Life's Too Short...

[Jim's_a_Thai_Fox]

Hi,

This little story about life choices always makes me smile and I hope that someone else might also appreciate it.

Here goes...

(In this little story, feel free to change the characters to any nationality you please)

An Englishman was taking his usual late morning walk along his favourite stretch of beach in Phang-Na bay when he came across the same Thai fisherman he had seen his 5 previous morning strolls. The Thai fisherman was mooring his little boat and bringing ashore his moderate catch.

As usual, the Englishman watched as the Thai fisherman handed over his catch to his wife, who had been keenly awaiting his return from their beach hut.

The tourist finally decided to engage the Thai fisherman in a friendly chat.

"Hello there. I've seen you now for almost a week, bringing home your bounty from the sea to your lovely wife."

"Sawasdee Krap", the smiling Thai fisherman responds.

"Every day, I've noted that you dock just before midday. You unload your catch and give it to your wife to make the day's food. Then I see you have a beer, relax and eat some fish cooked by the hand of your spouse. Then, I've seen you take an afternoon nap. Later on, I've seen you with your wife at home playing with your 3 wonderful young children, simply playing with them and helping them with their school work. Then, you all eat some more and head off to bed, never later than 8."

"Chai, krap", responds the fisherman (who can understand English, but can't speak it )

"Well, responds the Brit. Let this old ex merchant Navy retiree give you, a healthy young man, a bit of advice."

"Instead of coming home before noon, why not stay out fishing a while longer? That way, you'll catch more fish. Then, the remaining fish you and your family won't eat, you can get your wife to sell at the market down the street. With the extra money she makes, you could buy some more fishing nets, even another boat eventually. That way, you'll be getting more and more fish and making more and more money. Soon enough, you could even open a small business and hire other fishermen to work for you. I reckon that with about 20 years hard work in that direction, if you're lucky like me, you'll be able to retire early before you're too old to enjoy it."

The Thai looks at the Englishman quizzically, "Sorry, what is 'retire'?"

"Well", responds the Brit, now excited that he might have sparked some interest in the young fisherman, "when you retire, it means that you can do just a little fishing just for yourself in the mornings, then spend the afternoon drinking, sleeping and spending more quality time with your family..."

Have a good one, whichever one it is.

James

[Austhaied]

That's a great "moral" story there Jim. But what happens to the fisherman when he wants (or more likely needs) to take his wife or kids to hospital ??? This type of substinence living may have worked in the "old days" but is not realistic in these modern times (unfortunately).. Nice story though.. I lived in Krabi for 10 months and i have seen your story with my own eyes, they are fcuked when they want to buy a car or TV though..

[MintyAussie]

That's a great "moral" story there Jim. But what happens to the fisherman when he wants (or more likely needs) to take his wife or kids to hospital ??? This type of substinence living may have worked in the "old days" but is not realistic in these modern times (unfortunately).. Nice story though.. I lived in Krabi for 10 months and i have seen your story with my own eyes, they are fcuked when they want to buy a car or TV though..

What makes you think he wants a car or a TV? Perhaps he's happy just chugging along.....western consumerism is not the be all and end all of life mate!

[peter991]

I had the same thought when I first arrived in Issan. One crop of rice is grown a year - the rice paddy floods when the first rains of the season come and rice is planted. Later, it is harvested and the land sits vacant for a number of months.

I thought to myself, water here is only 3 metres (10ft) down. It would be easy to put in a bore and pump water onto the rice paddies and grow a second crop (maybe even a third crop) each year.

We could easily double (or maybe triple) production.

The response from the villagers to my idea. One word (translated) ...... WHY ???

I am now starting to think like a Thai person ... Life IS too short not to spend 20 hours a day resting in a hammock!

Peter

[andook]

That's a great "moral" story there Jim. But what happens to the fisherman when he wants (or more likely needs) to take his wife or kids to hospital ??? This type of substinence living may have worked in the "old days" but is not realistic in these modern times (unfortunately).. Nice story though.. I lived in Krabi for 10 months and i have seen your story with my own eyes, they are fcuked when they want to buy a car or TV though..

What makes you think he wants a car or a TV? Perhaps he's happy just chugging along.....western consumerism is not the be all and end all of life mate!

Try grinding hopeless poverty for the rest of your life, as opposed to "slumming it" as a fashionable lifestyle choice. No internet forums for a start. Hope this helps.....

