Is it unprofessional for Malay doc to berate brethren for unethical habit of abusing MCs during festivity?

 

CHRISTMAS, Chinese New Year, Deepavali, Thaipusam – or regardless of the cultural festivity – the one sure thing is that the majority of those calling in sick for work will be Malays.

Such is the pointed observation from a medical doctor who was speaking from experience about the scores of seemingly healthy Malay patients who would make unethical requests for medical certificates a.k.a. MCs whenever public holidays or long weekend roll around.

Posting on Facebook, Irfan Tajol who proclaimed himself as an “endorser of MCs” lambasted his own kind for abusing MCs to “halal-lise” unauthorised holidays.

Giving his tirade a historical perspective, the poster argued: “In the past, the British colonialists played up the sentiment of ‘lazy Malays’ because Malays didn’t want to work with them.

“Today, the colonialists are gone. But this sentiment is realised by our Malay folks themselves.”

Unfazed that this post may have him labelled as “racist and anti-Malay”, the good doctor defended his remarks by simply stating that any locum or part-time doctors can verify his claim:

“I’m Malay and I’m writing this because I personally face the reality that happens in clinics every day. If you feel like you’re being reprimanded, it’s probably because you’re part of this group.”

The post which has generated 6K likes, 1.9K comments and 1.5K shares at time of publication sparked a heated debate.

There were those who concurred with the fed-up physician over what is perceived to be an abuse of process. It goes both ways, claimed one commenter, as there are those seeking to avoid work while the clinics play along as they seek extra income.

One commenter vented that there is some truth to the poster’s claim given that Malays were quick to apply for leave (or produce MCs) regardless of festivity, thus leaving those who were actually celebrating to shoulder the burden.

Biased observation

However, there were those who took umbrage at Irfan Tajol’s observation which many felt reeked of lazy generalisations and bias.

The point raised is when the majority of patients are Malays due to demographics, then the perception would appear to be that more Malays are playing the fake MC game.

Some felt that the poster was merely aiming to give his own race a bad name with his skewered observations. The sample bias – given Malays make up majority of the patients at Klinik Permaisuri where the poster operates – was also highlighted for creating misleading perceptions.

There were others in the medical profession who also disagreed with Irfan’s racial profiling. Accusations of “unprofessionalism” and “immature” were hurled at the poster for his perceived prejudices.

Another doctor was of the opinion that this post was a mere attempt at creating a viral topic “as there’re better ways to raise community awareness than this”.

Some felt that in the true spirit of 1Malaysia, such unethical conduct was NOT the sole preserve of one community but rather bad habits displayed by ALL Malaysians.

While the good doctor may have made the post with good intentions of halting such unethical conduct of legitimising extended holidays via fake MCs, it may have been better to stop framing the problem along racial lines.

As Malaysians need to progress, such racial profiling is unhelpful to say the least. Laziness, poor work attitude and the need to balik kampung during holidays are traits that are NOT confined to any specific community.

There is good and bad in all of us. The sooner we learn to accept that truism, the better. –  Focus Malaysia