MC or ML?

I called in sick yesterday. Nothing serious, just the typical post Chinese New Year sickness; sore throat and flu. Well, I was not alone. When I visited the clinic, there were about 5 patients in front of me; all coughing and sneezing. Must be the doing of those delicious CNY cookies.

The doctor was quite sceptical whether to give me a MC or not, because apart from the redness of my throat and some running nose, there was nothing wrong with me. If he was to refuse, then I will have to get my lazy ass back to office at 11.00am. Luckily, I managed to convinced him that I am not faking ill to skip work. I'll blog more about this next time and get to the main topic of this entry.

If you are a Malaysian, then you would have no trouble understanding the earlier paragraph. MC, in this context stands for Medical Certificate. Yup, a small piece of paper that entitles you to stay at home to recuperate from whatever sickness that you supposedly to have. Many (me included), have resort to this little paper as an excuse to delay the submission of project papers / to skip meeting / to attend interview / to go for a date / to do whatever as long as no need to work or school.

But have you ever notice that the way MC is used in today's communication? "Dear XYZ, please be informed that Mr. Banana is on MC today". Or "Hello Boss, I am on MC today". Shouldn't the MC be replaced by ML, as in medical leave?

It should be read, "Dear XYZ, please be informed that Mr. Banana is on medical leave today". But then again, it has already been part of our Manglish. Like it or not, the incorrect usage of MC will still continue.