[Heng]

That's a great story until the fisherman wants to go to the supermarket or hospital.

[Neeranam]

That's a great "moral" story there Jim. But what happens to the fisherman when he wants (or more likely needs) to take his wife or kids to hospital ???

there's a 30 baht health scheme - I took my wife to have a baby two weeks ago and the cost was, well there was no cost. 0 baht.

That's a great story until the fisherman wants to go to the supermarket or hospital.

or wants to hire a personal driver

lol we can see who the bread heads are now.

[naka]

That's a great story until the fisherman wants to go to the supermarket or hospital.

Or send his kids to school so that they don't end up poor illiterate fisherolks.

Naka.

[lingling]

30 baht health scheme - I took my wife to have a baby two weeks ago and the cost was, well there was no cost. 0 baht.

...until there are complications. I know a young family out on the countryside who are under the 30 baht scheme. They recently had a baby girl who has a faulty heart valve. The 30 baht hospitals have no money for expensive treatments so in her case they can only hope for the best, and that is that the faulty heart valve somehow repairs itself.

[Heng]

30 baht health scheme - I took my wife to have a baby two weeks ago and the cost was, well there was no cost. 0 baht.

...until there are complications. I know a young family out on the countryside who are under the 30 baht scheme. They recently had a baby girl who has a faulty heart valve. The 30 baht hospitals have no money for expensive treatments so in her case they can only hope for the best, and that is that the faulty heart valve somehow repairs itself.

The gov't hospitals definitely have the best doctors, but worst facilities (that's what having to deal with X times the number of patients without proportionately increasing the # of staff, budget, # of beds, etc. will do to you). The best mix is usually senior gov't hospital doctor + private hospital, as most know, many if not most also work at private hospitals. The junior gov't doctors are usually way overworked and the junior private hospital doctors often haven't seen enough patients to make the transfer from textbook to practice.

[ColPyat]

The gov't hospitals definitely have the best doctors, but worst facilities (that's what having to deal with X times the number of patients without proportionately increasing the # of staff, budget, # of beds, etc. will do to you). The best mix is usually senior gov't hospital doctor + private hospital, as most know, many if not most also work at private hospitals. The junior gov't doctors are usually way overworked and the junior private hospital doctors often haven't seen enough patients to make the transfer from textbook to practice.

Either go to a top ranked private hospital, or to a good government hospital. Mid ranked private hospitals are not much cheaper than the top ranked ones, but for serious problems much worse than the good government hospitals.

[ColPyat]

That's a great "moral" story there Jim. But what happens to the fisherman when he wants (or more likely needs) to take his wife or kids to hospital ???

there's a 30 baht health scheme - I took my wife to have a baby two weeks ago and the cost was, well there was no cost. 0 baht.

That's a great story until the fisherman wants to go to the supermarket or hospital.

or wants to hire a personal driver

lol we can see who the bread heads are now.

What's the problem?

If the driver gets a fair wage and is treated well, there is a job created and wealth is distributed to someone who needs it.

By, the way, i don't have a driver. I don't even have a car.

[thedude]

"Sawasdee Krap", the smiling Thai fisherman responds.

"Every day, I've noted that you dock just before midday. You unload your catch and give it to your wife to make the day's food. Then I see you have a beer, relax and eat some fish cooked by the hand of your spouse. Then, I've seen you take an afternoon nap. Later on, I've seen you with your wife at home playing with your 3 wonderful young children, simply playing with them and helping them with their school work. Then, you all eat some more and head off to bed, never later than 8."

"you've been stalking me, you sick farang" said the fisherman. "you bad man, what do you want, my wife, my 3 kids? the bars in patong not good enough for you?"

[Austhaied]

"Sawasdee Krap", the smiling Thai fisherman responds.

"Every day, I've noted that you dock just before midday. You unload your catch and give it to your wife to make the day's food. Then I see you have a beer, relax and eat some fish cooked by the hand of your spouse. Then, I've seen you take an afternoon nap. Later on, I've seen you with your wife at home playing with your 3 wonderful young children, simply playing with them and helping them with their school work. Then, you all eat some more and head off to bed, never later than 8."

"you've been stalking me, you sick farang" said the fisherman. "you bad man, what do you want, my wife, my 3 kids? the bars in patong not good enough for you?"

:D Probably closer to the truth..

[taxexile]

The response from the villagers to my idea. One word (translated) ...... WHY ???

