Any Clearer Evidence?
So what’s new? Taxi fares went up, electricity tariffs went up, ERP charges went up, rental at Lucky Plaza went up, the prices of healthcare products went up and the only thing that went down was one very naughty Malaysian health minister. Let’s hope the Law of Gravity will get a grip of these escalating costs before they reach unearthly heights. But with a population set to increase with our immigration gates flung wide open, it’s unlikely that we’ll get any respite from inflation.
Of course, an increase in population will have the most immediate beneficial impact on certain companies and organisations. Everybody needs water and electricity. Everybody “needs” a mobile phone. Sure, everybody needs a good set of teeth too, but I’m not the only dentist in Singapore. An increase in immigrant population will increase the demand for dental services, but these immigrants are not just tourists or consumers. They also need jobs. They too can start businesses and compete with us. I can announce that I’m increasing my fees because running costs and material costs have gone up tremendously, people will just go looking for someone not so affected by these increases. As far as the availability of dental services is concerned, Singaporeans are indeed fortunate. Complaints of long waits are usually caused by patients not making appointments not because we don’t have enough dentists. Do we really need to increase the dentist-patient ratio from 1:3839 to 1:2000 so as to measure up to the developed nations? Is the general population here concerned enough about oral health for 2000 patients to support one dentist who has a family to feed. I have easily acumulated 5000 patients at Hougang over the last 17 years. On the average, they see me once in 5 years - yes, for toothache dentistry. Can dentists live comfortably on 2000 patients who see them only for toothache dentistry as most Singaporeans do?
Or are our taxi uncles really earning more like what some sources claimed? Like the good old Dr Chua (who could have denied he was the one in the video as it was so blur), what we need is evidence-based decisions whenever policies are changed or reviewed. We can’t just look at numbers or the way things work in our countries. We also need to examine the realities on the ground. It’s good to many patients, but many patients who come to you to repair shoddy work (done by backyard dentists) which they cannot afford to redo properly can give more headaches than income.
Everybody needs a clearer picture, regardless of whether it’s a middle-aged dentist with presbyopia, decision-makers who live in ivory towers or video makers using pinhole cameras.
Check out the Golden Horse podcast at Mr Brown Show. I can help those who are boh gei, but those who tak boleh will need some help from my colleagues in the urology department.
