Malaysia to send letter to Singapore over slanderous article on public healthcare service; Driver arrested in hit-and-run case involving Singaporean
Ahmad Fairuz Othman
New Straits TimesSeptember 2, 2017
JOHOR BARU: A car driver in his 30s who crashed into a Singaporean man that died in a hit-and-run case, was arrested yesterday.
Johor police chief Datuk Mohd Khalil Kader Mohd said the man was detained about 3pm yesterday to assist in investigations under the Road Transport Act and was released on police bail today.
"The man in his 30s, was arrested and he is the car driver.
"He was detained at about 3pm on Sept 1 and was released on police bail on Sept 2 (today)," said Khalil when contacted today.
He was commenting on the case of a 24-year-old Singaporean who died on Aug 30, five days after he and a friend were involved in an accident where they were knocked down at a car park in Jalan Abdullah Tahir here.
In the 3am incident on Aug 25, Singaporean accounting student Justinian Tan, 24, and his friend Brandon Yeo, 24, were injured when a car driven by the suspect knocked them down.
Tan and Yeo were among a group of six friends who drove to Johor Baru from Singapore to have supper.
After being sent to Sultanah Aminah Hospital ( HSA) by ambulance, it was determined that Tan suffered an injury to his brain and was referred to a neurosurgery team.
A friend of Tan's , who was among the same of group of friends told theindependent.sg that the ambulance supposedly arrived late and payment was demanded of them before treatment was given.
Malaysia's Health Ministry has denied both claims citing a computerised log of the ambulance that recovered Tan from the accident site, and explained that his family were only asked to pay imaging costs of RM2,575 for primary survey X-rays, CT-scan of brain, cervical and thorax of the spine when they arrived at the hospital hours later.
Yeo was discharged, but Tan's next of kin opted for him to be discharged at on risk (AOR discharge) and arranged for admission to a hospital in Singapore.
After his transfer to Singapore General Hospital, Tan was subsequently declared brain dead and was taken off life support on Aug 30.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam said the ministry will send an official letter to the Singapore government to express disappointment over the slanderous article about Malaysian healthcare services that was uploaded on that particular news portal.
He said a discussion was held with the Foreign Ministry to draft and send the official letter soon.
He added, the ministry condemned the irresponsible news portal for uploading the article without verifying the facts that led to a negative view of Malaysian public healthcare staff.
"The claim that a hospital ambulance was late to arrive was untrue because checks were made on the computerised log from the time of the emergency call was made, when it (ambulance) arrived and when it returned to HSA.
"The claim that staff members refused to give treatment without payment was baseless because emergency treatment was rendered to the victim before his family arrived from Singapore.
"These allegations are very serious, and the Health Ministry abides by the principle that life is prioritised above everything else.
"The damage is done. It has not only brought a negative impact to us but it has negatively affected morale among public healthcare staff who work hard and are dedicated in saving lives.
"The letter will be sent to the Singapore High Commission in Malaysia as soon as possible. We will wait for a reply from Singapore and at the same time, we will discuss with the ministry's lawyers on our next course of action," said Subramaniam after placing the foundation for a new building at SJK(T) Ladang Nyior, Kluang today.
Subramaniam said a claim of a communication breakdown involving the Malay-speaking hospital staff should not become an excuse as hospitals the world over had been using their national language as the medium of communication, but that could be improved in future.
Tan's friend, Joshua De Rozario, who was among the same group that accompanied him to Johor Baru during the incident, admitted to Singaporean paper The Straits Times, that communication barriers with the staff at HSA could have led to conflicting claims.
Johor Health, Environment, Education and Information Committee chairman Datuk Ayub Rahmat yesterday called upon the Health Ministry to take legal action against the Singaporean news portal that claimed negligence on the part of Malaysian healthcare personnel.
Johor traffic police chief Superintendent Dzulkhairi Mukhtar said yesterday that the man who drove the car that allegedly knocked down Tan lodged a police report a day after the incident (Aug 26).
A second police report was lodged by one of Tan's friends four days after the incident (Aug 29).
© New Straits Times Press
