AN online petition calling on the government to reinstate the critical service incentive for health workers is still gaining traction hours after it was announced the cabinet would rethink the move.

The petition on change.org started by the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) had garnered some 93,149 signatures as at 6.16pm.

“The profession is one filled with sacrifices. Every healthcare professional has given up much of their youth, family time and health to learn and be trained in order to be able to better heal the patients under their care. For these sacrifices, healthcare professionals received a few incentives, one of them being the critical allowance as the profession was deemed an essential element to the growth of the country,” the petition read.

“With the introduction of the contract positions as well as the limited positions available, the job security which was enjoyed in the past for most healthcare professionals has been lost,” it added.

The petition aims to garner 150,000 signatures.

Prolific Twitter user Dr BeniRusani thanked the government for putting the brakes on the move, and said junior doctors will fall under the Bottom 40 category if they are not paid the critical allowance.

He said the welfare of healthcare workers should also be taken care of.

 “Without the critical allowance, our junior doctors will be in B40. I remember getting RM20 per on call night. Things must get better with time. We need to look after d welfare of our docs, nurses etc who look after our sick. Thank you @DrDzul & @KKMPutrajaya for making things right,” the cardiologist at the National Heart Institute (IJN) said.

Meanwhile, other twitter users called out the government for its U-turn.

@2019Utusan branded the move as a U-turn in a tweet with a quote by Youth and Sports minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman.

Welcoming the about turn, John Teo meanwhile asked in a tweet if the government will learn how to consult stakeholders before implementing major decisions.

@ipohcmemalee on the other hand called out the government on flip-flopping and to not fear losing votes in the next election.

“Flip-flop, flip-flop. Follow d ‘rule-of-law’ on d exixtence of “critical allowance”. Hv d political will 2 carry it out & not fear if ppl will vote u again in next GE.”

Meanwhile, Gan Chiew Kiat asked how much could be saved from slashing the allowance and where would the savings be channelled.

“How much can be saved by cutting their allowance,  where would the the saved money accounted to?”

Syed Saddiq said today that Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has decided to halt the plan for now.

“I just had a meeting with the prime minister on the critical allowance matter.

“The PM has agreed to postpone the circular on the termination of the allowance and this matter will be discussed at the next cabinet meeting,” he said in a video posted on his social media. – December 27, 2019.