Dear MSO members, 

Happy New Year 2022 and a Happy Lunar New Year! How has the start of the New Year been like for you?  Hopefully the Year of the Tiger will be a robust one for all and sundry.

Against the backdrop of the Covid-19 situation (now into its latest Omicron variant), it seems likely that certain adaptations done during the earlier part of the pandemic are here to stay. While we all yearn for the opportunity to have face-to-face meetings and conferences, we must also accept the reality that these events are increasingly being held virtually or in the hybrid form (small physical presence with larger virtual audience).

The MSO, as well as the various Special Interest Groups (SIGs) under the Society, have embraced this new norm by organizing various webinars, conferences and public forums. We have also used the virtual platform for the majority of our committee meetings as well as our Annual General Meeting (AGM). This year will be no different. We will be organising a series of webinars to cater to both our ordinary and associate members. We are grateful for the support by friends from the industry for this endeavor.

ARTICLES

PERSONALITY FOCUS: DR ZABRI KAMARUDIN - THE BACKBONE OF VR SERVICES IN MALAYSIA

Early Life and Background

I was born and raised in a small "Kampung" in Perak. I consider myself very fortunate to be accepted into a boarding school in Ipoh for my secondary school years. For my SPM, I was accepted into a federal boarding school in Klang. I was very active in co-curricular activities, being an army cadet and also part of the school’s basketball team.

What Made You Choose Medicine as a Profession?

As a teen in the late 80s, I thought of pursuing my career as an army officer. However, we were going through a period of economic recession at that time and I had a change of heart.

I continued my studies in a one-year UKM Matriculation Program and I was seriously considering medicine after that. However, to do so, I need to get myself into the Science Faculty and compete for a place in the medical faculty. It was very tough competition. I tried various ways to get myself into medical school, including applying for the Ministry of Defence Scholarship for an Army Medical School in Turkey but I was unsuccessful. Thank heavens, my second-semester result was quite good, and I managed to secure a place in the UKM medical faculty. As everyone knows, medical undergraduate years are really tough, and I experienced it first-hand. I still managed to graduate on time, which is the happiest moment in my life.

A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE ELEMENTS TO SUCCEED IN A CLAIM OF CLINICAL NEGLIGENCE AND THE MALAYSIAN LEGAL POSITION - AN EXAMINATION OF RECENT DECISIONS INVOLVING OPHTHALMOLOGISTS

Clinical litigation is a subset of a body of law known as Tort Law. The word ‘tort’ has its origins in Latin, meaning ‘twisted’ or ‘wrong’. Tort law is concerned with providing compensation to claimants who have suffered an injury due to the negligence of another. This restitution often takes a monetary form, or damages.

What is the relevant law governing clinical litigation in Malaysia?

There are two sources of law governing clinical litigation -
(1) Written Law, also known as statute, and
(2) court developed law, or common law.

The relevant statute in Malaysia includes the Civil Law Act 1956 that provides for the application of United Kingdom (U.K.) common law in West Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak1, hence the frequent application of U.K. judicial decisions by our judiciary. The time window to file a suit is limited by the Limitation Act 19532(West Malaysia) that limits the initiation of a claim to 6 years from the date the alleged negligence took place. This time limit is different in Sarawak, where the window is limited to 3 years3. This limitation has implications for certain types of negligence. For example, a doctor's failure to diagnose glaucoma may not be suspected until significant visual loss has occurred, which by that time may have exceeded the limitation period.

Common law in Malaysia is the second source of legal rules, according to the concept of ‘stare decisis’ or ‘stand by what is decided’. This means that factually similar cases must follow a court decision or legal rule formulated or applied by a higher court.