The Future: Towards Becoming a Talent Leader

In the previous post we have highlighted how to be accepted and included within the world around. Integrating does not necessarily mean complete assimilation and thus losing our self identity and self in the process. We have to be aware of our roots where we come from and working to have strong values is what I am currently working on; Knowing yourself to Clarify Your Center (CYC). 

Apart from special in the workplace by working with various bosses. We take away the good lessons which we gather from those good bosses to integrate into what kind of a leader we strive to be. I also lucky to be doing work that I love in the field of Healthcare Architecture. 

Onboarding

Next when we strive for self improvement, it can be done in the various spheres of our lives such as going to self improvement and development courses, professional courses or even formally education. This is why I chose to pursuit my Masters of Business Administration (MBA). At that time, UTM is the university which offer the Healthcare Management concentration which is relevant to my line of work in the Healthcare field. To fully benefit from my time in UTM, I am also currently taking my second concentration which is Strategic Management. To fully be onboard with doing MBA we have embrace the culture or learning and exploring. When I started on my Masters journey, I was fully committed to taking full advantage of being in the MBA programme. 

Our batch during our Economics class with Prof Asan Ali, pre pandemic when we could meet everyone on campus, exchange ideas and have a truly global experience. 

Our batch is a good mix of students, we meet our fellow MBA classmates from Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Jordan, Iran, Egypt, Libya, Indonesia, Bangladesh, India, China and of course our fellow Malaysians. It great to have a global education in our own backyard, we get to meet people from different cultures.  

Previously I mentioned in class that I am a reluctant leader, I took on my MBA to gain knowledge but I understand ultimately as one progresses up the ladder, we have to shoulder on more responsibilities as a leader. I have worked for 12 years, my grade has alhamdulillah be promoted as scheduled, but I am still in an "executive" role. My work is mostly technical, I execute orders given and carry out project management roles as part of the team (I do not lead a team, and have no subordinates directly answering to me). I expect this to change once I come back with an MBA and I have to be prepared for a more challenging role.

Being the Change

I have high hopes the organization in particular and the Civil Service Department as a whole can carry out the transformation. Some things are beyond our control, but we can start small by changing our own mindset. Make the changes you want to see. I can see my bosses showing me how to do this. Make changes in your own (little) sphere of control. Be efficient. Be passionate in what you do. This will take you places.  

One of the concepts I learnt in marketing which can be applied in our workplace is the Law of Diffusion when trying to make a change. The Innovators are adventurous and are willing to take risks, they always want to be the first to try out the product, or in this instance, the new idea or change that we want to take place. Next comes the Early Adopters, although it will take some effort to convince them to get on board, they will look at the Innovators and say yea why not, lets do this too!   

The problem is to get the ball rolling for the Early Majority (EM) to be on board with our idea, here is where is there is a big chasm. its a very steep hill, to them EM to join us. Once they are on board, the rest will follow suit, the Late Majority don't want to be left out and finally the Laggards will finally have to concede since they are the only ones left behind. Interestingly, this concept can also be applied to the current situation in Malaysia with vaccine hesitancy. 

The Law of Diffusion.

The concept is beautifully explained by my good friend Adiba on her live fb session. I watched the session live in her office (as usual I prefer to be behind the scenes =P) and love it can be applied when we are trying to make a change in the world, or even our workplace. 

Just before her fb live session at Adiba's previous office at Majlis Buku Negara. 

Self Development 

Nora and Juriza and in second semester when we helped with the new students registration. 

To develop ourselves we have to be involved in the community, in UTMKL I was part of the committee in the UTM PGSS AHIBS KL. Nora was the Secretary while I was the Treasurer. They are part of my close circle of friends who encouraged me and kept me going throughout my MBA journey. Although initially reluctant, I challenged myself and continued my role as the Treasurer to support Adiba, who went on to become the Treasurer at UTM PGSS AHIBS cum president of PGSS AHIBS KL. 

Dr Hishan, PGSS AHIBS KL supervisor ahnding a token of appreciation to Mr Julian Neo during a recent event at DHL Headquaters. Mr Julian is DHL Express Malaysia and Brunei Managing Director, he is also AHIBS Adjunct Professor. 

Creating Connections

Here we are seen pictured with the TM tower in the background (where DHL HQ is located), happy that the event was a success! after the event. 

