Getting surgeons to the patients in remote districts of Malaysia

The writer (centre) with his anaesthetist colleague (wearing black mask) and Mersing Hospital surgical medical officers and nurses in the district hospital’s operation theatre. — Photos: Dr HENRY TAN CHOR LIP

For most Malaysians – and many Singaporeans – the town of Mersing is best known as the place to get a ferry to the well-known tourist islands of Pulau Tioman and Pulau Rawa.

If you’re coming from Johor Baru, it can be a long, challenging drive, braving a winding road approximately 120 kilometres long.