First orang asli house goes up

the star
BY LOH FOON FONG

Hard at work: Several orang asli volunteers constructing the first wooden house, with donations from Star Foundation and built by Insaf Malaysia, in Kampung Kuala Koh in Gua Musang, Kelantan.

 

GUA MUSANG: The first of 15 houses for the orang asli affected by the December floods was completed in four days.

The construction of the wooden house donated by Star Foundation in Aring 10 started last Tuesday and was completed by Friday.

Insaf Malaysia built the first house for the Batek tribe at Kampung Kuala Koh in Gua Musang, Kelantan.

“We built the house on higher ground as the orang asli do not want it at the foot of the hill,” said Insaf Malaysia president and founder Ishak Abdul Kadir.

The house with two rooms, a living area, dining corner and verandah, was one of two houses donated by Star Foundation. Another house will be built in two weeks’ time.

The foundation, a charitable arm of Star Publications (M) Bhd, has contributed RM50,000 for the houses, in addition to the eight homes built last year under The Star’sDo Good Volunteer programme, an initiative to promote volunteerism and raise awareness on worthy causes.

Ishak said when they first started to build these houses six years ago, the orang asli had expressed preference for wooden houses.

“They want the stilts three feet above ground so that their chickens and pets can be shaded from the sun and rain and the cooking area and toilet be placed away from the house,” he said.

Besides Star Foundation, the Ber­jaya Group also pledged two houses two months ago, while residents of Bukit Antarabangsa had given RM12,500.

Ishak said he wanted to build 15 houses for the Kuala Koh orang asli families and needed sponsors for another 11 houses.

Village head Hamdan, 50, said life was difficult for them as they had to move further into the jungle to look for food, wood and rattan without guarantee that they would end up with any after a week.

Three months after the flood, The Star had reported that the orang asli were still living in makeshift shelters.

Today, some five months after, many are still living in makeshift shelters although houses are gradually being built by the Government and NGOs.

Village committee member Ma­­mat, 40, said all 73 houses in their village were swept away by flood and only 15 families had remained.

Living in makeshift shelters for months had exposed many orang asli to environmental dangers.

Hanisah, 50, said the Taman Negara National Park had elephants, bears and wild boars but she chose not to think of the dangers as there was nothing she could do.

“The rain woke me up last. I could not sleep because the floor was completely wet,” she said.

Recipient of the house donated by Star Foundation Rahman Panjang, 38, said orang asli appreciated woo­den houses as they were cooler to live in.

Insaf still needs more sponsorship and volunteers to build another 11 houses under the project.

Contact insafmalaysia on Face­­book or ishakabdulkadir@gmail.com or call 03-4251 9444 for more information.

Stakeholders worry over greater scrutiny on online media

the star
BY LOH FOON FONG

PETALING JAYA: The online media and social network space is anticipated to come under more scrutiny following last month’s changes to the laws.

Centre for Independent Journalism director Sonia Randhawa said the Sedition Act had raised concerns that even online media would face greater scrutiny and the free space for discussion would be constricted.

She cited the addition of “religion” in the Act and the courts being empowered to stop someone from accessing an “electronic device” as examples of making reporting difficult.

The amendments to the Sedition Act were passed in the Dewan Rakyat on April 10.

In view of World Press Freedom Day which took place on May 3, the stakeholders were concerned about the tightening of laws.

Sonia said the Act did not address concerns over the state’s role in administrating legislation that claimed to be founded directly on religious texts.

The Act made it almost impossible for journalists to facilitate these conversations in a respectful and peaceful fashion, she said.

Penang Institute Fellow Dr Mustafa K. Anuar expressed concern that the Act would drive media practitioners to extreme self-censorship.

“Social media users will also come under intense surveillance by the authorities because the definition of ‘sedition’ itself is too vague,” he said.

University of Nottingham Malay-sia Campus media and communication studies associate dean Prof Zaharom Nain said the mainstream media was already tightly regulated through ownership and current laws.

“The net is now being cast further, or at least there is an attempt to do so, to bring online media to its knees,” he said.

He also said the amendments to the Act provided for harsher sentences – no fines but heavier prison sentences.

“In a democracy, you discuss and debate differences of opinion. You can’t talk about ‘moderation’ especially on the world stage, and then provide all these immoderate controls,” he said.

Expert: Two-year grace period to ban smoking too long

the star
BY LOH FOON FONG

PETALING JAYA: The proposed two-year grace period for eateries to ban smoking is too long, said a tobacco control consultant.