I was the Program Director and my partner in crime Elmi was the Deputy Program Director. Elmi is my fellow MBA classmate from Indonesia who just graduated last semester, she is a successful entrepreneur and business woman. One of her brands is Elmiare Batik which is featured in her action research. We connected because she is also in a Naval family and understands fully how it is like to always have to move and adapt to new environment and change. I also travel to Indonesia frequently and I love their food! 

The pandemic is taking a toll on everyone, especially for us students who lack the face to face interactions on campus with our lecturers and other students. One of the good things about having everything online is now we can join our classmates in UTM JB and have more options in joining class with UTM JB AHIBS lecturers. Although I have never met in real life, we still connected. I got to know my new group of friends virtually during my third semester. We are a diverse bunch consisting of bankers, engineers, and senior corporate managers. I hope to meet them in real life when the pandemic is over. 

Going Further and Beyond

We all have to go beyond our comfort zones. For example, two of my friends pictured above work abroad, this is an example of global mindset. Four of them have also recently been promoted while doing our MBA. Azizul recently took on a new role as a regional manager. Similarly Adiba recently took on a new role as General Manager at IIUM Educare and IIUM Consultancy. Azizul and Adiba are examples that having an MBA can give you a Competitive Advantage, they were promoted before the even completed their studies! I am inspired by their journey and hope to be able to upgrade myself and my career.  

MBA is not just about attending class and learning theories and submitting our assignments. It's where we upgrade ourselves, make new connections and create lifetime friendships and bonds ❤️❤️❤️. 

Education and Interests

My Alma Mater

In life and career, we have to continuously upgrade ourselves. My lecturers in International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) always reminds us that once we graduate, the learning continues. 

Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS), Kuliyyah of Medicine, Kuantan Campus, International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) 

Continuous Learning 

This is either done on the job, informally or formally. To renew our annual licensing certificate to practice, it is a requirement for all doctors to have a minimum number of Continuous Professional Development (CPD) points. At the hospital this was usually through department or hospital level Continuous Medical Education (CME) sessions which we collect towards our CPD points. I was given the chance to attend various conferences at the national level. 

When I moved to HQ, I got the chance pursuit my interest in architecture as my work involved planning and designing MoH Healthcare Facility Projects. I attended the Alliance for Healthy Cities Global Conference in Kuching Sarawak. Here I was exposed to urban planning and design and saw how we can combined the healthcare field with architecture.  

During the Conference I met Datuk Steve Ng, Managing Director of the Waterfront Hotel.

Professional Certification

In 2018, I was already 3 years in the Health Facility Planning Section of the Planning Division, Ministry of Health Malaysia and felt it was time to upgrade myself. Being in a non clinical post (ie I'm no longer seeing patients), there were limited career options. The only recognised non clinical specialty is to be a Public Health Specialist. Public Health is very broad and I wanted to focus on Health Facility Planning and Design. I took the initiative to join Cornell University's online certificate programme. It was quite a struggle for me to complete all my modules as I was still busy handling projects, attending meetings and site visits.

Attending a live session with our instructor Bob. 

I liked the format of the online classroom, only the lecturers can see all students, and only students who speak will appear (video made visible) to other students. We felt less self conscious and didn't mind leaving our camera on the whole session. I had to adjust to time zone differences. The other modules were done at our pace, we had to go through the instructional videos ourselves, complete quizzes and participate in an online forum discussion. Finally in 2020 while I was a concurrently doing my MBA, I complete all my modules and received my certificate. 

Healthcare Facilities Planning and Design Certificate by Cornell University.  

Just before I started my MBA, I was given a chance to complete another certification during a short course in Dubai, UAE. 

 

Healthcare Planning Course Certificate by TAHPI. 

Architecture. 

I love architecture and during my travels, I am always excited when I see building I only read about and see online. This is the CCTV (China Central Television) building I saw on my trip to Beijing, China. As you can see, I took pictures every time our tour bus crossed it. 

Its interesting how the building becomes a different shape from different angles.   

I took pictures of other building during that trip including the Galaxy Soho by the late and renowed architect Zaha Hadid. 

This is me in front of the Birds Nest Stadium designed for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.  

On our trip to Bangkok, Thailand I spotted the Mahanakhon building. 

The Interlace by OMA architects, spotted on my trip to Singapore. 

