Penang Malay Association (Pemenang) chairman Yussof Latiff said the group was puzzled by the move as the same officers would later be required to pass BM in order to be accepted as permanent staff.
“We are going to write to the right honourable prime minister to ask him to rescind this order,” he told reporters at the Pemenang headquarters here today.
He said the move would be a “disaster” as it would further erode the use of BM among Malaysians.
“We all know all government agencies require a pass in BM as all correspondence and conversations are held in Bahasa.
“Now, medical officers on attachment with government hospitals will have to deal with patients who are likely going to speak Malay.
“If the houseman cannot string together a basic line in Malay or understand what is being said by the patient, wouldn’t it be ridiculous?”
Yussof said BM was a language of unity, hence it was important that all government posts have a requirement for basic or intermediate knowledge of the national language.
“It is also why Pemenang has called for all schools to be in a single stream, which is our national language stream. This is to foster unity among Malaysians.”
Yesterday, the health ministry announced the relaxation of the national language “pass” requirement for contract medical workers, that is, potential medical housemen.
This was made possible in February after talks by the ministry with the Public Service Department (PSD).
Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah told Bernama that the potential housemen would eventually need to pass BM in order to work full-time in the health service.
He said the ministry had written to the Examinations Board to allow housemen candidates to sit for the SPM (secondary school level) BM test rather than repeating the whole SPM.
Currently, the PSD does not recognise students with a pass in BM at “O” or “A” levels. However, it recognises SPM BM results.