Wilbur's Recommended Read...

special thanks to Tee for sending me this brilliant article...

By Dr Lee Wei Ling

I was born and bred in Singapore. This is my home, to which I am tied
by family and friends. Yet many Singaporeans find me eccentric, though
most are too polite to verbalise it. I only realised how eccentric I
am when one friend pointed out to me why I could not use my own
yardstick to judge others.

I dislike intensely the elitist attitude of some in our upper
socio-economic class. I have been accused of reverse snobbery because

I tend to avoid the wealthy who flaunt their wealth ostentatiously or
do not help the less fortunate members of our society.

I treat all people I meet as equals, be it a truck driver friend or a
patient and friend who belongs to the richest family in Singapore.

I appraise people not by their usefulness to me but by their character.

I favour those with integrity, compassion and courage. I feel too many
among us place inordinate emphasis on academic performance, job status,
appearance and presentation.

I am a doctor and director of the smallest public sector hospital in
Singapore, the National Neuroscience Institute (NNI). I have 300
staff, of whom 100 are doctors. I emphasise to my doctors that they
must do their best for every patient regardless of paying status.

I also appraise my doctors on how well they care for our patients, not
by how much money they bring in for NNI. My doctors know I have friends
who are likely to come in as subsidised patients. I warn them that if
I find them not treating any subsidised patient well, their appraisal -
and hence bonus and annual salary increments - would be negatively
affected. My doctors know I will do as I say.

I remind them that the purpose of our existence and the measure of our
success is how well we care for all our patients - and that this is
the morally correct way to behave and should be the reason why we are
doctors. In NNI , almost all patients are given the best possible
treatment regardless of their paying status..

My preference for egalitarianism extends to how I interact with my
staff. I am director because the organisation needs a reporting
structure. But my staff are encouraged to speak out when they disagree
with me. This tends to be a rarity in several institutions in
Singapore. The fear that one's career path may be negatively affected
is what prevents many people from speaking out. This reflects poorly on
leadership. In many organisations, superiors do not like to be
contradicted by those who work under them. Intellectual arrogance is a
deplorable attitude.

'Listen to others, even the dull and ignorant; they too have
their story,' the Desiderata tells us. It is advice we should all heed
- especially leaders, especially doctors. I speak out when I see
something wrong that no one appears to be trying to correct. Not
infrequently, I try to right the wrong. In doing so, I have stepped on
the sensitive toes of quite a few members of the establishment. As a
result, I have been labelled 'anti-establishment'. Less kind comments
include:

I am indifferent to these untrue criticisms; I report to my
conscience; and I would not be able to face myself if I knew that there
was a wrong that I could have righted but failed to do so.

I have no protective godfather. My father, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan
Yew, would not interfere with any disciplinary measures that might be
meted out to me.

And I am not anti-establishment. I am proud of what Singapore has
achieved. But I am not a mouthpiece of the government. I am capable
of independent thought and I can view problems or issues from a
perspective that others may have overlooked.

A few months ago, I gave a talk on medical ethics to students of our
Graduate Medical School. They sent me a thank-you card with a message
written by each student. One wrote: 'You are a maverick, yet you are
certainly not anti-establishment. You obey the moral law.' Another
wrote: 'Thank you for sharing your perspective with us and being the
voice that not many dare to take.' It would be better for Singapore's
medical fraternity if the young can feel this way about all of us in
positions of authority.

After the Sars epidemic in 2003, the Government began to transform
Singapore into a vibrant city with arts and cultural festivals, and
soon, integrated resorts and night F1. But can we claim to be a
civilised first world country if we do not treat all members of our
society with equal care and dignity? There are other first world
countries where the disparity between the different socio- economic
classes is much more extreme and social snobbery is even worse than in
Singapore. But that is no excuse for Singaporeans not to try harder to
treat each other with dignity and care. After all, both the Bible and
Confucius tell us not to treat others in a way that we ourselves would
not want to be treated. That is a moral precept that many societies
accept in theory, but do not carry out in practice. I wish Singapore
could be an exception in this as it has been in many other areas where
we have surprised others with our success.

The writer is director of the National Neuroscience Institute.