I can't sit down and not put my two cents worth of comments regarding Anwar Ibrahim's plight. Some Malaysian doctors are claiming how good they are about treating Anwar.

One was able, through a letter here, to give an affirmative diagnosis of Anwar's medical conditions without assessing him in person. If that is the quality of specialists you have in Malaysia, I can only say, 'Good luck, Malaysians'.

My past experiences with Malaysian doctors left a lot to be desired. My father was regularly cared by a cardiologist in Malacca for about three years before his massive heart attack some four years ago.

He had all the symptoms of heart problems high cholesterol and blood pressure. An angiogram or cardio-imaging would have found that two of the arteries to his heart were 90 percent blocked.

When he had the heart attack two days before Chinese New Year, he was rushed from Batu Pahat to his cardiologist in Malacca. This specialist recommended a by-pass surgery. He could not find any surgeon in Kuala Lumpur to do the operation because of the impending public holidays.

My dad finally had to be transported to Singapore by ambulance and was immediately admitted to the National University Hospital. He was then operated on by the hospistal's Head of Thoracic Department on Chinese New Year day. Can the dedication of doctors in these two countries be compared?

I now live in Brisbane. Two years ago, I had anterior and posterior laminectomies decompression operations, on my neck (c3 to c7 levels). My condition may be similar to that of Anwar.

I was able to choose between two neurosurgeons and a spine surgeon. I finally chose the spine surgeon as he convinced me that he was a better surgeon. He had a very good track record. My operation took about nine hours.

It was more tedious and complicated that a heart by-pass operation. My dad's operation only took two hours. So if I were Anwar, I won't allow just anyone to operate on me, especially, in a country that is so corrupt and where money can buy just about anything - especially when you are helpless on an operating table.

Good luck, Anwar. You are still at the mercy of Mahathir and his cronies.