Making her mark in acupuncture in US
Published on: Sun, Aug 17, 2025
By: Zia Holly Text Size: The proud Sabahan from Keningau now runs a thriving acupuncture and wellness practice in Florida. SHE was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder after moving to the US in early 2000. When the illness struck, she turned to acupuncture which she was already familiar with back in Malaysia. Today, Keningau-born Dr Pamela Petrus-Purser runs a thriving acupuncture and wellness practice with hundreds of patients across America. 'The moment the needle touched my skin, my body sighed. I fell asleep right there on the table,' she said of her first acupuncture session in Malaysia, which started the beginning of both her healing and a new career path. Her Malaysian university degrees not recognised in the US, forcing Pamela to make a bold decision to restart her education, while battling her illness. She enrolled in the Pacific College of Health and Science in San Diego, eventually earning both a Master's in 2011 and Doctorate in Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine 10 years later. Her love for natural remedies can be traced to her grandmother, who served as a wartime midwife, had Bobohizan lineage (traditional Kadazan healers) all of which influences Pamela's practice today. Dr Pamela also studied business and entrepreneurship. She learned to create systems that allow her to serve patients effectively while maintaining work-life balance. 'Helping people should not cost you your life,' she said, pointing out the importance of sustainable business practices in healthcare. The patients who known on Dr Pamela's door range from newborns to 89-year-olds, addressing conditions including chronic pain, post-stroke recovery, fertility challenges, anxiety, digestive issues and sleep disorders. Rather than treating diseases, she focuses on treating individuals, identifying imbalances such as heat, cold, excess or deficiency according to Traditional Chinese Medicine principles. Her treatment approach is structured in phases, relief, stabilisation and maintenance. She credits her husband, a military veteran whom she met in Japan 25 years ago, as her greatest supporter. He was also her first patient. The couple live in Navarre, Florida, where Dr Pamela has built a thriving practice. Despite being far from home, Dr Pamela remains deeply connected to Sabah through social media and cherished memories. She misses traditional food like bambangan, tuhau and bosou, which she describes as food that speaks of the earth. Her educational journey in Malaysia included St Anthony Primary School in Tenom, Stella Maris Secondary School in Tanjung Aru, Polytechnic Kuching and University Malaya, where she later lectured as UMS Labuan Campus until 2003. 'There were many points I could have given up. But I kept going. One step. Then another,' said Dr Pamela who lost her mother in a road accident when she was 16. Dr Pamela believes alternative medicine will become increasingly mainstream as Artificial Intelligence disrupts conventional healthcare systems. She sees traditional practices like Chinese medicines and Ayurveda gaining more recognition. 'We are not here to replace anything. We are here to restore balance,' she said, viewing her work as complementary to modern medicine rather than competitive. Her message to young people: 'Your struggles do not define you, they can lead to your purpose. You do not have to be perfect, just keep going. Your roots and hardships can become your strength'.
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Making her mark in acupuncture in US
Published on: Sunday, August 17, 2025 Published on: Sun, Aug 17, 2025 By: Zia Holly Text Size: The proud Sabahan from Keningau now runs a thriving acupuncture and wellness practice in Florida. SHE was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder after moving to the US in early 2000. When the illness struck, she turned to acupuncture which she was already familiar with back in Malaysia. Today, Keningau-born Dr Pamela Petrus-Purser runs a thriving acupuncture and wellness practice with hundreds of patients across America. 'The moment the needle touched my skin, my body sighed. I fell asleep right there on the table,' she said of her first acupuncture session in Malaysia, which started the beginning of both her healing and a new career path. Her Malaysian university degrees not recognised in the US, forcing Pamela to make a bold decision to restart her education, while battling her illness. She enrolled in the Pacific College of Health and Science in San Diego, eventually earning both a Master's in 2011 and Doctorate in Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine 10 years later. Her love for natural remedies can be traced to her grandmother, who served as a wartime midwife, had Bobohizan lineage (traditional Kadazan healers) all of which influences Pamela's practice today. Dr Pamela also studied business and entrepreneurship. She learned to create systems that allow her to serve patients effectively while maintaining work-life balance. 'Helping people should not cost you your life,' she said, pointing out the importance of sustainable business practices in healthcare. The patients who known on Dr Pamela's door range from newborns to 89-year-olds, addressing conditions including chronic pain, post-stroke recovery, fertility challenges, anxiety, digestive issues and sleep disorders. Rather than treating diseases, she focuses on treating individuals, identifying imbalances such as heat, cold, excess or deficiency according to Traditional Chinese Medicine principles. Her treatment approach is structured in phases, relief, stabilisation and maintenance. She credits her husband, a military veteran whom she met in Japan 25 years ago, as her greatest supporter. He was also her first patient. The couple live in Navarre, Florida, where Dr Pamela has built a thriving practice. Despite being far from home, Dr Pamela remains deeply connected to Sabah through social media and cherished memories. She misses traditional food like bambangan, tuhau and bosou, which she describes as food that speaks of the earth. Her educational journey in Malaysia included St Anthony Primary School in Tenom, Stella Maris Secondary School in Tanjung Aru, Polytechnic Kuching and University Malaya, where she later lectured as UMS Labuan Campus until 2003. 'There were many points I could have given up. But I kept going. One step. Then another,' said Dr Pamela who lost her mother in a road accident when she was 16. Dr Pamela believes alternative medicine will become increasingly mainstream as Artificial Intelligence disrupts conventional healthcare systems. She sees traditional practices like Chinese medicines and Ayurveda gaining more recognition. 'We are not here to replace anything. We are here to restore balance,' she said, viewing her work as complementary to modern medicine rather than competitive. Her message to young people: 'Your struggles do not define you, they can lead to your purpose. You do not have to be perfect, just keep going. Your roots and hardships can become your strength'.
