than to work for the protection of children, who make up the most precious asset of any nation.

Parents need to keep a closer watch on their children, especially when they are outside their homes, at playgrounds, markets or elsewhere.

Parents should also embark on continuous efforts to teach and educate their children to be vigilant, not to befriend strangers, and to be assertive and streetwise.

Schools can also play an important role in teaching children to be safety conscious.

The Education Ministry should introduce and implement a Special Child Safety Programme where students can be taught personal safety.

I also wish to suggest the formation of Child Watch, to comprise government and non-government officials, which can help keep a closer watch on the safety of children and work closely with law enforcement agencies for the protection of children.

A better tracking system of perpetrators of crimes against children must be devised so that they can be brought to justice. Punishment commensurate with the crime must be meted out to them.

TAN SRI LEE LAM THYE,
Vice-Chairman,
Malaysia Crime Prevention Foundation.

Source: The Star – January 15, 2008

I WRITE to express my concern over the lax attitude of parents towards their children’s safety while driving.

Many of us have seen young children jumping around in cars while their parents drive or parents driving with young children on their lap ala Britney Spears. It’s so common we often do not give it a second thought.

With the proposal to strictly enforce rules for the use of seat belts by rear seat passengers, it goes without saying that we should not wait for it to be law before we use seat belts in the back seat.

Police statistics has shown that up to 350 deaths a year occur due to unbelted rear seat passengers (An Assessment of Rear Seatbelt Availability and Accessibility in Malaysia – a Preliminary Study by the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research).

It is indeed ironic then that while parents are so concerned over the safety of their children outside the home following cases like Nurin Jazlin and, most recently, Sharlinie, they are still seemingly oblivious to the control they have over their child’s safety while under their direct observation in their vehicles.

At USJ 3 Subang Jaya, I saw a young mother with two children in her car. Her older child, a boy of about four , was jumping around in the backseat. A baby of no more than a year was in the front passenger seat.

I was horrified to see the mother lift the baby out of the car seat and continue driving with the baby on her lap.

I call on road users out there, especially parents, to enforce the use of safety belts at all times and set a good example for children.

MELODY SONG FAYE-LYNN,
Subang Jaya, Selangor.

Source: The Star – January 15, 2008

WE REFER to the report Teenager seeks biological parents to get MyKad in The Star, Jan 10, and the letter NRD must do its job with compassion in The Star, Jan 11.

The National Registration Department (NRD) appreciates the feedback from RAKYAT, Puchong, in improving the department’s services.

The NRD conducts the process of registration according to the law, regulations and procedures in place. According to Section 7(1) of the Birth and Death Registration Acts 1957 (Act 299), every child born in Malaysia must be registered.

However, a child who is born in Malaysia and holds a Malaysian birth certificate is not automatically awarded Malaysian citizenship, because the Constitution states that the citizenship of a person is dependent on the status of the biological parents at birth.

In response to the suggestion that the NRD appoint a special officer to gather evidence on the birth of Chan Yn Seng, the NRD wishes to clarify that it is the responsibility of the applicant to prove that he is a Malaysian citizen.

In the case of Chan, his citizenship cannot be ascertained, as information on his biological parents was not available. Because of that, his application for an identity card with citizenship status could not be accepted.

If his adoptive parents wish to raise Chan, they may do so through the legal adoption process.

JAINISAH MOHD NOOR,
Public Relations Officer,
National Registration Department.

Source: The Star – January 15, 2008

AT 5PM on Jan 10, I checked in at the MAS counter at Sentral to catch a 6.45pm flight. While rummaging through my handbag for my identity card to show the check-in counter clerk, my laptop next to me was left unattended.

When I looked again, my laptop was gone. With it, I lost documents, names, addresses and letters, most of which are irreplaceable.

Much distressed, I spoke to a KLIA Express officer nearby. I insisted on seeing somebody responsible. After a while, he ambled away slowly saying he would “try to locate the manager”.

I caught the train for the airport, leaving my husband (who doubled back after dropping me off earlier) to speak with the officers at the station and make a police report.

What I learnt later is alarming:

1. There are only three surveillance cameras to cover the entire departure hall and check-in counters, which result in several “blind areas”.

2. The cameras yield blurry images that are almost totally useless.

3. There is no monitoring room at the Sentral station. The cameras “feed” monitors located at Salak Tinggi, close to Putrajaya. The best that the officer at the station could do was to call Salak Tinggi and try to get a description of what the cameras had captured.

4. In the past week , there had been at least three reported cases of laptop thefts at the station.

Clearly, there is a ring of thieves operating actively in the station. Though thefts occur with alarming regularity, there are apparently no plans by the KLIA Express management to upgrade the security at the station.

The least that the KLIA Express can do immediately are: (a) light up the hall brightly, (b) install more, and better quality, surveillance cameras at strategic locations; and (c) place a few plainclothes detectives to mix randomly with the crowd.

These measures can lead to the capture of the culprits and make the station a lot safer for travellers and tourists.

UPSET KLIA EXPRESS USER,
Kuala Lumpur.

Source: The Star – January 15, 2008

IT HAS been reported that Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) is banning the annual Chap Goh Mei event i.e. the throwing of mandarin oranges into lakes and ponds.

The reports state that the ban was because of uncontrollable and unruly crowds who vandalise public property. One official even suggested putting up signs saying, Dilarang merosakkan harta benda awam (Do not vandalise public property).

The throwing of mandarin oranges on Chap Goh Mei is a Chinese tradition that signifies the end of the Chinese New Year and doubles as the Chinese Valentine’s Day where single women throw mandarin oranges into the lake hoping to find love.

Banning it is certainly not the way to control vandalism. After every gathering, countdown event or street party, there will be something vandalised.

I am sure our Prime Minister is not going to be amused if he hears about this.

And banning the celebration will certainly not solve the problem.

CHINESE BUT MALAYSIAN,
Kuala Lumpur.

Source: The Star – January 15, 2008