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Sunday, August 22, 2010

change we must..

watched a morning talk show.. there was a slot with this Doctor in (prolly a regular in the show).. his knowledge is good and his answers were accurate..

but..

fluent he was not.. it was a staccato-like speech, pausing after every word uttered.. could see that he had a hard time trying to translate the terms from english to BM while he was talking, hence the pauses.. and not to mention the poker face! ye la, you want to convey something but your brain is busy processing and translating the words, your facial expression will be affected too..

if i were a layperson, i would've thought that this doctor is not confident enough..

the problem is not in his knowledge, but his communication!

and unfortunately, many doctors don't communicate enough with patients.. inadequate time? that's a lame excuse.. with the influx of doctors, more can be done.. if a doctor in Sandakan (with very few HOs) can educate his patients enough, why not the rest of us?

we're putting all the blames on the patients when they are not compliant to treatments and follow-ups.. we accuse them of not being well-educated.. well guess what? if i were in their shoes, i would've have done the same thing, too.. heck, being a medical student and knowing so much, i still miss taking my medications and feel reluctant to go for follow-ups; let alone other people who don't know better!

wanting to educate a patient is one thing, KNOWING how to do it is another.. it's a skill, not a given.. many a times i see a healthcare worker 'educating' the patients but the info is so textbook, i could see the blankness in the patients' eyes.. but they angguk and say 'yes, sir' anyway because they are too afraid to 'question' the healthcare worker, whereas it is their absolute right to know and understand about their condition!

scare tactics work well in making the patients seal their mouths shut and not question the managements imposed on them.. im not saying doctors don't manage well.. they do.. but sometimes it's their method of 'persuading' the patients into accepting the management is what i do not agree with.. we're limiting the utilisation of their free-will, something special that Allah has given to us human beings.. most of the patients comply just because they want to get out of the hospital ASAP, so they just play along.. it's certainly not because they know that the treatment is the best for them.. even worse, some patients who cannot stand being deprived of the attention and emotional needs eventually put their signature onto the Discharge At Own Risk form so that they can go home and seek treatment from the bomohs instead..

...now don't blame the patients if they prefer a bomoh to a doctor..bomohs treat (read:layan) them better..

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

it's never too late to be what you might have been

a letter from Dr. Tawfique Chowdhury


As-salâmu 'alaikum wa rahmatullâhi wa barakâtuhu
My dear friends, students, patrons, supporters, brothers and sisters in faith. My deepest love and respects to you and your beloved ones on the advent of Ramadan. Like the other 1.5 billion Muslims on this earth, I am sure we cannot wait to start fasting daily and enjoying the blessings of prayer and the Quran in this month. Many positive feelings overtake us this month: excitement, happiness, anticipation of blessings and reward, joy upon meeting family and friends regularly and the delight of amazing delicacies on the iftar table!

However for many of us, it is the negative emotions that predominate at the start of this month: fear of yet another unsuccessful Ramadan, apprehension and guilt. We start this month of Ramadan feeling guilty for being away from Allah for so long; for not having read the Quran this year until now; of not having prayed any tahajjud prayer until now; of not having fasting throughout the year - except for now. This guilty feeling leads to a lot of negativity in our approach to this month and perhaps to the lack of optimism in retrying those special attempts we had made before to read the whole Quran or to pray taraweeh and tahajjud every night or some other good deed in Ramadan. In fact for so many of us, guilt takes us away from Allah and makes us feel inferior and sometimes cripples us to lesser levels of aspiration and success. "What can this poor slave of Allah achieve anyway, when he is so engrossed in sins having done so many evil deeds?" For many - the thought of what we have done in the past - cripples us to what we can do in the future.

However, I would like to ask you all to approach this Ramadan guilt free! Free of guilt of the past. Why worry about something you can't change? It is not the past that should worry us or bother us, rather what could happen in the future. The past is the past - we can't change the sins we have done in the past - so to constantly focus on that for the vast majority of us - is far more crippling for the future than anything else. The prophetic guidance is to regret the past sins and missed opportunities, whilst fearing the future possible sins and being weary of missing future opportunities.

It is as Ibnul-Qayyium said in AnNooniyyah: "By Allah, I don't fear my past sins, since I have sincerely repented to Allah and Allah loves to forgive.However, what I truly fear is that in the future this heart of mine will cease to rule by this Quran and this revelation."

Remember that Allah is AlWadud - the loving God - He is the one who loves you more than your own parents! Have you not heard how Sufyan atThawri said: "I would rather that Allah judges me on the Day of Judgement rather than my own parents, for indeed I know that Allah loves me more than my own parents!" [Reported in Hilyatul-Awliyaa] So overpowering is Allah's mercy that it has transcended His anger. So wide is His Mercy that the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said: "If the disbeliever knew of the extent of the Mercy of Allah, then none would have despaired of entering His Paradise!" [Reported by Muslim] And plus, what past sins, when your sincere repentance with Allah's Mercy would have wiped it away and replaced it with equivalent good deeds: "Except those who repent, believe and do righteous deeds - they are the ones who Allah will turn their bad deeds into good deeds. And indeed Allah is most Forgiving most Merciful." [AlFurqan 25:70]

My friends, how do you dare to think that Allah does not love you when He says so clearly in the Quran: "Allah has not forgotten you, nor does he hate you!" [AdDuha 93:3] If He hated you, why did He keep you alive till another Ramadan? If He hated you, why does he provide for you even when you disobey Him? If He did not love you, why is He allowing you to taste the sweetness of loving Him this month by fasting and praying? If He didn't love you, why did He keep you upon Islam?

So come back to AlWadud - your loving Lord - the one who loves you more than anything else. He is waiting for you and is more happy with you remembering Him than you can imagine. If you come to Him today, He will rush to you. If you remember Him, He will remember you. If you talk about Him, He will talk about you to those with Him. If you say sorry O Allah, He will forgive you and turn them into good.

So start your Ramadan guilt free and enjoy a month of renewed emaan and focus on the good that you can do this month. Learn from the past, but focus on the future! It is truly as the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said: "Verily actions are judged by their endings."

With all my love and prayer for your success in this month
PS Please forward to your friends and family
Your brother,
Dr. Tawfique Chowdhury
Director General
Mercy Mission World

http://www.mercymissionworld.org