Health Minister Dr S Subramaniam said such an explanation was needed to clear the air over the issue.
“Many quarters have misunderstood the issue although Health director-general Noor Hisham Abdullah had issued a statement.
“As such, it is better for me to explain to the cabinet first before explaining to the people,” he told reporters after the Inspire to Aspire 2017 programme here today.
Subramaniam’s statement came after Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi asked him and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Joseph Entulu Belaun to explain the issue.
Yesterday, Hisham said the relaxation would allow medical graduates to undergo training and compulsory service for two years but they must pass Bahasa Melayu at SPM-level if they wanted to be appointed on a permanent basis.
Meanwhile, the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) said the Public Service Department’s (PSD) decision to relax the Bahasa Melayu requirement for the appointment of Grade UD41 contract medical officers would prevent the loss of expertise of hundreds of medical graduates each year.
It said the decision would allow 300 to 400 medical graduates, including those who studied abroad and sat for O-level examination in international schools, to undergo graduate training for two years and the mandatory two years in the health ministry.
MMA president Dr Ravindran R Naidu said this would allow them to qualify for a medical practitioner’s certificate and register with the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC).
“If the medical graduates cannot undergo graduate and mandatory training, they cannot become a doctor and the country will lose out.
“They cannot work in private clinics and pharmacies without a medical practitioner’s certificate. So do they have to become taxi drivers or bus conductors?”
The decision to relax the rules for doctors who had studied in international schools or did not take the SPM Bahasa paper drew criticisms from Bahasa proponents who feared that the national language would be sidelined and would create a communication problem between medical officers and the patients.
Ravindran said this was not a big issue since the graduates had to pass Bahasa at SPM level for permanent appointment as medical officers in the health ministry.
The perceived communication problem between medical officers and patients did not arise since the medical graduates were Malaysians and thus were able to speak the national language.
Currently, the ratio of doctors in Malaysia is 1:600 patients, compared to the target of 1:400 set for 2020.