Have you seen the latest Malaysian-made Ah Lok's Cafe? There is nothing spectacular about this movie where Reggie Lee's cartoon character is brought to life. It is about Ah Lok, played by Leonard Tan (who is by the way quite a good impersonator) who is an avid Elvis fan who owns a cafe. What intrigues me is the twist in the story where his younger daughter , Ai Ling, was diagnosed with a heart condition and could not foot the medical bill.

So Ah Lok had to find ways of paying for the medical fees which requires expensive surgery. Ultimately, he decided to sell his cherished Cafe. This rings an all too familiar tune. How many families out there who had to fork out tonnes of money to pay exorbitant medical fees? Even insurance policies do not cover for recurring medical conditions, eg for cancer relapse. You are pretty much on your own. Even government medical fees, although subsidised, would still be too costly for some. And mind you, the waiting list in Government hospitals will be extremely long. Most heart patients die while on the waiting list!

So, we need some sort of "Medicare-like" programme for Malaysians. Even in a Government subsidised hospital, things are never completely "free". For example, the artificial lens for cataract surgery costs approximately RM$500 which the patient has to pay him/herself. Some segment of society still cannot afford this.

Back to the movie, I found it "draggy" and the sound effects were poor. If it was not a Malaysian movie, I would certainly not recommend it but I think we have to support our local film industry. There are talents, for example Shawn Lee playing Fatt Chye in the movie, is certainly a young talent! Go see it!