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专访淡马亚:点评政经时事 看好在野政党有望合作

by 蓝桑
26/04/2019
in 政治, 新闻, 时事, 访问
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0

新加坡民主党(SDP)主席淡马亚医生(Paul Ananth Tambyah),最近接受网络公民专访,对各项课题侃侃而谈,从他的从政生涯和动机、对新加坡公共医疗体系的看法、政治现金争议、党派联盟的看法、再到假新闻法案,对即将到来的来届大选所带来的影响,以及阐述他对该党未来计划和目标的期望。他指出,各替代政党合作并非不可能,但是反假新闻法案可能会成为绊脚石。

在考虑踏上从政路之前,淡马亚是一名传染病研究员和医生。虽然他的家人都非常支持他,但是当初其母亲对他的选择持有怀疑态度,淡马亚曾面对很大挑战。他的母亲以及他们那一代,受到了90年代媒体描绘民主党的影响,对徐顺全(Dr Chee)及其政党持有负面和消极的看法。

要改变一切需从政

很多人都想加入人民行动党,认为“从里面改变事物”,是“较顺畅”的道路。淡马亚曾以为,在政府和各部门举办的公共论坛上,提供反馈意见更佳。“

但是最终,我认为我得到的结论是,这个系统有点过于根深蒂固了,很难改变。一个人试图改变整个行动党的运转,几乎是不可能的。”

淡马亚的最终目标不是成为国会议员。他踏入政治界并加入民主党,因为他希望改善新加坡的事物。他提出的其中一个例子,就是已被认为是世界最好的我国医疗保健系统。然而,许多人还是没有获得适当的医疗服务,并且最需要资源的人士也没有获得配给。

这个问题需要具有强烈意识的政党提出,而这就是民主党的用武之处,淡马亚表示,他们拥有明确的意识,视人民福利重于利润、视智慧终于财富,以及在“宣言”提及了,关于生活费用和各种其他政策。

他小说,第二任总理吴作栋,曾告诉新加坡作家林宝音(Catherine Lim):“如果你想改变一切,你必须进入政界”。

“因此,我接受了他的建议。”

政府补贴调涨医药费

其次,他也提及我国优质医疗保健系统的复杂情况。即便有“广泛的政府补贴”,但是有时人民还得自掏腰包买单支付医疗费。自2015年以来一项最重大变化,即是推出全民医疗保健的终身健保(MediShield Life)。

“然而,他并不是真正普及化的,因为免赔额非常高。你需要先支付首个3000元的医疗费,其中已经足以缴付大多数的C级医院账单了。换句话说,大部分入住C级病房的人们,有可能无法从终身健保中索到一分钱的赔偿。”

例如此前的一宗个案,在假眼科中心进行手术的可怜老人,终身健保最后只支付了4元50仙。尽管他每年已经投保了数百元,甚至数千元进终身健保中。这就是终身健保的不足之处。

终身健保的好处,在于比起其他私人保险公司,为已存在的疾病提供更广泛的覆盖范围。缺点则是他在免赔额和共付额方面,并不算慷慨。

谈及社保援助计划(CHAS)和建国一代配套,淡马亚说尽管到综合诊所和全科医生诊所看诊的病患获得补贴,但并非每个人都是建国一代配套的受益者,因此他们无法负担经过修订后的基本看诊费。

他指出,一项处于良好意图的配套,旨在提供病患补贴到全科医生诊所就医,却因为共同支付因素的变化,最终导致我国医疗保健通胀不断上升。

应更注重网络保安和卫生

他还提到最近的数据泄露事件,显示了电子医疗记录的局限性。例如在美国,奥巴马任职期间,将联邦资源和数据输入电子医疗记录,旨在减少如过敏和剂量信息等医疗错误的发生。

淡马亚指出,医疗记录的数据化也导致它们面临网络威胁和资料泄露的风险,因此更应该提升网络保安和公共卫生。

“实际上,大部分美国和新加坡电子医疗记录的设计,原本是用于计算费用的。每当我在诊所看诊时,在没有输入诊断代码、诊断日期或年份的情况下,我无法输入病情进展或是做笔记。这是因为,如果病患在购买保险前就医,保险公司可以拒绝付款。”

