Najib willing to hear, help Indians, says MIC leader

MIC deputy president Datuk Seri S. Subramaniam says he is fully behind Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak. – The Malaysian Insider pic, May 12, 2015. 

MIC deputy president Datuk Seri S. Subramaniam today backed Datuk Seri Najib Razak, saying the prime minister has helped the Indians, especially in areas of education and economic development.

He added that MIC was behind Najib because he was always willing to hear the views from the community and execute what needed to be done.

"We have been receiving sincere support of the prime minister for the Indian community. So we fully supports him," he told reporters after officiating the International Nurses Day celebration in Shah Alam today.

Calls for Najib, Malaysia's sixth prime minister to resign have risen since pilgrims’ fund Lembaga Tabung Haji confirmed buying land from debt-ridden state fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd which pushed even retired prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to ask for his ouster.

Dr Mahathir had said that Umno and ruling coalition Barisan Nasional would lose the next general election if Najib did not resign.

The Health Minister today also reiterated his earlier statement against the blanket freeze of staff by the Public Services Department, saying that such cases should not be applicable on expanding facilities, such as the establishment of new hospitals.

Asked about PSD's response, he said that the ministry "will continue with their discussions".

Dr Subramaniam said that the long term plan was also for nurses to have a minimum degree qualification, but added that this will have to go through a gradual process, including upgrading colleges and training schemes.

Earlier, in his address to the nurses, he urged them to "care for costs" as they did for patients, in particular on the use of consumables in government hospitals.

He used the example of drawing blood from patients, where every time they failed to execute the job, consumables were thrown away, he said, adding that this added costs to be borne by the government. 

"In the private hospital, each time they use any consumable, they are very aware as they have to bill their patients for it.

"But in government hospitals you can throw away five pairs of gloves without a care, but this is cost to the government, it does not fall from the sky," he said, in urging nurses to reduce wastage given the upward trend of healthcare cost.

Yet he was also full of praise for nurses today, commending them for their dedication and expertise, and added that Malaysian nurses were also in great demand abroad.

He said that Malaysia was facing a shortage of nurses with post-basic training, adding that in the last couple of years, Putrajaya had to employ nurses from the private sector to work with the government, with 2,700 hired last year and 1,900 this year.

There are currently 124,000 nurses in the country.

- TMI