.... so they dont have to send their sons and daughters away from home to work in the factories , restaurants , bars and worse of the big cities to earn money to send home to support those too indolent to get out of their hammocks for 6 months of the year.

there's a 30 baht health scheme - I took my wife to have a baby two weeks ago and the cost was, well there was no cost. 0 baht.

cost to you .... nothing.

cost to the taxpayer , probably 10,000b ....... paid fro by those probably working a 5 or 6 day 50 hour week.

if everybody behaved like the subsistence fisherman , who would pay the taxes to pay for your wifes hospital treatment. a society can only develop ( good medical care , good schools , good care of the elderly and infirm and unemployed ) with an industrious population , not a population of hammock dwelling nihilists.

Edited March 15, 2007 by taxexile

[Helene]

That's a great story until the fisherman wants to go to the supermarket or hospital.

Or send his kids to school so that they don't end up poor illiterate fisherolks.

Naka.

What about if he has an accident at sea and dies? What happens to his family then? Or when he grows old and frail and cannot go out to fish anymore? Gee, aren't we a pessimistic lot!

[taxexile]

REST OF THE WORLD VERSION:

The squirrel works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building and improving his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks he's a fool, and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.

Come winter, the squirrel is warm and well fed. The shivering grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.

THE END

THE BRITISH VERSION:

The squirrel works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks he's a fool, and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the squirrel is warm and well fed.

A social worker finds the shivering grasshopper, calls a press conference and demands to know why the squirrel should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others less fortunate, like the grasshopper, are cold and starving. The BBC shows up to provide live coverage of the shivering grasshopper; with cuts to a video of the squirrel in his comfortable warm home with a table laden with food.

The British press inform people that they should be ashamed that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so while others have plenty. The Labour Party, Greenpeace, Animal Rights and The Grasshopper Council of GB demonstrate in front of the squirrel's house.

The BBC, interrupting a cultural festival special from Notting Hill with breaking news, broadcasts a multi cultural choir singing "We Shall Overcome". Ken Livingstone rants in an interview with Trevor McDonald that the squirrel has gotten rich off the backs of grasshoppers, and calls for an immediate tax hike on the squirrel to make him pay his "fair share" and increases the charge for squirrels to enter inner London.

In response to pressure from the media, the Government drafts the Economic Equity and Grasshopper Anti Discrimination Act, retroactive to the

beginning of the summer. The squirrels' taxes are reassessed. He is taken to court and fined for failing to hire grasshoppers as builders for the work he was doing on his home and an additional fine for contempt when he told the court the grasshopper did not want to work.

The grasshopper is provided with a council house, financial aid to furnish it and an account with a local taxi firm to ensure he can be socially mobile. The squirrels food is seized and re distributed to the more needy members of society, in this case the grasshopper.

Without enough money to buy more food, to pay the fine and his newly imposed retroactive taxes, the squirrel has to downsize and start building a new home. The local authority takes over his old home and utilises it as a temporary home for asylum seeking cats who had hijacked a plane to get to Britain as they had to share their country of origin with mice. On arrival they tried to blow up the airport because of Britain's apparent love of dogs.

The cats had been arrested for the international offence of hijacking and attempt bombing but were immediately released because the police fed them pilchards instead of salmon whilst in custody. Initial moves to then return them to their own country were abandoned because it was feared they would face death by the mice. The cats devise and start a scam to obtain money from peoples credit cards.

A Panorama special shows the grasshopper finishing up the last of the squirrels' food, though Spring is still months away, while the council house he is in, crumbles around him because he hasn't bothered to maintain the house. He is shown to be taking drugs. Inadequate government funding is blamed for the grasshoppers drug 'illness'.

The cats seek recompense in the British courts for their treatment since arrival in UK.

The grasshopper gets arrested for stabbing an old dog during a burglary to get money for his drugs habit. He is imprisoned but released immediately because he has been in custody for a few weeks. He is placed in the care of the probation service to monitor and supervise him. Within a few weeks he has killed a guinea pig in a botched robbery.

A commission of enquiry, that will eventually cost ?10,000,000 and state the obvious, is set up.

Additional money is put into funding a drug rehabilitation scheme for grasshoppers and legal aid for lawyers representing asylum seekers is increased. The asylum seeking cats are praised by the government for enriching Britain's multicultural diversity and dogs are criticised by the government for failing to befriend the cats.

