There has recently been a spat of complains from my peers regarding the level of competency of housemen in Malaysia. While I'm no longer a part of the local Malaysian system to experience it firsthand, I cannot help but feel enraged, followed by a sense of sadness and disappointment (again) at what our country has become.

In the year 2000(afer SPM), I actually did 2 months of pre-university with the Moscow Medical Academy in Russia, Moscow. I did not manage to last longer than that (came back for a JPA interview which in retrospect thankfully I failed to obtain; and decided I was not going back. My ear hurt for a while because my mum was certainly going to let me know that I have squandered my dad's bonus and a significant portion of our family's savings for an unjustified two month holiday in Russia. But at least my parents supported my decision to do STPM, and seeing how they were so willing to sacrifice for my future and letting me do whatever I wanted strengthened my resolve to study hard and make it into a RM900 per semester local medical school. And also, I needed to show my mum. I'll show her. That's for nagging me.)

So anyway, you'll probably ask, Why Russia?
Well, you see, I have two other brothers, and they eat alot.
Ok, because it was the most affordable option then, and for me it was either Medicine or Mail-Order-Bride (again, in retrospect, how silly! I mean the Medicine and nothing-else part. The mail-order-bride part wasn't such a bad idea).
My parents certainly couldn't(and wouldn't, they're fair like that) spend RM1milllion for a medical education in Australia/UK/even India .
STPM was also reputedly THE MOST DIFFICULT EXAM(I'm making this up) in the world, so I thought Russia was a good place to go.
Seriously, I enjoyed Moscow very much, it was rich in culture, architecture and I was away from my parents! (ok, I cried like mad whenever I called home)
The students were a mix of people, a great and happening bunch. We stayed in a hostel with mostly Indians, as well as some from Mauritius, Romania and I-forgot. And of course as in any student hostel you will have a good mix of the weirdos, the industrious, the sleep-arounds, the motivated, the serious, the boozers and the sobers.
It was really an eye opener, and I think it made me a little mad. Mad as in crazy, not angry.

So anyway, my point is, I feel sad for some the current HOs, as well as the patients. Not all the HOs are bad, but they have been lumped together, generalized into one homogenous group and called incompetent, whiners and lazy-bums. They have also been robbed of a rich clinical experience because they have to share the patients with so many others, and the wealth that can only be gained from being on-call is lost on them (I'm not sure if they will agree though).
Do you think some of them, if given a choice, a scholarship or the benefit of finance, would have chosen Russia or Indonesia? I highly doubt so.

First it was in education, and now it's in healthcare. I think it's UMNO politics that has brought us to where we are today.

As a side, I am someone some people will call a pengkhianat. After all, what am I doing here in Sg? Cakap saja pandai. Tak serve negara sendiri, ah. It's ok, I'm actually alright with that.
That's because I'm am planning to go back one day to serve my country. I'm here for training what. I'm probably delusional, but as I have said, I'm a little crazy.