The year 2014 started with an unhappy news for civil servants, especially for those who are sitting at JUSA C scale and above. I remember saying before the May 2013 election that the economy and financial status of our country is not as rosy as what the BN government wants us to think. When Idris Jala said that our country will go bankrupt by 2020 if we do not reduce subsidies, our government denied the fact and our “chameleon” PM said that our economy is very sound! I know many educated people who trusted our government “data” and refused to believe what independent economists were saying. Our debt was almost 55% of GDP. Unfortunately after the election, every thing took a U-turn and the real truth began to surface. The very same PM is now saying that we will go bankrupt if no “price” hikes or GST are implemented !. Why hide the fact before the election? Janji Dicapatikan………….. Oh forgot ” BRIM can ada…………….”
As announced, entertainment allowance will be reduced by 5-10% for JUSA C and above. Toll facility will be reduced by 30% and civil servants from JUSA C and below are NOT entitled for Business Class flights anymore. I have a feeling that this is just the beginning. Remember what I said when the Budget 2014 was announced? Nothing fascinating in that Budget. Since then, electricity rates increased, toll rates are going to be increased, many states have increased their assessment rates (including JB) etc etc.
Life is not going to get any easier in Malaysia. When life gets tough and the income disparity increases, people will find other ways to make money, mainly via illegal means. Crime will increase and the society will be hard pushed to survive. Back in JB, lands are being sold left, right and centre to “so-called” investors, mainly from Singapore. House and land prices have sky rocketed despite having plenty of flat land. There is a saying that Johor is slowly being sold! It is interesting that some BN fanatic supporters(pre election period) were accusing Penang of selling land to PAP from Singapore, in a racial tone!! Who was selling to who, I wonder? Huge shopping complexes are being built , GOD knows for what. Retail lots are being sold at higher rate than KL just because there are buyers from across the causeway. A friend of mine who went to buy a house during a launch noticed that the sales person were more keen to entertain Singaporeans than Malaysians!! Even though the government increased foreign purchase eligibility to RM 1 million, it is peanuts for Singaporeans. Who makes the money? It is easy for the developers, just push everything above RM 1 million lah…..!
Coming back to the medical profession, with the glut of doctors coming soon, do you still think that the government will be able to give jobs to everyone? Jobless scenario will happen to medical graduates whether we like it or not. There is only so much that the government can absorb. Thus MMLE is inevitable. And I can say that it is coming very soon……….. As I once predicted that once all the post are filled, even government doctors may need to take a pay cut. The allowance that very likely will be reduced or abolished will be “critical allowance” as the field will not be deemed critical anymore.
Finally, there was an interesting survey published yesterday in the Malay Mail which says that Doctors, Lawyers and Engineers are the unhappiest workers in Malaysia !!. Surprisingly, our society is still obsessed with the above 3 jobs! I just saw a lawyer yesterday who said that he is suing a doctor from one of the districts in Johor! So again, for those who want to do medicine for “good life, good future and good money” think again !
Have you ever heard that ” A” grade students work for “C” grade students” . That’s the reality!
Najib begins austerity measures to appease growing discontent over price hikes
DECEMBER 30, 2013
LATEST UPDATE: DECEMBER 31, 2013 07:03 AM
Stung by growing criticisms that his government was out of touch with people’s problems, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak (pic) today announced that the Government would implement 11 measures to slash public sector expenditure beginning January 1 next year.
The measures include reducing the entertainment allowance of ministers and deputy ministers by 10% and that of senior government officers on the Jusa C Grade and above by between 5% and 10%, he said in a statement issued by Putrajaya today.
According to Bernama, these measures are in accordance with the government’s desire to practise more prudent spending in the new year.
The prime minister said the decision to introduce the measures was made following a discussion with Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and the Chief Secretary to the Government, Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa.
Najib said the government would also reduce the entertainment allowance of senior government officers on the Jusa C Grade and above by between 5% and 10%.
Furthermore, the toll facility for senior government officers would also be reduced by between RM50 and RM100 or 30%, he said.
Najib, who is also the finance minister, said the government would also amend the eligibility for domestic and international flight tickets for civil servants, whereby civil servants on the Jusa C Grade and below will only be eligible for the economy class on domestic flights.
The government would also reduce by 5% the electricity utility cost at all ministries, departments, agencies and government premises, he said.
The prime minister said the government would freeze fresh applications for renovation of government offices while optimising use of existing office space to reduce rental of offices premises.
Najib said the government would tighten the appointment of consultants for government physical projects, including the conducting of feasibility studies.
The proposal for appointment of these consultants would have to be submitted to the National Development Planning Committee chaired by the Chief Secretary to the Government for prior approval.
Najib said the government would also cut down on the use of event management companies as well as the awarding of door gifts or souvenirs during government conferences or events involving members of the administration and civil servants.
