Former federal minister Dato’ Abdul Rahman Dahlan has called on Singapore to compensate Malaysia for the cost of training local doctors who later work across the border, citing a growing “talent drain” in the country’s healthcare sector.
In a Facebook post, Abdul Rahman said the migration of Malaysian doctors and nurses to other countries, especially Singapore, has become a national crisis as raised by MPs and the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA). He noted that many professionals leave due to weaknesses in local policies and more aggressive hiring by foreign countries.
He highlighted that Singaporean hospitals recently held open walk-in interviews in Kuala Lumpur—an unusually public approach compared to past recruitment, which was done quietly or by invitation. Singapore’s higher pay, better benefits, improved working conditions, and shared culture, language, and time zones make it an attractive option for Malaysian healthcare workers, he added.
While some view this as normal economic competition, Abdul Rahman argued that such actions show a lack of regional empathy given Malaysia’s heavy subsidies for healthcare training funded by taxpayers.
He proposed two solutions: a government-to-government (G2G) arrangement where Singapore repays the full training subsidy for each Malaysian healthcare worker recruited, or a special levy system where Singaporean employers pay a monthly or yearly fee—verified by the Malaysian High Commission—based on the employee’s salary.
He stressed that these payments should not come from workers’ salaries but from the hiring institutions in Singapore. This approach, he said, would allow Singapore to secure trained professionals while enabling Malaysia to recover public funds to reinvest in rural healthcare.
Abdul Rahman concluded by urging more discussion and study of the proposal, acknowledging potential legal and technical hurdles but calling it crucial for long-term sustainability.
