Naked man causes a stir at clinic and hospital
THE STAR
The area where the naked man was spotted near a clinic near Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah.
KUALA LUMPUR: It was a disconcerting and unsettling situation on a road off Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah here when a naked man harassed a nearby clinic and a private hospital, looking for "medicine".
The sad tale began when the unidentified middle-aged man turned up outside the clinic in the morning without any clothes on.
"He was trying to come in, harassing patients who were walking in," said the doctor who runs the clinic.
The doctor, who asked to remain anonymous, said the man went into the clinic, walked around and said things to those inside, though the doctor was not sure what he said.
He said it was the first time he had seen the man.
"He hadn't bathed for some time, so there was a really bad smell even though the place has air-conditioning.
"One of the nurses asked one of the boys staying upstairs to give him an old pair of pants.
"We asked him to stay out because he was disturbing the patients.
"After a while, he just disappeared," said the doctor.
Donning his newly acquired khaki three-quarter trousers, the man appeared to have made his way to a nearby private hospital, which he entered through a back door.
According to a nurse at the hospital, the man told her that he wasn't well and that he wanted medication.
She noticed he had bruises on his back and had dried blood on his right ear.
She added that patients at the hospital began to complain about the man's presence.
"We asked him if he had any money and told him that this is a private hospital," said the nurse, who also did not wish to be named.
She said she then directed him to a government hospital on the other side of the road.
She said he refused to leave and told her he had money.
He left the hospital for a short time then returned with a packet drink.
His reappearance further rankled the hospital patients and the nurses spoke to him again.
He repeated his request for medicine and when asked what medicine he wanted, the nurse said he asked for "five", which is a slang term for a street drug.
The nurses told him they did not have that drug at the hospital, after which the man proceeded to tear up newspapers.
He then poured a bottle of hand sanitiser into a drinking water dispenser.
With the situation having escalated, the nurses called for their matron and one of the hospital staff suggested they call the police, at which point, the man left.
"The moment he heard the word 'police', he ran away," she said.
The hospital matron said the area had many beggars and drug addicts, who sleep outside the hospital in the evening.
"And the welfare people don't come and pick them up.
"Sometimes, they sit right in front of our door. That's the time when we start calling (the authorities)," said the matron.
The doctor at the first clinic echoed this issue.
"Who do we complain to? Who's going to look into it?" he said.