Bernama also reported the prime minister as saying that the government would reduce the food and drinks as well as the use of buntings and banners when organising conferences, seminars, meetings, courses, workshops or any official government function.
The government would also apply the National Blue Ocean Strategy approach by optimising the use of the 1Malaysia Training Centre (1MTC) and facilities at government-owned training institutions for organising courses, seminar and workshops, he said. – December 30, 2013.
Survey: Doctors, lawyers, engineers are Malaysia’s unhappiest workers
BY BOO SU-LYNJANUARY 1, 2014
Biz Updates From PR Newswire
The recent survey conducted by recruitment site JobsCentral Malaysia among 3,508 employed Malaysians also showed a slight decrease in their work satisfaction from 60.4 in 2012 to 59.05 this year, out of a maximum score of 100.
“The lack of jobs available for professional degree holders means that they are among the unhappiest workers in Malaysia,” said JobsCentral Malaysia CEO Hee Kim Fah in a statement, referring to the qualifications held by doctors, lawyers and engineers.
“About half of professional degree holders are supervisors, and their drive for higher positions is hard to fulfill in Malaysia,” he added.
According to JobsCentral Malaysia’s Work Happiness Survey 2013, “professional degree” holders, or doctors, lawyers and engineers, only scored a work happiness rating of 53.3, the lowest among various academic qualification holders, compared to pre-university/ STPM/ A-Levels graduates at 61.4.
Those with “professional qualifications”, meaning graduates from post-secondary institutions like a design academy, but who are not diploma or degree-holders, scored the second-lowest at 56.4.
Permanent workers also had lower job satisfaction at 58.6 than part-timers or interns at 60.7
“Since a major factor of work unhappiness is advancement opportunities, it is probable that part-timers and interns who do not have to worry about promoting are happier,” said the survey.
Surprisingly, the happiest workers were those earning the lowest from RM999 a month and below, ranking 61.5, whereas those who recorded the poorest job satisfaction at 55.9 were people with monthly salaries of between RM8,000 and RM8,999.
Survey respondents were most dissatisfied with advancement opportunities, followed by their salaries, work autonomy, work demands and work-life balance.
“It is currently hard to get a promotion in the workplaces of Malaysia, as advancement opportunities has scored as the least satisfying factor for Malaysians in both 2012 and 2013,” said the survey.
Survey respondents also cited advancement opportunities as the most important factor in job satisfaction, followed by salary, interesting work, good relationships with colleagues and acceptable work demands.
“The biggest surprise compared to last year was the un-importance of their work-life balance, scoring a 7.45 for 2013 compared to 5.74 in 2012. This shows that Malaysians are more willing to invest more time in their job in order to get their salary and promotions,” said the survey.
The survey further revealed that female workers are slightly happier than their male counterparts, scoring 59.28 compared to 58.62.
“Technical and associate”, or IT professionals, also enjoyed the highest job satisfaction at 61.2, compared to executives who scored the lowest at 57.9.
“Organising and running successful events are gratifying experiences to the employees, which is why event management employees are some of the most satisfied employees in Malaysia. In contrary, factory workers are one of the least satisfied in Malaysia, due to the low salary and lack of advancement opportunities,” said Hee.
The survey was conducted from April to July this year among various job functions, such as administration, business development, purchasing, compliance, consulting, customer support, design, training, engineering, events management, finance/ accounting/ banking, human resource, IT systems/ support, legal, management, management trainee, marketing, merchandising/ purchasing, operations/ logistics, production, public relations, research and development, risk management, sales, technology/ programming, translation/ editorial.
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“A” grade students work for “C” grade students ~~ I like this statement! How true!
I like yr article, it’s realistic, punching.. Cutting wastes & continue spending increase economy activities & reducing deficits. Reducing expenses will reduce Gov. income & thus, increase the deficits because man takes 2x more negative actions than the good one, like the once bitten twice shy!. An idiot like me knows that but not a battalion of economists & scientist working with the goman. Come to medical graduates, we can export doctors, since we have been exporting graduates & nurses for decades. Cheers. It’s sunshine here.
“…export doctors..”
Where to? Indonesia?
Exporting doctors is not as easy as other field. If your degree is not recognised in a particular country, you will not be able to practise over there unless you sit and pass an entrance exam.
Everybody got pay cut but PM might got new luxury plane? http://beta.malaysiakini.com/news/250846
hw much u earn as rheumatologist private doctor? give us rough monthly estimation? 😛
IF I just practise Rheumatology alone, I will only earn less than 7K per month! Since I am also a gazetted Internal medicine specialist, my major bulk of income comes from there. Again, how much you earn depends on how many patients you see and how many hours you work.
I would like to know too but your guess is as good as mine! Unless of course I am proven otherwise
Tq Dr Paga for being so forthcoming with you income.i am proven wrong!
Dear Dr,
I am a medical officer serving our country in Sarawak.I can assure you that this part of our beloved country is deprived of doctors – Kapit, Mulu, Niah, Limbang etc.Many posts are not filled yet.It is these ‘glut’ ,enthusiastic, new-generation of doctors that are willing to uproot themselves out of their comfort zones to help those in need ie in rural areas.I hope you can start talking about real facts rather than ruthless claims.Thanks
Yes of course. I have said it many times in this blog that the shortage now is in Sabah and Sarawak. However, these shortage will be automatically filled up once all the post in peninsular is FULL!
There is only 1 MO post each, in Niah and Mulu. Being so remote, it will be a very unpopular posting, but when the time comes where there are NO more posts elsewhere, and if you want a job, you get posted there, they will be filled. But it will not have any impact on the over supply of doctors overall.
The shortage in the Borneo states is periodic, and will soon be over.
“Surprisingly, the happiest workers were those earning the lowest from RM999 a month and below, ranking 61.5, whereas those who recorded the poorest job satisfaction at 55.9 were people with monthly salaries of between RM8,000 and RM8,999.” – This is not all that surprising. A friend of mine was working in the banking sector and earning close to RM10k per month. But he had to work late every day and his blood pressure, driven up, by his work load was going to kill him. In the end, he resigned and got another job with much lower pay. He is happier now as he spends more time with his family. So a menial worker working in coffeeshop earning the minimum wage of RM900 in West Malaysia and RM800 in Sabah and Sarawak and who does not have high expectations and live a simple life may feel happier that a professional who earn more but has clients barking down the phone on him every day.
Yup exactly.
You may be interested with the content of this articles
http://benbrownmd.wordpress.com/
Exactly what I have been saying all this while.
The “end” is coming. JKNS filled up most posts except for a few spots in KK in Hulu Selangor, and also Hosp Klang, Hosp Banting and Hosp Tg Karang only. JKWPKL&P are left with a few spots in KK Bandar Tun Razak and KK Putrajaya and a few posts in Hosp Putrajaya. Verbal news is that all KK1M will be filled with doctors very soon as mentioned by one of the state health directors. The medical assistants are expected soon to be retired from their roles in KK1M as well as Klinik Kesihatan now that there are too many doctors.
Last week alone, there were 50+ doctors reporting for duty in JKNS and 30+ in JKWPKL&P, a large number in view of the limited spots, making the number of posts saturated.
Still many more post in the north and south. Also in the east of malaysia. Shah Alam new gh should be operating this year. But i reckon that all post should be filled by end of 2015. Heard of new policies from the ministry coming by early 2015 or end of 2014.
Hospital Shah Alam post would have already been filled by now. These post would have been created few years back and currently floating in Klang GH etc. They would have used up the post by now. So, it will not create new post.
Hospital Shah Alam has started its recruitment recently. It was expected to be an “elite” hospital with primary specialties while other subspecialty will be added subsequently. All specialists who apply to Shah Alam hospital are encouraged to bring their MO from existing hospitals. Plus, all MO to be transferred there are to be interviewed by the hospital director prior approval. With a 300+ beds, it is not expected to recruit many MO’s for the time being.
Most of the post for Shah Alam would have already been used!
More good news: Malaysia life expectancy dropped to #112 ranking below third world countries like China and Libya (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/th…r/2102rank.html)
This is the quality of our healthcare system and competency of the doctors here!
Talking about quality and competency, my father was admitted to a government hospital after a fall. After his head was stitched up, one of the young doctors at the emergency ward asked him whether he was allergic to any medicine. When my father told the doctor that he is allergic to penicillin, the doctor got a bit worried. Prior to this, she was pretty aloof. She and 2 other young doctors at the ward then started scrolling up and down on their smartphones to look for I suppose the alternative medicine to prescribe for my father. When they couldn’t find the answer, one one them called up a senior doctor for an answer. Now, I am no doctor but I would have thought they would have some basic knowledge on this. The doctor prescribed my father some pills and asked my father to take 2 each time. As we have both lost some confidence in the doctor by then, my father decided that he would take 1 each time just in case the doctor or the senior doctor on the phone got it wrong.
That would be the wrong thing to do. You are sub-dosing yourself, potentially making the drug ineffective. And a lower does does NOT prevent an allergic reaction, if you are allergic. A self double whammy!
Are you sure they are doctors or students? Now, all government hospitals have students.
Yes, I do agree that the pharmacology knowledge among current graduates are poor as the universities do not pay much attention to it.
Of course, if it was only a simple head laceration, then antibiotics aren’t even indicated. For skin, it would be a macrolide or clindamycin that would be recommended, which antibiotic was it in the end.
Monkfish….if the life expectancy in Malaysia drops….what has this to do with the competency of the doctors?? Do u know what u are talking about! Life expectancy is related to individual’s lifestyle etc. Dont open your mouth and talk CXXX.
Yt….another one talking cxxx. You not nothing better to do but finding fault with doctors.
No1…..was your fathers cut stitched or his “head” stitched? Cant write proper english yet want to complain about doctors.
No2. Doctors will ask patients their allergy history before administering medication. I think your father got his facts all wrong or the son doesnt understand what the father said.
No3. If u think the govt doctors are not good…why cant you pay and go to the private hospital. Thr old saying you want to pay peanuts, of course u will get monkeys. Typical govt hospital patient….they want to pay rm1…and expect 1st class service.
Erm.. it is common and understandable that “yt” reacted this way. Everyone wants/demands the best care for their family. You may also feel the same when you are in his shoes. While we cant generalize and say that the current generation of doctors are incompetent based on a few “sporadic” cases, I believe it is not far from the reality when not one, but quite a number of respectable senior doctors are saying the same thing over and over again. Btw the typical notion of “if you want this want that, go to private la..” is no good la….
Some are fortunate enough to be able to get another opinion from private hospitals, but many are not, and this is where my grouse lies. Just because a seemingly “poor” rakyat pays RM1 (as per government policy), he/she doesn’t deserve “monkeys” who are the highest paid starting out, in the civil service. It’s almost like saying “I can afford private healthcare, therefore my life has more value than one who cannot afford it”.
Yt, since you have access to the internet, perhaps google the medication and read whatever you can digest as a non-medico, instead of self-dosing?
1. Don’t think it makes a difference. It’s just semantics
2. You will be surprised how many DON’T ask beforehand, and get their butts saved by a good nurse.
3. Private doctors aren’t necessarily better. Disagree with the rm1 analogy. My patients here don’t pay a penny (good old UK, lol) but I expect my docs to treat them with a 1st class service, as they would want their relatives to be treated.
Ashraf, your response is symtomatic of the atttitude nowadays of some young doctors who think they know all and are cynical about everything that other people say. It reflects badly on yourself that you have to describe me as “another one talking cxxx”. So a lot of people on this site apart from you is talking cxxx is it? Try saying that in a hospital ward in UK and you will brought before a disciplinary tribunal. I was just relating an incident or problem and instead you try to find fault with my father and me. My father was bleeding badly and private hospitals where I live don’t always stock up enough blood supplies. My father was a senior government servant and we still go to government hospitals (we also go to private hospitals by the way) because there are some very good dedicated doctors around. The medical assistants who attended to my father were 1st class but not the doctors who attended to him that day. Over the years, we have seen a deterioration of standards. My father would rather not take the medicine given as the doctor didn’t seem to know what she was doing and neither could we be so sure about the person whoever it was who gave the advice over the phone. Goodness sake, my father was bleeding badly and I had to rush him to hospital and you think foremost in the mind was the RM1 only that I had to pay? What’s wrong with you.
yt is just pointing out the lack of confidence of the general public towards young government doctors. It is not uncommon. However most government hospitals are also training hospitals for students and newly graduated House Officers and thus it is not unexpected to have young doctors who are “lost” and inexperienced without guidance. Senior doctors have retired or left service and thus there is excess of junior doctors left on their own. There lies the problem which is going to get worse. Looking up drugs and dosages are common even to senior drs. On a positive note, at least they are putting an effort to find out. Never assume a person who never checks is more competent. “Bodoh sombong” is 100x worse than “bodoh”.
Competency of doctors does not correlate with how much a person pays for the service. You can pay tens of thousands of ringgit and end up seeing an incompetent doctor. The public has no way to judge competency but they can judge your attitude. The attitude of “if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys” is absolutely horrendous. Whatever amount the public pays to the hospital should not be a concern to doctors working in public service. Doctors in public service should just explain the shortcomings in the public hospital. Of course public hospitals will always bear the brunt of any shortcomings. Nobody complains when a private hospital has shortcomings eg no bed for admissions, not enough medications, not enough blood stocked up, not enough support etc.
Newly joined… Sibu Medical College http://www.theborneopost.com/2013/11/03/segi-sibu-to-take-first-batch-of-medical-students/
It’s not new, the first batch is going to start their 3rd year at Sibu Hospital. That makes TWO medical schools there, UNIMAS has been basing their entire 3rd year at Sibu for the last 10 years.
It’s not a new medical college. It’s a medical campus for those third year medical students of Segi University who are doing their clinical study in Sibu Hospital.
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Hi Dr Paga, nice sharing from you. I am an engineer by profession but after reading ur article. It’s the naked truth.
I have similar thoughts. Good of u to write it down so truthfully.