In a statement, the ministry also said the existing ePlacement system – which allows contract doctors to apply for permanent positions under a “first-come, first-served” method – will be replaced with a more “transparent, fair and merit-based system” that meets both supply and demand.

“The health ministry is expected to reopen applications in six to eight weeks after it finalises the new system and tests its use,” said the ministry.

It said the Feb 27 placement session saw the ePlacement website accessed over 19 million times. This overloaded the system and made the database unreachable.

The ministry said this was a major contributing factor to the postponement of the Feb 27 placement selection.

The ministry also noted that the Feb 27 placement session saw an excess in approved placements compared to the original quota, with less than 1% of vacancies in Sabah and Sarawak filled.

“This made the data obtained unusable. In light of this incident, the ministry had made improvements to the ePlacement system’s process and infrastructure.

“However, after conducting several simulations and reviews, the process could not be offered fairly to all parties.”

The ministry said today’s scheduled placement selection for 2,245 candidates had to be postponed due to a serious technical disruption caused by “unusual access” to the ePlacement system.

Earlier today, Kota Melaka MP Khoo Poay Tiong said he was deeply disappointed with the ministry due to the uncertainty surrounding the ePlacement system.