27 June 2021
TREAT MOH CONTRACT OFFICERS FAIRLY
In The name of Allah, the Most Beneficient, the Most Merciful.
Peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad.
We noted with much alarm and concern at the Kenyataan Media, Menteri Kesihatan Malaysia, dated 23/06/2021, which read:
“… Penelitian ini dicadangkan bagi memastikan graduan perubatan khususnya dalam kalangan Bumiputera dapat berkhidmat secara tetap dan seterusnya mengurangakn kadar pengangguran bidang professional di negara ini…”
Refer:
1) https://www.sinarharian.com.my/ampArticle/145924
2) https://www.facebook.com/373560576236/posts/10158013181526237
The suggestion by few associations in the press statement smacks of racist nuances, preferring Bumiputera doctors above their colleagues in solving the problem plaguing Contract Doctors.
Apart from a few isolated reports, the medical fraternity in Malaysia has otherwise been blessed with a harmonious multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-cultural co-existence.
Our teachers and professors have been of all races as has been our patients. The rakyat patient only wish to be treated to the best that we are capable of, no matter the colour or creed of the healer.
And this being part and parcel of our Oath as a Muslim Physician:
“Therefore, make us worthy of this favoured station with honor, dignity and piety so that we may devote our lives in serving mankind, poor or rich, literate or illiterate, Muslim or non-Muslim, black or white with patience and tolerance with virtue and reverence, with knowledge and vigilance, with Thy love in our hearts and compassion for Thy servants, Thy most precious creation.”
There is therefore no place for ethnic based policies in the matter of Contract Officers or any other policies in the Ministry of Health. We need the best to serve our rakyat who are like us, of all colours and persuasions.
We are of the view that the Contract Officers should be given permanent posts with either pension or EPF for at least 15 years from graduation as earlier agreed upon by the PSD and the MOH. This is to allow them to become full-fledged consultants during this time period.
There is no other Ministry that has contract posts for professionals except for the Health Ministry. This obviously a glaring anomaly and discrimination.
In the current devastating pandemic, it is these young doctors who have sacrificed the utmost. They were at the font-lines, in full PPE gears, for long hours, on calls and distanced from their loved ones. They cannot work from home in contrast to their colleagues in other ministries. They work while others sleep, often missing their meals and mutli-tasking as clinicians, clerical officers, vaccinators, counselors and contact tracers. It is they who are solving the day-to-day sufferings of the rakyat, at the frontline of this bitter war against COVID-19. And they serve with no discrimination of color or creed. For pain, suffering and death does not recognise skin color nor religious beliefs.
One of our members has written of this at length:
If it is not them that we reward, then we do not know anyone else who deserves it. Give them the permanent posts. They more than deserve it.
Undersigned by:
Islamic Medical Association of Malaysia (IMAM)
Persatuan Kesihatan IKRAM Malaysia (IKRAM Health)
Malaysian Society for Occupational Safety and Health (MSOSH)