Ting (12th left) represented Dr Sim at the officiating of the Diabetes Malaysia, Miri branch charity dinner.
MIRI: The government must work closely with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to look at ways to optimise healthcare services and manpower resources to overcome the challenges of managing escalating healthcare cost.
Minister of Local Government and Housing Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian said this in his text of speech read out by Piasau assemblyman Datuk Sebastian Ting at Diabetes Malaysia, Miri Branch charity dinner on Saturday.
He said smart partnership, public-private ventures, outsourcing, sharing and pooling assets are some of the effective ways to optimise the healthcare services in the country.
“We must think out of the box, formulate blue ocean strategies and come up with win-win solutions where the government, private and public sectors all stand to benefit. The underlying framework must always be based on quality, value for money and we should always settle for nothing less than excellence,” Dr Sim advised.
He praised Diabetes Malaysia, Miri branch for reaching out to the community on health awareness relating to diabetes, and said he strongly believed that the NGO had been playing a great role in promoting healthy lifestyle and wellness among the public.
“With their vast experiences and knowledge in organising diabetes related awareness campaign for more than two decades, Diabetes Malaysia is in an ideal position to ensure quality life of diabetes patients through proper diabetes education. It is equally important that by working with other healthcare professionals we are able to reach the effectiveness in promoting preventive medicine,” he said.
Chairman of Diabetes Malaysia, Sarawak Branch Dr William Voon; vice president of Diabetes Malaysia Jong Koi Chong; chairwoman of Diabetes Malaysia, Miri Branch Ting Chiew Moi and organising chairman Supt Law Poh Kiong were among the thousands of attendees of the charity dinner held in Meritz Hotel on Saturday evening.
Meanwhile, Dr Voon expressed his hope of getting more financial support from the government to enable the association to be run better and to reach out to the community.
“Despite the financial constraint that the association is facing, we constantly, without fail, organise important activities such as diabetes camp, free health screening campaigns, and seminars etc. to increase the awareness of diabetes among members of the public.
“Diabetes Malaysia is doing all we could to reach out to possibly every Malaysian, and we are doing it for the good of the country. Similarly, we hope the government could help us to help the people and perhaps, a grant could lessen the financial burden that we are experiencing,” he added.
Dr Voon praised Diabetes Malaysia, Miri Branch for their initiative to raise funds through charity dinners for their proposed diabetes one-stop centre.
The highlight of the charity dinner was performance by Malaysia’s 70s most popular singer Huang Ching Yuan and Malaysian songstress Liew Yian Yian, who rose to fame following her winning at Astro Talent Quest more than a decade ago.
Both of the singers sang a combined total of 20 songs which won rounds of applause from their fans.