08/08/2025
I’m going to say something that might make a few of us uncomfortable.
The biggest reason Malaysian healthcare is failing - isn’t politicians.
It’s us. Doctors.
Yeah, I know - we’re easy to defend. We’re underpaid, overworked, stuck in a system that barely supports us. And all that is true. But there’s a rot inside our own profession that we don’t talk about enough.
We’ve normalised breaking the very safety rules we swore to uphold.
We call it “helping more patients.”
We tell ourselves we’re just doing what has to be done.
Let’s be real for a second. We’ve all:
- Pushed past safe limits because the list was too heavy.
- Overloaded ourselves until mistakes weren’t a matter of if, but when.
And we dress it up with lines we’ve all heard:
“If I don’t do it, who will?”
“We can’t let patients wait.”
“We just don’t have enough staff.”
I’m not questioning the heart behind those words. But having intentions and expecting anyone to realise , appreciate and help out isn't how the real world works.
We tell the public: “Your safety comes first.”
But among ourselves? We’ve turned unsafe into a badge of honour. We praise the colleague who powers through exhaustion more than the one who speaks up about risk.
This didn’t come from the Ministry. It came from us.
From seniors modelling it.
From juniors too scared to challenge it.
From a culture that rewards “toughness” over safety.
And here’s the hard truth: No amount of budget increases, policy reforms, or new hospitals will save us if we keep undermining the very safeguards designed to protect patients.
The fix starts with us.
We guard the rules that guard our patients.
We stop pretending unsafe is noble.
We stop burning ourselves and our patients in the name of “helping more.”
Because right now? The system isn’t just failing because of politicians. It’s failing because we’ve let it.
From one doctor to another - it’s time we own this.
