Thanks, our Master of Ceremony (MC) Ms. Dunna Gitam.Address the guests and audience.
YB Datuk Rosnah (Deputy Minister of health),
YB Senator and Function Advisor Datuk Paul Kong,
The Sabah State Director of health, Dr. Yusof Bin Ibrahim,
State Health (Medical) Deputy Director Dr. Enoch Tan,
En. Mohamad Dzulhairul Shah Bin Dzulkifli, Representative of Hospital Queen Elizabeth director Dr. Juraidah Ahmad Babji,
Datuk john Ambrose, our Deputy chairman of the board,
Datuk Steven Kutai, our committee member,
Datuk Agnes Shim, Wanita Head of Federation Of Chinese Associations Sabah, cum Wanita Head of Sabah MCA.
Datuk Jamillah PBS Wanita Head,
Datin Mary Yong PBS Wanita Head Tj. Aru Division,
Dr. Awang Setia Bin Hj. Musleh and Dr. NarayanaSamy, both Deputy Director (Medical) of QEH,
En. Mohd Fareed Abdullah, the Deputy Director (Administration) QEH
Organizing Chairman cum ALPH’s secretary Dexter Lim Ming Guan, ALPH Penasihat Mr. Kong Tsen Pean, all the fellow members of ALPH,
All the Senior staffs / doctors / specialists of QEH,
our strong sponsors and supporters - in particular the Peratim and the Outreach Group,
and our ever important members of the press.
Good afternoon.
First, I want to thank you all for your attendance.
We are indeed very proud to have our Deputy Minister of Health, YB Datuk Rosnah to grace this function, albeit her busy schedule.
YB Datuk Rosnah, we appreciate your presence, and thank you so much for your supports.
Talking about thank you, the main purpose of this function is to say thanks to all of you here for helping us to survive through the difficult times of the hospital in the last two and a half years (between 1-January-2008 till 30-June-2010).
This period was in fact the most challenging time in the history of QEH with the inevitable closure of the ill-fated tower block in November 2008.
It's a blow to the government's efforts to raise the standard of medical services in the state.
The incident had not only tarnished the image of the government but also caused tremendous inconveniences to the public.
The case of QEH should serve as a good learning lesson to our administrator that all the future public infrastructures such as buildings must be built with the highest standards and professionalism in order to avoid similar incident ever happened again.
The successful acquisition of formerly Sabah Medical Centre (SMC) building had solved only part of the problems thus far. It's far from over for QEH without getting all the necessary infrastructures constructed as planned, some dating back as far as twenty years ago; nevertheless, it's my hope that the day will come, that a full-fledged, fully-integrated, well equipped QEH should, and shall be delivered, in time before the end of the term of the present government, which is by early 2013.
The present disintegrated QEH has ever since been giving rise to many operational problems such as those already been disclosed widely and openly by some quarters in the media in the last two years; and the problems can be resolved by simply speed up the re-construction of the new QEH, the soonest the better. More lives can be saved more efficiently and economically with an integrated medical complex.
We therefore urge the government, especially the Finance Ministry and the Ministry of Health, to specifically ensure efficient and progressive implementation in the rebuilding of the infrastructure, and also not forgetting, the parallel importance on the adequate deployment of human resources for providing of the various services.
I hope that PM Najib can intervene by making sure that the progress of the hospital's reconstruction programme is meeting all the targets as well as the KPIs that is now part of the government's transformation program (GTP).
It will be useless and too late for BN if he only intervene during the 11th hour before the polling day in the next general election.
Apart from the problems, I must highlight that our staffs were extremely tolerate, and loyal, that they managed to overcome all the obstacles, quietly and diligently, under the leadership of Dr. Zuraidah, the Hospital Director. For this, we should unreservedly applaud for their contribution.
The decision by the government to acquire the Sabah Medical Centre, and subsequently completed the acquisition of the SMC building and facilities, was commendable albeit its slowness. However, this had, to some extent, eased the tension and acute shortages of spaces, beds, and various facilities in the main QEH temporarily.
It is therefore rather unfair to say that the government didn't take care of the people of Sabah during the crisis, however, the shortfall in the facilities and spaces due to the unexpected event did expose the unforgivable negligence and mismanagement in the past twenty years, well, due to whatever reasons.
The QEH should have had the required standard facilities, and infrastructures that matched its status as a State Referral Hospital, should the expansion plans been implemented years ago.
I therefore, on behalf of the the board, urge the ministry again to speed up, without further delay, the pace of development for the outstanding facilities, infrastructures, and human resources. This, however, goes in line with the aspiration of our PM Najib's '1Malaysia' spirits of 'People First, Performance Now'.
Ladies & gentlemen, The QEH issue is no longer a Sabahan issue but rather it's now a national issue - a Malaysian issue.
I must admit that , without your full dedicated and committed contributions and supports, this hospital would not be able to serve the public satisfactorily. Your performance is therefore the crucial element in making it all a reality. I hope you will be continuously earning your esteem through the spirit of diligence, 1Malaysia, and patriotism.
We are the bridge between the community and the hospital; in view of that, we had sorted the help of the press notably the Daily Express, to have our services known by publishing daily on its 'Sabah Week' column. For this, we have to give a big Thank You to Mr. James Sarda for his help, and the generosity of the newspaper owner, the Sabah Publishing House Sdn. Bhd. for the free advertisement.
The newspaper had encouraged the public to contact us on unsatisfied services, however, some complainants prefer to directly channel their grievances to the newspaper. This means that we ought to work harder to gain their confidence in us.
The time has changed, with the availability of ICT, the younger generation are demanding more transparency and efficiency from the authority so that their problems are solved amicably. For that, we had humbly created a blog for the board in the internet world, http://lembagapelawathqe.blogspot.com/, for informing the public of our activities.
Apart from that, we have been breaking out from the tradition with a readiness to be more open to accept criticisms, and we hope that the authority or management will do likewise.
I'm overall happy with the performance of some of my board colleagues; however, I wish that the Minister will not be reluctant in future to replace those who are unable to perform reasonably to the minimal norm.
I wish the forthcoming Visitors Board have more capable and competent women appointed in order to bring new elements of influence to the board. Of course, we shouldn't forget the younger people who's now the dominate group in the society.
Last but not least, I hope the next appointees are willing to give up their times for the board, and ultimately, for the public. As an appointee honourily appointed by the minister of health; to serve the people is a duty, and not the reverse.
After all, we shouldn't forget that we are the bridge between the hospital and the community. With that, I also want to say thanks to the public for their relentless and active comments in various channels and media in the past.
Thank you every ones for your inputs and supports over the years, and I hope that your continuous supports to the board, the hospital, and the government, shall make possible a dream hospital of your choice in the foreseeable future.
Thank you, and thank you very much indeed!
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