Laughter Is The Best Medicine: Meet Malaysia's Very Own 'Patch Adams'

Patch Adams and Dr Shanmugan Madhusudhan.

Both these medical doctors truly believe that laughter is the best medicine.

For those who can remember, the 1998 movie Patch Adams is a film about a real-life medical doctor and social activist Hunter Doherty Adams who uses humour, clowning tricks and comedy to bring joy to his patients.

A founder of Gesundheit! Institute, his view on medicine spans broader than those simple tricks, but he is most known for his clown persona, “Patch Adams” and running a free community hospital in the late 1970s.

The late Robin Williams played Adams in that movie.

For 35-year-old Dr Madhusudhan, or fondly known as the Teddy Bear doctor, his take on humour is a little different.

We came across some quirky videos of Dr Madhusudhan on his Facebook page, and asked for his permission to use them and feature his “other” profession.

He laughed very hard at that request, but readily agreed. Why are his videos interesting?

He says during his break time at his clinic, he takes the time to put on a show.

Using Musical.ly, a video editing software, Dr Madhusudhan shows off his impersonation skills, and sense of humour, as the famous Tamil comedian and actor, Vadivelu.

In these videos, he goes into full acting mode, wearing bandages, scarves, and sometimes bath towels.

Props too, are used to enhance the performance. From plastic snakes to plastic scoops, he is passionate about getting the mood right for the scene.

The scenes are picked from popular Tamil films and Dr Madhusudhan portrays all the characters, male and female. Scarves for females and sometimes sunglasses too to show of a heroic side to the character.

Scenes are reenacted from movies such as Pokkiri and Arya, and this doctor has a go at the funny scenes by lip syncing the dialogue.

Doctor and budding comedian, how did he mix entertainment with medicine?

Initially, Dr Madhusudhan created these videos for his own amusement and to entertain his friends, but then one of his friends had leaked a video onto social media site Facebook.

And when that happened, the doctor received positive feedback and also a rather serious message advising him not to perform comedy acts or slapstick comedy, because he is a public figure.

With good humour, Dr Madhusudhan decided instead to produce more videos, which he then shares on his Facebook page.

“I also wanted to have fun,” says the jovial 35-year-old doctor of these videos.

At times, accompanying his videos are calls to not take life seriously or advice about marriage or dating.

Dr Madhusudhan is not married and he tells us that his future wife must enjoy charity work as much as he does, so that he doesn't feel he has to “neglect” her when he is serving his patients at his clinic, running his free mobile clinic, raising funds or sending groceries to poor families.

“I just want to make people happy,” was his simple response.

So, Dr Madhusudhan as you can tell now, is no ordinary doctor.

This Klang-born doctor is not only a die-hard fan of comedian Vadivelu, but wholeheartedly enjoys volunteerism, particularly when providing free medical care to the homeless and urban poor.

“If I can do this everyday I would, I want to help as many people as possible,” he says, adding that it has always been his dream to be of service to the community.

Dr Madhusudhan is known for leading the Teddy Mobile Clinic or known as TMC, a free clinic that operates every Wednesday in Kuala Lumpur.

They run clinics on Jalan Hang Lekiu and outside Masjid Negara from 9pm onwards.

We visited him at Jalan Hang Lekiu, watching dozens of volunteers put together the makeshift clinic on pavements in under 30 minutes.

Dr Madhusudhan credits his friends and dedicated volunteers for showing enthusiasm to assist in this mobile clinic.

Volunteer senior doctors are on hand to prescribe medication, while young medical students assist with basic inspection such as blood pressure checks and taking down vital information of the street friends that use their service. TMC like many other soup kitchens and non-profit organisations do not use the term “homeless” to describe the people that live on the streets or make up the urban poor, preferring to call them street friends or clients.

Dr Madhusudhan points out that in some areas like Masjid Jamek there are many Indians while another part of Kuala Lumpur, he calls Cahaya Suria, there are more Myanmarese living there.

“But what is great about the TMC volunteers is the fact that they are colour blind.

“We treat anyone regardless of race or religion, Malaysian or non-Malaysian,” adds this doctor who was trained in India and Malaysia.

Not all street friends are living on the pavements of building and some of them may choose to do so because of disputes with families, or instead live in poor and cramped conditions.

Free medical care offers the opportunity for these communities to seek assistance, especially for those who are jobless or have low-paying jobs who need to take care of families or dependants.

“For serious cases, we will refer them to the hospital,” he tells us, adding that basic medication such as paracetamol are given to help the patients with aches or pains.

The clinic has worked with many other social organisations, such as Street Feeders of KL, and collaborated with community leaders Syed Azmi Al Habshi and Hayati Ismail, as well as barber turned activist Lex Low. “I look up to them, especially Justin Cheah, who does charity work 24 hours, I only start after 8pm, but for him, it's a life long work,” he adds. Cheah is Kechara Soup Kitchen's project director.