2/10/2021

NOT SO FAST PLEASE: Don't Sweep SNEC's Blunder Under The Carpet

Below is part of an article from TOC reposted here by SSO.

"In the wake of reports over the weekend that the Singapore National Eye Centre (SNEC) has given a member of staff the equivalent to 5 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine due to human error, it is notable that none of the senior members of Government has addressed this mistake publicly.

In addition, the error was apparently made on 14 Jan which begs the question of why it took so long for the public to be informed?

To make matters, worse, it seems like the wife of our Prime Minister, Madam Ho Ching (Madam Ho) has attempted to defend such mistakes on her Facebook page.

Among other things, Madam Ho has said “When you have mass exercises like vaccination, it is easy to make mistakes. We are human after all.” While mistakes are understandable and sometimes unavoidable, it seems completely tone-deaf to dismiss this error when the various relevant ministers have not even spoken up on the issue.

If the mistake was made on her husband, would she be so sanguine?"


Comments:

1. Blunders dismissed so easily and rapidly by the power in the shadow is tantamount to condoning and encouraging more such acts to happen.

2. It not only speaks of favouritism but also indirectly trying to cover up a blunder with a dismissive attitude.

3. When big blunders are dismissed so easily and quickly, what will happen to the medium and small blunders? Common sense tells that they had probably be swept under the carpet, may be over the last 20 years of shadowy power behind the scenes.

4. Why are the Health Ministrer and COVID-19 Team Co-Chairman keeping so quiet over this huge blunder?

5. Why is the Prime Minister also keeping so quiet about this blunder, and allowed his wife to overshadow him by firing the first shot?

6. Silence is not golden in this case. Speaking too late and allowing third parties to fire first means glaring poor leadership and the inability to size up the situation in a timely manner.

7. It also means taking Singaporeans and voters for granted and taking their responsibilities too lightly and their jobs too comfortably.

8. At least put up a show lah. Ask one of the million-dollar Ministers to make a parliamentary statement in order to take responsibility
and address this blunder, and promise to ensure that such blunders will not happen again.

9. Alternatively, initiate a board of Inquiry to look into the blunder and recommend standard operating procedures for the future. If even such actions also refused to do, then it speaks volumes about the leadership as a whole.

10. What has happened to all the political acumen and the wisdom passed down by the grand Old Man? Out of sight, out of mind?


SSO - 9 Feb 2021

6 comments:

1984 George Orwell said...

This is a very serious and unnecessary mistake that health professionals, such as doctors, nurses, drug dispensors, medical technical assistants and medical researchers, should never have made if they are careful and conscientious enough to pay full attention to their professional activities.

The injection of the vaccine into another person's body is a deliberate act, predetermined in advance and guided by the medical information and instructions detailed and provided by the manufacturer of the vaccines very clearly and in no uncertain terms.

Therefore, the commission of such a stupid and unfortunate mistake can only happen when the professionals have become unprofessionals, for various reasons - e.g. complacency, lack of due diligence and irresponsibility, just to name a few.

To own up the stupid mistake, which is obviously avoidable, is a good sign but to then quickly attempt to dismiss this stupid, unnecessary, callous and dangerous mistake as any normal in-the-course-of-works type of behaviour is too naive and awkward, to say the least.

The life of a person is at stake here.

No sensible person would blatantly claim that no harm will befall the victim of an overdose of five times the required amount of injected vaccine, any vaccine. Whoever is quick to even utter a single word to suggest that this overdose of five times the required amount of vaccines is harmless is, therefore, not only careless and irresponsible but also dangerous.

If this horrendous stupid mistake is not checked and stopped, yet condoned and encouraged indirectly via casual and thoughtless assertions, trust in the Vaccination Teams and the Vaccination Programme will be lost, for sure.

Any loss of life or limb in this Vaccination Exercise cannot and must not be taken likely. The long-term side-effects have yet to be established and the consequences of such a stupid mistake cannot and must not be brushed aside so easily at this early stage.

Anonymous said...

Why is Ho Ching stepping down after 17 years as Executive Director and CEO of Temasek Holidays, oops, Holdings? Is it due to severe losses caused by the Covid-19 Pandemic?

JK said...

Nope lah.

I think it's because she wants to spend more time doing her own investments with her own already amassed multi-mllions if not billions over the last two decades of hardwork in collecting salaries, bonuses, shares options, allowances and perks. Some more holdings two posts at the same time.

1984 George Orwell said...

Maybe, she wants to retire to spend more time with her grand children or hubby?

Anonymous said...

Aladdin's maid has made a mess in the living room. He tells his maid not to worry.

Aladdin rubs on his magic lamp and the Genie comes out.

Then Aladdin tells the Genie to sweep the mess under his carpet, forgetting that his carpet is a magic carpet.

On the next day, Aladdin sits on his magic carpet and flies through the window.

Then he looks back from the sky into his living room and suddenly he realises that the mess is still there.

"Alas!" Aladdin exclaims and sai, "there is no use sweeping the mess under my carpet. The mess is still there!"


SSO said...



China Mars mission: Tianwen-1 spacecraft enters into orbit


China says it has successfully put its Tianwen-1 mission in orbit around Mars.

It's the first time China has managed to get a spacecraft to Mars.

Tianwen-1, or "Questions to Heaven", comprises an orbiter and a rover.

This Mars mission orbit shows the rapid progress of China's space programme.

It follows December's impressive mission to retrieve rock and soil samples from Earth's Moon - by any measure a very complex undertaking.

Tianwen-1's mission, particularly the surface element, will be no less challenging.

Its five-tonne spacecraft was launched from Wenchang spaceport in July, and travelled nearly half a billion km to rendezvous with Mars.