Carry on serving with dignity

I REFER to Dr K. H. Sng’s letter “Docs face uncertain livelihood” (Jan 24) and other related letters in The Star. Two separate but related problems were brought up: waiting time for a job in government service and the poor general practice clinics in this country.

The problem of excess doctors stemmed from a decade ago when medical education was privatised and questionable medical schools mushroomed in the country. Indiscriminate recognition of overseas graduates based on financial and political reasons compounded the problem. Little attention was given to quality of training and manpower planning. This then resulted in a large number of unemployed or unemployable paramedical staff three years later and doctors five years later. The situation of Dr Pau, “Docs need more solid footing” (The Star, Jan 27), and his colleagues and thousands of others is unlikely to be resolved, and probably will worsen within the next 10 years.