Among the politicians who came out in support of the campaign were Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii, former deputy health minister Dr Lee Boon Chye and Alor Setar MP Chan Ming Kai.
One of the surprise inclusions in the list of supporters was a member of the Cabinet, communications and multimedia minister Saifuddin Abdullah, whose Facebook page’s profile picture turned black and white yesterday.
This was coupled with the hashtags #CodeBlackMY and #SaveMYcontractHCW, the latter standing for “Save Malaysian contract healthcare workers”.
However, Saifuddin’s act of solidarity was not well received by everyone , with some netizens criticising the minister for not doing more since he is a member of the Cabinet.
“If you don’t agree, resign from your post in solidarity with the people. Or do you love the pay you get as minister too much?” asked Facebook user Aliff Haziq.
The social media campaign known as #HartalDoktorKontrak has called for contract doctors to go on strike at the end of next month if the government fails to resolve the issue of their permanent placement.
The Code Black campaign, organised by the Malaysian Medical Association’s Section for House Officers, Medical Officers and Specialists (Schomos), encourages individuals or companies to go black from July 1 to 12. On the final day, people are asked to go to work dressed in black.
Two days ago, health minister Dr Adham Baba said the Cabinet will soon discuss the problem facing contract doctors who are still in limbo over their permanent placements, urging contract doctors to be “patient and calm”.
An MMA official thanked the thousands of doctors and individuals who had shown support for the Code Black solidarity move.
“It is especially heartening to note that many members of the public changed their profile to black, which means our move is gaining traction. It actually means they empathise with the plight of these contract doctors,” he said, adding that all doctors will dress in black on July 12 to show solidarity to the cause.
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