I remember mentioning to a friend that election rallies were like carnivals.

” With party banners and clowns?” she asked.

If clowns are politicians, then yes.

And my, my does our Deputy Health Minister know how to make a clown out of himself.

Mr Abdul Latiff’s comment was made in response to a question in Parliament about the quality of the country’s medical services.

He said, ‘The doctors have a license to heal and license to kill so we (the ministry) have to ensure that our doctors are well-trained so that we can safely receive treatment from them.’

Of course I understand you lar, Latiff…tapi mengapa hendak digunakan frasa ” License to Kill” untuk merujuk kepada kecuaian sesetengah doktor?

(Why is there a need to use the phrase ” License to Kill” to refer to negligence?)

He must have watched too many Bond movies the night before. Eh, minister you know rite, Quantum of Solace, November 2008.

Or maybe, just maybe by a Freudian slip, he is actually a closet supporter of Doctor Jack Kevorkian.

But in any case, here is my advice to the (deputy) minister. APOLOGIZE!

* * *

On the other hand, it is refreshing to note the response to this incident. It seems to me that Malaysians in general still view life as something precious and worth saving, rather than something that is owed and discarded when I grow tired of it.