A doctor at home
> Dr Faizul Mansoor shares his personal experiences being a medical practitioner in Miri for 31 years in his book
Sarawak, as the likelihood was high they would end up working in remote rural areas with very little modern facilities.
But Faizul was fine with it. “I had classmates from Sarawak when I was at Universiti Malaya. They looked okay to me. They did not live on trees or anything like that. One of them also came from Miri.”
In addition, the then-29-yearold Faizul was unmarried, and had no family obligations.
When he was asked to report for duty to the director of Medical Services Sarawak in Kuching, he was happy as it meant it would be easy for him to travel back home for visits.
However, upon landing in the Sarawak capital, he was shocked to be told that he was actually being posted to Miri.
Though initially reluctant to head there, Faizul served at the Miri Hospital until he retired, making many friends there and raising four children in the city with his wife, whom he met and married in Miri.
“After living in Miri for 31 years, I felt it was time to tell the public what was happening from the public health point of view,” he said.
In his book, he paid homage to the medical personnel who worked tirelessly under daunting conditions to bring the best medical care to patients in that area, as well as the local boatman who ferried patients and medical personnel through the sometimes treacherous river.
He also called attention to the various medical issues faced by the people there.
“Initially, I wrote the book for myself,” Faizul said. “Then I thought I had to leave something behind.
“There was no plan. I did not know what I wanted to write initially, but I knew I wanted to write something on public health.
“[At first] I was writing from experience and then I decided to organise it accordingly.”
Aside from being a record of Faizul’s personal journey, it is also his way of demonstrating there is plenty of room for improvement where health care is concerned for people living in rural areas.
A Community Doctor in Miri