KUALA LUMPUR, March 21 — Private hospitals in Malaysia are competing with other countries—including Singapore, the UK, New Zealand, Australia, and the Middle East—to retain “marketable” Malaysian nurses, described by the Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia (APHM) as the best in Southeast Asia, if not the world.
APHM president Dr Kuljit Singh said Malaysian nurses are highly sought after globally, with competitive salary packages offered abroad making retention a challenge.
“Our nurses are marketable not just in the Middle East but also in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. They offer our nurses huge, good packages. To sustain them here, we cannot match what is offered elsewhere, but we need to increase their salaries,” he said on the Keluar Sekejap podcast aired on March 7, co-hosted by Khairy Jamaluddin and Shahril Hamdan.
While some Malaysian nurses prefer to stay home, Dr Kuljit said the country must ensure salaries remain competitive. “We need to increase nurses’ salaries here as much as we can so that the salary gap is not too big and they stay in Malaysia,” he said.
APHM honorary secretary Anwar Anis noted that nurses’ salaries have increased by 7 per cent to 10 per cent per year over the past four years. Despite the salary increases, many nurses are opting to work as locum nurses for better pay and flexibility.
“There’s another phenomenon because they know there is high demand for nurses. And we don’t blame the nurses, but many of them feel that they don’t want to be tied to one hospital, so they become locum nurses. That way, they can work when they want and earn more because it’s not a monthly salary,” Anwar said.
The shortage is also compounded by declining enrollment in nursing programmes post-Covid, as parents discourage their children from joining the profession due to its frontliner demands, Anwar added.
“After Covid, we actually saw that parents, especially, even if their child is interested in becoming a professional nurse, parents feel they should not enter nursing.
“Especially after Covid, being a frontliner, they don’t want their child to be on the frontline. So that has also become an issue because enrollment in nursing programs at universities and colleges has declined,” Anwar said.
The government recently lowered nursing diploma entry requirements from five to three credits, a move opposed by APHM, the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA), and the Malaysian Nurses Association (MNA), who warn it could compromise health care standards.
Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad defended the decision, stating that training quality remains intact as core subjects like Malay Language, Mathematics, and Science are still required.
Meanwhile, countries like Singapore have been actively recruiting Malaysian nurses, with the city-state even offering free transport for those commuting from Johor. “Foreign countries are really making an effort to get our nurses,” Anwar said.
Malaysia’s private hospitals are also exploring hiring foreign nurses to address the manpower gap, but Dr Kuljit said the process remains slow. “We are trying to get nurses from other countries—maybe that can bring down costs a little. But the uptake and process are too difficult and slow. My nurses will leave.”
According to Keluar Sekejap co-host and former health minister Khairy Jamaluddin, health care staff costs account for about 34 per cent of Malaysia’s hospital cost structure, compared to Singapore’s 42 per cent.
“That means even without the currency exchange, their staff cost is higher—they are paying more,” Khairy explained. He said this highlights the financial constraints in raising salaries to match regional competitors.
