Twists and turns as sensational case shatters Singapore calm

By Renga Subbiah

March 05, 2011

SINGAPORE, March 5 — A court case in Singapore has shattered the placid veneer that envelopes this little oasis, providing more than enough sensational material for the cocktail circuit. 
What tops this sensational story is the revelations of the intractable behaviour of a member of the Brunei royal family. Then there is the charge that a prominent Singapore surgeon overcharged her royal patient when the doctor billed the palace US$24.8 million (RM75 million) for breast cancer treatment between January and July 2007 just before the Bruneian died.
  
If that is not enough, there are dark accusations of conflict of interest and abuse of power involving a government official wearing multiple hats of instigator, accuser and raider.
 
The hearing against Dr Susan Lim for allegedly overcharging Pangiran Anak Hajah Damit, the cousin of the Brunei Sultan and sister of the Queen, was heard in private by the Singapore Medical Council. The inquiry ended in disaster after the panel stepped down on the first day over accusations that it had pre-judged the case.
 
At this time, something strange happened. The SMC changed the regulations governing an inquiry, which on the face of it, would ease prosecution hurdles, and issued an order to form a second inquiry. Lim took offence and went to the High Court for a judicial review saying that the second inquiry should not proceed.
 
At the judicial inquiry last week,  Lim’s lawyer said the Brunei Health Ministry had only wanted a discount and did not intend to complain about Lim’s charges. 
 
But when the matter was brought up to the Director of Medical Services at Singapore’s Ministry of Health, Professor K. Satku, he advised the Brunei authorities not to pay anything.
Following this exchange, Satku complained to the Singapore Medical Council and initiated disciplinary action against Lim for “overcharging”. 
 
Lim’s lawyer charged that Saktu was biased as he was not only the Director of Medical Services but also the Registrar of the SMC and the complainant. As such, one person wearing multiple hats meant a conflict of interest and would impede a fair inquiry.
 
Saktu was also the one who ordered a raid on Lim’s clinic, with medical bills being seized.
 
The court was also told that Pangiran Damit was a difficult patient as she was petrified of most doctors, and hence her demands on Lim were all-consuming.
 
There was a time when she refused to travel to Singapore for treatment, and Lim had to set up an entire ICU structure and fly it to Brunei in a private jet. There was even a demand for an OSIM massage chair be placed in her room before the visit of her cousin, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah. The chair was ordered to be removed an hour later.
  
Lim was required to be on standby 24/7 and had to be available at a moment’s notice if Pangiran Damit wanted to see her. This extended to the time when Lim had undergone eye surgery and was recovering in a hospital bed.

 Pangiran Damit insisted that she be by her side, despite the possibility that Lim could be blinded in one eye if she moved around. Lim had to be transported in that state to attend to Pangiran Damit.

The SMC’s lawyer said the bills of other doctors who helped Lim were marked up. The doctors denied this in sworn affidavits.
 
In his four-hour submission on March 1, SMC’s counsel argued that the second inquiry should not be stopped because “if the doctor is guilty, she would not get off scot-free; if she was innocent — if there was a fee agreement and she rendered such a good job for the patient who trusted her — those facts would emerge. Lim would then come out as pure as the driven snow”, he said.
On the same day as proceedings ended, the SMC announced the appointment of Professor Chew Suok Kai as the Deputy Registrar of the SMC and that he would be taking over Saktu’s duties.  This is a post which previously did not exist. A provision was made in the law and sanctioned in Parliament in January this year.
 
Singaporeans will have to wait till March 28, when the High Court hearing resumes, to find out if there will be more twists, turns and revelations. — Intrepid

All a joke

It happened many times before, year in year out, it is the same story. Ladies and Gentleman, it is that time of the year when the police awakes from their slumber, carried their potbellied sorry er... asses to give their ever popular annual discount on the summonses faithfully accumulated by die-hard traffic offenders. The main stream paper will create an aura of urgency that the force means business this time around and does a countdown on the deadline. The papers would be flashing pictures of never ending queue of offenders trying desperately, waiting from the wee hours of the morning, to clear their debt with the police. The law abiding citizens would look at this and gleefully think, "Serves them right!" Like an anti-climax and a wet blanket, the dead line would come and there would an extension to the date. And the police would say, "This time we mean business. Read my lips, no more second chance, we will get you."
Did I forget to mention about the antics and records of sorts done by the offenders? The papers would shamelessly show some guy bragging how many summonses he had accumulated over the year and how much he paid whilst proudly posing with his long winding bill in front of him. Like this this guy who had to pay for 270 summonses! Hey, breaking the law makes you, maybe not so rich but indeed famous (or is it infamous)!
With the motor vehicle accidents rates in Malaysia being scarily high, the police is just preparing more material for the papers to write on to meet up their dwindling sales. First, there would be a bad bus accident. Then the surviving victims would say the bus driver was driving recklessly and went astray. The authorities would come in later to say that they would look into the matter, no stone would be left unturned. A few days later, the nation would be shell-shocked that the killer had so many outstanding summonses that he would not even be fit to ride a bullock cart. We would all brood in talk shows over radio and be appalled on how such an animal with such a blemished record could be allowed to hold the steering wheels and prowl meekly on our roads. Hue and cries would be raised and everybody would suggest ingenious ways to nip the problem in the bud; the howl reaching a crescendo, plateau and fizzle out as rapid as it sparked and life as we know it would go on like nothing happened.... Obladi Oblada...
And do not let me start about the international flight by night undercover individuals who manifest and disappear as slithery as KGB or Moussad and and vanish right under our eyes like Julie's biscuits (Now you see it and now you don't!). And we are not talking of smooth talking suave debonair of Ian Fleming's  Iron Curtain hero who could break your heart with his dimpled teethy smile. I am talking about our menace in the backyard, the illegal immigrants. Like mushrooms after a tropical rain, they have been flourishing under the noses of the authorities as colonies in most suburbs over the years. Occasionally, the immigration officers (probably under a new chief - the new broom) would suddenly awake from their Sleeping Beauty slumber to put things in order. They would realize that the scale of the problem was too hard to handle. Ingeniously, they would offer amnesty period in the spirit of Ramadhan or 'penduduk serumpun' (natives of the same stock). After that period, the colonies would be Ghost Towns just to be haunted by new shipment all over again. And they all will come in new names and spanking new passports, thanks to corrupt officers in their motherland! And our officers? Pulling the blankets to make themselves more comfortable.
It is all a big joke but sadly no one is laughing because the joke is on us. 


