DOC'S LIFE
HEALTH CARE IN THE FIFTIES: PART 1
Reflections of Tun Dr Mahathir and Tun Dr Siti Hasmah
After his marriage in 1956, he was posted back to Alor Star General Hospital. One case that he could distinctly remember was an obstetric patient who had difficulties during labour. He administered ethyl chloride gas and asked his wife to continue administering the anaesthesia while he operated. It turned out to be an intra-abdominal ectopic pregnancy which had grown to full term! Without modern diagnostic machines such as the ultrasound, this extremely rare case was undiagnosed during pregnancy.
When he was the President of the Kedah Tuberculosis Association he organised road shows to remote areas such as Baling and Kuala Ketil to educate the community on the disease. As a government servant, he was entitled to a government car loan of $5000 which he used to buy a Morris Oxford. However, as a government servant he was also barred from political activities. So, he decided to leave government service and open up his own private practice. With a loan from his brother-in-law, he started his clinic in a partitioned shop lot in Alor Star. His patients were mainly poor farmers, villagers and labourers, some of whom could not even afford to pay the $3 medical fees. He had to do home visits almost everyday to see patients who were not able to go to his clinic due to transport problems or who were too ill. Although the charge for home visit was $6, patients would often pay what they could afford and the good doctor sympathised and understood their financial predicament. It was gratifying that these patients remembered his kindness and repaid their debt even after two decades had passed. Despite patients paying as and when they could, the clinic still managed to earn $2000 a month; this was considered a profitable venture as doctors in government service were earning less than half the amount. He could now afford a brand new American Pontiac costing $12000 – the biggest car in Alor Star at the time.
Figure 1. Tun Dr Mahathir (left) and Tun Dr Siti Hasmah (right): then (top) and now (bottom)
Although busy with his practice, Tun Dr Mahathir was actively involved in politics. His career path diverged after he was elected Member of Parliament for Kota Setar Selatan in 1964.
Tun Dr Mahathir leaves a pertinent message to our doctors. He noted that many doctors today do not know their patients well enough. He strongly believes that physicians need to deliver personalised care to their patients by performing more home visits to observe their patients’ family and background. Only then can they truly understand their patients.
The Pillar of Support
Yang Amat Berbahagia Tun Dr Siti Hasmah’s interest in medicine was sparked when her mother fell ill during the war. Since she was also keen to be a journalist, she applied for a place in both the Art and Medical Faculties. As fate would have it, she was offered to do medicine at the King Edward VII Medical College in Singapore.
She was the only Malay girl in a class of 75 students. However, being a girl did not spare her from being ragged. On one occasion, she had to walk around the quadrangle with balloons tied to her plaited hair while the boys had to carry shoes around their necks. The ragging helped to cement strong bonds among the students and the camaraderie lasted till this day. She recalled, the first Malay female doctor, Tan Sri Dr Salma Ismail was, at that time, completing her finals at the medical college. Tun Dr Siti Hasmah had difficulty with some of the science subjects that were not taught at school but her future husband was at hand to help her with her studies.