Combining my interest and work

I have to say that I am lucky to have found the intersect, where my love of architecture can be paired with my line of work in healthcare. I hope I can further strengthen my career and continue to pursuit in this very niche field of Healthcare Architecture. The path is not year clear, but we carve our own way. 

Volunteer work - Cambodia and Cameron Highlands.

While we were studying our degree in IIUM, the students were exposed to volunteerism and we were involved in lots of community outreach programmed. We visited orang asli villages in rural Pahang and did medical check ups. It has been more difficult to volunteer since I have started working, the last time I did some volunteer work was helping with food packing and distribution with Mercy Mission a few years ago. I wanted to make sure I used the time I was in UTM KL to give back. During my MBA, I had the chance to volunteer as in Cambodia during my first year of study and Cameron Highlands during the second year .

Year 1: Kampung Jumnik, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.  I joined Permai Budi, on their annual trip to Kampung Jumnik, a Malay (Melayu Champa) village few hours drive from Phnom Penh. It was my first time joining them, they have been coming to this village since 2009 and transformed it. Physically, by building an actual school called the Fikry High School (named in honour of their biggest donor) and also changing the livelihood of the villagers. Fikry High School is pictured above, it recently received an additional block.  

There were three teams, the medical team which did medical check ups and dispensed medications for the villagers, the dental team which did dental treatment and procedure and the sunat team who performed the circumcision for the locals. We were joined by our brethren from Indonesia, which lead the circumcision team and they brought their own patented smart clamp called the Sunathrone, which we used. Since I missed my surgical days, I mostly joined them and did several circumcisions. 

We distributed staple food and cooking items to the locals and saw how the lived. The village was just beside the Mekong River and they were very poor. After doing our work, we got a chance to visit their capital city, Phnom Pehn.  

I took pictures with random monks again, they didn't speak English this time. We also met with Fikry Highschool alumni who went on to further their studies to tertiary level (not pictured). 

 

Me and fellow volunteers, other doctors and pharmacists who joined the trip. We visited the cornfields, it was very dry and dusty and we saw the great Cambodian sun set. It was a trip to remember, I'm glad we got to the chance to go abroad one last time just before the world stood still and the pandemic took over. 

Year 2: Pos Lemoi, Cameron Highlands, Pahang. 

More recently, I had another chance to do some volunteer work. This time with Prof Asan Ali, our economics professor to help with data collection for his research. We went to Pos Lemoi, a restricted Orang Asli settlement a few hours off road from Cameron Highlands. We needed a permit to enter and to get there, we had to go off road. 

Posing in front of the villagers house after we did our data collection. 

Some villagers lived deeper in the jungle and we had to make a 6 hour trek just to get to them. It was a wet day, and I brought along my trusty yellow umbrella. 

Everyone still happy, as we didnt know that the rain would not stop and we would hike until midnight!

We had to cross several rivers, and posed on one of the logs. 

On the way to one of the villages, our vehicle got stuck during a river crossing, since it rained so much the previous night, the river was deeper than usual, and there was mud. 

We managed to winch the vehicle out with the help of the local boys an settled for the night. We had a nice moonlit dinner. 

  The next morning we enjoyed our breakfast by the water. 

The whole team happy that we managed to complete what we set out to do, we posed just before we were about to head back home. 

It was a great experience for all of us. Some were tested physically, during the arduous trek and back. One person was injured, but we soldiered on and encouraged them to keep going. It was good to keep morale up but Prof Asan showed us how to be a good leader and make tough calls. We has been hiking in the dark for several hours by then, there was limited headlamps and some batteries were running out. It usually better to keep the group together but he had to decide to split up the group, he instructed the faster team to go ahead and get some help from the villagers, while the rest kept on hiking slowly according to their pace. 

I lead the team back, we walked back quickly with our guide (two orang asli boys). When we reached the village, we requested they help bring back the injured person by motorcycle. That portion of the trek was accessible by dirt bike, but it was near midnight and they had at least 2 hours trek ahead of us. We were so relieved everyone survived the hike and came back safely.   

