DR T.J. of Penang wrote that “housemen and doctors in government service have been suffering in silence for far too long without proper and adequate remuneration, and much-needed rest and recognition” (”Stress and sacrifices not worth it” — NST, May 20) and a rather hopeless sounding Dr R.H.S. of Alor Star details various issues that need to be urgently addressed in his letter “Service needs an overhaul” (NST, May 22).

My question is, why have the doctors allowed this sorry state of affairs to go on for so long?

I guess if housemen and doctors in government service were asked to comment on their working conditions, they would be afraid to voice their grievances publicly.

Do they truly have proper avenues to make themselves heard, as claimed by health director-general Tan Sri Dr Ismail Merican in a recent television news report? Or am I right in saying that at best they vent their dissatisfaction in whispers among fellow housemen/doctors, or they grumble in hushed tones?

The Health Ministry and the Malaysian Medical Association must have the best interests of doctors at heart and should take care of them. Only then can the public feel secure in the hands of government doctors. If not we, the rakyat, are mere guinea pigs in the shaky hands of drowsy doctors.

SUE THOMAS, Kuala Lumpur

Source: NST – May 29, 2009