Pakatan Harapan Youth leaders today proposed for the government to be more flexible in allowing medical graduates without an SPM level Bahasa Malaysia qualification to practise in the country.

Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia Youth chief Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman said the most basic requirement should be for all doctors to be able to speak in the national language in order to communicate with the majority of their patients.

"I am very sure and confident that vast majority, if not all (medical) graduates, can speak in Malay.

"So, perhaps the government can look at other forms of language recognition (apart from SPM)," he told a joint press conference with other Harapan parties Youth leaders at PKR headquarters in Petaling Jaya.

He said this when asked for comments on a recent outcry over a Public Service Department's decision, on the request of the Health Ministry, to waive the SPM BM qualification requirements for medical graduates applying to undertake house officer training in teaching hospitals.

"From our part (Harapan Youth), we want to ensure that there is flexibility so the graduates can practise in Malaysia," he said, adding that it will only take a simple policy change to introduce other modes of Malay language proficiency recognition.

Among others, he said Malaysia could introduce a method similar to the UK's International English Language Testing System (IELTS) - rather than just focus on an SPM qualification.

PKR Youth chief Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad similarly concurred that Harapan Youth is open to looking for alternative solutions to address the issue faced by local medical graduates.

"My wife is a medical doctor but she took the SPM," he quipped.

"It is very important for doctors because Malay is the common language spoken by all.

"Pakatan Harapan Youth is open (to suggestions) to see how we can resolve the issue," he said.

It was reported that about 300 medical graduates were affected by the government's decision to withdraw acceptance of the O Levels BM qualification in lieu of an SPM certificate.

Most of the affected graduates had completed their secondary school abroad or attended an international school in Malaysia, Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah had said in defending the decision which was criticised for allegedly undermining BM's position as the national and official language.