Universiti Putra Malaysia Tobacco Control’s Prof Dr Lekhraj Rampal said a six-month grace period should be adequate.

“More than that is too much. When dealing with harmful products, we don’t talk two years,” he said in response to the Malaysia-Singapore Coffee Shop Proprietors’ General Association president Ho Su Mong’s proposal to the Health Ministry.

On Saturday, The Star front-paged a report on the Health Ministry’s plan to ban smoking at parks and eateries nationwide, which would soon include open-air premises and those without air-conditioning.

The association proposed the setting aside of a 40% designated smoking area and a two-year grace period before the “no smoking” ruling was imposed.

It also called for shops with 10 tables or less to be exempted.

Dr Lekhraj said the 40% designated smoking area was not a good proposal because there was no assurance that the smoke would not travel to non-smokers.

“The total ban should not be delayed because smoking could cause cancer, heart problems and other medical issues.

“The association must ask itself if it is willing to pay for all the treatments,” he said. “Currently, the Government is paying for it and it involves taxpayers’ money.”

Dr Lekhraj said the ministry’s latest plan was much needed because “many non-smokers do not know how to tell off smokers when the smoke bothers them”.

Those who want to quit smoking were affected by the smoke too and sometimes postponed their plan, he said.

The Government should enforce the ban as Malaysia was a signatory to the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

“This has been talked about for some time now,” Dr Lekhraj said, adding that cigarettes sold at cashier counters should also be banned because it was a form of advertising and such an environment would not encourage people to quit smoking.

Space for smokers sought

the star
BY LOH FOON FONG

KUALA LUMPUR: The Health Ministry is gathering feedback this month on the proposal to set aside 40% of space in non-air-conditioned eateries for smokers, instead of a total ban.

Ministry official Dr Nor Aryana Hassan said the suggestion by the Malaysia-Singapore Coffee Shop Proprietors’ General Association would be accepted if there was no objection from other associations and consumer groups.

“We will be gauging the response from these groups until end of the month,” said Dr Nor Aryana, who heads the ministry’s secretariat on the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, of which Malaysia is a signatory.

Yesterday, The Star front-paged a report on the ministry’s move to ban smoking at parks and eateries nationwide, even at open-air premises and those without air-conditioning.

In response, the association president Ho Su Mong had proposed to the ministry that it consider allowing the setting aside of a 40% designated smoking area and a two-year grace period before the no-smoking ruling was imposed.

It also called for shops with 10 tables or fewer to be exempted from the ruling.

Dr Nor Aryana said the minister would announce the final decision before gazetting eateries and national parks as smoke-free zones.

“The ministry is also open to feedback online,” she added.

Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (Fomca) secretary-general Datuk Paul Selvaraj said while Malaysia should work towards smoke-free eating places, those insisting on their rights should put on a mask when they smoke.

“Be it a special room for smokers or other forms of segregation, it is acceptable as long as the secondary smoke does not travel to others,” he said.

“More importantly, enforcement must be beefed up as people still smoke in air-conditioned areas.”

Malaysian Indian Restaurant Owners Association president T. Muthusamy said operators should be allowed to designate zones in their premises for non-smokers.

“Some owners have fully banned smoking in their restaurants as they cater to a certain crowd,” he added.

The Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) has gone a step further by suggesting that the sale of cigarettes be banned in eateries.

Its president S.M. Mohamed Idris said there was no reason for cigarettes to be sold in restaurants or food outlets as they were not food.

“Cigarette smoke contains more than 7,000 chemicals and poisons. It is a killing agent,” he said.

“There should be a total ban since people of all ages patronise eateries and stalls,” he added.

Epilepsy cure through surgery

The star
BY LOH FOON FONG

PETALING JAYA: Many people do not know that some epileptic cases can be cured through surgery.

A couple has even deemed such procedure a miracle after seeing their son’s recovery.

A taxi driver who wanted to be known only as Mohd Alam, 58, and his wife Hamidah Ahmad, 48, a cook, said they could not believe that their son Muhammad Aazim, 10, no longer suffers from seizures after a brain surgery last year.

Muhammad Aazim was 13 months old when he had fever and started to have seizures. He was diagnosed with encephalitis. Hamidah said he used to have 12 to 15 seizures a day and would suddenly fall on the floor.

It was only last year when the boy was nine that Mohd Alam and Hamidah decided to turn to surgery. And since then, life had been a total turn-around for them.

Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL) paediatric neurology department head Dr Ahmad Rithauddin said encephalitis had caused scarring to one part of Muhammad Aazim’s brain and this led to electrical disturbances in the brain.

