12/07/2008

Living in the past

This post could also answer some of the questions by Grunt above. I have read Lee Wei Ling's article 'Medicine is not just a career, but a calling' in the Sunday Times. What came out clearly is that Wei Ling is one of those near extinct specimen that is still living today, out of phase and out of time. The world has changed so much that chivalry is dead, compassion and helping the needy are only for publicity, not intended to be a genuine calling from the heart. This is best manifested in the high profile and high budget shows to attract people to part with their money by the sheer power of the media and show biz personalities. it is all a show. Medicine and medical science have advanced in leaps and bounds. So has human values and greed. Today, if a medical professional, or for that matter any professional, who is not earning enough to live a flashy lifestyle, he is a failure. He may be sidelined by his peers or scorned at for living in the idealistic past. Everything must be priced as high as the client can afford to pay. It is called 'affordable'. There is no time to bother about the actual cost or how deep a hole the client has dug to bury himself. This kind of thinking can be seen in another article in the same paper on the price of new HDB flats by Joyce Teo. She quoted a Albert Lu, the MD of C&H Realty who said, 'for those seeking a new flat to live in, it would not really matter whey they buy. If they were to buy high and sell low, they would also be able to buy a replacement home at a low price.' If this kind of rationalisation is acceptable, then HDB should go ahead and price at any price it wants, after all the owner is going to stay there for good. So buying a 4rm at $500K or $300k does not make any difference if it is owner occupied. Really? What a clever professional view! Back to Medicine is a calling. Yes it is a calling. Money is calling. The frightening thing is that many of our national leaders answered the calling to serve the people and they came from professions where the calling of Money is stronger. Now we can understand why money is the key in policy making. And why affordable has taken on a new meaning.

3 comments:

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

A fantastic government will get rid of all the money in society and keep it for themselves, to spend it as it is required.

People should not work for money, which is why the govt has to have total control of it. People can then concentrate on their "calling" and the govt can apportion whatever disbursements it deems appropriate to the individual contributions.

So if you are a doctor, say, working for the state, the govt will provide you with a car and a modest house. If you are a labourer, the govt will provide you fully subsidised transport, a small inhabitable box aka "a flat", and ensure BY LAW that the doctor treats you if you are sick.

The govt will construct and stock large food warehouses, where people can go to get their produce free of charge according to what the govt allots them.

By removing money as a medium of exchange from society, the govt can control everything. And there will be peace and plenty.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

i think myanmar should adopt your ideology to run the country. or they have.

maybe you can sell to the less able govt like our neighbours.

Anonymous said...

North Korea had already done what Matilah suggested, except that only very little things are distributed back to the peasants.