Recently, Malaysia was taken aback by the government's decision to abolish the critical service allowances given to 33 professions, specifically for those who will be joining the civil service next year.

A representative of the Public Service Department told BERNAMA the other day that apparently the allowance has no significance in the current employment situation.

He said that the allowance was initially created to attract more people to pursue a job in a specific sector. Since there is an abundance of applications nowadays, the PSD saw no relevance in the allowance and suggested it to be reviewed.

As usual, the move was followed by an uproar of unsatisfied and angry hoard of netizens on social media. Many voiced out their concerns regarding new doctors that will be paid less after 5 years of extensive medical studies. Some pointed out that this is a sign that the government fails to acknowledge the hardships new doctors have to endure with the horrifying work hours and lack of personal time.

This caught the attention of our modern-day cabinet hero, YB Syed Saddiq, who acknowledged the overall sentiment on Twitter.

Potong allowances Ahli Politik & menteri,
Bukan allowance kritikal bagi doktor, pharmacist, nurses muda.

Saya bantah pekeliling baru JPA yang melibatkan banyak anak muda dalam sektor kerajaan.

Saya pendekkan cuti saya, pulangkan allowance percutian & teruskan potongan gaji 10% pic.twitter.com/XSwIyvFceK

— Syed Saddiq (@SyedSaddiq) December 24, 2019

He argued that rather than cutting the new doctor’s allowances, PSD should cut out some of the allowances given to the ministers.

Today, at 12.45pm, another appropriate-distance-from-the-camera selfie video surfaced on YB Syed Saddiq’s official Twitter account.

Saya baru lepas berbincang dengan YAB @chedetofficial berkenaan isu “Allowance Critical”.

Alhamdulillah. YAB PM bersetuju untuk tangguhkan pekeliling baru & untuk membincangkan perkara ini dalam mesyuarat kabinet yang akan datang.

We will never forget the voices of the Youths! https://t.co/OIwYlCnjTU pic.twitter.com/cDDWS6wRDy

— Syed Saddiq (@SyedSaddiq) December 27, 2019

In the video, the young minister shared that he had discussed the issue with our Prime Minister, YAB Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and had come to an agreement to suspend the activation of the PSD’s official circular about the abolishment of the critical services allowance. He then assured that the issue will be brought up and discussed in the first cabinet meeting of 2020, in January.

At the end of the video, he pledged that the voices of the youth, specifically the young doctors and nurses of Malaysia will not be ignored.

This news will surely bring a ray of hope for the young professionals because we all know how demanding the job can be for them!