'Clean up your own backyard' - fuming MMA chief tells MACC

Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) president Dr Koh Kar Chai has hit out at the MACC for releasing an advertisement about corrupt doctors at a time when the latter body is facing questions about its own integrity.

He said the 'anti-corruption' awareness video posted by the MACC on Twitter depicting an example of how bribery may take place at a clinic to obtain a medical certificate (MC) is an insult to the sanctity and image of the medical profession.

"The government agency should have used other examples to convey its message. As doctors, we feel deeply offended by the post which should be taken down immediately," said Koh (above) in a statement today.

The video, which has over garnered over 720,000 views since it was published yesterday morning, depicts a doctor willingly negotiating an MC with a patient who does not actually qualify for one.

It asks viewers if issuing MCs can be a part of corruption and runs with the hashtag #RasuahDihinaMaruahDibina (oppose corruption and rebuild dignity).

Koh was not amused and has issued a statement telling the MACC to clean up its own backyard first.

"Have they forgotten our sacrifices for the country in battling our fiercest enemy which is the SARS-CoV-2 virus which has claimed 31,591 lives?

"Very recently, many of our doctors were also up to their waists in floodwater, sending aid to flood victims even while their clinics were destroyed by the floods.

"These are just some of the examples of our undying passion and commitment to providing care to the people," he said.

He added that the MMA is demanding that the graft buster issue a public apology for the video.

"From the long thread of comments by netizens in response to the video, it seems that the MACC has issues in its own reputation to address," he said.

Yesterday, senior MACC enforcement officer Shahrum Nizam Baharuddin was charged with misappropriating RM25 million cash evidence linked to a major corruption case.

A member of the MACC’s Consultation and Corruption Prevention Panel, Edmund Terence Gomez, has also resigned in protest of the panel’s inaction against MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki’s alleged ownership of close to two million shares in a public listed company. - Mkini