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Beware the perils of health care “liberalisation”

Anil Netto

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9 Sep 2009

Michael Moore’s must-see documentary, Sicko

And then came the expose of a PR campaign by the private health care industry to discredit Moore’s documentary…

I was reading the latest edition of The Edge – I am interested to see how the business folks think and what motivates them – when I came across a report that private hospitals are full because of the H1N1 alert.

You would think that this would keep these private hospitals busy. But folks in the private hospital industry are actually worried – not because of the H1N1 outbreak – but because these flu patients do not bring high enough revenue yield! “Flu patients could occupy the beds for up to five to six days and yet make less money [for the hospitals] than those that come in for higher-yield procedures such as minor surgeries but who would only occupy the beds for about three days,” an industry observer told The Edge.

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Smog hits Sarawak, Kalimantan

Anil Netto

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8 Sep 2009

12

Source: Environment Division of Asean Secretariat

Just heard from a friend that Kuching is blanketed by a haze. Visibility is down to just about 1km.

The Department of Environment reveals that Sibu and Sri Aman both have API readings of 105 (unhealthy) at 11.00am. But the readings for Kuching and Samarahan show only 84 and 99 (“moderate”).

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Buah Pala leaves bitter taste

Anil Netto

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8 Sep 2009

72

Buah pala or nutmeg, along with other spices bearing exotic flavours, once drew hordes of traders to these parts. Today though, the mention of Buah Pala is enough to leave a bitter taste as the village that bears its name – where the descendants of those who laboured in the spice plantations of yore now reside – faces demolition.

Folks today are more interested in ‘whacking’ the villagers for their political miscalculations and for being “greedy” because they did not jump at the offer of “double-storey terrace houses worth RM500,000”. At the same time, the Koperasi/Nusmetro’s greed is rarely mentioned; they have already made a huge unrealised profit on the land, even before any work has begun, after having bought the land for peanuts. (Purchase price approx RM10 per sq ft vs market value approx RM100 psf ==> for 6.5 acres, that works out to a cool RM25 million profit just on the vacant land).

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Kg Buah Pala in more hopeful times

Anil Netto

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7 Sep 2009

47

Just spotted this on Youtube; it could explain some of the disappointment among the villagers, who desperately wanted to preserve their settlement.

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Whose “reputation” needs managing?

Anil Netto

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7 Sep 2009

18

In case you missed it, a foreign PR firm, APCO, is claiming that the Malaysian government has enlisted its help “to assist in evaluating its capabilities to communicate through new media”.

It is opening a brand new office in Malaysia (see here).

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Humble Penan resist logging, oil palm giants

Anil Netto

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5 Sep 2009

17

Penan forest inhabitants are battling to save their ancestral lands from the might of plantation and timber companies, who have already stripped most of the primary rainforests in Sarawak.

Whatever happened to the much touted “sustainable forest management”? How were primary rainforests flattened for acacia tree and oil palm plantations, dealing a devastating blow to biodiversity?

Look at the greed of these logging and plantation firms. And when it comes to the interests of these giant firms vs those of ordinary people (like the Penan, in this case) – you know whose side the politicians will be on, as usual.

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Kg Buah Pala: No deal struck yet

Anil Netto

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4 Sep 2009

34

2219: Contrary to reports that a deal has been struck with all the villagers, half the remaining households have not yet accepted the developer’s vaguely worded compensation offer.

This is the current position:

Those who had left much earlier and signed – 9 households
Those who have now accepted and signed – 12 households
Those who have not signed – 12 households

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Shah Alam MP writes to Section 23 residents

Anil Netto

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4 Sep 2009

8

Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad has written an open letter to the residents of Section 23 regarding the relocation of a Hindu temple to their area.

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Bagan Pinang: Postal votes could be crucial

Malaysian elections

Anil Netto

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4 Sep 2009

34

Update: Postal votes could be crucial in Bagan Pinang. According to the chart here, Pusasda (Pusat Latihan Asas Tentera Darat) Kem Si Rusa falls under this state assembly seat with close to 2,000 postal voters. In March last year, Harakah reported an alleged irregularity involving a Bagan Pinang postal voter here.

Bagan Pinang Adun Azman Md Noor (BN) passed away in Seremban, according to a tweet from Khairykj.

In the 2008 general election, the first-term assembly member won the seat with a 2,333-vote majority over his Pas rival, winning by a 6,430-4,097 margin.

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