As members of an association, we should uphold our association’s constitution. Although The House is powerful, the members at the AGM (The House) cannot pass a resolution that goes against the constitution. If it happens, then the situation becomes untenable and may become a constitutional crisis. If a member feels that it is better for the association to carry out something that the constitution up-to-that-moment prohibits to do so, that particular member could propose the constitutional amendment, and if passed at the AGM or EGM, then it can be carried out. In short, the Constitution is the supreme law of the association and even The House cannot supersede it.

We are very happy and lucky that good sense prevailed at that particular moment and the Members at the recent AGM have made the wise decision to avoid any crisis. As agreed during the AGM by all sides by their word of honour, we hope and pray that there will be no further complaint over the matter by everyone concerned.

And I wish to reiterate again that the AGM was constitutionally carried out with full quorum in spite of the unpredictable weather and for that we are extremely thankful and grateful. My heartfelt thanks to all those who put in all effort possible to make their way through using alternative routes to go past road closure and even to the extent of taking alternative mode of transportation to ensure their attendance at the AGM. We greatly empathise with everyone who wanted to come but could not due to the flood and other reasons. However, we are constrained by the need to hold the already delayed AGM before the end of year to stay within the limit set by the ROS. Moreover, some outstation members had already travelled to KL for this AGM. If the AGM is postponed, it will be quite unfair to these outstation members who have already made extraordinary efforts to come. In addition, how to conduct the AGM within the year 2021, given that at least a 6-week notice or even just 2-week notice has to be given to the members before the AGM?

Could it be better if we conduct our AGM online? These are important questions that we have to struggle with in these trying times. The Election Committee’s lack of experience in conducting an election online and also several members’ complains against a virtual AGM (as reported by Election Committee) prevented the MDA to do so.

MDA also has been assisting the members to renew their APCs since about two months ago. And I am very happy to report that the fees have been passed to and accepted by Pendaftar Pergigian Malaysia after a minor hiccup. I would like to thank you for your forbearance and understanding on this matter.

Looking ahead to this year ( 2022), we expect to meet more challenges. Although the vaccination rate against COVID-19 is considerably high in our country, we are not out of the woods yet. The emergence of variants of COVID-19 is a continual challenge to the public health and the way we practise dentistry, conduct meetings and maintain ourselves on the cutting edge of dentistry. The Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin has cautioned that the more transmissible Omicron Covid-19 variant is already in the community. This Omicron variant of concern (VOC) has the highest transmission rate among other VOCs. So we please do follow the guidelines laid down by Majlis Keselamatan Negara (MKN) and Ministry of Health (MOH) closely.

The COVID-19 cases are climbing steadily since beginning of 2022 and the uptrend continues without any sign of slowing down. After assessing the situation and discussion among the SCATE2022 Organizing Committee and MDA Council, we come to the conclusion that it is in the best interest of everyone to cancel the SCATE 2022. Safety is always our top priority. Now we concentrate our resources and effort to organise MIDEC 2022 which will be held in August 2022. We apologise for any inconvenience caused and hope to meet you in person at MIDEC 2022.

We now know that the Dental Act 2018 is gazetted and to be implemented in 2022. CPD points collected in 2023 can be used to renew our APCs in 2024 (for the 2025 APCs). Meanwhile it is a good habit and exercise to accumulate CPD points. Also we need to purchase professional indemnity insurance to cover our practices before renewing our APCs. The devil is in the detail; the difficulty is always in the implementation. We have yet to see the full picture of how the Dental Act 2018 is going to be rolled out. The MDA will do her best to inform members accordingly as it unfolds.

Until we meet again, have a safe, happy and prosperous New Year 2022 and Chinses New Year.

Cheers and Best Wishes.

Dr Lim Chiew Wooi
President
Malaysian Dental Association