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Media  Statement by Lim Kit Siang in Parliament on Tuesday, 21st October 2008:  Time for Liow Tiong Lai to get back quickly and diligently to his duties as Health Minister which he had neglected of late because of MCA elections Now that Datuk Liow Tiong Lai has secured the second highest votes and elected as MCA Vice President, it is time that he returns quickly and diligently to his duties as Health Minister which he had considerably neglected of date. As a result, Malaysians face many grave medical and health problems whether the dengue epidemic which has so have claimed at least 78 lives or the first major outbreak of chikungunya in the country, or the continued bumbling in the administration of the Health Ministry. Correct me if I am wrong, but I remember when Datuk Dr. Chua Soi Lek was the Health Minister, he promised to end the long-standing hassle of new doctors having to wait for months on end to get their first posting after their graduation – which is criminal negligence when there is acute shortage of doctors in the public service. Liow Tiong Lai has been sleeping on his job as seen from the complaints by new doctors who have to wait for months after their graduation to get their first posting. Time for the Health Minister to wake up and to explain in Parliament the reason for this deplorable state of affairs in his Ministry. The following is one such email: I am a fresh medical graduate who is not satisfied with the way the MOH is working. I have sent and went through all the necessary processes required to apply to work with the ministry. It was about 3 months ago and until now i have no reply from the ministry. I tried calling the ministry and was told to refer to their Bahagian Latihan and i did as told and after countless time calling (with them refusing to pick up the phone); they finally took my call and the reply I got was that they themselves don't know when the "kursus induksi" will start!! I am now lost since I can do nothing for the past three months; just content to staying at home waiting for the letter everyday for the past three months from the ministry. I can't go on a holiday or find a part time job since i don't really know when the letter will arrive and when i will be called up by the ministry. I think I have wasted a lot of time when i can do a lot more worthy things but instead I am stuck in this situation together with all my other batch mates. We have been stuck in this situation for the past three months and we hope that the ministry will have a more convincing answer as to when our induksi will begin, so that we dont have to keep on staying at home everyday, waiting for the letter; hence not being able to do other things. This blog will shed some light on our situation (http://www.sharinip.blogspot.com/). Excerpts from the above-mentioned blog: It is now the 15th of October. None of my friends (except the few who registered in early or mid of July) have started work. We are all waiting for our induction letters. Many have tried calling the MOH and asking about the induction course. Here are some of the responses they got: -call back in November -you should be getting your letter anytime soon -no budget for induction course this year -it will be at the end of November -we are waiting for the top people to 'luluskan' the induction course -we don't know -the application has not been processed yet It's been 3 months since I've got back. I have been jobless for 3 months. How long more do I have to wait? I thought that Malaysia has a shortage of doctors. Is this how they choose to handle the problem? By making us sit at home and do nothing? * Lim Kit Siang,  DAP Parliamentary leader & MP for Ipoh Timor