Recently there were reports of Public Services Department (PSD) sponsored student who was unable to practice medicine locally because his Japanese degree is not recognised by the Malaysian Medical Council MMC).

However, unlike all the students who had the misfortune to study in unrecognised colleges, this student was told he could attend medical training at Universiti Sains Malaysia for a year after which he would be recognised by the MMC. Voila., his troubles are over!

But there are many Malaysians who have done medicine at unrecognised colleges and they have to sit for a qualifying exam along with local med students.

It is a known fact that out of the 15-20 students who take the exams at any one session, only one or two will pass. These students have to struggle and pass the exam unlike that chosen Japanese university graduate.

This brings to notice how the MMC goes about recognising a degree. For example, Bangalore University has more than 10 medical colleges under it. Students from all the colleges take the same exam by the same university and all the colleges are recognised by the Indian Medical Council.

The names of these colleges are also the World Health Organisation (WHO) list.

However, the MMC chooses to recognise only selected colleges under Bangalore University. Why only selected colleges when degrees from all of them are issued by the same university? Why this hungama?

Editor's note: Hungama is of Hindi origin which loosely translates as shenanigan or monkey business.