Sabah and Sarawak MMA chiefs say reduced BIW risks aggravating manpower shortages, urges government to cover relocation costs.
In separate statements, the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) branches in the two Borneo states said this would exacerbate staffing problems in hospitals and clinics.
Sarawak MMA chief Dr Ong Eng-Joe called for the federal government to provide transfer allowances for contract doctors posted from Peninsular Malaysia, citing high relocation costs for air travel and freight that can run into thousands of ringgit.
“Young doctors at the lower end of the pay scale, with loans to repay, parents/younger siblings to be supported financially, would be imposed an additional financial burden if they were to finance their own transfer costs from Peninsular Malaysia to East Malaysia,” he said in a statement.
“The absence of this transfer allowance would further disincentivise doctors from Peninsular Malaysia to accept being posted to East Malaysia.”
Echoing these concerns, Sabah MMA chief Dr Brandon Patrick Senagang said cutting the allowance sends a damaging message to young doctors just starting their careers.
He also stressed that the allowance was a form of special treatment.
“It is a call for equitable policy design, one that recognises that equal outcomes in healthcare require unequal burdens to be acknowledged and responsibly addressed.
“Protecting incentives that support staffing in Sabah is, ultimately, protecting the health of Sabahans,” he said.
CodeBlue reported that newly-appointed medical officers or those eligible from Dec 1, 2024 would receive a smaller BIW allowance than their seniors for transfers to Sabah, Sarawak or Labuan.
Under the Public Service Remuneration System, which replaced the old SSM for the federal civil service on that date, the new BIW rate was reduced to a fixed monthly rate of RM360 for Grades 9 to 15 of the management and professional group. - FMT
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