On another occasion we were tested with quick thinking, for example during the river crossing pictured above, our 4x4 got stuck in the mud. I thought to myself, is it normal for the car to not be moving. I thought the driver was playing a prank on us, as he was always kidding and joking. As I sat there, there was a small puddle of water forming in the car. As I looked at my feet and watched the water rise, I thought to myself, is it normal to have water in the car like this? I remained calmed as everyone was trying to figure out how bad our situation actually was. We had to escape and climbed out of the front door passenger windows. I quickly thought to grab everyone's wallets and handphones for safekeeping. My partner (pictured above) who was in the car with me was occupied with getting the car unstuck. She managed to help winch the car out by hooking it to a tree on the other side of the river.   

My favourite part of the whole experience was again meeting new people. Apart from us the business students, the others had various backgrounds such as architecture, finance and economics. One recently got back from Milan and Turkey and we had a lot to talk about as we exchanged out travel stories.  

Reflection of Self - Global Mindset

During one of our final meetings, we had to assess and evaluate our Global Mindset. I scored pretty high 155 out of the maximum 160. The Questionnaire consisted of four sections; Intellectual Capital, Psychological Capital (Cultural Sensitivity), Psychological Fortitude and Social Capital. I now realize that this is one of the strengths that I can bank on.

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In our final class with Dr Rosmini, we learnt that we need all three, the social capital, intellectual and psychological capital & fortitude. All three aspects can be developed by reading, or other ways to gain new knowledge such as listening to podcasts or TED talks, immersing yourself in new cultures and experiences, and develop your Emotional Quotient (EQ). 

Heritage

One our classmates, Ameh Francis mentioned that sometimes when we have inferiority complex, we might be having reverse racism. I have to say I agree, in that we shouldn't look down on ourselves, just because we are a certain race or colour, in fact we have to be proud of our heritage. The way to overcome this is to read more about history, to know your roots. For example Malays were seafarers who travelled far and wide and we even have Malay settlements as far as Cape Town to the west (Cape Malays), up north in Cambodia (Melayu Cham) and even a small community in Australia.  

Global Nomad

I started my life abroad, I was born in Australia, my family moved back to Malaysia where we moved several times in Malaysia (Terengganu, Perak and Kuala Lumpur). We then went to live in England, then Scotland. I came back and was in boarding school (MRSM). I still travelled to the UK during my semester holidays. 

Having the International Experience at home.  

Since my family came back to Malaysia, I continued my studies here even though I received scholarship offers to study abroad (US). I stayed in Malaysia an attended International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) and later Azman Hashim International Business School (AHIBS), University Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Kuala Lumpur Campus for my Masters. 

In both universities, we received an international experience as we had people from all over the world studying at our university with us. In IIUM they were mostly Muslims from various countries. I loved the food when we visit our main campus in Gombak. In my current batch in AHIBS about 40% of my batch are from PR of China, another 40% are from the Middle East, leaving us the Malaysians in the minority.  

Well, if you can't go abroad, bring them to you!

Broadening Horizons

Beijing, China. I attribute my high scored to my upbringing abroad and later on, my frequent travels for leisure. Before the pandemic, I always made sure I travelled once a year abroad. I am lucky to have had the chance to travel a lot. Travelling on a tight budget means a lot of diligent planning, travelling domestically and mainly involving the ASEAN region. We would book cheap travel packages during travel fairs months in advance such as this trip to Beijing where I visited the Great Wall of China. 

It was during a short Merdeka break holiday and we met fellow Malaysians who even brought a Jalur Gemilang to the Great Wall. It was a wonderful moment as we had Malay, Chinese and Indian together in the picture!    

Siem Reap, Cambodia. I also had the chance to go to Cambodia, we visited Angkor Wat and befriended a friendly monk. He became our translator for the play we went to as it fully in their local language. I was curious how a safron robed monk could speak such good English, it turns out he was actually a banker and was doing his masters in Finance. He was actually on a holiday break and went back to his village. 

Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). Later, I was very fortunate to be offerenced the chance to go on a short course to Healthcare City, Dubai, UAE for work related training. The instructor was Aladin Niazmand, who was an architect and expert in health facilities, he was very nice and taugh us who was a mixed bunch of engineers, architects from various countries such as Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, India, Jordan, Egypt, Ethiopia and Russia.    

It was great to meet other people from different countries and we could how people in different countries worked, we exchanged ideas and I greatly benefited from the course. It was also a good networking sessions to get to know everyone. 

Aladin handing me the Completion Certificate. 

