Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Heavy Price For Not Paying Your Dues....

I always believe that if you were on scholarship as a student here or abroad, you have to "pay back" in whatever form that had been agreed on.

It's the same if you borrowed money for your studies. You'd have to repay your lenders, right?

I know there are many graduates out there who have not paid their dues. Government scholars who did not fulfill the end of their deal.

So now the government has increased the penalty for breaking the agreement. In this case, medical students/graduates who do not return home.

They will now be "fined" RM1 million. It used to be RM160,000.

Here's from the NST:

Public Service director-general Tan Sri Ismail Adam said that the penalty had to be upped due to lost opportunities on the part of the government.

"Besides, the actual cost borne by the government for every medical student abroad, especially in Britain, is almost RM1 million."

With the growing population, the country needed every doctor it could have, he said.

"We have foreign doctors on contract but this is not enough. For instance, the ratio of doctors to population in the Klang Valley alone is 1:500, and this is not good at all."
Ismail said 200 PSD-sponsored medical students had refused to return home after completing their studies.

"But, with the penalty being increased, there should not be any problem in getting them to return home to serve the country."

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Makes no difference. If some needy medical institutions want them, they just buy these young graduates out. In the long run, the medical institutions still save good money by forking out the Million Ringgit fine because they save time and effort in training costs, borne by the Government.

It's all about ethics and a culture of declining gratitudes, which modern day society is coming to.

Heck, who the hell invented money?

A GOOD MAN DOES NOTHING.

Anonymous said...

haha ..if you believe the govt will take action..you can believe anything..this unpaid loan has been going on for ages..among the proposal was to black list them,etc etc..you name it ...the politicians have suggested it. This is not the lack of ideas how to recover the money..it is the lack of will..or like the malay saying....hot hot chicken shit.

Anonymous said...

The cost of studying medicine in the UK is now more than million ringgit. Check out the tuition fees to attend any of the London schools. On top of that one needs to make allowances for books, equipment, food, housing, transportation, utility bills ....
It's about time the Malaysian government increased the penalty.

However, there is such a thing as just not returning to Malaysia at all. What is the government going to do then? Call Interpol?

As for the guarantors, I am sure there are few tricks they can utilize to weasel their way out of paying the 1 million ringgit.

Anonymous said...

It is about time, a substantial penalty is imposed. If they study on tax payers money, they better serve out what was agreed. no exceptions

ChengHo said...

Investigate all the leaders both in BN and Pakatan especially Malay leaders have they pay back their loans, schorlarship,etc

Anonymous said...

tan sri ismail adam truly does not understand why medical graduates don't return to malaysia. it's the low pay, the government policies, not many research opportunities, in addition to other reasons. the low pay is actually the least of the reasons. a larger fine won't induce the graduates to return. it's not about money, it's other things that malaysia is unwilling to change. you think malaysians really enjoy practising medicine in the uk, where the weather is cold and they are considered second class citizens? they don't like those things, but still they are better off in the uk than in malaysia. same goes for australia and other countries.

Anonymous said...

With that high a penalty...they will just choose NEVER to return. The solution actually lies in NOT sending them overseas in the first place. Undergraduates should first complete their studies locally. Malaysia should save its money for postgraduate studies overseas. The PSD never seems to learn. What the heck do you want a British graduate to work in Pokok Sena for? There are 21 medical colleges here in Malaysia..only one short of the 22 they have in the UK!...Ismail Adam...is just another civil servant who has not seen the real world in the private sector where 60% of all doctors are based. Anyone in the civil service will never, ever see the light as to why doctors leave the service in droves. Read Kennedy..Read Johnson....and learn how the US is the No. 1 in medicine today.

Anonymous said...

It is obvious the choice of students has been wrong. probably those students could afford not to come back home!
They don't have poor emak waiting in kampung for them to come back and look after.

Why not increase intake of medical students in local universities instead of spending million per one student. There are also many students who keep failing and repeat the year of study with fully supported JPA scholarship.
Imagine how much that will cost.

There are many deserving students, who have all credentials, whose ambition is to be a doctor and not given a chance due to the JPA's 'smart' policy. They deserve this.It just shows the authorities incompetence in proving the scholarship for the really needy ones.

Donplaypuks® said...

Even if the fine is a trillion $, there's no point if the loan documentation is faulty/poor, guarantors are not pursued and there is no enforcement!!

This problem seems to be endemic with Govt & MIC scholarships. Don't know the situation with MCA.
http://donplaypuks.blogspot.com

STEADYAKU47 said...

