Malaysian hospitality

I literally enjoyed a day of Malaysian hospitality yesterday. That’s the reason why I did not post anything. Woke up at 5.30am to have golf at Horizon Hills. The new maze of flyovers and viaducts still posed a serious problem to unwary drivers. My partner driver has driven in many many times and still can get lost quite easily.

I was aiming for Jalan Tun Razak, that means trying to get back to town instead of heading to KL. We missed a lane and the next familiar turn was Permas Jaya. We took it and fortunately I am quite familiar with that area, made a U turn towards the coastal road along Bukit Serene and was on our way to the Club.

Fine day for golf with bright sunny sun. On the 6^th hole after making a decent drive I was tripped by the tee box marker. Some jokers thought it was a great idea to carve the alphabet H to be unique, HH equal Horizon Hills. Nice. But it was too big and high, and being blue did not stand out from the green grass.

I stumbled, couldn’t control myself and smashed my face against the hard buggy track. There was a 5cm deep cut on my forehead and that was the end of my game. I ended at a nearby hospital, brand new, medium size and with the name of Columbia Hospital. Nice thought, sounding very American in bumi country. Indeed it was an American chain of hospitals.

What surprised me was the staff. All Malaysians, no pinoys, PRCs, Indians or Myanmese. There was a Dr Soh, a senior nurse Ms Lim, a staff nurse by name of Jawady or something like that, another Indian staff nurse and many local female Malays nurses. The uniform was smart and probably by a good designer. And they were first class in their attentiveness, politeness and very professional. And they work very well as a team, very friendly among themselves and to the patients.

There were quite a number of patients but they don’t seem to be queuing for several hours like here. And the number of hospital staff, especially the nurses, was clearly sufficient to do an efficient task.

The hospital is entering its third year and the equipment was brand new and modern. I was taken into the surgery theatre, spanking clean and modern. And that was after all the checks and X-ray, and everything was over in about 3 hours with 14 stitches to close my wounds.

With this kind of service, the club is paying for the bills and I never ask, they will pose a serious alternative to the atrociously expensive hospitals we have here. The service quality is as good and you can feel that they are looking after you with tender care.

The other big surprise, far away from the politicians, is that the people work harmoniously despite all the hype about racism in the country. Get rid of politics and the politicians, the people will not be spending time bickering against each other on stupid political issues. There was not the slightest tension arising from race related staff.

The politicians should stay far far away from the economy and industries and let the people run their own businesses and live their own lives in peace, harmony and prosperity. The only thing they need to do is to make the infrastructure efficient and easy for the people, and make sure the place is crime free.

The Sinkies will have a good alternative in JB and not be robbed in our hospitals.