During the pandemic, doctors stood between life and death without asking for more pay or privilege. Now, when they seek dignity and fair treatment, they are lectured about sacrifice.
The hypocrisy isn’t just insulting; it’s dangerous for Malaysia’s future.
Doctors Saved the Nation, Not Politicians
When Covid-19 brought Malaysia to its knees, it wasn’t politicians who donned suffocating PPE, intubated gasping patients, and held dying hands. It was doctors. It was nurses. It was health care workers who stood on the frontlines while everyone else stayed at home.
We didn’t threaten to stop working. We didn’t demand higher pay. We didn’t complain. We simply did what we were trained and morally bound to do: save lives. Because medicine isn’t just a profession, it’s a calling.
Yet today, when doctors ask for something as basic as dignity and fair treatment, we are scolded as if we are greedy and entitled. The same politicians who failed to protect us during the pandemic now lecture us on sacrifice. It would be laughable if it weren’t so deeply insulting.
We Didn’t Hold The Country Hostage, Don’t Mistake That For Weakness
During the pandemic, we didn’t issue ultimatums or threaten strikes. We just kept working through exhaustion, trauma, and grief. Some of us fell ill. Some died. All of us sacrificed.
We didn’t do it for glory or money. We did it because that is what doctors do. But let no one mistake our restraint for weakness.
The fact that we did not demand more then does not mean our work was worthless and it certainly does not mean we have forfeited the right to dignity now.
When Politicians Talk About Money, It’s ‘Governance’. When Doctors Do, It’s ‘Greed’
The double standard is glaring.
When Members of Parliament propose salary hikes for themselves, it’s called “necessary.” When they expand their allowances, it’s “essential for public service”. No one accuses them of greed. No one lectures them about sacrifice.
But when the same doctors who held this nation together through a deadly crisis speak about pay, working conditions, or basic professional respect, we are told to stop being selfish.
Apparently, when politicians discuss money, it’s governance. When doctors do, it’s greed. The irony is almost too rich to stomach.
Serving The People: A Mission For Some, A Slogan For Others
Being elected as an MP is not a trophy. It is a mission to serve the people and represent their interests. If it isn’t, why seek office at all?
Doctors, too, have a mission. We knew medicine would demand sacrifice: long hours, sleepless nights, missed family events, and the pain of losing patients despite our best efforts. We accepted that.
But mission is not martyrdom. Dedication is not servitude. Sacrifice does not mean we must accept disrespect in silence.
A Nation Can Function Without Politicians, But It Cannot Survive Without Doctors
Here’s an uncomfortable truth: governments rise and fall, Cabinets reshuffle, and politicians come and go. Life continues.
But remove doctors, and society stops. Hospitals collapse. Mothers die in childbirth. Accidents become fatal. Diseases spread unchecked.
This isn’t arrogance; it’s reality. Without doctors, there is no functioning nation. So why are we treated like second-class citizens? Why are we berated for asking for the minimum respect this country owes those who keep it alive?
Today’s Decisions Will Shape Tomorrow’s Health Care
The choices made now will decide what Malaysia’s health care looks like in the next decade.
Already, young doctors are leaving for better opportunities abroad. Public hospitals are short of over 11,000 specialists, operating at less than half their needed capacity. Burnout and mental health crises are hollowing out the profession.
Instead of addressing these structural issues, our leaders defend their own perks and chastise the very professionals whose departure would collapse the system. If doctors are so “replaceable,” why does every politician rush to see one at the first sign of illness?
Treat Doctors As Servants, Health Care Becomes A Luxury
How a society treats its professionals determines its future. Treat doctors as partners, and you build a resilient health care system. Treat them as servants, and you create a society where seeing a doctor becomes a privilege only the wealthy can afford.
That future is already approaching. Ordinary Malaysians will wait months for care while those with money skip the queue not because doctors are selfish, but because they’ve left for countries that value them.
When that day comes, let’s remember: it wasn’t doctors who broke the system. It was a political class that treated them as disposable tools.
We’re Not Asking for the World, Just Fairness
This is not about greed. It’s about fairness.
Doctors aren’t asking for mansions or million-ringgit bonuses. We are asking for respect, a voice, and a health care system that values those who sustain it.
If that’s too much, perhaps the problem isn’t with doctors perhaps it’s with a political class that has forgotten whom it serves.
Do Not Mistake Silence For Acceptance
During the pandemic, we stayed silent and did our jobs. But silence is not acceptance. Our willingness to sacrifice does not mean we are willing to be trampled.
We will continue to heal. We will continue to serve. But we will also continue to speak because Malaysia’s health care future depends on it.
To those who lecture us about sacrifice: look in the mirror and ask if you still remember your mission. Because a nation without politicians will survive. A nation without doctors will not.
If those leaders choose arrogance over empathy and self-interest over service, the collapse of our health care system will not be a tragedy. It will be a choice and how you treat us today will shape the nation’s tomorrow.
This article was written by Private Medical Practitioners’ Association of Selangor and Kuala Lumpur (PMPASKL) president Dr Eugene Chooi.
- This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of CodeBlue.
