A zebra in JB General Hospital!

During the prevailing pandemic, we are obeying the advice to Stay Home and Stay Safe, in support of the effort to reduce infection of the Covid19 virus and lessen the pressure on our healthcare services.

Floor marking in the lobby of Klinik Mahmoodiah

It is truly an unprecedented time, not only in Johor Baru but also in cities all over the world and our healthcare teams in Hospital Sultanah Aminah, Hospital Sultan Ismail, Hospital Permai and other the quarantine centers, have been doing very well.

We deeply appreciate the commitment and caring hearts of our medical teams, uniformed personnel, government agencies and volunteers in our community who are working hard at the frontlines.

Recent news reports shared promising progress in the battle with this unseen enemy and it was good to learn that healthcare workers were finally able to take time off to rest and recuperate from the strain in carrying out their duties.

Brand new seats, still plastic wrapped!

Both my parents trained and worked in the Health department of the Johor Baru General Hospital (JBGH), the former name of Hospital Sultanah Aminah (HSA), and were also based at various districts including Kota Tinggi, Gelang Patah and Masai.

After my parents’ retirement, we moved back to Johor Baru, and I accompanied them on their regular medical consultations at the HSA specialists’ clinic and the JB Heath Clinic for outpatients, fondly called Klinik Mahmoodiah.

I would also collect regular prescriptions on their behalf from the pharmacies at these clinics, so I am also familiar with the many changes in HSA (since we lived there!) and the current layout of the hospital compound, from clinics to the wards.

During the Movement Control Order (MCO), the advice was to minimize movement except for buying essential items like food and medical needs and the elderly, like my mother who is in the high-risk category, are discouraged from going out.

The pharmacy at Klinik Mahmoodiah

When the MCO started in mid-March 2020, I noted from our calendar that my mother had a scheduled appointment to meet the doctor at Klinik Mahmoodiah in early April.

Thankfully on the day before my mother’s appointment, a nurse from the clinic called to reschedule the appointment to early May.

When that date drew closer, I was concerned because the MCO was by then, extended to mid-May while my mother’s appointment was in early May.

I anticipated a call from the nurse again and I was not disappointed.

When she called, her question asked in a cheerful tone was, “Boleh datang tak?” [Translation: Can you come (for the appointment)?]

My spontaneous reply was, “Boleh!”

I could give an affirmative reply with confidence because a day ago, I made a reconnaissance visit to the clinic to see for myself, the measures put in place for the safety of patients before I brought my mother in for her appointment.

Dad and the zebra who visited JB General Hospital

At the clinic entrance, a staff stationed there, squirted hand sanitizer onto my hands.

In the lobby, the floor was marked for physical distancing so that patients queuing up for their serial numbers, would be safely distanced apart.

The seats provided in the waiting area in front of the doctors’ consultation rooms were brand new – still wrapped in plastic – with seats marked with an “X” to indicate ‘No Sitting Here’ so that patients would be safely separated from each other.

The seats provided in other sections of the clinic and in the pharmacy were similarly marked with “X” to keep people at safe distances apart.

Look! A zebra in JB GH!

During my recce, I saw only a handful of patients in the clinic and felt comfortable to bring my mother in for her rescheduled appointment and new prescription.

Meanwhile, I had to prepare my mother for her first and only outing since the start of the MCO, beginning with making her practice wearing a mask at home…

She is familiar with wearing masks because she used to wear masks while working but she had not worn any mask since her retirement.

And in this pandemic, the purpose of wearing a mask was different from when she was doing her duties as a midwife.

So, on that afternoon of my mother’s rescheduled appointment, we breezed in and out of Klinik Mahmoodiah in record time and were safely home within 30 minutes!

I have a special relationship with JBGH because I was born here and my first home address was its staff quarters at Jalan Dato Wilson, within the hospital compound.

The curious zebra looking at the patient's bandaged arm

From old photographs carefully preserved in our albums, I have a wide collection of photos captured at the hospital quarters in KT Hospital and JBGH, and the dispensary at Gelang Patah.

Dad had a hobby in photography, and I guess he brought his camera along to take photos of the action scenes while he was on duty in the wards.

From dad’s collection of photos, I could see that he and his colleagues had much fun posing for photos.

This adventurous zebra wandered
into the JB GH compound!

And I believe, the advantage of having his camera conveniently close by allowed dad to capture some rare shots, particularly when a zebra wandered into the hospital compound!

Yes, you read it correctly. A zebra.

The JB hospital is situated adjacent to Jalan Gertak Merah where the Johor Zoo is located.

And then one day, an adventurous zebra decided to explore this exciting neighbourhood and wandered into the hospital compound!

Dad and his colleagues must have enjoyed the zebra’s visit to the hospital – not as a patient – but it certainly brought a happy distraction to the inpatients and staff there.

After creating some excitement in the hospital, this happy zebra was safely escorted back into the zoo.

I hope these rare photos of a zebra in the JB hospital would evoke a few smiles and add some good cheer while we are still Staying Home and Staying Safe during this MCO.