AUG 28 — A friend asked if this was some sort of psy-op, when Malaysian doctors started tweeting about how much they hated their patients.
I told my friend that doctors are not immune from being stupid on Twitter (no, Elon, it's still not X to me).
The last few days were a mess on Malaysian social media when a doctor complained that Malaysians “abuse” the Emergency department in hospitals, treating it like a buffet free for all.
I am grateful Twitter exists because it gave me my career but I don't understand why people use it instead to torpedo theirs.
Then I read all the replies.
There were too many people who said they were ignored or misdiagnosed, told by doctors to just take over the counter analgesics.
When they fought to get second opinions they found that the doctors were wrong and their fears warranted.
Your patients are not the problem
The reality is that the pandemic showed just how strained our public health facilities are, with doctors leaving en masse while hospitals get more crowded and waiting times get longer.
Overworked and underpaid, you can understand why our health workers are angry.
This particular doctor seems to be making up for it by advertising paid social media tweets while also boasting on Twitter he doesn't pay his taxes.
Another doctor even said the public should be educated in knowing when they should go to Emergency and it's really cute that doctors are telling people to do what they're paid to do — make diagnoses.
The reality is that people's pain tolerance and understanding of their illnesses or state of their bodies will differ.
Most 24-hour private clinics are unaffordable to the poor and not within reach of everyone.
Sometimes the Emergency department is the only thing open because there are people who are unable to go to the doctor because of work.
It is dangerous, too, to let people treat their health like a DIY project.
That is how we get millionaires injecting blood in a bid to chase the fountain of youth and pharmacies become full of dodgy, perhaps even dangerous supplements.
In an ideal world we would all have our own family doctors, people who we could reliably refer to when sick or ailing.
It is not ideal that people are getting their health advice from the internet.
Looking after our doctors is not an expense; it's not “unsustainable” but a necessary investment.
However it's seen to be cheaper to create social media posters shaming Malaysians for being fat or ignoring doctors shaming their patients for going to the Emergency department.
Malaysians have a right to demand a better healthcare system, as well as preventative health care that does not place the onus on individual choices.
Feel sorry for the doctors acting out because they're tired; don't feel sorry for the people ignoring their exhaustion and putting their patients' lives at risk.
Protect doctors, protect public healthcare and protect our right to health.
*This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
