rAll Of You Should Read This. Today I had a most interesting and upsetting experience. I want to share this and you can share this and keep it going to make a change. Today I had to send my son to the doctor because he was running a high fever of 39.7deg. I was worried and I checked for the usual clinic we go to previously at Parkway. However the PD we go to is on medical leave and out of desperation, I decided to go to Anita Menon at East Coast Road which was also near to my place. Interestingly, Anita Menon’s clinic does majorly Appointment-Based Consultancy. Everyday, they will only allow a few; 3-5 walk-ins. They will only allow vaccines be booked 2 weeks in adv (which is reasonable). And each day, they only allow a few sick walk-in children. The rest of the time, they will reject you and asked you to go somewhere else. If you insist on staying, they will tell you the wait is 2-3 hours. Or more. Previously also due to the unavailability of the original doctor we go to, I have rang up Anita Monen before. As such, in order to ensure that I have get Samuel to see the doctor in the shortest time, I reached the place 45min before the actual opening of the clinic. True enough, there was a parent whom has an appt for his daughter over her rashes problem. However at 930am when they were due to go in to the doctor’s room, they decided to go to a longer than usual bathroom break. I asked to go in first since they won’t ready, the nurses do not allow but said that if the parent is permissive to allow us in first, we may go ahead. So the parent agreed to let us in. In his exact words, he said he understood our anxiety because our baby has high fever. But when we were about to go in, the nurse went to convey the following statement to the parent. “Dr Anita wants you to know that if you allow Samuel to enter first, you will need to wait longer than usual.” Because of this statement, the parent decided that it is not worth his wait and told us he won’t let us in first. After 1 and half and time ticking away, while my son was uncomfortable and sick, I pressurized the nurses to let my son in. As a parent, in that pressing situation, I have chose the route of pressurizing the clinic to be flexible on their system. The nurses were pressurized and at the same time explained the entitlement the people feel over the fact that they have already fixed an appt at a opportune time. In as much they felt that Samuel should see the doctor first, they could not override it. In the end, knowing that I was upset and disappointed that I could not bring Samuel in to the doctor because the first parent decided it wasn’t worth it, they slot me in somehow before another pair of parents whom also have fixed their appt at a earlier date. However the wife was so pissed off, she stared at me angrily for a long time and after that decided to stomp off out of the clinic because now she needs to wait 15min longer. She walked past me to pick the stroller and while I was standing in her way, she wanted to bump me using her shoulders but instead hit my sleeping child’s leg because he was in a harness and have protruding legs. Then she took her stroller and ramped it onto my feet. Her husband was shocked and exclaimed in a ‘Oi...’ and she turned back and gave a unwilling sorry. I was very pissed and hence exclaimed to her that she can say it only if she meant it. And her next statement was “We have appointment!” In this episode, I have concurred that humanity has shrink to our lowest form of class. The doctor is a good doctor however; setting a system which does not have a clause for emergency cases, is appalling. You have lost your purposes. The medical case of a primary school rashes kid and those here for vaccines, in comparison to my under 12months old baby, running a high fever needs to stand behind the queue of entitled people. Our humanity has round itself up to instant-gratification and the lack of patience. We have no empathy, zero sympathy. We are reduced to video-watching people on our social media’s and sharing a post and think that we are good people who have contributed to the society. Hence a parent who by right could have been more understanding to our fears as new parents were thrown into the garbage. With the wealth we have; esp the middle class people. You are not super rich and you are not struggling in your finances, you think you can throw your weight around. Towards the mother whom was violent towards me and Samuel. She needs self-control. In her shoes, I understand I would love to keep my appointments on time, and as mothers we love to be fighting mother hens. But when you fight rudely, you fight wrongly. The self-centeredness caused her to have only focus on the fact that she booked an appointment and she didn’t want her baby to wait. Our medical system in Singapore has come to a point to make people strive to only want private medical help because in the places where real people are (government hospitals/clinics), they are fighting for their lives but still knowing to give and endure to one another. The low wages of the healthcare staff fighting fire vs the rich doctors sitting the room teaching you to keep time. The cancer patients with fever due to infection at ER placed along corridors of brightly-lit wards overnight vs the coughing dude sleeping in a A-class ward. I recognized classes. I recognized that money makes the world goes round. But I understand how the thirst for our personal entitlement, instant gratification is only going to make our next generation loveless. Our lack of empathetic judgement will only make this world a harder place to have balance and for the weaker people to live in. I am not seeking equality. I am seeking the basic humanity of helping someone beside you whom will need the help more than you do for at that given moment. To the good doctor whom does not give allowances for emergency situations, to the frontline empathetic staff whom can not override the system. The 1st parent whom was willing to give and take at his convenience. To the 2nd woman whom portrayed self-centeredness and violence. This is what our current world is made of. I need us to listen. And look around us. While we are hypocritically teaching our children to share toys, the truth is we are selfish people. What are we giving to our generation and to the next. Mommyclucker
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