Mr What O'Clock

I'm sure many doctors have had encounters with patients (and their relatives) who seriously make you want to grab your hair and scream.

Seriously, I really do admire those in the service industry especially those working in the front lines of the hotel business or in shopping places like Jusco. When these people smile at you, do you ever wonder what they are really feeling/saying inside? Noting this, I always make a point not to make their lives more difficult unless they are really asking for it, like bringing me the wrong order or being rude. (and Yes, I do realise that I am working in a somewhat service business too)

Anyhow, just digressing a bit but I promise it will come to a point later - I pride myself in being able to speak English relatively well. Staying in the UK for 8 years helped too. Sometimes I find myself thinking in English and more often than not, I find myself stressing a point in English because the gist of what I am trying to say is usually lost when I say it in Malay. So, when Amani was bullied through and through for what she said a few years back, I kinda understood what she meant but pity the girl for being frank.

Anyhow, now that I'm working and living in the East Coast, I find myself speaking less and less English. Most times it's limited to giving presentations and speaking to foreign nationalities (which doesn't amount to much English anyway!) or when dealing with the so called 'educated' group.

Have you had an encounter when people used knowledge to intimidate or patronize? In some ways, over here, (I'm not sure if this happens anwhere else too) the language is used in that way.

For example, during one really busy afternoon in the casualty, I was sitting at the counter clerking a case when this lady came up and said "May I know who the doctor in charge is? My father has been waiting for a long time to get treatment." - I'm usually very 'selekehly' dressed during weekend calls and I guess relatives don't take me as a doctor. So, my MAs were silenced by this minah salleh celup and turned to me. So I said, "I would appreciate it very much if you leave your attitude outside, your father will be attended to when his time comes." The thing is, she spoke perfect malay henceforth!

Another example was when I was doing rounds with a specialist and was seeing a particularly ill case. She was an elderly nenek who is currently in deep coma due to a major stroke. So, we were still examining the lady when the girl accompanying the nenek said 'Kakak saya nak ckp dgn doktor." My specialist politely said she may call later as she hasn't finished reviewing the case. Yg I nak tergelak/marah pun ada, this girl kept shoving the mobile phone unto my specialist's face. So, my specialist got so pissed off, grabbed the phone and said "Boleh tak call kejap lagi, saya belum habis periksa pesakit lagi."

So five minutes later she called, and my specialist asked me to speak to this cucu. I spent a good two minutes explaining the nenek's condition and her poor prognosis and this girl kept asking me about transferring her nenek into ICU. I can tell that my specialist wasn't too pleased as she had already moved on to the next case and was waiting for me. So the next thing I know, the phone was in her hand and my specialist was speaking to this girl in English and one minute later everything was settled. My superior said, sometimes you have to speak in English to make people understand that you mean business.

So, anyway, Mr What O'Clock is a teacher (surprise, surprise) who came at the crack of dawn to bring his younger brother who had been involved in an accident home. My staff nurses were still passing their reports and I was the only one at the counter. Seriously, I wasn't rude to him or anything - it's just that it had been a long night and I was exhausted and people who know me know that my face is naturally sullen.

Mr What O'Clock must have taken to heart my attitude when I curtly said he could only see his brother for a while as it isn't visiting hours and the nurses are still passing their shift reports.

A few minutes later, he came to the counter and said to my nurse in his Northern slang "I want to know when doctor is going to come for morning round, I want to discuss with doctor, I want to bring my brother home back to Kedah. Can you tell me what time is doctor going to come?" At this point I had to cover my mouth to stop myself from laughing. My staff nurse pun satu, terkial2 nak jawab balik dlm English - when she said that rounds are done in the morning, cikgu pun dgn penuh confidentnya tanya "What o'clock doctor will come? Ten o'clock, okay?"

I burst out laughing after he left and chided my nurse for 'melayan' his ego trip. 'Bakpo tok ghoyak, eh, aku dok pehe la mu ghoyak gapo? Cubo kecek molek sikit..' [Kenapa tak ckp kat dia, eh, saya tak faham la awak kata apa? Cuba ckp elok2 sikit..]

I am NOT laughing at his broken/awful English but rather at his 'niat' of speaking it with us. He knew very well that there was nothing wrong with talking in Malay as my staff were 100% malay. So, apa niat dia sebenarnya? Nak show off?

I had several scathing replies, all in impeccable English to throw at him but realised that it wouldn't be worth my time and I'll probably regret it later on. If he felt better intimidating my staff nurse in front of me, so be it. But, I hope to god that you are not teaching English, wahai cikgu!