It is Visit Malaysia Year 2007 and Malaysians are trying hard to put up an image of friendliness and peace. We garland visitors with unreserved joy hoping that every direction that they gaze is flawless.

Unfortunately, one only has to flip through our dailies to fathom the truest nature of our society. From brutal slayings to unrelenting snatch thieves. Crime rates appear to be rising and increasing in viciousness.

The police force appears inept at handling the surge in cases as corruption lingers. This poorly renumerated workforce appear rusty and incompetent as many cases remain unsolved or mysteriously closed.

For a nation that aspires to be developed in less than 14 years, the most essential component that needs development is the citizens themselves. Afterall a nation is only as good as its people. We may have great physical infrastructures but they will only remain a facade of development.

In essence, we are still very much a third world nation. Its citizens relishing archaic political and economic protection. The corruption rates are rising as political leaders refuse to acknowledge the gravity of the situation, perhaps fearing the potential of exposing themselves.

Malaysians are hardly a thinking society as this "luxury" is stifled even in institutions that are supposedly centers perpetuating intellectual brilliance. A society that can hardly withstand the onslaught of criticisms and competition.

Our public toilets speak volumes of public apathy. Road manners and signages often mean nothing. Streets shrewn with human waste and debris is common.

Malaysia, oh Malaysia I cry for ye!

The 21st Century has brought with it new challenges, in particular those related to cyberspace. Existing laws are still struggling to define this virtual entity and its role in the "real" world.

Recent libel suits against Malaysian bloggers have highlighted many controversial issues that has yet to be resolved. Are bloggers actually journalists? As the contents of a particular website is publicly broadcasted, should such a blogger exercise self censorship or restraint when it comes to issues of controversy?

Bloggers appear to be flexing their muscle and are tipped to grow in strength in years to come. As such, many are now infringing into areas previously monopolised by the mainstream press. From investigative reporting to breaking news, bloggers are now a force that beckons to be reckoned with.

With this recognition, it has become increasingly important to exercise judicial wisdom when writing on a particular subject. Expressing one's views in a public domain, like that of the internet, can be dicey and prone to skewed interpretations. Such can result in an avalanche of lawsuits against individual bloggers, whom are mainly inept at fighting prolonged expensive legal battles.

Should this silence bloggers? I think not.

Many are dispirited by the years of enduring the lack of press freedom. The press was previously manipulated to provide subtle brainwashing to the fancies of the governing party. The internet has opened new avenues for which the opposing political parties have been quick to utilise. However, this new found freedom has brought with it new problems.

Many have often misused such a freedom to belittle, defame and express vulgarities. Personal experiences from my blog has revealed startling sad realities when readers leave abdicable comments revealing the lack of restraint in a public domain.

Having said that, a personal blog should be considered as a personal space online. It reflects the thoughts of that individual. The only difference is that it can be read by any who stumble on that blog. A reader can then choose to believe or otherwise, what is being written.

The problem starts when a particular blog has gained popularity from its contents, that many may now see it as a threat rather than just an online journal. Many blogs which are more controversial but less prominent are left pretty much alone.

Should bloggers be subjected to the laws regulating our journalists?

I think bloggers should be responsible for what is being said knowing very well that the internet is public domain. Revealing one's identity is essential when writing on controversial issues to lend more credibility to the site. Hiding behind pseudonyms is, to me, cowardice.

Bloggers like Jeff Ooi has gained prominence from his hard hitting, straight to the point and provocative reporting. His readership base grows with increasing notoriety among the mainstream media. This recent libel suit will certainly test the limits of freedom on speech in cyberspace. Are we at the threshold of government censorship?

For now, bloggers, like me, will have to stand behind fellow bloggers who all firmly believe in the freedom of speech and independence of the press.

So bloggers, unite and stay united. It may affect us more than we think it will.

The sight of mamak restaurants mushrooming around the city is testament to its popularity as a "lepak" spot for many Malaysians. These places have an added appeal of having large television screens mimicking the open air cinemas of yesteryears.

It has been so popular that crowds have swelled beyond the confines of the shoplots on most instances, spilling over into the carpark lots and adjacent verandahs. Whether this move has been permitted by the local authorities is unknown.

There was a slight hiatus to this practice some years ago when a girl who patronised a mamak stall was killed when she was hit by a car who had lost control and rammed into several tables placed on the roads. However, there was no firm regulation formulated to prevent such recurrences. It has since flourished once again.

My last call proved once again that such a move by mamak operators are putting their customers' lives at risk. A similar accident occured and this unfortunate patient is now fighting for his life.

How many lives are to be lost before the authorities take firm action? Many claim that it is part of the Malaysian culture to have these mamak teh tarik sessions, but is it?

I fear that only more lives will be lost, all because of a dollar's worth of teh tarik.

Once I believed that when cardiopulmonary resuscitation(CPR) is performed, the fight for the patient's life is a lost cause, at least in adults. And when co-morbidities exist, the prognosis worsens further.

I once said that when CPR is commenced, 9.5 out of 10 patients will end up dying. It meant that CPR was a prelude to death. What more if the patient did not respond favorably to early resuscitative efforts.

It is true that CPR is never a good prognostic indicator for patients. But the chances of success is higher when performed promptly and correctly.

The gratifying feeling of saving someone you thought was certainly going to die, is beyond description. But it happened when a patient was brought in to the Emergency on one busy evening during on-call, with shortness of breath and went into cardiopulmonary arrest in the Emergency.

CPR was commenced. The patient's heart rhythm gave us a challenge from ventricular fibrillation to sinus bradycardia. He was defibrillated 3 times and given large doses of drugs. After a 15 minute struggle, we finally got a pulse but his rhythm remained unstable.

What was the chances of survival? I would not bet on it. I counseled the wife that we are probably going to lose him, and he was unlikely to survive the night.

He did survive the night. What surprised me was he finally got home. "What are the odds of that?" was my initial thought.

So the next time when I'm involved in a resuscitation attempt, it is never a lost cause, until it's lost.

A Maldivian doctor attached to the medical department posed a quaint question. "UM is the best medical school/hospital in Malaysia, isn't it?" I paused. "It supposedly is", goes my reply tinged with a little sarcasm.

Perhaps I was afraid of embarrassing my own country. There were just too many flaws within our medical healthcare system, even in a "top" Malaysian medical school. I was doubting the fact that we have the best at University Malaya, which academicians or students in other universities likely will tend to agree.

It may be helpful to have a proper assessment and ranking of all the medical schools in Malaysia. This may trigger more competitiveness among local and also foreign universities located in Malaysia. Living in the glory of yesteryears, which UM tends to suffer from, is a very dangerous delusional state, resulting in a stealthy spiral downwards. An unbiased ranking may jolt many into the painful reality.

One thorn that will puncture any attempt at glory is the lack of meritocracy and transparency. Until and unless this is practised, all other attempts will only be futile in raising the rankings of our local universities. Refusing to accept this will only put Malaysia in an academic doldrum, driving away special talent to accommodate a more mediocre group. Special privileges only creates a mirage of success and achievements that will undoubtedly crumble at the sight of fierce challenges.

Our leaders need to be far-sighted if Malaysia is to achieve greatness. Anything less will only make Malaysia a laughing stock to many in the future, even to "lesser" nations like Maldives.