KUALA LUMPUR, July 4 ― Socio-Cultural Advisor to the Government Tan Sri Rais Yatim has criticised the exemption of a requirement for a minimum-pass in the Bahasa Malaysia subject in SPM for contract medical officers.

Rais questioned how the doctors could treat Malays if they could not speak Bahasa Malaysia.

"If doctors can remember and learn thousands of medical terms, what’s the problem with memorising BM sentences and terms..’what kind of pain are you having?’ ‘where does it hurt?’ and the like.

"They can learn BM in a month. The Health Ministry can also provide easy and practical language lessons,” Rais posted on his Facebook page.

Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said Sunday that the waiver of the requirement for a pass in the Bahasa Malaysia subject in SPM was to facilitate those who did not sit for the Form Five public exam, noting that there were medical graduates who had studied overseas, sat for O-Levels at an international school, or took the BM subject in university.

National newswire Bernama quoted the Malaysian Medical Association as saying that the waiver would allow 300 to 400 medical graduates to undergo graduate training for two years and the mandatory two years in the Health Ministry.