Welcome to my Site!: Reflection of Self

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.