YOURSAY | Heath DG, why break a butterfly upon a wheel?

 

YOURSAY | ‘Why must Parliament be suspended in order to enable the transfer of doctors…’

Emergency opens more avenues to fight Covid-19: Health DG

Vijay 47: Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, I have long been one of the diminishing members of your supporters’ band who still hold you in high regard.

I have refused to nail blame squarely on your shoulders for the increasing Covid-19 numbers since that is a war where everybody has a role of differing import to play, with you as our general.

Yet there have been strategies adopted which were surprising, to say the least, measures that were enforced with contrasting vigour. In all this I considered you a reluctant victim of political manoeuvrings.

But your latest statement, where you justify the emergency, is shocking and can only serve to remove what little remaining credibility you have.

It boggles the mind to hear you, the Health director-general, say that a health war needs to be fought armed by an emergency. That is the height of imbecility I would expect from one of the political idiots who we unfortunately have aplenty.

I would not have batted an eyelid had such a warm excuse been laid forth by your own minister or even the prime minister when he deigns to enter the public realm.

Are you really suggesting that the deployment of medical personnel, equipment, and supplies require an emergency complete with the suspension of Parliament? Are the existing laws of the country, the relevant authorities, and the Health Ministry so impotent as to be unable to fight the virus?

I simply cannot believe you imply that private sector medical resources in Malaysia orbit in an astral plane of its own and only an emergency can bring them to heel.

How is the rest of the world coping with the onslaught even if with varying levels of success? Going by your logic of unified forces, wouldn’t active participation of Parliament with its numerous able minds help to offer more formidable response?

Unless there was a gun held to your head, this latest inane statement from you would surely be one of the worst efforts at self-destruction we have witnessed lately.

I am sorry, sir, but I have to tender my resignation from your fan club.

Manjit Bhatia: "This (emergency) ordinance helps the Health Ministry to further strengthen Act 342. The Act as it is has its weaknesses, as many (provisions) were drafted in 1988. Back then, the ordinance did not even have states specified, only areas.

“So by using the emergency ordinance, we widen (its use). For example, redistribution of doctors from one facility to another," said Noor Hisham.

This is total rubbish. It doesn't make any sense. If Act 342 is weak, strengthen the Act. Using Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin's political emergency is nothing more than an excuse and cements the view it is a ‘political’ emergency to secure Muhyiddin's power when he's under siege from within.

It also shows Muhyiddin's cowardliness and stupidity when asking for the imposition of his political emergency and shutting down the Parliament.

It'll take Parliament to discuss/debate strengthening Act 342 and pass it as an emergency - a medical emergency, not a political one. An honest and decent politician, even a director-general, wouldn't argue against this and dismiss it outright.

Not that Parliament ever achieves anything for the people except more repressive laws. But now is the time for it to reconvene and pass a revamped Act 342.

Instead of demonstrating just how lily-livered he is, Muhyiddin should repeal the emergency he has imposed and call Parliament back even for just this purpose.

I'm really disappointed in Noor Hisham for taking a political and dishonest stance to back Muhyiddin's emergency ordinance. It shows just how out of depth the entire Perikatan Nasional (PN) regime and bureaucracy machinery is, and that they have no idea what they're doing.

Anonymous_15897060865429524: Yes, amend the Act. Acts of Parliament are not set in stone, they evolve and amendments are commonplace. If the Act was insufficient, you had one year to do something about it. What did you do?

Using an emergency to strong-arm the private sector with brute force only reveals your lack of planning, your total inability to engage stakeholders, a failure of leadership and complete breakdown in coordination. It is an admission of your failure.

And why must Parliament be suspended in order to enable the transfer of doctors and to "lend" medicine? What utter nonsense.

DG, don’t play politics. Don’t cite feeble excuses to bootlick your political masters.

Bewise: I do not hear of other countries resorting to forcing doctors from private sectors to work in public hospitals in the name of emergency. You could request for help or they could volunteer.

This happened in Singapore. The private hospitals opened up their wards for the less serious cases, enabling the public hospitals to focus on the more serious ones. They shared their knowledge and cooperated well. They offered their services. There was no arm twisting.

Why don’t you just say you were too proud to admit that the whole system had failed, and ask the private hospitals nicely for assistance?

Mano: If my restaurant worker serves substandard food and gives substandard service, as the boss, I am accountable and responsible for that. As the boss, I cannot only collect earnings but claim no responsibility to what is happening.

If what Noor Hisham utters as statements like a canary daily is a collective decision, he is equally responsible because he thinks it fit to be uttered.

Is he saying that only with the proclamation of emergency, he can work? Otherwise, he is unable to?

Noor Hisham, you cannot only collect your dues to your position but you are equally responsible for whatever happens in the Health Ministry or whatever uttered by the ministry.

Caripasal: DG, why did you break a butterfly upon a wheel? An emergency is not required to implement those measures that you mentioned to fight Covid-19. It can be achieved with a motion in Parliament.

It is disgusting to see a wise doctor ‘kowtow’ (bow) to the despicable politicians to justify the use of emergency. - Mkini