Dr Ting explains why he turned down TalentCorp offer

The ex-Pujut assemblyman says he was already 'very involved' in the community and politics and that a full-time medical career was not 'tenable'.

KUCHING: A change of heart led to Dr Ting Tiong Choon not completing the application for the Talent Corporation Malaysia’s (TalentCorp) Returning Expert Programme (REP).

The Pujut assemblyman, who was summarily dismissed from the Sarawak assembly last Friday, said he did not take the final steps in appearing before the national recruitment agency to accept an offer to return.

He said he obtained conditional approval from TalentCorp, which included requiring him to register with the Malaysian Medical Council and to find employment in Sarawak.

“Talentcorp approved with some conditions. One of them was that I needed to work in Sabah or Sarawak. That’s one of the main conditions.

“To do that, I needed to register with the Malaysian Medical Council, and that process would take me more than half-a-year before I am fully registered,” Ting said.

“And I also needed to get an annual practising certificate before I practise. By then, I had already come back to Malaysia. I just didn’t reach the final stage,” he said.

TalentCorp CEO Shareen Shariza Abdul Ghani said in a statement yesterday that Ting was not a returnee under the REP programme, having failed to complete certain conditions.

Shareen also stated that Ting held a valid Malaysian passport at the time of his application in May 2014. This qualified him for the programme and he was given conditional approval four months later.

She said Ting did not submit a declaration of return date to prove his return to Malaysia and that he had secured employment.

“It was because of a change of my situation in Sarawak. I was already very involved in my community and I was participating in the party. So a full-time medical career was no longer tenable,” he said.

“If I was at the hospital, I would be fully engaged with the work. I wouldn’t be able to be a medical doctor and also be involved in politics. I won’t be able to do well in both,” Ting said.

Chong said last Friday that Talentcorp had offered Ting to join the REP and return to Malaysia.

On Friday, Ting was dismissed as an elected representative under Article 17(1)(g) of the state constitution for voluntarily acquiring citizenship outside of Malaysia.

The motion, tabled by Sarawak Second Finance Minister Wong Soon Koh, was put to a vote and received the support of 70 Barisan Nasional (BN) lawmakers, who voted in favour. All 10 opposition members voted against it.

Ting earlier maintained that he had never renounced his Malaysian citizenship. When asked whether he had Australian citizenship, he said he obtained it after “many years” in Australia but renounced it before returning to Malaysia in 2016.

DAP has said it will take legal action within the month to challenge Ting’s dismissal, which it said was “morally wrong” and breached the constitutional role played by the state’s legislature. -FMT