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Bully-victims often become bullies themselves due to weak support systems, prompting retaliation or redirection of frustrations toward more vulnerable peers. This dual role worsens their psychological challenges, as they endure both the trauma of being bullied and the strain of their own aggression. Such cases underscore the need for early victim intervention to break the cycle, alongside rehabilitative measures tailored for bully-victims. Given the substantial time adolescents spend at school, the school environment and teachers are pivotal in shaping students' experiences. Unesco notes that bullying is 7% more likely in schools with poor disciplinary climates and 12% higher where teachers treat students unfairly. Worryingly, teachers can also be perpetrators, exposing students to aggression and corporal punishment—still legal in Malaysia. Conversely, teacher guidance and support are essential in prevention, with a 49% to 53% likelihood of reducing student involvement in bullying. Adolescents also reported higher life satisfaction when supported by teachers, even after experiencing bullying (Chong et al., 2023). Unlike Singapore, China, and the Philippines, Malaysia has no state-level anti-bullying laws and no statutory definition of bullying. Current measures include the Guidelines for Bullying and Sexual Harassment Management and 2024 amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code and Penal Code outlawing acts that cause distress, fear, or harassment. Yet experts stress the need for specific laws, noting disproportionate punishments for verbal and non-verbal bullying. Tackling school bullying in Malaysia requires enforcement mechanisms as strong as its prevention strategies. Policies must deliver deterrence, ensure fair investigations, and close the loopholes that allow cases, especially in elite schools, to be suppressed. Emir Research recommends: Automatic expulsion with mandatory rehabilitation before re-entry. For serious or repeated bullying, students should be immediately removed from their current school. Re-enrolment in any mainstream institution should only be permitted after completing a certified behavioural intervention programme. A centralised MOE registry should track offenders to ensure compliance and prevent quiet transfers that bypass accountability. Independent investigation panels for serious cases. Establish regional inquiry boards consisting of MOE officials, legal representatives, and independent child rights advocates to oversee severe incidents. This reduces internal cover-ups, particularly in institutions with influential stakeholders, and ensures impartial decision-making. Enact comprehensive anti-bullying legislation: Define physical, verbal, relational, and cyberbullying in law. Require all MOE-registered institutions to have enforceable anti-bullying policies, detailing penalties, safe reporting procedures, and clear timelines for response. Evidence shows such laws reduce victimisation, depression, and suicidal behaviours among students. (Rees et al., 2022). Secure and direct reporting channels. All institutions must maintain anonymous, tamper-proof reporting systems, online portals or physical drop boxes, directly linked to investigation bodies. Malaysia's existing anti-bullying portal should be replaced with a dedicated national platform that automatically connects victims to police, counsellors, and child protection services, as Emir Research has recommended previously (see 'Child Bullying—When Will it End?'). Whistleblower protection and anti-interference laws. Criminalise any attempt to intimidate, bribe, or obstruct a bullying investigation. Protect students, teachers, and staff who report incidents from retaliation, with legal immunity where appropriate. School-based mental health screening and counselling. Psychological challenges, including depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, and loneliness, are both causes and effects of bullying (Sabramani et al., 2021; Ariani et al., 2025). Conduct bi-annual screenings to identify at-risk students. Partner with certified mental health professionals to deliver evidence-based interventions, focusing on both victims and perpetrators to break cycles of violence. Prevention and rehabilitation education. Embed bullying prevention in the national curriculum, including conflict resolution, empathy-building, and media literacy. Develop targeted rehabilitation programmes for offenders, with monitored reintegration into school communities. Educator training and accountability. Weak teacher training is a serious risk factor for bullying (Gusfre et al., 2023). Require teachers to complete specialised training in classroom management, non-violent discipline, early detection of bullying, and proper incident reporting. Establish consequences for staff who fail to act on reported cases. Strengthen on-campus security. Deploy trained security personnel and wardens in schools and dormitories, with daily patrols in known hotspots such as bathrooms and secluded areas. Parental and community engagement. Engage parents in early-warning and prevention initiatives and collaborate with NGOs, youth groups, and faith-based organisations to extend anti-bullying campaigns into communities. Mandatory transparency reporting. Require all schools to publish anonymised quarterly data on bullying incidents, investigation outcomes, and measures taken, consolidated into an annual national report by the MOE. Without decisive enforcement and sustained prevention, victims will remain voiceless in the very institutions meant to safeguard them, while perpetrators, often shielded by influence or inaction, continue without consequence. Breaking this cycle demands more than statements of concern: Malaysia must pair strict, enforceable laws with independent oversight, embed mental health and rehabilitation into the heart of its education system, and close every loophole that allows bullying to be minimised or ignored. Failure to act decisively will not only invite more preventable tragedies but also deepen public distrust in the nation's commitment to protect its children. Only by holding every school, teacher, parent, and student accountable can we create learning environments where safety is non-negotiable and respect is the norm. Dr Margarita Peredaryenko and Avyce Heng. (Part of the research team at Emir Research, an independent think tank focused on strategic policy recommendations based on rigorous research). The views expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of the Daily Express. If you have something to share, write to us at: [email protected]
