KUCHING: The termination of service contract of two Sarawakian medical officers (MOs) in Sibu has caught the attention of Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Seri Dr Sim Kui Hian.
The two MOs Dr Wong Woan Hui and Dr Bong Ing Hui who had served in Sibu Hospital, brought up the issue of their contract not being renewed by the government in a press conference last Saturday.
“The incident is not just a termination of contract but a premature end of their path to specialist training because these doctors had already passed part 1 of specialists’ exam.
“Given that Sarawak is short of specialists and on compassionate ground, the Ministry of Health (MOH) must reconsider the contract renewal of these medical officers,” he said, adding he was saddened by the news which he described as of ‘Malaya First’.
Dr Sim, who is a cardiologist, said the ‘Malaya First’ attitude is why the Sarawak government must take back health autonomy.
He said this is a position that he had stated during the MOH’s Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) Working Committee in Sept 2019.
“This is why Sarawak insists on taking health autonomy back because they cannot apply the national standard and norm on us (Sarawak),” he said.
He said apparently the federal leaders do not know that specialists are only available in Kuching, and not in Sibu, Bintulu or Miri; unlike in Malaya where specialists serve in Penang, Kedah, Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur and Seremban.
“How can they apply the national norm on us? The national norm is not applicable in Sarawak.
“After the PH failed us so many times, this (MOs) case is another time that they have failed us.”
Dr Sim noted that ‘Malaya First’ is not what Sarawak signed up for when the state entered the Malaysia Agreement in 1963.
