A government medical contract doctor holds placard during a walkout strike at Kuala Lumpur Hospital in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on July 2021. (Photo by Wong Fok Loy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

by Ushar Daniele

After nine years as a government medical officer in Malaysia, in 2017, Dr Khoo Yoong Khean decided to take the leap to secure a job abroad; specifically, in Singapore.

One of the reasons for his then-planned move across the Causeway, Khoo says, was the inability to find viable opportunities to further his career as a practising doctor in Malaysia. This, despite having served the Health Ministry for almost a decade.

It was good fortune, then, that his interest in management and public health, among others, put Khoo in good stead with Singaporean employers.

"Back then, Singapore was willing to let me explore other areas of healthcare. So, I grabbed that opportunity," he said.

Brain drain not new

Malaysian doctors leaving the country for greener pastures isn't a new phenomenon.

Prof Datuk Dr Adeeba Kamarulzaman, a former dean of Universiti Malaya's (UM) medical faculty, for one, recently said that Malaysia has been losing its "best and brightest" medical minds for years.