Is that not typical thinking by a DG of the Public Service ? Increase the penalty and there should not be any problem in getting them to return home to serve the country !!! Humsap punya orang. Until we have DG's who are able to emphatize with what these graduates are thinking – the possibility of those 200 PSD sponsored medical students coming home is zelo !! As Bob Dylan says in “The Times They Are A-Changing”

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don’t critisize
What you can’t understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly ageing
Please get out of the new one
If you can’t lend your hand
For the times that are a-changing.

HH

Anonymous said...

Dear Aunty Ena,

I know a handful of my seniors that were awarded PSD scholarships to pursue medicine in the UK.

After graduating, they just well.. "buat donno"..

It's not only about the country needing doctors aunty ena.. They are sent there to learn and to be the best..and come back and inspire anak bangsa yang lain.

kenapa tuan suka membeli,
buah peria teramatlah pahit,
memang dia tak mengenang budi,
bagaikan kacang lupakan kulit.


Please come back.. (I can't believe I'm saying this)..
Your anak bangsa needs you.
Your country needs you.
You doctors who'd just be bloody dumbasses who cannot utter a single word of english if it hadn't been for the government!! (Sorry Aunty Ena.. tetiba marah!)


Ada air adalah ikan


Don't say that you cannot get jobs here in Malaysia.. your tanah air.. tanah tumpah darah.. We need more cardio-thoraxic surgeons, we need more hand specialists, we need more neuro-surgeons. We need more engineers, we need more scientists..

come back O' scholars.. please..


Payah kami tanam padi,
Nanas juga ditanam orang,
Payah kami menabur budi,
Emas juga dipandang orang...


This is a case of really mutated bangaus u know aunty ena. Bangau.. u know bangau..! ;P


Sang Bangau, setinggi-tinggi dia terbang.. hinggap juga akhirnya di belakang kerbau


our malaysian bangaus have mutated.. dah tak pandang lagi kerbau..

Pay up the RM 1 mil.
Serve you kacangs!

Sick and Tired

Anonymous said...

just another act to show they are working...
Don't talk about those residing oversea. How about those still in M'sia. All talk only, black list this, black list that...
With today IT, they can easily track almost 100% working defaulters within days or even hours by just providing the list to LHDN or KWSP or Perkeso to track where they work. The can always issue a court order to their employer to deduct they pay automatically to repay the loan.

Unknown said...

Salam
Just in case you would like to read Yusuf Islam and me

Regards,

Anonymous said...

Konon nak fine lah apa lah. And then they will play the 'pujuk' game pulak - offering this and that in an attempt to entice them to come back. What about those who actually came back and turned down offers of being in a better working environment with better pay if they chosed to remain in England, Ireland etc?

My fiancée is one them, she came back from Ireland after doing her housemanship, even though she was offered a position there with a pay 5 times more than she's getting now at UKMMC, and a possibility of specialising in what she wants to do. Yes, its not all about the money in this profession or doing what you want to do but this is the real world we are talking about - people need to live (and not necessarily in luxury mind you) but the working conditions here is dire, the mentality of the superiors and administration is appalling.(and she's lucky UKMMC is one of the good ones!) It took her 2 years to be confirmed in her position because of the red tape the system and at that time it was difficult for her to apply for even a car loan for a MyVi.

Yet she stuck on and continued and is determined to see out her contract serving the country. I'm sure that there are thousands like her across the country selflessly doing their job. It is these kind of people that the government must take care of first! Jaga dulu assets yang ada sebelum terhegeh nak merayu kepada yang sebenarnya tak heran. I personally know more than 5 doctors who are her seniors who are still there in UK and Ireland who are now specialists, living large and not caring to come back. And why should they? Becuase it looks like they are the clever ones now.

As always, semua ni sembang la..

Anonymous said...

borak bola.. I agree with you..

but.. how did they get to that place - they are great specialists, living large and don't care to come back.

all from rakyat's money..

if u dun care to come back.. fine.. pay the fine. simple.

Anonymous said...

I am surprised at those comments which provide excuses for those who do not come back i.e. poor working conditions salary etc. There are many Malaysian who have gone overseas to study medicine without any govt sponsorship but through the toil and sweat of their own parents and yet came back,did their housemanship & compulsory service in the interior etc.
So what makes those govt scholars so special - there should be no excuse - when they accept the scholarship, they knew full well that they have to return and serve the country. If they were not willing, then they should not have accepted the scholarship!! Don't complain about forfeiting the 5X salary - that makes you sound ungrateful.