Kuala Lampur, July 15 -- Public hospitals were never meant to resemble private hospitals. They exist precisely because profit-driven care leaves people behind.

Yet with Rakan KKM, we are asked to accept the idea that the same tax-funded wards can be quietly turned into pay-per-use zones, where money determines how quickly you see a doctor.

This is not some academic worry.

Private hospitals exist to make money; no one disputes it. But public hospitals are built on a simple promise: when you are sick, you are equal to everyone else.

That is not a sentimental slogan. It is the only reason taxpayers agree to fund a system meant to serve all, not just the fortunate.

So why is the government so determined to blur that line? Why, just as su...