Healthcare workers have been fighting Covid-19 for years. One of them had enough and wrote a letter to Prof Kenneth Mak. He is the Director of Medical Services at MOH and also advises the MTF.
The healthcare worker told him to reconsider imposing leave restrictions. Currently, they cannot take more than 7 days of leave at once. This is not enough and they need more time to rest.
My colleagues had to fight for their marriage leave last month. 7 days is barely enough for our Malaysian colleagues to spend with their families.
I understand the hard position that you are in but I implore you: if you continue, you are setting a terrible precedence. What if other waves come after Omicron? Will leave restrictions be imposed again? There is only so much healthcare workers can endure, no matter how altruistic we may be.
These are people who worked tirelessly for years. Will Kenneth Mak and the MTF take the matter into their hands and grant them more rest? If they do not act on it, more workers will leave. By then, will they dare to praise themselves for having a “world-class” healthcare system?
The post may be found on Instagram @thehonesthealthcareworker
