The new coronavirus pandemic has unleashed chaos on the world.

Governments and
organisations are scrambling to manage and contain the deadly virus from spreading further.
Doctors, nurses and healthcare workers have become the unwitting heroes of the Covid-19
coronavirus pandemic, winning applause from balconies and streets around the world.

My father is a medical assistant who is directly involved dealing with a huge influx of
patients, while also facing a lack of equipment in many cases and the fear of becoming infected
themselves. I stayed with him during the pandemic in order to provide him moral support. I decided
to interview him and get to know his sacrifices covering a nearby designated Covid-19 hospital from
time to time.

I managed to prepare several question to be asked to him and asked his permission first. “Appa,
may I interview you for my assignment purpose for my assignment?” He was shy at first and after a
few seconds, he finally agreed.

I asked, “How long you have been in service, Appa? He answered me. “I’ve been in service for
32 years. I started to work as a medical assistant since 1988” Wow! That’s quite long. What actually
drove you to become a medical assistant? He shared with me the journey of becoming a medical
assistant. “Becoming a medical assistant is my passion and I came from a medical line. It started
from my grandfather, followed by my father and lastly it went down to me. I should say that my
father is my greatest motivation. When I was a kid, I used to follow my father to hospital and I’ve
seen him treating many patients. So that was the time I started to show interest towards medicine.
That time I couldn’t afford to be a doctor, so I became a medical assistant’’. That is so inspiring. Now,
can you share me your emotions during the recent Covid-19 outbreak? How do you feel about it?

Mr. Vijayaraj : Well, I believe it came as a surprise for the whole nation because nobody expected it.
Emotionally I was shocked and overwhelmed with so many covid-19 positive cases. Initially, we do
not know how to deal with these patients and then finally we have got a proper guidance, guidelines
and standard operation procedures from Ministry of Education so that we could keep ourselves safe.

Interviewer : That’s great Mr. Vijayaraj. How did you hold on to your motivation during the
pandemic?

Mr. Vijayaraj : Yes sure, for your information, Hospital Segamat do have Psychological team
comprised of doctors from Psychiatric Department to keep motivating and encouraging all the staffs.
So, I regularly attend the meetings and sometimes I have personal consultation with the doctors.

Interviewer : I see, can you share a particular moment that was unforgettable during the MCO
period?

Mr. Vijayaraj : Oh, yes. I think I should talk about this one specific moment so that people will be
aware of this situation. Once, a patient came to the hospital and he failed to disclose about the
history where the patient went to the Tabliq which recently held in Petaling. He attended the event
as someone who was having fever and sore throat and finally we found out that he was carrying
Covid-19 after we sent him for the swab test. Luckily, I was wearing BPE and mask when I treated
him. Besides, I also sanitize myself regularly when I’m on duty. However, I still isolated myself for 3
days because of the incident and thankfully my test came back negative.

Interviewer : That is so scary Mr. Vijayaraj. I hope people now understand the importance of
disclosing their history whenever they consult a doctor if they are having the symptoms of Covid-19
so that the doctors can give the proper treatment.
Mr. Vijayaraj : Exactly, this will lessen the burden of the doctors and at the same time, we can also
protect ourselves from Covid-19. As a precautionary step, I also keep sanitizing myself and wear a
mask whenever I go out. If possible, we should not have direct contact or gatherings among the
staffs in the hospital. Moreover, I also make sure that I sanitize my hands before I step out from
hospital and once I reach home, I take a hot bath because it could kill the germs in my body. These
are some of the precautionary steps that I took for the safety of myself, my family and the people
around me.

Interviewer : I believe these precautionary steps will be very useful as the Malaysians are still
fighting to break the Covid-19 chain. Thank you so much for participating in the interview session.