COMMENT | If I had been a patient of the fake dentist, Nur Farahanis Ezatty Adli, my immediate worry would not be that her fine had been settled by the Malaysia Islamic Economic Activist Organisation (PPEIM).

My immediate concern would be to arrange a thorough health check to ensure that I have not been contaminated with a communicable disease from her or her other patients.

I would be furious that she had wrongfully claimed that the Deputy Health Minister Dr Hilmi Yahaya had supported her endeavours. Her claim that the public outburst had made her famous is infuriating, because it shows that she is arrogant and selfish.

Nur allowed people to trust her with their dental health and had no qualms about defrauding them of their hard-earned cash.

The deputy prime minister's son-in-law, Syed Alman Zain Syed Alwi, died at the hands of a qualified dentist. Nur does not seem to understand that her actions were morally wrong, irresponsible and dangerous.

What if her efforts had gone disastrously wrong? What if she had severed a vital nerve or blood vessel and the patient had life-threatening injuries, was disfigured for life or died?

Nur's patients may end up paying more to correct a botched-up job. Anyone with genuine health problems would not entrust their health to a quack or a witch-doctor.

How long had the 20-year-old vocational college graduate operated as a backstreet dentist?

She was reputed to have earned around RM6,000 per day, charging RM650 for full braces, and RM350 for a partial fitting. Despite being caught in a raid in a homestay last year, she continued to practice.

During the raid, enforcement officers seized several items and tried to confiscate a receipt book which her parents allegedly grabbed from them during a struggle.

Nur did not care about the law. Perhaps the tax department should scrutinise her bank account and try to retrieve the receipt book, to see how much she made as a bogus dentist.

No one can operate a dental practice without the necessary qualifications and authorisation from the health ministry. She broke the law and criminal charges should be levied against her.

Are the authorities so lax that she was able to break the rules and escape with the equivalent of a rap on the knuckles? Ultimately, no one can do something illegal, unless no one is watching.

How diligent is the public in reporting their suspicions about bogus dentists? Do they check a dentist's qualifications, their background and their education? Are dentists recommended by word of mouth, or through adverts in the newspapers? Her patients were mainly students but were they also illegal immigrants who need to avoid the authorities and would not dare report her?

Was Nur conscious about hygiene? Was she infected with a communicable disease like HIV or hepatitis? Did her patients, who read about her arrest, realise that she could have infected them, if she had a cut?

She was so irresponsible that it is doubtful if she sterilised her equipment scrupulously to stop the transfer of germs and infections. Despite the earlier raid, she continued to operate from a new base, after her father convinced the unsuspecting restaurant owner to promote his daughter's services.

The smile would be wiped off the landlord's face if he was also slapped with a fine for being an accessory to Nur's crime, as he provided the premises.

The Muslim NGO which paid her fine appears clueless. Instead of protecting the general public, they support criminals like Nur.

The prime motivator for scammers like Nur is money. Ironically, she was caught, because she made a police report against two patients, who had not paid their bills.

This con artist is driven by greed.

Her so-called practise should have records to trace her patients. The Health Ministry should check this from the receipt book which her parents refused to hand over.

Nur Farahanis Ezatty Adli should be jailed for a long time, to show other fake practitioners that the law will come down hard on them; but the reality is that she will reopen her practise soon.

MARIAM MOKHTAR is a defender of the truth, the admiral-general of the Green Bean Army and president of the Perak Liberation Organisation (PLO). Blog, Twitter.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.