Nocturnale

I read with utmost respect and admiration Dr. Chua Kaw Bing’s ‘Personal Account of Nipah Virus Outbreak‘. For those who don’t already know him, Dr Chua is the humble pediatrician turned virologist who was instrumental in the discovery of the deadly Nipah virus which wreaked havoc in the late 90s, killing many innocent pig farmers in its trail.

Chua Kaw Bing, FRCP, PhD

The account reads like a medical suspense novella with its usual share of villains and heroes depicted in surprisingly pulse-racing narratives. More importantly, it showed the heroics of one very selfless doctor who risked his career and very possibly his life trying to overcome the shamefully pretentious, egotistical and recalcitrant bureaucracy of medical academia.

Dr. Chua, whom I remember as the ‘Gentle Pediatrician’, left a deep impression on me when I was still a medical student at the International Medical University. I will never forget his huge imposing figure hovering over tiny little babies in the pediatrics ward as he strove to explain the clinical principles behind common neonatal pathology. His approach is tender but forceful, soft but organized. There is not a single time when we left the ward not feeling awed by his immaculate wisdom and seemingly limitless store of knowledge.

Reading the ‘Personal Account’, I realize that it is in fact not the first time I was told the story. Any medical students privileged enough to have Dr. Chua as their tutors will eventually get a chance to witness first hand his mastery as an entertaining raconteur. Hang around with him a second more and the subject of the so-called ‘Nipah Story’ will surely be broached.

A great spectacle in the campus would be seeing a small crowd gathering shoulder-to-shoulder around Dr. Chua, all listening attentively to his intrepid account of battling the Nipah Virus. I especially enjoyed the part where he will inevitably boast (albeit deservedly) that,” There I was, presenting the exciting discovery of a new strain of virus to the congregation of eminent microbiologists and epidemiologists (from CDC, Atlanta). I mean, these are the people who wrote your classic textbooks on medical microbiology! These are famous and important people! Can you imagine that?”

If anything, he should be knighted, crowned a MBE at the very least. But as senseless recognition of meritorious effort has it, cowards will be showered with praise, awarded Datuk-ship and all while the unsung heroes forced to cower in the corner neglected in toto.

I salute Dr. Chua Kaw Bing, whose valiant endeavor as a modern day John Hunter will forever be immortalized as the icon of our Malaysian medical fraternity.