Reflection of Self - Great bosses

During my career in the Ministry of Health (MoH) I have worked under the tutelage of various bosses at various levels of the organization. MoH is the second largest Ministry and I have had the pleasure to work with the heads of unit at the Hospital level, State level, Headquarters level and even Minsterial level. While writing this I just noticed that most of the good bosses I looked up to and was close to were ladies! There are male bosses I look up to, and I shall write about them too.

In Terengganu I started off working in a small unit, there was only 3 doctors and the specialist herself. Later I once I moved to the Headquarters level, I worked directly under my boss at Department level, later our unit was upgraded to Section, the Division level and Program level. My work involved interacting with Hospital Directors, the Director of State Health Department (Jabatan Kesihatan Negeri) Head of Department, and even the Deputy Ministers. 

Hospital level: Head of Department

After I completed my housemanship (HO) training back in my kampung in Terengganu, I stayed on and worked for a brief stint in Obstetric and Gynaecology (O&G) department. It was too much adrenalin with two lives (mum and baby) at stake, so I opted to work in the Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (PRS) department. I was good with my hands, and loved surgery. I knew I would love plastic surgery.  

Back then, nobody wanted to be in PRS, there work was demanding and the boss was very difficult to please (she was a perfectionist). I applied but could not be transferred immediately as the previous boss just moved away, hence the department didn't have a plastic surgeon for a few months. They would not accept anymore medical officers (MO) without an actual plastic surgeon in the unit to oversee the department and train the MOs. The new boss, Ms Hasliza was from Perlis and used to work in the Klang Valley. She was promoted and became the new head of our little unit here in Terengganu, I can finally join. It was a culture shock for her adjusting to the language and ways of the east coast, while she taught me how to treat burn victims and improve my suturing skills, I taught her a little bit about my kampung Terengganu. 

On my first day joining the department, she briefed me on her expectations. I was very nervous but excited to be learning something new. We were a small team, only her as the Specialist and three other medical officers (MO) at that time. We were oncall 10 days a month and tended to patients in our wards, clinics and did surgeries. She showed me how to run a department well. She had high standards, was firm when she needed to be, but also knew when to be lenient. She was a really cool boss. 

I found out later we were in fact neighbours. She lived down the road from where me and friends (others doctors) rented a place, it was 10 minutes from the hospital. On days when the surgeries lasted longer than expected, I went back and fetched her children from school so she could focus on the patient and complete the surgery. 

Me and my boss, Ms Hasliza she was a very inspirational boss and I enjoyed working with her. 

Hospital level: Hospital Directors. 

I then moved to the Ministry Headquarters and took on a different role. At first I didn't know how to behave without a patient to look after. What do I do in an office? I changed departments, and finally found my calling in my current department which is Facility Planning. I dealt with projects and the work involved lots of travelling which I did not mind one bit! I was in charge of the west coast, and met frequently head of State and Hospital Directors on site visits. 

Me on a work visit to Hospital Kulim with Dr Fauziah, the hospital director.  

State Level: State Health Directors.

My work also involved other profession such as engineers and architects, now I had to learn a new lingo. The language of buildings. Meeting various people from different backgrounds made me appreciate everyone's role and the job that they play. We cannot feel superior or that our job is more important than others. Although I am from the HQ level, I respect the people on the ground, the end-users who I meet at the state and district level. Yes some have higher positions than me, such as the clinical specialists who are all mostly JUSA levels, but we all have to know our roles and responsibilities and that each party has something to contribute. 

Me and the Kedah team (including Datuk Norhizan, the Kedah State Health Director then, before coming to HQ) pictured during a visit by the Sultan of Kedah to one of our projects. 

Headquarters level: Head of Section

Me and Dr Saudah, my lovely boss on her last day at the office, she retired a few years ago. 

My boss then was Dr Saudah, she was a motherly figure and she honestly said to us that she never imagined herself being the head of the department. Our Department was later upgraded to Section. It was not one of her aspirations, to climb up the proverbial corporate ladder. She found herself there because she persisted and I could see that she really loved her job and cared about her work. I remember going back everyday at 6.30pm or even 7pm waiting for her. She showed me that if you did your job well, it would pay off later, you don't even have to seek acknowledgement, it would come to you instead. 

