A Quiet September

Wow...I didn't realise that is was already the end of the month!! Guess that I didn't have very much to write this whole month.

I just watched Flight 93: a short movie to remember events of 9/11: well as expected it glorified the efforts of the passengers in preventing the suicide attempt of the fourth plane on White House/Capitol building, but a fairly good movie nonetheless. I remembered that day: I was getting ready to go to work when I switched on the news on CNN - they were already reporting the crashes into the World Trade Center. I remember thinking initially that a fire broke out, until I saw the footage of the planes crashing into the towers. I was glued to the TV set since I got back from work and stuck for a few days there after. I guess those events set in motion everything that happened till today: the war in Afghanistan, then Iraq, the oil price rise etc. and who knows what's next.

So the PM said that they would not raise the salaries of civil servants. Well I guess it could be because that the government is spending more on the constuction projects being rolled out. However it is inevitable that the salaries would have to go up sometime soon. It was 14 years since the last review; true that there are a lot of allowances, but most are based on the base salary - if the salary go up, then the allowances go up as well - so it's about time. Maybe next year...when the election draws near, and cost of living continues to increase. And the fact that next year would be the 50th anniversary of the independence. Not a bad time to increase the salary!!

Anyway, life goes on...for now.

A very sad, sad fact

The death of the House Officer who was killed two weeks after an accident which happened when she was escorting a patient to Hospital Selayang brought to light a very important fact: we doctors as well as other medical staff which performs transfers of patients everyday between the various health centers are not insured against accidents!!! Worse off if we have not been confirmed in service!! We are not 'eligble' for compensation. What in the world does the Health Ministry mean by this?? Are we serving the people without adequate coverage as to our safety as well as the future of our families? How sad this is...

This occurred in an urban area with good roads. We have heard of accidents involving medical staff in rural areas where roads are much worse, or even without proper roads. There are cases of flying doctor helicopter services which crash in Sarawak killing medical staff but hardly brought to light. In all these cases, the medical staff hardly got any compensation for their accidents. It is a very sad fact which had not changed all these years.

Somehow this makes me think twice about getting onto an ambulance and going out there to provide a service for the profession I love. Well, you may say that it is selfish of me, but if something happens, who is going to care for my family? Judging from the Health Ministry's response...no one but myself!!

So should I risk my life for it? Not yet...the ball is in your court Mr. Health Minister!!

Wishes are still wishes...

Oh well, it's good to dream and wish. But as expected the wishes did not come true.

But at least we got our yearly bonus: as expected one month only. Well, I really did not expect any increase in the salary or the increase in the bonus amount; on the flipside we should be thankful that we got a bonus. At least it would help to alleviate the increase in cost of living we are all experiencing: petrol price increase, vegetables, sugar etc.

We must look always look on the bright side!!!