In view of the recent debacle surrounding the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) plan to proceed with Waktu Bekerja Berlainan (WBB), allow me to share an unpopular opinion that will not go well with my colleagues: we are in such a mess today because we allow it to be.
The ministry doesn’t care because they know that we doctors are toothless.
Honestly, what will you do at the end of the day other than complaining and voicing out your dissatisfaction? How long can you sustain the uproar?
More often than not, business will still go on as usual and all will obediently fall back to their daily routine, toiling and whining until the next issue comes along. The higher-ups know this very well, thus they have no further interest to entertain us.
You think after having to thicken their face to rise up through the ranks, all of a sudden, they will budge just because a few of us made some mean comments about them? You should know by now that they don’t care and they won’t.
They also know very well that they have legal means to silence disruptors if any incidence of disobedience occurs among the existing crop of doctors, further suppressing any threat of civil disobedience. Looking back, I see the whole relationship to be that of a master and a dog.
A dog will always follow what its master says and will never bite the hand that feeds it, no matter how ferociously it barks. But we are not dogs.
We spent countless days and nights to get to where we are, sacrificing many things along the journey. We shall not tolerate such disrespect any longer.
If you want to know how much you’re worth, look at our peers who moved on to greener pastures. That’s how much you matter and how you should be treated. Since we are always aiming to be better, that’s the standard we should hold ourselves to.
The only arsenal we doctors have, sadly, is our presence. Public hospitals and clinics have, for the longest time, been running on the goodwill of doctors who are willing to work extra hours without extra pay.
Toxic environment? Jobscope beyond our role? Extra portfolio? Service expansion? Bureaucracy? Working past your contracted hours? Cut off our allowance? Don’t worry, we can swallow it good. After all, we are good doctors, right?
We are expected to sacrifice ourselves for humanity. If not, we are a bad doctor. Isn’t that the message we are always told when we report for duty?
“Jangan harapkan apa-apa balasan. Kerja kena ikhlas,” says the guy who works from 9am to 5pm with weekends and public holidays off.
If presence is our strongest weapon, then it’s time we use it. That’s the only language they will understand.
We always condemn “dinosaurs” for being outdated and out of touch but, at the very least, they had the guts to strike back in 1977 and 1982 when they were unfairly treated. By strike, I mean a proper strike – not a walkout during non-critical hours or when you are off duty. Will it happen? I strongly doubt it.
As such, I see no other way than to resign from the service as a sign of protest. I love my colleagues, bosses, and patients, but life has to go on. It’s never worth it to stay in a system that only sees you as cheap labour while constantly gaslighting you into believing that it will pay off in the afterlife.
So my friends, to quote one of my favourite TV series characters, Robert California from The Office, “The fallacy is that it isn’t up to the steamroller; it’s up to the object, whether it will be flattened or not.”
So will you be flattened? We shall see in the days to come.
The author is a medical officer at a government hospital in Negeri Sembilan. CodeBlue is giving the author anonymity because civil servants are prohibited from writing to the press.
- This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of CodeBlue.