Headquarters level: Director of Division

While I was in the Health Facility Planning Department, our Division Director was Datuk Dr Rohaizat Yon (DDrR). His work ethics was similar to Dr Saudah. If it wasn't me and Dr Saudah switching off the lights as we were last to leave, it was DDrR. My office was just across from his and at the end of every day, I would always pop over and ask how his day went. His whole day was usually filled with meetings with the Minister, Deputy Minister and other various engagements. I would then summarize my day and asked get his opinion on things. He always gave a helpful suggestion and was very encouraging. He taught me to be persistent and passionate in what I did. In fact, without him, I don't think I would have managed to further my studies to do my Masters.    

  

DDrR wanted us to challenge ourselves and would often invite me along to his meetings or even sent me to represent him at the Division level, sometimes at Deputy Minister level meetings. He would introduce me as his officer to the Deputy Minister and instead ignoring me until the end of the meeting, Datuk Seri Dr Hilmi would kindly invite me to sit at the table right beside him. He was very approachable, easy going and treated his staff very well. DDrR was later promoted to Deputy Director General (Medical Program), DDG (Medical), we were sad to see our boss go, but happy he was promoted. Little did we know at that time, we would see him on live tv during daily press conference with Tan Sri Datuk Dr Hisham, the Director General of Health.   

My colleagues and I pictured with Datuk Dr Rohaizat Yon after he was promoted to DDG (Medical) we presented him with a present and a congratulatory sash. 

 

Me attending a meeting chaired by the Deputy Minister. I am sitting beside the current KSU of MoH, Dato' Shafiq Abdullah. 

Program level: Deputy Director General.

 

Another person I had the pleasure of working with was the State Director Datuk Hizan. During my trips to Kedah, I made sure we established rapport with the end-users. Usually, the number one boss at the state level did not really pay much heed to the officer from the HQ. Especially since I was a female, and I always get comments that I look young. It was different with Kedah, at one point, I had about 13 projects I was monitoring and involved in the West Coast (including Perlis, Penang and some regional level projects). 

If Datuk Hizan was in a meeting, the whole ambiance of the meeting became much more pleasant. People gave their opinions openly, discussions were held, each person was acknowledged in the meeting, even the clerical level staff. Some staff had been in the department so long that he upgraded their role and made them active participants of the meeting. The surgeons like my previous boss, can handle complicated surgeries but it is the job of then engineers to ensure that the temperature of the Operating Theater (OT) is comfortable for everyone to work in and also prevents and infection during surgery, and the architects to ensure that the OT is designed correctly. 

I learnt a that everyone has a role to contribute and we must bring out the best in others. We also set the mood around us, whether it is the meeting we are chairing or the task we are heading. He did his job so well was promoted further to his current role as the DDG (Medical) to replace DDrR.    

Me and Datuk Norhizan the current Deputy Director General (Medical Programme) in his office. 

Ministerial level: Deputy Ministers

YB DS Dr Hilmi and I often met again later during parliament briefings and site visits. The only thing I could not yet do was talk to reporters on live television. During a site visit with DS Dr Hilmi, reporters asked the Deputy Minister a question and he directed it to me. I was too self conscious and nervous to answer. YB DS Dr Hilmi and Datuk Hizan ended up answering the question. They both laughed about it later and said that was 15 minutes of fame moment, and I missed it! (I honestly did not mind, I prefer being off camera). 

Since our department was involved with construction of health projects, we always had to supply answers and prepare texts for the Minister and Deputy to answer in Parliament. Parliament duty involved giving input and feedback during pre sitting briefings. It was a very stressful job to be on duty, as the information provided had to be correct and quickly provided. I do not mind attending deputy minister briefings such as with YB DS Dr Hilmi and YB Dr Lee, but meetings at the Menteri level was too stressful (that I often forget to ask for a picture as I was so nervous). Both Deputy Minister of Healths that I have worked with have strong technical background, as was the former Health Minister YB Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam, who were all medical doctors. Dr Lee is a medical doctor who further specialized as a cardiologist. If we briefed him before parliament, he immediately understood the issue at hand and knew how to answer additional live questions brought up during a sitting. He taught me what it was to truly be a technocrat.

During a site visit with Datuk Seri Dr Hilmi Yahaya, the former Deputy Minister of Health. 

Pictured with the former Deputy Minister of Health, Dr Lee Boon Chye when we were on duty in Parliament.