Malaysia will establish workplace bullying rules after doctor suicide suspect

Following the apparent suicide of a doctor whom family members claim was subjected to ongoing workplace bullying by a senior colleague, Malaysia’s health ministry will release preventative recommendations for workplace bullying at public health facilities.

On August 29, Tay Tien Yaa, 30, was discovered dead in her rental home in the Sabah state of Malaysian Borneo’s Lahad Datu rural region.

According to a Facebook post made by her brother last month, Tay, who had begun working as the chief of the chemical pathology unit at Lahad Datu Hospital in February, was “mistreated [and] oppressed” by a senior colleague.

The health minister initiated an investigation headed by retired senior civil officers in response to the claim and the attention surrounding her death. The investigation’s conclusions are expected to be made public by January.

“In principle, the health ministry does not compromise on the issue of bullying,” Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad said in a written parliamentary reply to an MP’s question published on Tuesday, promising a raft of new guidelines to prevent workplace bullying.

The phrase “sudden death” is commonly used by Malaysian authorities to refer to suspected suicide situations.

In an effort to lessen the stigma associated with mental health, parliament overwhelmingly decided last year to decriminalize suicide attempts, which were previously illegal.

Alongside the guidelines, there are already procedures in place to deal with workplace bullying, such as an online reporting system that was introduced in 2022 and mental and emotional support and intervention at the state, district, and hospital levels to help victims vent their frustrations and manage their stress.

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Due in part to what contract doctors argue are unjust contractual arrangements that do not translate into full-time employment, doctors, particularly housemen, have long complained of workplace bullying and overwork as the public healthcare sector loses talent.

On June 27, a doctor from Penang’s Seberang Jaya Hospital was discovered dead in her vehicle in the hospital’s parking lot, apparently as a result of overwork.

According to a 2023 poll conducted by the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA), up to 40% of physicians countrywide reported having had some kind of bullying incident.

The poll said victims were unlikely to report something because they were unsure of how to do so or were afraid of retaliation. According to the victims, if a formal complaint was made, nothing was done.

Besides, over two-thirds of young physicians have had to work extra virtually every day, which helped explain the more than 1,000% increase in contract doctor resignations between 2018 and 2023.

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