Ong Ka Ting is Acting Health Minister

Reported in China View :

"KUALA LUMPUR, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said Friday he had appointed Housing and Local Government Minister Ong Ka Ting as acting health minister.

Ong, who is also the president of the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), was appointed to the post that fell vacant after Chua Soi Lek resigned, according to the Malaysian national news agency Bernama."

Well, I don't know why in Malaysia, it seems to be a trend to take up 2 or 3 posts, to makan gaji by name, but not qualified to do the job. Even our PM holds 3 posts, but he is oversease every other week. So what does Ong Ka Ting know about medicine? He isn't a doctor, he doesn't have any medical experience, and he isn't doing such a good job in his current portfolio. So how in the world is out health system going to improve at a crucial stage like this?

What about those big decisions like dispensing rights to be taken away from GPs, and given to pharmacists? Dealing with the brain drain of our doctors? Healthcare insurance? All these could have dire consequences if uninformed decisions are made. Worse if the decisions will be profit seeking.

Anyway this is why I hate to see Dr Chua Soi Lek go, I wish he kept his pants on, because now we are left with a part time, non medical health minister.