I will start off by
saying that everyone is ok, me included. I was not the reason for
which we went to the emergency room. I am safe and sound and with no
scratch upon me.
The event was rather
surreal, just because it came from where you least expect it. Friday
night we had a farewell party for one of the guys here – his
volunteering days have come to an end, so people gathered from all
corners, had nice dinner together and then went out, drinking and
dancing and such. We ended up at a club where the music was not so
nice, so at one point some of us went to another place. We must have
been there for about 30mins, but when we came back, everything had
changed. Two of our friends had gotten beaten up, one of which quiet
badly and one of the girls had been punched also (but not too bad, so
that was good at least). Now , everyone knows that when drinking is
involved, things can easily get out of hand but the shocking part of
all this was that the aggressors were the bouncers from the club! The
actual people that are supposed to protect and prevent fighting had
actually started the thing and continued the punching! You will
rightly inquire what my friends had done. The short answer is
nothing. One of them had ordered a pizza, and then left without
paying. But one of the other guys paid for her. The bouncer however
felt that the manner the money had been given had been
“disrespectful”, and then decided to go out after them on the
streets and beat them! HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE????!!!
As I mentioned, one
of the guys especially has been quite badly hit. So part of us took
him to the hospital where we spend some beautiful 3 and a half hours.
Where he also figured that his wallet is missing also – because all
“good things” come together! And where I decided to look at the
bright side of things – I was now experiencing treatment in the
emergency room at the KL General Hospital. I must say I was really
positively impressed. As a local (which he was), you don't have to
pay anything – subsidised medical care. As a foreigner, you do pay,
but even then...65 RM (which is about 18 Euros) is rather a little
amount. For consults, xrays and medicine.
The hospital was
very clean, even though the building itself was quite old. It felt
quite organised – there was some paperwork and sending from one
office to another. But it all went smoothly, people seemed to know
what they were doing and he was well taken care of. I have not
recently experienced Romanian emergency care (nor do I hope to), but
the stories that I heard do not make me believe that things are just
as smooth. I know it's bad to keep comparing countries, but somehow I
can't help it. Another Romanian actually just joined the team and it
was funny to hear him go “Romania and Malaysia are not that
different actually” - which is one of my thoughts also.
Anyways, I can now
brag that in my first month and a half in Malaysia I have experienced
both police encounters and hospital care. I just hope these type of
experiences stop here :)