Disheartened

I love my country. I always have and always will be. And I am sure you do too.

But I don't think I would be alone in expressing my concerns and disappointment on the events over the past week. The sacking of Muhyiddin, the sudden termination of the Attorney-General, the Special Branch Chief being reassigned, the elevation of the Parliamentary PAC members who was in the swing of investigation the 1MDB debacle into the cabinet and to cherry on the cake, the fire at the safest place in Malaysia, the National Police headquarters. Stuff of legends!

One day, I was sure my grandchildren would ask me, what were you doing when the infamous "Najib Shuffle" happened? My answer would be in the car being driven to the hospital after giving a lunchtime talk at Menara Maybank! These thing won't happen often, and hopefully won't happen again.

Malaysia is becoming a laughing stock of the World, and we only got ourselves to blame.

Right! No more writing about politics as it would not make a jot of difference. I shall leave that kind of writing to the more eloquent and information flow would be something that the Government would struggle to control. Will blog on better things from now on! And for now, let's get on with my call .....

The Grand Opening

So, my hospital would be having a corporate rebranding exercise next week. The main group would be renamed Ramsay Sime Darby Healthcare Group and my hospital would revert to its original name before Some Darby took over more than 5 years back. Back to Subang Jaya Medical Center - SJMC.

Was it a step backwards? Well, on a personal note, I prefer SJMC. When I was still in the UK, SJMC was the premier private hospital here in KL, and since switching the name, may have lost some of its revered reputation. SDMC sounded to generic. Under the same move, SDMC AD would be renamed Ara Damansara Medical Center and SDMC Park City would be called Park City Medical Center.

And this would go live with the grand opening of Park City Medical Center next Tuesday afternoon. Prime Minister Najib - and I would think Datin Rosmah - would be doing the honours. I would be free to attend but of course. My scheduling could be dicey at times.

Let's see what transpires as according to the invitation letter, it would be a whole afternoon affair.

Does Our Leader Need to be Smart?

I always landed up in hot water every time I bring this topic up on the dinner table with my Mum. She is a staunch UMNO supporter. Being born in Permatang Bertam, Kepala Batas - so was I - a mere 200 meters from Tun Abdullah's family home the whole kampung is very close to Tok Lah's family. Note that I use the term Tok Lah rather than Pak Lah, as only people outside the kampung call him Pak Lah. We from the same kampung have more respect for him. I am not saying that Tok Lah is no intellect, but if we compare to other national leaders at the international scene, we were clearly lagging behind.

The question really boils down to a few fundamental questions. Is an intellectual better at running the country compared to others? I think the problem here is the association of being an intellectual and possession of a degree. Is going to university equate to being an intellectual. Actually it's not. Prophet Muhammad (saw) and all the Caliph are smart people, but they went to no Cambridge. The point I am trying to make is, we need leaders that are wise. Not the ones who climbed up the ladder because of the family they are born into, the amount of money they spend in their campaign etc. We need people who are wise to lead, adapt and inspire the country froward. We don't want a leader for the sake of leading. They need to be innovative. Innovation can only come with wisdom and intellect. Even being an Ustaz, you need to be blessed with intelligence and wisdom let alone leading a nation.

Looking around, one cannot sit but to admire Barack Obama for his academic credentials. Graduating magna cum lauda from Harvard Law School, a brilliant writer and orator. Closer to home we have the Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Hsein Loong. Son of Lee Kuan Yew, I am sure he had hardly needed to do anything should he be a Malaysian to become a leader one day. But no! He graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge in 1974 with a First Class Degree in Mathematics and a Diploma in Computer Science. He then got his Master's from Harvard in 1980. He was also an Officer in the Singaporean Air Force, with a stint of military training in the States. He retired in 1984 with a rank of Brigidier General.

When I brought up academics in politics here in Malaysia, 2 names always come to my mind. The late Alex Lee and Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon. Since Alex Lee is no longer with us, let just concentrate on Dr Koh. His first degree was in Physics from Princeton. He then completed his PhD from University of Chicago. Later he became Fulbright Fellow at Stanford University. Before joining politics, he was a Deputy Dean of the School of Education at USM until 1982.

Both Lee and Koh speaks better Malay than most of the Malay politician. They are always measured in the mannerism and does not resort to name calling while in a political debate. This is what we should see and nurtured from our future crop of politicians. Intellectuals and academics are generally fed up with the local politics in Malaysia to participate. Given choice they would rather stay away. This essentially contribute to the dearth of intellects in politics at home. Back to the main question now. Personally I think we should include intellectuals in higher politics. It can at least eliminate the yes man and keep our leaders informed rather than being showered with things they just like to listen to. One can but hope!