I refer to the Malaysiakini article Alice in Cancerland .

I was moved to tears reading ‘Alice in Cancerland'. I lost my beloved wife to cancer about two years ago. She was 47. Coming across or reading about anyone suffering from this dreaded illness makes me emotional and sad.

My wife fought the ‘battle' with lots of guts and determination for about five years but in the end she accepted ‘defeat' with dignity. The pain and trauma she went through with three major surgeries and thirty cycles of chemotherapy can never be forgotten.

People suffering from cancer are almost always faced with two major issues - time and money. A timely and correct diagnosis is crucial. And treatment of cancer is an expensive affair.

Even patients who have the financial means are shocked when they are slapped with bills for huge amounts so we can understand the ‘trauma' for those from the middle and lower-income groups.

When my wife was undergoing treatment at the UMMC in Petaling Jaya, I had come across a number of patients from some remote places.

The trips they have to make from the small and rural towns to the hospitals in the big towns and cities for treatment is in itself an ‘uphill task' for most of them.

Even if the treatment is free or subsidised, they still have to spend a substantial amount of time and money to keep their hospital appointments. It drains their precious resources - time, money and energy.

I believe, some of them just give up and allow fate to take its course. And I am only talking about cancer patients in Peninsular Malaysia where transport facilities are quite easy and reachable.

The unreasonable delay and the insurmountable difficulty that Alice had to face in getting her illness to be properly diagnosed and treated could have been avoided.

If only the medical personnel at the rural clinic near her settlement had shown some compassion and taken the initiative to send her to Miri or Kuching to commence treatment immediately.

They did not know that Alice was afflicted with cancer but from their visual observation they should have known that she required special and urgent medical care at a hospital.

It would not have been easy but the medical personnel at the rural clinic could have at least taken some effort to inform doctors at the Miri hospital and asked for their help or guidance.

Sarawak has been part of Malaysia for more than 45 years now. It is extremely disheartening to note that the state is still backward and lacks basic infrastructure facilities.

Let's just hope that it does not take another 45 years for the people in Sarawak, especially those in the remote areas, to attain their rights for proper transport and medical care.

While conveying my heartfelt sympathies to the family of Alice, I am sure they have regained their strength to carry on with their lives and definitely would not want to see any of their loved ones go through what their beloved Alice went through.