The Digital Dental Surgeon

People have been busy talking, criticising and protesting about the recent petrol hike. Yes, petrol in Bolehland is considered absurdly expensive when compared to Venezuela, but if you look at it carefully it is still far cheaper tha Malaysia’s neighbours.

I just filled up my 1993 180SX which had only one bar of fuel left. Around 38.1 litres later, I managed to put in a full tank for the week for a whopping RM102.87.

Well, I’m a dental surgeon getting around a not too shabby more or less RM50K a year. Yet I do feel the pinch of the petrol hike. It’s not really the price, as the effect is generally felt worldwide. It’s more of the monetary power the Ringgit has. If I’m getting in USD, then the effect is not so painful.

Compare the income of a Malaysian dental surgeon and say, Singapore, you could see such huge divide. I’m not griping about how little dental surgeons in Malaysia make (dental surgeons in the civil service at least), but a little more would be helpful. Dental treatments are costly, and many do not know that costs incurred by dental practitioners are very high. You would expect the highest standards of care, which in my opinion should include a good dental chair, an autoclave, high quality and in sufficient numbers of instruments, etc and yet people are reluctant to pay for it.

The Malaysian buying power is not that great due to the relatively weak Ringgit. So it is not the price of petrol, it lies directly in our own economy.

How on earth could a nation build an economy powerful enough to withstand global fluctuation of vital commodities such as petrol?

Definitely not through sodomy and childishness among the nation’s politicians!

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