Sensationalism has landed local socio-political site The Independent Singapore in trouble with a whole country — Malaysians were riled up over a report that took their healthcare system to task over the death of a Singaporean student in Johor Baru.
Student Justinian Tan, 25, succumbed to his injuries and was declared brain dead on Aug 28, a couple of days after he was knocked down in a hit-and-run accident in Johor. It took close to 10 hours before he was eventually conveyed back to Singapore for treatment. By that time, doctors said that “too long had passed”, and his injuries were too severe to treat. His parents pulled the plug on his life support on Aug 30.
But it was the claims made by Tan’s friend and witness — Joshua De Rozario — that The Independent Singapore chose to highlight. Speaking to Singapore media, De Rozario stated that they had to wait half an hour for an ambulance to arrive at the scene of the accident. Upon reaching Sultanah Aminah Hospital, he said that the staff demanded thousands of Malaysian ringgit before preliminary scans could be conducted on the two victims of the accident.
Denial and anger
The Independent’s report went viral on social media, sparking anger on both sides of the border. The Malaysian Ministry of Health (MOH) denied the allegations, asserting that there wasn’t any delay whatsoever.
“From the ambulance service records, it was noted that the emergency call was made at 2.57am on Aug 25, 2017. The ambulance left (Sultanah Aminah Hospital) HSA at 2.59am, arrived at the scene at 3.10am and departed from the scene with the patient at 3.15am,” it wrote in a statement.
The ministry also added that the hospital’s Emergency Department team initiated all the necessary scanning and urgent treatments without asking for any deposit. It was only when the family members of the victims arrived that they were asked to proceed with “payment of imagine” that amounted to RM2,575 (SGD818).
“The MOH urges all relevant parties to be responsible in reporting and further commenting, as releasing inaccurate information and baseless statement can lead to misunderstanding and disrupt the harmony. The MOH has always value life and does it utmost best to treat any patient, regardless of their background or nationality.”
Malaysian health minister Dr S. Subramaniam, in particular, felt that the allegations were serious enough to consider legal action against the country’s health system, according to The Straits Times.
“This matter has gone overboard,” he said. “It not only gives a negative impact on us, but also demoralises and demotivates public healthcare staff who work hard and are dedicated in saving lives”.
Director-general of MOH Noor Hisham Abdullah took issue with The Independent Singapore in particular, calling the news portal “arrogant”.
Response and retraction
De Rozario responded to the statement, explaining that “the wait for help to come felt really long” during the time of the accident. He also mentioned that there could have been some miscommunication at the hospital, considering that they had difficulties communicating in the same language with the staff.
The Independent Singapore has also since retracted its article, apologizing “for the anguish and distress this incident has caused”.
This was after the site’s Facebook page was inundated by angry messages, death threats and negative reviews by Malaysians. So much so that its publisher Kumaran Pillai had to geo-block Malaysian visitors from its Facebook page, Mothership reported.
“As for the apology, we just wanted to defuse the situation as a lot of the comments were inappropriate, inflammatory, uncalled for and bordered on race relations,” Kumaran noted to the publication.
The Independent has since put out another article that says it’s happy that Dr S. Subramaniam has accepted its apology.
As for the director-general of MOH, he’s been relentless in defending the reputation of healthcare staff and Hospital Sultanah Aminah:
