Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to The Great Parallel Pathway Debate. My name is Boo Su-Lyn. I’m the editor-in-chief of CodeBlue. To everyone here, congratulations, you made it!
CodeBlue went through fire and brimstone for this debate event that we’re co-organising with the Malaysian Medics International. For some reason, CodeBlue even received a legal letter from the Malaysian Medical Council about our debate event.
So, thank you for being here today.
CodeBlue is Geneva in the Parallel Pathway War. We believe that a debate is a democratic expression of differing opinions.
Our academic debate today will certainly be far more civil than the vile and vicious mudslinging and character assassinations flung from both sides on social media.
To doctors on both sides of the Parallel Pathway War, your absence from today’s debate will be dearly missed.
The heart (get it, heart?) of the parallel pathway issue is really a regulatory, legislative, and education one. Not only medicine per se.
Because it’s a public policy issue, everyone has the right to comment on the parallel pathway. Not just clinicians. Not just academics. And certainly not just Members of Parliament.
The different concerns about the shortage of specialist doctors, as well as the production of potentially unsafe specialists, concern every single Malaysian citizen.
And that’s why we’re here today at The Great Parallel Pathway Debate.
The Proposition Speaker is Mr New Sin Yew, a senior advocate at AmerBON Advocates. Sin Yew is recognised as an authority on human rights and constitutional law in Malaysia. He holds a Master of Science in International Human Rights Law from Oxford University, for which he read as an Oxford-Boustead Scholar.
The Opposition Speaker is Mr Azrul Mohd Khalib, chief executive of the Galen Centre for Health and Social Policy. Azrul has worked as a health development programme specialist for more than 21 years. His experience covers issues related to social welfare, public health, HIV/AIDS, reproductive health, gender-based violence, and humanitarian assistance.
The Debate Chair is Mr Nicolas Ong, event executive of the Malaysian Medics International. Nicolas is a third-year medical student in MAHSA University, who aspires to be a cardiothoracic surgeon. In medical school, he served as the president of the Medical Society.
Mr Chairman, the floor is yours.
Thank you.
The Great Parallel Pathway Debate event, co-organised by CodeBlue and Malaysian Medics International (MMI), was held on May 25, 2024 in Kuala Lumpur. The debate motion was: “This House believes that the Medical Act should be amended to recognise the parallel pathway”.
