KUALA LUMPUR, July 31 — More than four in 10 placements in the recent intake of medical officers for permanent appointments were reserved for Sarawak and Sabah, Dzulkefly Ahmad said today.
The health minister told the Dewan Rakyat that among the 8/2025 batch of 2,248 UD10 medical officers that went through the ePlacement 2.0 session last month, 650 posts were allocated for Sarawak and 310 for Sabah.
The 960 East Malaysia placements comprised 42.7 per cent of the total 2,248 postings.
“This quota for permanent appointment placements was implemented through the ePlacement system,” Dzulkefly said in response to Betong MP Dr Richard Rapu @ Aman Begri during Question Time.
“This step has never been done before.”
The ePlacement 2.0 system, introduced in June, made it mandatory for medical officers newly confirmed to permanent positions to select at least one Sabah or Sarawak facility among their three preferred postings.
Final placements were then supposedly assigned by algorithm, based on individual health, family, and career information. However, the Ministry of Health (MOH) declined to disclose how each factor is weighted, citing concerns that the system could be manipulated.
The rollout of ePlacement 2.0 was framed as a move toward fairness and transparency after years of placement decisions made through opaque manual processes. But the mandatory East Malaysia posting requirement drew criticism from doctors’ groups, particularly in the absence of relocation support.
The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) and Hartal Doktor Kontrak (HDK) have both called for allowances to offset transfer costs — estimated at RM8,000 to RM10,000 — especially for junior doctors burdened by debt or family responsibilities.
Among 600 medical officers currently stationed in Sabah and Sarawak have applied for transfers, but Dzulkefly previously said Sunday that around 20 per cent of them would have to “bite the bullet” and stay put.
Today, Dzulkefly pointed to anecdotal cases of doctors who have since settled in long-term roles in East Malaysia after initial reluctance.
“This is a challenge for me — to offer sufficient incentives,” he said. “But I must also say that there are specialists and doctors who initially did not want to be posted to Sabah or Sarawak. During my recent visits, for example to Hospital Mesra, I met some of them who have now served more than 10 years there.”
Dzulkefly did not tell Parliament how many of the 960 medical officers assigned to Sarawak or Sabah in the June placement made appeals during the appeal period from last July 8 to 14. Decisions on appeals will be announced on August 19, before doctors report for duty on October 2.
To fill immediate service gaps, MOH has relied on contract appointments. As of March 31, 1,002 contract medical officers were stationed in Sabah, and 937 in Sarawak.
The ministry is also supporting longer-term strategies, including state-backed medical scholarships — such as Sarawak’s initiative to sponsor local students in medical schools — and adding bonus merit points for those who serve in rural East Malaysia when applying for scholarships or study leave.
Other measures include prioritising Sabah and Sarawak for supervised work experience placements in specialist training, as well as maintaining incentive payments, including regional allowances of up to RM1,000 per month and location-based incentives for postings in rural or underserved areas, ranging from RM500 to RM1,500.
“I am fully aware of the imbalance in human resource distribution between the Peninsula and Sabah and Sarawak, especially for specialists, doctors, and nurses,” Dzulkefly said.
“Although we’ve seen some improvement over the years, I’m still not satisfied with the doctor and nurse ratios.”
