The intensive care unit of the Kuala Lumpur Hospital (KLH) and Seri Perdana in Putrajaya, have one thing in common. They were built for a specific purpose. Whilst one is for preserving life, the other is palatial.
For a brief spell, Prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, the current occupant of Seri Perdana, underwent a few days treatment at the KLH, because of complications from chicken pox. A comparison of the two places is inevitable.
KLH is the largest medical facility in Malaysia and possibly one of the biggest hospitals in Asia. It is a government hospital, with 81 wards and 2502 beds and is situated in the heart of the capital city. It is situated next to the National Heart Institute. In 1975, the last phase of KLH was completed at a cost of RM77 million.
The Seri Perdana complex consists of the Main Reception Facilities, Banquet Facilities and Private Facilities. It is located in Precinct 10 of Putrajaya and overlooks Putrajaya Lake, Putrajaya Wetlands and Taman Botani.
A written parliamentary statement in 2008 stated that Seri Perdana cost the public purse RM6 million a year for rental and maintenance (approximately RM16,000 a day).
The breakdown is: RM4.1 million paid in rental to Putrajaya Holdings, the master developer of Putrajaya, and RM1.9 million for maintenance. The contract which was signed in 1999, is for 25 years. Although the cost of building Seri Perdana was quoted at RM24 million, it was alleged to be RM200 million.
KLH employs 7,000 people covering 100 professions ranging from consultants and specialists (200), medical officers and registrars (500), matrons (10), sisters or ward managers (100), registered nurses (1,600), trained assistant nurses (750), to trained mid-wives (40).
In 2005, KLH served over 700,000 out-patients, and 125,000 patients had been warded.
Although no data was immediately available to show how many people are responsible for the daily running of Seri Perdana, it was reported that during the last Hari Raya Aidil Fitri invitation hosted by the PM, the catering chef said, “My 100 assistants and 300 service staff have been preparing 34 different dishes for the open house since midnight” for the tens of thousands of ‘well-wishers’.
Nevertheless, during Najib’s last sickness, he described how his wife had come to his aid and he spoke of his ordeal with complications received from the chicken-pox: "The doctor told me that I had no choice but to be treated at the intensive care unit. It was not something that I looked forward to."
During his stay at KLH, he noticed the dilapidated condition of the ICU and then advised his Health Ministry to upgrade the facilities in order to improve services to the public.
On 12 November, the cabinet approved a RM5mil to upgrade the facilities at the ICU of KLH to provide better services to the public.
Najib had earlier told his ministers, “But when God takes it (our health) from us, we realise how valuable it is. When we have health problems or lose our health, only then we realise how huge a loss it is.”
During a parliamentary session the previous day, the Pokok Sena MP Mahfuz Omar questioned why the government had allocated RM65 million for the renovation of Seri Perdana: “Why such high allocation…..? In every budget, there is an allocation to renovate the PM’s residence.”
He said, “Seri Perdana, the sprawling complex completed 11 years ago at a cost of RM201 million at a time when the country faced its worst financial and political crisis, had undergone several renovations, including during the premiership of Abdullah Badawi.”
In October, Bukit Bendera MP Liew Chin Tong had already revealed that the renovations were three times the figure spent by Abdullah. He said, “Every time a new Prime Minister takes over, a renovation takes place”.
And therein lies the puzzle.
Najib proudly announced that a 1Malaysia team, irrespective of race or religion, had discharged their duties professionally whilst treating him at KLH. He said that KLH’s team of doctors, specialists and nurses had treated thousands of patients who were similarly grateful for the treatment they received.
He said, “If we could translate this to a wider scale at the national level, we should be able to achieve the vision of turning our country into a developed and high-income nation."
One thinks of the thousands of health professionals Malaysia has lost to foreign shores. These people could have helped our sick, and transformed our health care system.
But more importantly, Najib’s RM5 million ‘gift’ is nothing compared to the RM65 million he is spending on his residence.
Our PM and his Cabinet fail to realise that many Malaysians believe that the RM65million represents the excesses of our leaders to erect monuments, which are only matched by their egos.
The RM65 million for renovating Seri Perdana should have been allocated to the KLH. It is without doubt that the various KLH sections – the ICU, the geriatrics ward, the paediatrics department and other units would have benefitted greatly from this largesse.
In addition, the public would have received improved services in the form of equipment and skilled manpower.
After his treatment, Najib said, “This is a lesson I learnt from my own experience (while in hospital). There are many things in our lives that we take for granted, for example, health”.
Given the misplaced allocation of funds, we wonder if his subconscious was saying, “There are many things in our lives that we take for granted, for example, the public.”
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