KUALA LUMPUR, July 13 — The youth wing of the Socialist Party of Malaysia (PSM) has condemned the police’s action for investigating doctors and healthcare workers who supported the Malaysian Medical Association’s (MMA) #CodeBlackMY and #BlackMondayMY campaigns.
The wing’s secretary Gandipan Nantha Gopalan said the party regards the investigation as a form of intimidation against doctors, who were only voicing their frustrations against the system which abused them.
“Doctors are free to speak out, and the freedom of speech is enshrined under Article 10 of the Federal Constitution,” he said in a statement.
Gandipan reminded the police that any problems with the healthcare system will have an impact on the lives of all police personnel, along with their families.
“We urge the police to cease all investigations and intimidations against doctors who are involved in the campaigns.
“We believe the police should be more focused on conducting investigations on politicians and ministers, who have not been complying with Covid-19 standard operating procedures lately,” he said.
Gandipan’s comments echoes that of MMA president Prof Datuk Dr Subramaniam Muniandy, who earlier today also took the authorities to task for harassing doctors and healthcare workers supporting the campaign against job inequality with contract doctors.
It is estimated that 15,000 healthcare workers have come out in support of the campaigns on social media since its launch. #BlackMondayMY took place yesterday where doctors wear black, after a 12-day duration for #CodeBlackMY campaign on social media.
This comes ahead of a separate strike called #HartalDoktorKontrak which is organised by a group of contract doctors, set for July 26.
Contract doctors get unequal pay compared to their permanent colleagues, face uncertainty over their contract extensions, and also denied access to government’s programme for them to further their studies to become specialists.
