KUALA LUMPUR, July 2 — The relaxing of a minimum pass-requirement in Bahasa Melayu (BM) at the SPM-level for the appointment of a Grade UD41 Medical Officer on contract is to facilitate those who have not sat for the examination for various reasons.

Health Director-General Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said this included medical graduates who had undergone overseas education, those who sat for O-Level examination at an international school, or took the BM subject at university.

"This flexibility is not a new thing, even foreign medical officers or physicians appointed do not require a pass in BM at the SPM-level," he said in a statement here tonight.

He said following the announcement of Budget 2017 in October last year, medical graduates were now contracted as UD41 Medical Officers, and undergo graduate training for two years followed by two years of compulsory service.

"If a medical graduate is not able to undergo graduate training and compulsory service, the medical graduate will not be allowed to practise as a Medical Doctor in Malaysia. The ministry is concerned that this will undoubtedly, affect their future after working hard to get a medical degree,” said Dr Noor Hisham, justifying the relaxation of the requirement.

He said this in response to feedback from several quarters which expressed concern that the latest decision by the ministry would result in the national language being taken lightly, and possibly lead to communication problems between medical personnel and patients.

He however assured, that only doctors who had a pass in BM at the SPM-level would be appointed as permanent medical officers under the ministry, and this was in line with the position of BM as the official language of the Federation. — Bernama