他指出,电子医疗保健系统的设立,也是为了强调重要的健康警告和其他功能。而且,医疗记录的数据化也导致它们面临网络威胁和资料泄露的风险,就如我国最近发生的捐血者数据泄露事件、新加坡保健服务集团(SingHealth)遭骇客入侵事件,以及艾滋病患者资料泄露事件。因此,与其注重在付费上,电子医疗系统的保安和公共卫生更需要提升。

医生日常工作阻碍多

另一个影响医生日常工作的部分,则是最近的医学委员会裁决,尤其在防御型医疗方面。据淡马亚指出,那些为了患者最佳利益而开出良好治疗的医生,其实并没有获得政府保证,会为他们提供支援或辩护。

他以之前一名被罚的精神科医生为例,指有关医生选择了他认为对患者而言最大的利益,却要因此付出代价。他断言,这事件引起了很大的连锁反应,需要有效清楚的沟通和有力的高层领导才能解决。

此外,用于遏制数据泄露的互联网“分隔浏览网站”(internet surfing separation)计划也存在着问题,即它也导致医疗专业人员无法轻易获取基本信息,因为医院的电脑已经被禁止上网。淡马亚指出,将内部资源放置在系统的内网中,显示了“扰码”和“反应性”,这让你质疑这是否能以更好的方式完成工作。

透明化拨款,行得正邪不怕

大约在2015年,刚刚50岁的淡马亚在武吉巴督补选期间,在一次集会上发表谈话时,向本社捐献了相当数量的款项时,引起了一些争议。事实上,他宣称为了其所倡导的事业组织做出贡献,其中包括他的教会、艾滋病运动、自闭症和外劳慈善事业。他表示,这些捐款是透明而清楚的,“没有任何隐瞒”。

他还提到拨款予本社,因为他相信言论、表达和出版自由。“我认为《网络公民》是新加坡自由媒体所剩余的最后堡垒之一。”他表示,只要有关捐款是众所周知的,政治家有权为他们所支持的组织和有需要的慈善机构拨款。“没有理由相信民主社会的政治家不这么做。”

在野政党有望合作

而在谈及建立类似马来西亚和泰国的联盟政党时,淡马亚认为“泰国的联盟尚未正式化”,而且他也说明了组建一个来自不同个人群体、拥有不同议程的各政党联盟,所会面对的一些问题。

尽管如此,他还是观察到一些令人鼓舞的迹象,显示新加坡的在野政党都有可能合作。他忆起和本地新政党领袖,即新加坡前进党主席陈清木、新加坡工人党领袖毕丹星以及民主党秘书长徐顺全在今年年初华人新年开放日的摄影会上,进行了一场有意义的讨论分享。

“我们对合作进行了正式和非正式的商议,基本上,我们个人可能有不同的方式,但是大家都有着相同的目标,就是建立一个以正义和平等为基础的更民主新加坡。”

假新闻成领导者杀手锏

然而,未来各政党的合作可能会因为即将实施的假新闻法,而止步不前,这将导致在大选期间的评论员和公众反映出现寒蝉效应。这项法案不仅会将不那么重要的声音宣传到了突出的地位,也是美国总统特朗普和前马来西亚首相纳吉在情况危急时的杀手锏。

早在20世纪60年代,行动党的信誉都建立在坚实的成就轨道上,是他们不怕任何公众舆论或投诉中。他们使用《内部安全法令》来压迫竞选对手,使用《报章和印刷业法令》禁止媒体自由,因此他们认为没有真正的需要设立假新闻法案。

淡马亚认为,假新闻没有可信度,因为人们可以看到他们在新加坡生活的真实性。但是采用这种法案,凸显了其对未来的不安全感和不确定感,这对于替代政党来说,则是“一种自相矛盾的鼓励”。

盼党恢复力量撼动大树

作为民主党主席,淡马亚希望这个“党的思想”能够超越党的名声,带领党接受打击并从困境中恢复过来,尤其是徐顺全博士,他因为能过去的破产和损失中恢复过来,进而成为鼓舞许多人的来源。

他也提到民主党的全面议程,以及他们为了改进和重新启动而制定的政策。他表示,未来数个月,该党将举办活动,这些都是重启党活动时所讨论的一些计划。尽管行动党目前在主流媒体和基层机构中占有主导的地位,但是淡马亚相信,在社交媒体、志愿者和良好策略的帮助下,民主党能够“撼动大树”。

透过奉献和承诺,寻求在来届大选中超越行动党取得三分之二多数票,是民主党一个现实而合理的目标。

以下为淡马亚专访视频:

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