KUALA LUMPUR, April 10 — The 190 young doctors who fell victim to a suspected scam at Tunku Azizah Hospital (HTA) were not simply careless or naive, said senior doctors in the health service.
Instead, they point to a more complicated reality of inexperienced trainees navigating unfamiliar systems, the authority of administrative staff, and a workplace culture that discourages questioning – a combination that could expose junior doctors across Malaysia’s public hospitals to similar risks.
Following CodeBlue’s report that an administrative assistant allegedly scammed approximately 190 house officers out of more than RM47,000 at the Kuala Lumpur hospital, five medical officers and specialists from Ministry of Health (MOH) hospitals in the Klang Valley and East Malaysia said the circumstances were not unique to a single hospital.
“I think it really depends on which posting they are in. For junior house officers (HO) in their first or second posting, they may still be unclear about the system. However, senior HOs are more well versed,” said Dr A, a specialist in the Klang Valley.
Housemen early in training are often unfamiliar with administrative processes and rely heavily on support staff. Dr A said the alleged scam could “most definitely” occur in other government hospitals. “As mentioned, HOs can be quite naive and will listen to the pembantu tadbir (PT), who can make your life difficult if you question them,” Dr A said.
Dr A added that in large hospitals like HTA, where departments have many staff, junior doctors can remain relatively unknown, reducing oversight.
Realistic Forged Documents, PT Authority Made Scam Hard To Detect
Another doctor said the sophistication of the alleged HTA scam made it difficult to detect, even for more experienced staff.
“I was going to say that the housemen shouldn’t be so easily trusting. You should verify and ask for an official document.
“But actually CodeBlue has shown that the PT produced fake documents that looked so real,” said Dr B, a medical officer in Sabah. “I would definitely have fallen for that.”
In the HTA case, the 28-year-old female PT allegedly collected small payments of under RM50 for a compulsory course that was actually free, besides obtaining larger sums of RM900 or higher by presenting forged documents that falsely showed official salary overpayments requiring repayment.
These payments were made in cash or via QR transfers to her personal account.
The falsified forms resembled genuine human resource documents, complete with verification and departmental approval sections, making the admin assistant’s requests appear legitimate.
“She even included the specific appendix code. This girl really knows her stuff,” Dr B said. “So I really don’t blame the housemen for falling for it because it was done very well.”
Dr B described the accused perpetrator as highly convincing and able to operate independently, with victims reporting that the PT conducted housemen orientation briefings alone, managed one-on-one interactions, and responded strongly when questioned.
“She can really weave her way in and out. This is not a takut takut kind of person. She can wing it and she dares to do that. She’s not even worried about the consequences, let alone dosa ke pahala whatever.”
Dr B added that these behavioural dynamics, combined with heavy workloads and reliance on administrative instructions, can limit opportunities to verify financial requests.
“Based on my experience, can it happen elsewhere like in Sabah? If we are too busy, it can happen, because there’s no time to check. That’s why there should be safety nets. No one should operate alone,” Dr B said.
“That’s why we have leaders. That’s why we have MOs (medical officers) and specialists because housemen don’t know many things yet. We are here to learn.”
CodeBlue is providing anonymity to five doctors interviewed for this story because civil servants are prohibited from speaking to the media.
Structural And Cultural Factors Leave Junior Doctors Vulnerable
Doctors also pointed to structural and cultural factors within the public health care system.
“I think it’s both. How can you avoid it if the admin team asks you to pay as per a government order? Besides, HOs are only in that posting for four months, and most don’t dare to fight back,” said Dr C, a medical officer in the Klang Valley.
While the likelihood of a similar fraud occurring in future may vary, she said it wasn’t impossible. “The chances are very low, but never zero.”
Dr D, a specialist in Sabah, said the lack of a culture of questioning orders in workplaces in the public sector contributed to such risks.
“I feel like the culture of asking why is not present in 99 per cent of government settings. People are happy to just accept things as ‘memang macam tu’.”
“That’s why I encourage my staff. If they’re not happy, they should question and ask, say something, not just keep quiet and let things be,” Dr D said. “Unfortunately, this is still very foreign in Asian culture, but that would be one of the ways to address this issue.”
When asked whether the HTA housemen who fell for the scam were naive or whether their situation was difficult to avoid, Dr E said requests for money might appear suspicious at first glance, but could be overlooked in practice.
“This is dumb and it should raise suspicion, but sometimes, as I said, when you are busy, you won’t really bother about it. Regarding the HTA case, that PT is sneaky because she used words like ‘overpayment’, which sounds serious to young doctors,” said Dr E, a senior medical officer at a public hospital in Selangor.
CodeBlue reported yesterday that informal practices like payments through coworkers’ personal accounts for work purposes, as well as genuine salary overpayments requiring reimbursement, occur in various departments and government hospitals, which may make such requests appear credible.
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