MMA rejects proposal to hire new govt medical officers along racial lines

The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) has rejected a proposal that the government consider hiring new medical officers along racial lines.

This after Malaysian Public Health Physicians' Association (PPPKAM) president Dr Zainal Ariffin was cited in a Utusan Malaysia report last week as saying that a review would allow more medical graduates "especially among the bumiputera" to get permanent placement in the civil service as well as reduce unemployment.

This proposal caught public attention when Health Minister Dr Adham Baba in a statement on Wednesday said the government took note of the suggestion.

It should be noted that Adham in his statement said the government was still hiring medical graduates but did not say that this was being done along racial lines.

In his statement today, MMA president Dr Subramaniam Muniandy said the association rejected that racial and religious criteria be used to influence the appointment of medical officers for permanent service.

"For professionals in the medical sector, we need the best and the brightest talents to serve the rakyat.

"Such talents come in all races, religion, creeds, ethnicities and gender," he said.

Without naming PPPAKM, he also said the suggestion to ensure that bumiputera graduates get permanent placement was discriminatory and insulting and that the government should not partake in this.

"The government of Malaysia should lead the way in uniting the rakyat, not sow discord amongst its working professionals.

"There is no place for such discriminatory practices in Malaysia, much less in the government and Health Ministry," he said.

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