The grasshopper dies of a drug overdose. The usual sections of the press blame it on the obvious failure of government to address the root causes of despair arising from social inequity and his traumatic experience of prison. They call for the resignation of a minister.

The cats are paid a million pounds each because their rights were infringed when the government failed to inform them there were mice in the United Kingdom.

The squirrel, the dogs and the victims of the hijacking, the bombing, the burglaries and robberies have to pay an additional percentage on their credit cards to cover losses, their taxes are increased to pay for law and order and they are told that they will have to work beyond 65 because of a shortfall in government funds.

[Jim's_a_Thai_Fox]

:D

Pure comic genius Mr Taxexile.

[taxexile]

credit where credits due , i got it off the net.

[ronw]

30 baht health scheme - I took my wife to have a baby two weeks ago and the cost was, well there was no cost. 0 baht.

...until there are complications. I know a young family out on the countryside who are under the 30 baht scheme. They recently had a baby girl who has a faulty heart valve. The 30 baht hospitals have no money for expensive treatments so in her case they can only hope for the best, and that is that the faulty heart valve somehow repairs itself.

Same thing in my village....child with a hole in the heart...and parents stateless....so NO 30 baht scheme available to them...

I went round the bars in town...recruited several people to help...and we raised the cash for the operation.

Child now fine, and healthy....and family very happy...

Don't just post about it......do something!!!

[Heng]

The gov't hospitals definitely have the best doctors, but worst facilities (that's what having to deal with X times the number of patients without proportionately increasing the # of staff, budget, # of beds, etc. will do to you). The best mix is usually senior gov't hospital doctor + private hospital, as most know, many if not most also work at private hospitals. The junior gov't doctors are usually way overworked and the junior private hospital doctors often haven't seen enough patients to make the transfer from textbook to practice.

Either go to a top ranked private hospital, or to a good government hospital. Mid ranked private hospitals are not much cheaper than the top ranked ones, but for serious problems much worse than the good government hospitals.

For major surgeries, I'd agree to a certain extent. I was looking at it from my own point of view where most of my hospital visits are yearly medical or dental checkups.

I don't think all mid ranked private hospitals deserve a generalization of having serious problems though. True, there have been some rather glaring 'in the media' type mistakes made in second class private hospitals (and a few in first class hospitals for that matter)... but I don't think that means these kinds of things aren't happening in gov't hospitals either. I think a good part of it may be that the customers/patients of the former are more likely to go to the media -or even have access to the media- than the latter group of patients.

[Neeranam]

QUOTE(ColPyat @ 2007-03-15 05:03:36)

QUOTE(Heng @ 2007-03-15 11:48:50)

The gov't hospitals definitely have the best doctors, but worst facilities (that's what having to deal with X times the number of patients without proportionately increasing the # of staff, budget, # of beds, etc. will do to you). The best mix is usually senior gov't hospital doctor + private hospital, as most know, many if not most also work at private hospitals. The junior gov't doctors are usually way overworked and the junior private hospital doctors often haven't seen enough patients to make the transfer from textbook to practice.

Either go to a top ranked private hospital, or to a good government hospital. Mid ranked private hospitals are not much cheaper than the top ranked ones, but for serious problems much worse than the good government hospitals.

For major surgeries, I'd agree to a certain extent. I was looking at it from my own point of view where most of my hospital visits are yearly medical or dental checkups.

I don't think all mid ranked private hospitals deserve a generalization of having serious problems though. True, there have been some rather glaring 'in the media' type mistakes made in second class private hospitals (and a few in first class hospitals for that matter)... but I don't think that means these kinds of things aren't happening in gov't hospitals either. I think a good part of it may be that the customers/patients of the former are more likely to go to the media -or even have access to the media- than the latter group of patients.

Spot on - all posts!

[ColPyat]

Either go to a top ranked private hospital, or to a good government hospital. Mid ranked private hospitals are not much cheaper than the top ranked ones, but for serious problems much worse than the good government hospitals.

For major surgeries, I'd agree to a certain extent. I was looking at it from my own point of view where most of my hospital visits are yearly medical or dental checkups.

I don't think all mid ranked private hospitals deserve a generalization of having serious problems though. True, there have been some rather glaring 'in the media' type mistakes made in second class private hospitals (and a few in first class hospitals for that matter)... but I don't think that means these kinds of things aren't happening in gov't hospitals either. I think a good part of it may be that the customers/patients of the former are more likely to go to the media -or even have access to the media- than the latter group of patients.