P.S. I see, now I  understand why Indonesian patients seems aloof when their names are called by the clinic nurses. There is only so many names they can remember!

Dhoby Ghaut: Kamikaze or another wind of change?

Mumbaikar dhobis at work in the
Mahalaxmi area

Just the other day, I was having a friendly chat with an acquaintance who happened to be an Indian citizen and was passionate about Indian movies. Just for the record, I do not think you can pick out any Indian from the Indian subcontinent who is not crazy about movies. The silver screen plays such an essential role in their everyday lives that, in India, you can have ladies going into labour in cinemas, adding more drama for the viewers. The scenes could either be too emotional for the mothers to stomach that they just went into spontaneous labour or that the mother just had to see the movie before she was put under 'house arrest'. Due to cultural beliefs that a postpartum mother is unclean and weak, she is not to be outdoors as evil spirits may eat on their soul together with her offspring!

We were discussing the recent Aamir Khan offering from Bollywood named 'Dhoby Ghaut'. It is what one in India would call an art movie, with no mandatory boy-meets-girl, running-about-the-park scenes, and no learning about relative speed by watching lovers run towards each other in slow motion. In fact, that was how Mr Chai Poh Keng taught us the concept of relative velocity in Modern Mathematics. Thinking further, Dr Albert Einstein would have discovered the motion of planets in the Universe and the Theory of Relativity earlier if he had been exposed to Bollywood movies in his childhood!

Okay, coming back to the discussion. My Indian friend was furious that an Indian should make an Indian movie in India with Indian actors about India in a bilingual mode of communication (English and Hindi). He said it was economic suicide (kamikaze) from the box-office perspective. No Indian worth his salt would want to see such a movie. And we know Indians eat 
a lot of salt. In fact, the Salt March mooted by Gandhi was one of the turning points in India's march to Independence.

I did not want to oppose his views as I did not know him well enough. For all you know, he could just unsheathe a steely sword from his back on revenge for hurting his nationalistic and linguistic pride! Interestingly, he married a Malaysian, has put in his papers, and is waiting rather impatiently for his Permanent Residency in Malaysia! I let it slip by. With the freedom given to me by cyberspace, I can have the peace to rattle my 2-cents worthless piece of opinion.

Just like my dear friend, many Indians migrate and have migrated more than at least a generation ago. These 2nd-generation Indians are entirely cut off from the umbilical cord of 'Indianess'. They still eat spicy Indian food. watch Indian movies and listen to Indian songs -their language prowess may need a little polishing, though. Anyway, it is a known fact that 'English adulteration' of Hindi and Tamil is rampant. Just listen to any interview with any famous guest on the local programme, and they would be using more English words than the intended language of communication. About 15 years ago, the Tamil TV channel in Singapore conducted a secret study by interviewing people on the streets of Singapore. The final conclusion was that Singaporeans spoke better Tamil, as the Tamil Nadu visitors to Singapore used way too many English words in their conversation. So pure, unadulterated spoken language is only in classrooms and language classes!

I think the whole idea of Aamir Khan producing 'Dhoby Ghaut' is Grammy on his mind. After missing the coveted award in the foreign film category many times, what better way than to make a movie depicting true everyday life of Bombaywalas (ala Slum Dog Millionaire), put in a few naughty (spelt Indian taboo) scenes looking from an American Desi lens and viola you have a winner!

I do not reckon that collection would be low as there are too many NRIs (Non Resident Indians) who are willing to contribute to his coffers, feeling good about themselves and their forefathers for escaping the sorrows of living in a dog eat dog environment as depicted in the movies. I do not think money is highest on the agenda if you are only churning a movie a year.

 
I noticed that his movies of late have been different with liberal spread of nationalism in it, starting with 'Lagaan', 'Mangal Pandey -the rising', 'Rang Ki Basanthi'; humour with '3 idiots', autism with 'Taare Zameen Par' and life of NRIs with 'Dil Chhata Hai'.

 
I was particularly impressed with 'Rang Ki Basanthi' which showcased that nothing has changed with India from pre-Independence. First, the British were oppressing the people, now 60 years after Independence, suppression and oppression comes from the politicians (their fellow Indians) of present day! -nicely done!

Watching 'Dhoby Ghaut' reminded me of a movie screened in1982 in the USM campus in an international movie festival called '36 Chowrangee Lane'. It was the legendary Bollywood actor Sashi Kapoor's production with his Caucasian wife Jennifer in the lead role. It was an extremely slow moving show minus the glitz associated with Indian movies. It was a flop in Indian box office then but raved praises from literary viewers.

Just like that my Indian friend thinks that making 'Dhoby Ghaut' is kamikaze. Is it kamikaze or is it that the wind of change is hitting the Indian movie scene? We should not forget that kamikaze actually means divine wind. It was the typhoon that saved the Japanese from Kublai Khan's attacks back in 1281.
Anyway if you listen to what my wife says, then you should just watch the movie. Do not think a lot and do not ask too many questions!

The sun still rises