No bullying or mistreatment in Lahad Datu doc's death, task force finds

The Star

There was no element of bullying and mistreatment in the death of Dr Tay Tien Yaa, a pathology specialist at Hospital Lahad Datu, the independent special task force investigating the incident has found.  Task force chairman and former Public Service Department director-general Tan Sri Borhan Dollah, in revealing the findings after a three-month probe, said the conclusion was drawn based on four issues raised in the complaints by the deceased’s two siblings.  Read more at https://tinyurl.com/3mazhhwz  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

Transcript

00:00I would like to invite Tan Sri, the Chairperson of PPKLD, to brief us on the results of the

00:17Ministry of Health's findings.

00:21In short, as we all know, the Ministry of Health has entrusted us for three months,

00:36starting from 10 October and ending on 9 January, as a team to investigate the incident.

00:47We conducted a quantitative and qualitative analysis,

00:53but there was a lot of qualitative analysis,

00:57in which we conducted interviews involving 19 witnesses,

01:044 family members and 11 medical staff,

01:10including 4 other witnesses,

01:13as well as the Chairperson of the Department of Pathology.

01:19We also collected 41 documents,

01:22including photos, video recordings, medical reports and police reports.

01:29We also made a visit to the Department of Pathology at Datu Hospital.

01:34On 4 November, we also went to Dr. Teh's rented house in Mendiang.

01:42As we all know, the Ministry has taken initial action.

01:47However, as we all know, I would like to give a flashback.

01:52There were two complaints.

01:55One was from Kakab to Mendiang.

01:58The complaint was sent to the Ministry via email to the Ministry's Integrity Unit on 7 September.

02:07The other was from the younger brother, Lelaki Bungsu Mendiang,

02:13who was reported via Facebook on 14 September 2024.

02:30Based on the two complaints,

02:36based on screenshots from WhatsApp from Mendiang, Penang and Temelor,

02:51we concluded that there were 4 issues that were raised in the complaint.

02:59The first issue was that Mendiang was burdened with the workload and tasks of an expert

03:12that were beyond his scope and too heavy.

03:17Based on our investigation,

03:21we concluded that Mendiang was burdened with the workload and tasks of an expert

03:35that were beyond his scope and too heavy.

03:43Based on our investigation,

03:49we concluded that Mendiang was burdened with the workload and tasks of an expert

03:55that were beyond his scope and too heavy.

04:00Based on our investigation,

04:04we concluded that Mendiang was burdened with the workload and tasks of an expert

04:10that were beyond his scope and too heavy.

04:16The second issue was that Dr Tay was referred to as a medical officer.

04:24We did not find any evidence that he was referred to as a medical officer.

04:33There were on-call tasks where we had to answer all questions from various fields.

04:46There were three fields in the Department of Pathology.

04:50So, whenever he could, he referred to his colleagues in other fields

04:56because they had their own chat groups.

05:00The third issue was related to the complaint that the head of the department

05:10did not act as a leader in the department.

05:15The fifth issue was that the head of the department

05:21was oppressing and oppressing Mendiang while on duty

05:28because of the workload.

05:30So, we concluded that based on our investigation,

05:34they did not act as a leader in the department.

05:35They worked professionally.

05:37There were on-call chats.

05:39This can be proven from the on-call chats of other colleagues

05:43and medical officers.

05:48So, there was no question that he was oppressed.

05:53There was not a single incident that was brought to our attention

05:58based on the on-call chats that he was oppressing

06:02or that he was an HOD and Mendiang was seen fighting.

06:11So, that was what we concluded.

06:14And the last issue was the fourth issue.

06:17The court ruled that Mendiang Dr. T

06:24requested to stay in Semenanjung

06:28and did not want to be transferred or stay in Semenanjung.

06:34However, we did not get any results.

06:39From the Human Resources and Development Department,

06:43there was no such appeal.

06:49So, we saw that the appeals of the two defendants did not arise.

06:56What we concluded was that

07:00what has been said so far

07:03that Dr. T was oppressed and bullied by his department

07:10did not arise in this case.

07:15If we look at the results,

07:20they worked as a good team

07:23and always helped each other in their respective departments.