You misunderstood me. My fault.

What i meant to say that if one has a serious health problem one is much better off in a government hospital than in a lower ranked private hospital.

As you said - the better doctors and specialists work in the good government hospitals (and often have a practice in the top ranked private hospitals as well). Regularly mid ranked private hospitals refer patients to the better government hospitals, because these mid ranked private hospitals have neither the facilities nor the specialists.

The only thing is that in the government hospitals, if one is not in one of the private rooms but in a common ward, a lot of the care is supposed to be done by relatives.

[Cyberstar]

The topic title says: "Life's Too Short..., Why work so hard?" ... My immidiate thought was: "Life's Too Short..., Why waste it in a hammock?" ... Work's what you make it... Who might have the better life: The 25 year old permanently retired or the 60 year old still going strong surviver of the fittest?

[Austhaied]

The topic title says: "Life's Too Short..., Why work so hard?" ... My immidiate thought was: "Life's Too Short..., Why waste it in a hammock?" ... Work's what you make it... Who might have the better life: The 25 year old permanently retired or the 60 year old still going strong surviver of the fittest?

Very well said. Realistic.

[bkkmadness]

30 baht health scheme - I took my wife to have a baby two weeks ago and the cost was, well there was no cost. 0 baht.

...until there are complications. I know a young family out on the countryside who are under the 30 baht scheme. They recently had a baby girl who has a faulty heart valve. The 30 baht hospitals have no money for expensive treatments so in her case they can only hope for the best, and that is that the faulty heart valve somehow repairs itself.

Same thing in my village....child with a hole in the heart...and parents stateless....so NO 30 baht scheme available to them...

I went round the bars in town...recruited several people to help...and we raised the cash for the operation.

Child now fine, and healthy....and family very happy...

Don't just post about it......do something!!!

Good on you mate.

[mogoso]

I had the same thought when I first arrived in Issan. One crop of rice is grown a year - the rice paddy floods when the first rains of the season come and rice is planted. Later, it is harvested and the land sits vacant for a number of months.

I thought to myself, water here is only 3 metres (10ft) down. It would be easy to put in a bore and pump water onto the rice paddies and grow a second crop (maybe even a third crop) each year.

We could easily double (or maybe triple) production.

The response from the villagers to my idea. One word (translated) ...... WHY ???

I am now starting to think like a Thai person ... Life IS too short not to spend 20 hours a day resting in a hammock!

Peter

Beans are grown on our paddies in the off season, adds nitrogen back to the soil and provides the farmer another crop. We get a cut off the rice and the beans, and the farmer does have a bit more income. It works out nicely for us as an investment. Rather it works out good for momma as we let her keep the cash.

[Dakhar]

I find it funny how folks can come to Thailand and fantasize about being in a state of poverty. As if it is a blessing or something. But yet in their own country of origin, the folks they see there in a state of poverty are not seen with the same view.

What is the deal with that, as if a few thousand miles, makes poverty all better now....?

A poster on a similar topic posted a statement about a father raising his daughter, and knowing that one day his daughter, more than likely, will grow up and be a prostitute. Not that prostitutes are evil, not that prostitution in and of itself is the worst thing in the world....

But what I think is the worst (other than the spread of desease) is the eventual psychological impact it can have. The eventual tearing down the heart.... it has got to be a horrible process.

Any how, I hope that we can all give more, rather than be taxed more. Do it because you want to, give because you desire too, give before big brother forces you to.

As someone posted before, don't just gripe about it, act!

[LinkPopularity]

REST OF THE WORLD VERSION:

The squirrel works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building and improving his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks he's a fool, and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.

Come winter, the squirrel is warm and well fed. The shivering grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.

THE END

THE BRITISH VERSION:

The squirrel works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks he's a fool, and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the squirrel is warm and well fed.

A social worker finds the shivering grasshopper, calls a press conference and demands to know why the squirrel should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others less fortunate, like the grasshopper, are cold and starving. The BBC shows up to provide live coverage of the shivering grasshopper; with cuts to a video of the squirrel in his comfortable warm home with a table laden with food.

The British press inform people that they should be ashamed that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so while others have plenty. The Labour Party, Greenpeace, Animal Rights and The Grasshopper Council of GB demonstrate in front of the squirrel's house.

