Procedures to give birth in local government hospitals

Being 16 weeks pregnant now, I decided way ahead in time that I wanted to deliver at government hospitals after hearing so many positive comments about the reasonable service as well as top notch facilities of govt hospitals.

The first step to delivering in govt hospitals is to get your pink book from a KKIA (Klinik Kesihatan Ibu dan Anak).

Even if you did not get the pink book you can still deliver in govt hosp where you basically check in to the emergency ward when the labour day comes but somehow this is not advisable as there are many important information written in the pink book which are important at the time of delivery (eg your monthly pregnancy progress, allergies, family medical histories etc).

Note my RISK FACTOR is written as PRIMIGRAVIDA meaning woman who is pregnant for the first time. Boy am I glad they did not put it as elderly primigravida  considering I'll be 40 when I deliver :p

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But if you still want to deliver in govt hospital but want to have to your monthly follow up done in bigger govt hospitals like Putrajaya or Serdang, then you can consider FPP (Full Paying Patient) which is a scheme by the hospitals where you can choose your own gynae (who will follow through from check up to time of delivery) but you basically pay for everything as you would with a private gynae or hospital.

General monthly checkup for FPP is RM60 which includes consultation and ultrascan only but NOT additional medication or test which are deemed necessary.

Note that Putrajaya and Serdang Selayang only accept FPP and women with high risk pregnancy for their monthly check up.

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But frankly speaking, I think the concept of KKIA is really convenient for the public because there is one in every major township thus relieving the burden of bigger hospitals which now only concentrate on delivering the babies.

Note that the KKIA only accepts patients within their jurisdiction based on residence postcode which they will check either through your MyKad or utilities bills.

So you may have to make a few calls to determine your KKIA before actually going to one.

Click this link for List of KKIA as well as their contact number.

Note there is an error in Kuchai's number. It should be 03-79801178 and it handles Sri Petaling and Bukit Jalil areas.

The rationale is because KKIA actually offers free post-natal home visit, hence you must live within areas under their jurisdiction.

THINGS TO BRING:-
1) marriage certificate
2) utilities bill if the address is different from your MyKad
3) ultrascan image of the fetus which will be stapled to your pink book

With the pink book, you can now deliver in any government hospital of your choice! Woo Hoo!!

Objection to DBKL 2014 assessment - conclusion of the hearing

There was much fiasco when DBKL announced the increase in the annual value of the property hence increasing the annual amount payable for assessment for 2014.

Naturally I objected and wrote in a letter together with the rest of the residents of Mutiara Bukit Jalil.

We received letters from DBKL of our hearing on 6 January 2014 @ 1015am but some of us were late (myself included) hence there were 2 batches of people who attended the hearing today.

We were ushered in meeting room 1 with 6 DBKL staffs seated on the opposite side and the gist of the meeting were:-

1) DBKL are aware that:-
a) our area is relatively new - 5 years for phase 1
b) 90% of residents are the owners.. not renting
c) we are not satisfied with the services provided in terms of street lights, drain cleaning, road repair, cutting of grass and stray dogs problem.
d) plus there is a cement plant nearby (less than 50m) which operates until 10pm.

2) DBKL did cite rise of costs for example:-
a) Alam Flora per trip has increased from RM20plus to RM30plus and is due to increase to RM40plus per trip
b) cost of cutting grass has also doubled
c) electric tariffs is due to increase and therefore translate to higher costs to DBKL to provide the street lights

3) we raise the fact that DBKL must be more efficient in their work but DBKL countered that this is not the jurisdiction of the group in the meeting plus this is not the subject of today's hearing.

4) as an incentive to the KL folks, the mayor has announced an subsidy (subject to application) for people with disability, retirees and owners staying in their own premise. But note this incentive is only for year 2014.

5) for premise which are unoccupied, then the owner must write in with proof (example utilities bills) for reduction or waiver of the assessment fee.

6) there was a staff (whom I find quite snobbish) who mentioned that under the local authority act, DBKL have the right to:-
a) charge any rate subject to a maximum of 35%
b) review the above % rate every 5 years
c) review the annual value (RM) every year
but DBKL has been gracious not to do so but charge only 6% for more than 20 years.

If you look at the letter informing of the hearing date, it mentioned that the rate will be lowered to 4% but again this rate is applicable for 2014 only.

So who knows what will happen after 2014..

7) DBKL mentioned that this rise in assessment has been in their agenda for the past year and therefore has nothing to do with GE13 (General Election 2013) and it was just bad luck that it announced concurrently with so many other increase in living costs.

ANYWAY IN CONCLUSION, there are a total of 166,000 objections (so few or did I hear wrongly??) and it will take DBKL until March 2014 to hear all the objections before they can give a final verdict.

So we will just have to wait till then for us to know if our efforts in objection and attending the hearing will pay off.