07:29So, that was what we concluded.

07:32I will leave the rest to you.

07:36That was our conclusion for the time being.

07:38The family court ruled that Dr. T was bullied by his department

07:45and our appeal did not arise.

07:51As you know, based on the four summaries of the issues raised by the two defendants.

08:01Dr. Fri,

08:02it seems that this opinion does not show the results of the family's accusation.

08:11So, what is the cause of the death?

08:13Yes, we have...

08:16I will say it again.

08:20I am just repeating what Dr. Fri said

08:24and the report that was made to us.

08:29It is important for us to understand.

08:31And I am taking this.

08:32Meanwhile, I am aware that the stress and pressure

08:40that Dr. T faced

08:45was the main reason for this decision.

08:50And as a minister,

08:52in the future, I will take special action

08:57in the so-called resource-limited setting

09:02compared to those who worked in Kolumpo and HKL.

09:08Where is HKL?

09:10Moving to Lahat Hospital, Lahat Datu, which is resource-limited.

09:15That is one of the main causes of his stress and work pressure.

09:22So, I will take action to improve the situation

09:29and the pressure that HKL has to face,

09:35especially our specialists in pathology.

09:41My name is Ashraf.

09:42If possible, what are the suggestions that have been put forward

09:45by the staff in relation to the results of this award?

09:51We have, indeed.

09:53Based on our results,

09:57we found that there are a few things that we can improve

10:04and we have already put forward to the ministries.

10:08So, here, for example, if I may say,

10:12one of the suggestions is

10:15for our staff who have moved or moved places

10:22from the three main components,

10:25which are Semenanjung, Sabah, and Sarawak.

10:27As the minister mentioned earlier,

10:33this perceived stress does happen.

10:36Because when we are outside,

10:39we are away from our families.

10:43So, I refer to the suggestion earlier,

10:46one of the suggestions that I can mention is

10:50for those who have moved to these three places,

10:54Sabah, Sarawak, and also Semenanjung,

10:56in a different culture,

10:59in a different situation, and so on.

11:01When we are alone and so on, there are many challenges.

11:05So, we recommend to the ministries to quickly

11:09put forward assistance programs

11:12to help our staff who have moved

11:15to quickly adapt or adjust themselves to the situation.

11:24Especially, if we take Dr. T as an example,

11:28she came to Ladakh alone from Citigroup.

11:33We can imagine that she moved to Ladakh,

11:38a city that is far away from our culture.

11:43Our working methods are different, and so on.

11:47So, we need the ministries to quickly take action

11:53to help those who have moved

11:56to make it easier for them to adapt.

12:00That is one of the suggestions that I mentioned.

12:02There are a few other suggestions.

12:04In our report, we have put forward suggestions

12:08to the ministries so that we can improve

12:11these things for the future.

12:16Thank you, Tan Sri.

12:18Okay, that's the last one.

12:20Okay.

12:22Thank you, everyone, once again.

12:24And I once again reaffirm that as a minister,

12:27for the second time as chairman of this ministry,

12:30my attitude and commitment as the highest minister

12:35will certainly not compromise with the principles of bullying.

12:42And that is very important for me to make sure

12:45that whatever the decision of information this time,

12:48I will still raise the issue of handling and addressing

12:52the phenomenon of bullying, wherever it is.

12:55And I want to emphasize to everyone

12:59that even though the information this time

13:02the decision is as such,

13:04but I will still raise the issue of handling and addressing

13:08the phenomenon of bullying, wherever it is.

13:13And this is very important for me to reaffirm once again

13:16that I will not tolerate any form of bullying.

13:20However, it is clear that from the expertise of experts

13:23who lead this team,

13:26the statement about the definition of bullying

13:31is clearly not only not fulfilling the definition of bullying,

13:38but it is related to several factors that have been mentioned

13:42by Tan Sri just now,

13:44such as work stress, work pressure,

13:46which is very depressing and disturbing, Dr. Tay.

13:49So I hope we can understand the explanation

13:54that has been made by a very credible task force

13:58that has informed their opinion.

14:01Thank you, the media. Thank you all.

Category

Transcript

Recommended