The BBC, interrupting a cultural festival special from Notting Hill with breaking news, broadcasts a multi cultural choir singing "We Shall Overcome". Ken Livingstone rants in an interview with Trevor McDonald that the squirrel has gotten rich off the backs of grasshoppers, and calls for an immediate tax hike on the squirrel to make him pay his "fair share" and increases the charge for squirrels to enter inner London.

In response to pressure from the media, the Government drafts the Economic Equity and Grasshopper Anti Discrimination Act, retroactive to the

beginning of the summer. The squirrels' taxes are reassessed. He is taken to court and fined for failing to hire grasshoppers as builders for the work he was doing on his home and an additional fine for contempt when he told the court the grasshopper did not want to work.

The grasshopper is provided with a council house, financial aid to furnish it and an account with a local taxi firm to ensure he can be socially mobile. The squirrels food is seized and re distributed to the more needy members of society, in this case the grasshopper.

Without enough money to buy more food, to pay the fine and his newly imposed retroactive taxes, the squirrel has to downsize and start building a new home. The local authority takes over his old home and utilises it as a temporary home for asylum seeking cats who had hijacked a plane to get to Britain as they had to share their country of origin with mice. On arrival they tried to blow up the airport because of Britain's apparent love of dogs.

The cats had been arrested for the international offence of hijacking and attempt bombing but were immediately released because the police fed them pilchards instead of salmon whilst in custody. Initial moves to then return them to their own country were abandoned because it was feared they would face death by the mice. The cats devise and start a scam to obtain money from peoples credit cards.

A Panorama special shows the grasshopper finishing up the last of the squirrels' food, though Spring is still months away, while the council house he is in, crumbles around him because he hasn't bothered to maintain the house. He is shown to be taking drugs. Inadequate government funding is blamed for the grasshoppers drug 'illness'.

The cats seek recompense in the British courts for their treatment since arrival in UK.

The grasshopper gets arrested for stabbing an old dog during a burglary to get money for his drugs habit. He is imprisoned but released immediately because he has been in custody for a few weeks. He is placed in the care of the probation service to monitor and supervise him. Within a few weeks he has killed a guinea pig in a botched robbery.

A commission of enquiry, that will eventually cost ?10,000,000 and state the obvious, is set up.

Additional money is put into funding a drug rehabilitation scheme for grasshoppers and legal aid for lawyers representing asylum seekers is increased. The asylum seeking cats are praised by the government for enriching Britain's multicultural diversity and dogs are criticised by the government for failing to befriend the cats.

The grasshopper dies of a drug overdose. The usual sections of the press blame it on the obvious failure of government to address the root causes of despair arising from social inequity and his traumatic experience of prison. They call for the resignation of a minister.

The cats are paid a million pounds each because their rights were infringed when the government failed to inform them there were mice in the United Kingdom.

The squirrel, the dogs and the victims of the hijacking, the bombing, the burglaries and robberies have to pay an additional percentage on their credit cards to cover losses, their taxes are increased to pay for law and order and they are told that they will have to work beyond 65 because of a shortfall in government funds.

this great, it's not just the UK, all of Europe is like this these days ...

what about this story ...

THAILAND VERSION:

The squirrel works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building and improving his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks he's a fool, he laughs, dances and plays the summer away.

The winter never came and the grasshopper never learned ... ;-)

THE END

[Heng]

Either go to a top ranked private hospital, or to a good government hospital. Mid ranked private hospitals are not much cheaper than the top ranked ones, but for serious problems much worse than the good government hospitals.

For major surgeries, I'd agree to a certain extent. I was looking at it from my own point of view where most of my hospital visits are yearly medical or dental checkups.

I don't think all mid ranked private hospitals deserve a generalization of having serious problems though. True, there have been some rather glaring 'in the media' type mistakes made in second class private hospitals (and a few in first class hospitals for that matter)... but I don't think that means these kinds of things aren't happening in gov't hospitals either. I think a good part of it may be that the customers/patients of the former are more likely to go to the media -or even have access to the media- than the latter group of patients.

You misunderstood me. My fault.

What i meant to say that if one has a serious health problem one is much better off in a government hospital than in a lower ranked private hospital.

As you said - the better doctors and specialists work in the good government hospitals (and often have a practice in the top ranked private hospitals as well). Regularly mid ranked private hospitals refer patients to the better government hospitals, because these mid ranked private hospitals have neither the facilities nor the specialists.

The only thing is that in the government hospitals, if one is not in one of the private rooms but in a common ward, a lot of the care is supposed to be done by relatives.