MUSA INFLICTED WITH BRAIN TUMOR?

Will Sabah be seeing the appointment of an Acting Chief Minister or perhaps a newly appointed CM or the dissolution of the state assembly for a fresh mandate by the people?

In my recent posting on the 10th June 2009, "Musa whisked away to Singapore", I mentioned that the Chief Minister of Sabah, Datuk Musa Hj.Aman (pic) was urgently flown over to Singapore in a private jet (pic) belonging to his Chinese timber tycoon friend, to undergo medical treatment for some undisclosed ailments.

Even though he had later categorically denied having any serious health problems when he appeared in public together with his wife, to do some cooking demonstrations, reliable sources had it that he actually had his medical check-up at Mount Elizabeth Medical Centre Singapore.

And what was even more shocking was that the result of his medical check-up suggested that he could be suffering from a serious ailment, a ‘brain tumor’!

According to a leading KL-based neurosurgeon, a brain tumor (pic left) is commonly located in the anterior two-thirds of the cerebral hemispheres in adults, although they can affect any part of the brain.

However, a sudden onset of symptoms such as an epileptic seizure in a patient with no prior history of epilepsy, sudden intracranial hypertension (this may be due to bleeding within the tumor, brain swelling or obstruction of cerebrospinal fluid's passage) is also possible (pic right). These were said to be among the symptoms found on Musa when he fell ill recently.

Coincidentally, Mount Elizabeth Medical Centre (pic) has both neurosurgery facilities and expertise. We reliably learnt that Musa is expected to leave for the United States of America (USA) for neurosurgery, at the Cleveland Clinic Brain Tumour and Neuro-Oncology Centre in Cleveland, Ohio. He's currently awaiting air space clearance from the Department of Civil Aviation of Japan and USA to fly over their air space, as well as for the landing rights. This is an international pre-requisite condition when passengers travel by their very own private jet.

Musa’s younger brother Datuk Anifah Aman (pic) who is also the Foreign Minister of Malaysia who was recently discharged from an undisclosed hospital for "suspected food poisoning" was said to be making all the necessary preparations and arrangements for Musa’s departure.

While I hope this is not true, I urge the Chief Minister to come clean with his health condition to prevent speculations and erosion of public confidence in the State administration as, he is not just any ordinary civil servant but the CEO of the state.

But if this is true, then as a responsible state leader, he should be more forthcoming in informing the people of his real health condition and make the necessary arrangements to ensure a continuous and smooth development for the state. He should perhaps appoint one of his three deputies as the Acting CM before he leaves for USA for the treatment.

Meanwhile, I call upon all concerned Sabahans to pray for his good health.