The nurse who held your mother’s hand when she took her last breath — RM100 extra a month. The nurse who suctioned your father’s airway at 3.00am so he could breathe — RM100 extra a month.
The nurse who sat beside your premature baby in the NICU, watching every number on every monitor through an entire night shift — RM100 extra a month.
Seventeen years. Not one sen more.
Malaysia, we need to be honest with ourselves. We called our health care workers heroes. We depended on them in our most difficult moments.
But today, we continue to value highly trained specialist nurses with an allowance that can barely cover transportation costs.
This is not about a small allowance. This is about what we choose to prioritise as a nation.
These nurses are trained in intensive care, emergency and trauma, dialysis, oncology, and neonatal care.
Without them, hospitals do not function. ICU beds are not usable. Surgeries cannot proceed safely. Dialysis services cannot continue.
This is no longer just a matter of fairness. It is a matter of system integrity.
Malaysia is already facing a nursing vacancy rate of nearly 18 percent across the public health system — over 14,700 positions unfilled out of 84,000 established posts as of September 2025. For post-basic nurses in critical care, the impact is disproportionate.
Experienced nurses are leaving. When they leave, expertise leaves with them — and rebuilding that capacity takes years.
We must also recognise that the majority of our nurses are women, many balancing demanding shift work with responsibilities at home. They carry both professional and personal burdens, and yet continue to serve with unwavering commitment.
The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) recognises that remuneration structures involve the Public Service Department and the Ministry of Finance.
As these agencies operate within the national administrative framework and report to the Prime Minister, this issue ultimately requires a clear decision at the highest level of leadership.
At this stage, it is no longer about process, review, or timing within a budget cycle.
It is about whether a decision is made.
Delaying further sends a clear signal — not just to our nurses, but to the entire health care system — about where priorities truly lie.
We therefore call for an immediate decision to increase the post-basic nursing allowance to a minimum of RM500 per month, with a structured mechanism for periodic review.
This does not require another study. It requires resolve.
Our nurses have stood by Malaysians during our most vulnerable moments. The question now is whether national leadership will stand by them.
This statement was issued by MMA president Dr R. Arasu.
- This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of CodeBlue.
