KUALA LUMPUR, June 20 — Doctors’ groups have urged the government to provide relocation allowances for medical officer transfers, especially Sabah and Sarawak placements mandated in the upcoming ePlacement session.
Hartal Doktor Kontrak (HDK) pointed out that relocating from the peninsula to Sabah and Sarawak can cost up to RM8,000 to RM10,000, a “very huge sum” for young doctors.
“Not paying and then complaining that many doctors rejected posting to Sabah/ Sarawak reflects poorly on policymakers,” HDK spokesman Dr Muhammad Yassin told CodeBlue when contacted.
“In fact, more incentives should be given to those who are posted there. Many doctors did say that if the allowances are raised, they will be more happy to serve Sabah and Sarawak as they can use these extra allowances to purchase flight tickets back to their home often.”
CodeBlue broke the story last Tuesday about a new ePlacement system that requires candidates to choose three facilities, including a mandatory Sabah/ Sarawak option, replacing the previous first-come, first-served basis.
The new ePlacement session for the 8/2025 batch of 2,248 UD10 medical officers for permanent appointments, set to pilot the new system, will be held from June 24 to 27.
According to the Ministry of Health (MOH), an algorithm will solely decide placements without human intervention, based on weighted factors like personal health, family background, and career aspirations. The weightage isn’t made public to avoid applicants “gaming” the system.
HDK agreed that the new ePlacement system looks to be fairer, provided that there really won’t be any human intervention. However, human intervention is needed when it comes to the appeals process.
“Many of the factors taken into account in this new ePlacement system are very relevant to the candidates. However, perhaps they should also tell the weightage for each factor listed to provide more transparency.
“We are excited to see how this new system will work and hopefully it can please most, if not all, of the candidates. We would like to thank YBMK Dr Dzul and his team for their effort in developing this new system,” added the contract doctors’ group, referring to Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad.
Universiti Malaya Public Health Society vice president Dr Aiman Alias called for transfer allowances to be provided for all postings, regardless of whether the placements are in the peninsula, or Sabah or Sarawak.
“Any movements that are instructed by KKM/ JPA (Public Service Department) must be accompanied by allowances – moving allowance, housing, day care, vehicle transport,” Dr Aiman told CodeBlue.
“Medical officers are already underpaid and they still expect these officers to fork out thousands of ringgit in order to comply with the placement directive.”
In 2023, the MOH’s Human Resource Division (BSM) said contract medical, dental, and pharmacy officers taking up permanent positions were not eligible to claim for transfers because the period of their service was disrupted from contract to permanent.
At two ePlacement briefings for medical officers last Monday, which were attended by CodeBlue, a BSM official claimed that the ministry has raised the issue of the lack of transfer allowances since 2022 or 2023, to no avail.
The BSM official simply told doctors at the briefings to “korban sikit dulu” (sacrifice a little bit first), saying: “There are vacancies in Sabah and Sarawak; you go there for two years and then you can request to come back. Sabah and Sarawak ain’t so bad.”
Mandatory Sabah/ Sarawak Selection Unnecessary
Dr Aiman, who is running in the upcoming Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) election, criticised the compulsory requirement for a Sabah/ Sarawak selection among candidates’ three choices in the ePlacement system.
“If MOs want to be in Borneo, they can just pick like any other state. No need for special treatment for certain states. KKM/ JPA need to solve the root cause of officers not being keen to serve in Sabah/ Sarawak,” he said.
He added that if there is a need to fill vacancies in Sabah or Sarawak, the government can simply issue doctors an instruction to serve for the needs of the service. Based on these instructions, transport and relocation allowances should be due to medical officers.
The MOH also needs to state the length of one’s period of service in Sabah or Sarawak and automatically place doctors back in their state of choice after their Borneo service ends.
“KKM/ JPA must remember that these officers are not mere numbers, but human beings who have families and loved ones. They want stability after sacrificing years of their life,” Dr Aiman said.
On the new algorithm in the ePlacement system, Dr Aiman expressed scepticism, saying that the final decision on placements should be made by human beings.
Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) Schomos similarly called for claims to be paid for the relocation of doctors, especially those who are instructed to transfer.
Schomos chairman Dr Timothy Cheng expressed support for the new ePlacement system’s algorithm as a fairer way of determining placements, “provided doctors are honest and the algorithm is fair.”
Schomos called for an even distribution of manpower across all hospitals.
