KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 23 — Doctors in public health service have expressed outrage at a minister’s description of the Regional Incentive Payment (BIW) allowance as a “privilege”, not “entitlement”.
One pointed out that many doctors have resigned, with a shortage of medical professionals in Sabah and Sarawak.
“Even with allowances, many still quit. Imagine if there’s no allowance now or in the future? Why would people want to work there? Might as well just quit,” a doctor wrote on Facebook.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah and Sarawak affairs) Mustapha Sakmud told the Dewan Rakyat last Tuesday that BIW was a “privilege”, not an “entitlement” of civil servants, saying it was subject to conditions like other allowances.
Over the past year, doctors and pharmacists in the national health service faced a major blow from BIW allowance cuts for postings to Sabah, Sarawak, and Labuan.
Officers newly appointed from December 2024 received a fixed BIW rate of RM360 monthly, whereas the BIW allowance for existing officers was frozen at the last drawn amount before SSPA came into effect. Previously, BIW was a progressive allowance set at a percentage of one’s basic salary.
“Health care workers still working in government is a privilege, not entitlement. What more to be working there,” wrote another doctor. “Read that. If many quit later on, come back to this and read this again.”
A third doctor commented: “Then suddenly shocked why everyone from Semenanjung refused to work in Sabah, Sarawak. Eat your entitlement.”
In a written reply to Dewan Negara last month, Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad revealed a 43 per cent no-show rate among 764 contract medical officers reporting for duty for permanent placements in Sarawak last year as of November.
Hartal Doktor Kontrak (HDK) spokesman Dr Muhammad Yassin told CodeBlue that the BIW allowance was an “entitlement”, saying “peninsular civil servants who are serving in Sabah and Sarawak had sacrificed enormously by migrating there, some even being far from their loved ones.”
HDK also called for transfer allowances, separate from BIW, to be provided to all eligible health care workers, not only the 2025 cohort of medical, pharmacy, and dental officers as announced by Dzulkefly recently.
“We strongly believe it should be for all cohorts, even those from earlier cohorts like 2023 and 2024, as this is not just a small sum for these young doctors,” said Dr Yassin.
HDK reiterated its demand for a health service commission to regulate health care workers separately from other civil servants under the Public Service Department (JPA).
“This has been Hartal’s stance since our inception in 2021: a health care commission solely for health care workers,” said Dr Yassin. “This was also part of Pakatan Harapan’s election manifesto, which I do hope was not just to get votes during the election.”
