KUCHING: Doctors who rejected postings to Sarawak have been urged to reconsider their decision and take up the offer to serve the state.
Commenting on the decision of the 200 contract doctors who were offered permanent posts and postings in Sarawak but declined the offer or failed to report for duty, Deputy Premier Datuk Seri Dr Sim Kui Hian said doctors must be true to their calling and be passionate about their job.
“When I was working in Australia and when I was a junior doctor, every year there would be rotations, and I accepted the rotations.
“That is how you do your part, and in this field of medicine, you (doctors) have to help out when needed.
“Our profession is such that when you receive a call at 3 am, you have to immediately get up and save lives,” he told reporters when met after officiating at the Spina Bifida Awareness Workshop 2023 at Chemsain Building here today.
Dr Sim, who is also the Minister of Public Health, Housing and Local Government, said there are also plenty of opportunities for doctors posted to Sarawak.
“They are not going to be put in the jungle of Borneo forever. (But), the jungle of Borneo gives you a lot of other opportunities that you will never have.
“Look at our Sarawak Heart Centre in Kota Samarahan, it has been ranked 48 out of 100 on the list by Newsweek as the best cardiology hospitals in the Asia Pacific region,” he said.
At the same time, he said Health director-general Dr Muhammad Radzi Abu Hassan is looking closely into the issue of doctors who failed to report duty in Sarawak.
“I believe this issue will be resolved. But the fundamental is this, why don’t people want to come to Sarawak?
“This is the very reason why we said after 60 years (of Sarawak independence), part of it is that we want to discuss the health autonomy under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63),” he said.