“We tried all sorts of medication on him but none could control his seizures. And because of his seizures, he stopped learning new things,” he said.

He said epileptic seizures could be due to genetic factors and brain lesions such as tumours, scars or abnormal brain formation. “Some of these lesions can be treated by surgery,” he said.

Dr Ahmad said epilepsy was under diagnosed in Malaysia and some patients might not have received proper assessment due to a lack of awareness, adding that some patients suffer up to 40 to 50 seizures a day.

Expertise available only enabled HKL and most hospitals to carry out straight forward surgeries, but through a public-private collaboration, more complex cases were referred to a private hospital, he said.

Through the partnership between Sime Darby Foundation (YSD), Ramsay Sime Darby Health Care (RSDHC) and HKL, surgical treatment was made possible for the lower income group through the Epilepsy Surgery Programme Fund, said YSD CEO Yatela Zainal.

Nepal quake: Insaf Malaysia heads to villages near quake epicentre to help out

the star
BY LOH FOON FONG

KUALA LUMPUR: Most of the assistance to earthquake victims has been focused on Kathmandu and only limited aid has reached villages near the disaster epicentre in Lamjung, 80km from the capital.

It was for this reason that Insaf Malaysia decided to head to Gorkha and Laprak following the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that hit the Himalayan nation on April 25.

“If we could get a helicopter service and more doctors, we’d want to cover Sirdibas, Uhya, Barpak, Gumda, Lapu and Soti as well,” said Ishak Abdul Kadir, the president and founder of the technical relief NGO.

He, together with two doctors, a clinical psychologist, a nurse and a logistician, drove to Gorkha, 140km from Kathmandu, on May 2 through a narrow, winding road.

After attending a relief work coordination meeting the following day, they found out that the Nepalese did not have the logistics to move deeper into the villages, which could only be accessed via trekking or a helicopter.

After connecting with a captain of the Indian army, they got a helicopter ride from Palumta airfield to Laprak, where an internally displaced persons camp was located, and quickly treated 33 patients, mostly children and infants, in the one and a half hours before dark.

Helping hand: Insaf Malaysia team members led by Ishak (below) providing medical assistance to the victims in Laprak

The locals provided blankets while the Singapore police assisted with solar-generated electricity.

At the Laprak camp, 3,600 displaced persons from 600 villages lived in tents with their livestock.

The elderly, he said, did not go there for treatment because it was too strenuous for them to walk through the hills for five hours to reach the base camp.

“Some of the injuries had not been treated for days.

Ishak Abdul Kadir

“Some were sent to hospital by helicopter when they ran out of antibiotics,” said Ishak, adding that they saw 100 to 130 patients every day.

“Even when we did not have anything more to offer the villagers, a bottle of mineral water could bring them cheer.”

Those who wish to donate to Insaf Malaysia can do so via these account numbers – Maybank: 562188306090 or CIMB: 8600184578. For details, contact 03-4251 9444.

‘Healthcare budget cut not a problem’

the star
BY LOH FOON FONG

KUALA LUMPUR: The quality of care given at government hospitals and clinics has not been compromised despite a RM300mil cut in the Health Ministry's budget following the fall in oil prices, said minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam.

On April 18, a news site reported that the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC), which is under the jurisdiction of the Education Ministry, had its budget cut to RM387mil despite an expenditure of RM510mil last year, raising fears that the quality of care for patients might be affected, while medical students might also be negatively impacted.

Dr Subramaniam said his ministry has allocated RM27bil for healthcare this year, and so, savings were made by slashing expenditure at functions, conferences and campaigns.

“No, we have not made any decision on any more cuts next year,” he said when asked if the budget would be trimmed further.

Speaking after the launch of the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka's medical book in conjunction with the International Book Fest here yesterday, Dr Subramaniam said budget cuts at UMMC should not have impacted training.

“This is a specific issue with UMMC. They should look at how they could manage their budget so that it does not affect their core activities and discuss it with the Education Ministry to see how they can resolve it,” he said.

In a separate interview, a doctor who declined to be named said there was a budget cut across all ministries and health expenditure had been cut but allowances of doctors were left alone.

While there were no cuts on dispensing per se, hospitals had been advised to use more generic drugs, while at the same time rationing the use of costlier innovator drugs, he said.

Hospital Kuala Lumpur director Datuk Dr Zaininah Mohd Zain said that the hospital was conducting more impact studies so that clinicians knew the financial impact of every item ordered and service rendered.