Remove disgraceful block to badly needed cardiac surgeons

The delay in and opposition to Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) allowing non-bumiputera to be admitted to a cardiothoracic surgery certification it runs with the National Heart Institute (IJN) is disgraceful, inhumane and insane.

This is, more so, in the face of a shortage of such people which is causing deaths.

This is not about opening up UiTM totally to non-bumiputera but only allowing postgraduate certification in a cardiothoracic surgery programme to be open to surgeons so they can become specialists in the field and serve. There is a major shortage after all.

Worse is the catatonic performance of an impotent Madani government to deal with this menace so that unused capacity can be galvanised to improve badly needed medical care, instead of platitudes and solution-preventing politicisation of issues.

Where is the “Madani” in this government? Madani is a rather awkward acronym for these “values”: keMampanan (sustainability), kesejAhteraan (prosperity), Daya cipta (Innovation), hormAt (Respect), keyakiNan (Trust) and Ihsan (Compassion).

Yet the easiest way to overcome this conundrum - which it is not - has evaded this sloganeering government paralysed by a fear of offending anyone who takes up the cudgel of bumiputera rights, even if such rights are not at all involved.

This is about permitting applications by non-bumiputera doctors for a postgraduate programme in cardiothoracic surgery, an area where there is a drastic shortage of doctors. By the way, UiTM admits international students.

How is it that international students can be admitted to UiTM but not local non-bumiputera when there is a pressing need for surgeons and other institutions cannot meet the need? There are not even enough bumiputera students.

In the ‘best interest’

So bad is the situation that Malaysian Medical Association president Dr Azizan Abdul Aziz recently said UiTM should allow non-bumiputera Malaysians seeking specialised training in the cardiothoracic field.

Malaysian Medical Association president Dr Azizan Abdul Aziz

She urged UiTM to make a decision in the best interest of the health of the population and address acute shortages in specialists: “Cardiothoracic surgeons are one of the specialisations most in demand. UiTM should consider the suggestion to temporarily open up its cardiothoracic surgery postgraduate programme to non-bumiputera.”

Earlier Raja Amin Raja Mokhtar, a member of the UiTM-IJN Board of Studies for its cardiothoracic surgery postgraduate programme, said he did not believe legislative amendments were needed to admit non-bumiputera students into the university’s postgraduate programme.

But UiTM vice-chancellor Shahrin Sahib contradicted this, reaffirming the institution’s commitment to uphold the UiTM Act 1976 (Act 173) and Article 153 of the Federal Constitution.

That’s highly ridiculous - he passed the buck to the government but there is no indication after a preliminary look at both Act 173 and Article 153 that there is a specific provision prohibiting non-bumiputera from being admitted into UiTM.

Are not foreigners who are admitted into UiTM also non-bumiputera? Most likely Shahrin does not have the scrotal gumption (to borrow a term from judge Mahadev Shanker in this report) to make this politically difficult decision.

Yet again, Umno Baru, bankrupt of ideas for reviving itself, has caught on defending bumiputera rights, never mind if it is valid or not. Umno’s Higher Education Minister Zambry Abdul Kadir, surprisingly said there were no discussions on opening up UiTM to non-bumiputera.

What? This is not important enough?

Off the mark

Some misguided UiTM student leaders urged others to wear black which was supported by the clueless Umno Youth leader who said UiTM must remain for bumiputera only.

Here’s a sad story about how one pregnant woman died because there was no cardiothoracic surgeon to attend to her. The doctor was a bumiputera in government service.

UiTM students wear black to protest the plan to open the university’s parallel pathway cardiologist technical training programme to non-bumiputera medical officers.

Bumiputera are the most affected by this shortage because they visit government hospitals the most.

If nothing else succeeds, I hope this tale will help to revive this Madani government from its paralytic spell when it comes to Umno issues - even when they hurt bumiputera - and instead have the scrotal gumption to get to a solution to this simplest of problems.

All it takes is for a go-ahead to UiTM to allow non-bumiputera applications for this - that’s all - and it will save lives. There are qualified surgeons who just need accreditation to get into the field easily.

Let’s put compassion into Madani. If Umno is indifferent, let the prime minister do something. - Mkini

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P GUNASEGARAM says that “Madani” desperately needs to be more than a buzzword.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.