Graduating in 1986 from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom, I initially pursued a career in General Medicine. However, interest then wavered towards Family Medicine and following further training, I settled into a life in General Practice in Newcastle upon Tyne.
In 1997, I returned to Malaysia accepting the position of Chief Executive Officer and Medical Director of Hospis Malaysia. A small home hospice with a staff of 3 with a patient load of less than 150 patients / year has since rapidly grown into the largest palliative care centre in Malaysia serving almost 1000 patients / year providing home hospice, day care and a busy teaching schedule involving 4 medical and several nursing schools. Regular palliative care workshops attract doctors and nurses from all over Malaysia.
My current focus for Palliative Care in Malaysia is to change the perception from its social and end-of-life scenarios into a boarder clinical and needs based setting. My appointments into the Council for the Asia Pacific Hospice Palliative Care Network, the Malaysian Oncological Society and the Malaysian Society for the Study of Pain has certainly assisted me in making palliative care more acceptable within the clinical setting in Malaysia.
Sanity is somewhat maintained by a variety of interests especially in the arts, music and possession of a sense of humor.
