14/10/2025

TUESDAY | OCT 14, 2025

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Staff need help, not hashtags L ET’S not kid ourselves, darlings. The average Malaysian office worker deserves a national award – preferably one that comes with a spa voucher and a lifetime supply of paracetamol. Every day, luxury; it is corporate insurance. Your staff are juggling unpaid overtime, moving goalposts and that one colleague who insists on “Reply All” to announce lunch orders. The least you could do is provide a qualified professional

to talk to – not Sharon from HR, who thinks “therapy” means “have you tried breathing exercises?” And let’s not confuse therapy with those forced team-building retreats in Janda Baik. Dragging exhausted employees to do trust falls in the jungle doesn’t build trust; it builds resentment and bruises. If anything, most staff spend the bus ride home mentally updating their resumes while plotting revenge via anonymous Glassdoor reviews. Imagine instead a proper in-house counselling unit – a quiet, confidential room. A trained counsellor who actually listens when you say your manager’s “urgent” emails give you chest pains and who doesn’t respond with, “We’ll discuss this after appraisal”. Revolutionary, kan ? For those who need numbers to care (hello, boardrooms), here’s the business case. Happy staff = productivity. Supported staff = lower turnover. Lower turnover = fewer awkward shareholder questions. Therapy saves money. Because nothing ruins “investor confidence” faster than half your Gen Z hires quitting to become artist TikTok after one quarterly report. Now imagine the annual report looking like this: “Revenue: Up 10%. Staff attrition: Down 15%. Number of emotional breakdowns in toilet cubicles: Finally decreasing. For once, a sustainability report may actually sustain something other than corporate ego. But let’s not forget that Malaysians are champions of silent suffering. Boss, yells? “ Sabar-je. ” Colleague dumps last-minute work? “ Tak apa lah , makan dulu .” That’s our national coping mechanism: mild, passive aggression garnished with sambal . Except, the more we bottle it up, the more it eventually explodes – sometimes in the form of a viral TikTok clip M A K C I K A B A S

they sit there replying to emails with the serenity of a monk while inside they are screaming louder than your auntie when she realises her Shopee parcel has been “delivered” to the wrong taman . And when the stress bubbles over, where do they go? HR? Oh, please. HR is about as comforting as a “Dear valued customer” email from your telco. Smiles? Yes. Empathy? Only if you count “Noted, thanks” as emotional support. This is precisely why corporate Malaysia needs proper counselling units – not as a shiny CSR gimmick or some budget wellness trend but also as part of the company’s basic survival kit. From the glossy public-listed companies bragging about “people-first culture” on Bursa to the factories in Klang – where the only motivational poster says “Safety First (except deadlines)” – everyone needs it. Because right now, many companies seem to think “mental health support” means dropping wellness quotes into the WhatsApp group. “Stay strong, success is in your hands!” they say. Darling, if success were really in my hands, I’d be holding a cocktail in Langkawi, not a broken stapler in PJ. Let’s be honest: no one’s buying the act anymore. The same companies posting pastel infographics about self-care are the ones expecting staff to reply to emails at 11.59pm. And public-listed companies – wah, you lot really love your LinkedIn pageantry – where CEOs stand proudly beside a banner declaring, “People are our strength”. Cute sentiment, yes, but if people are truly your strength, why does the office pantry look like a post-apocalyptic scene? Even the Milo machine has trauma. Here’s the hard truth: counselling is not a M A R I N A T B Y A Z

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An office needs a professional counselling unit, staffed by real therapists who can listen before stress swallows your employees whole. – BERNAMAPIC

whole. Because when people feel safe, they stay. When they feel seen, they contribute. And when they feel like their company actually cares, they may just stop fantasising about becoming a durian seller in Raub. Corporate Malaysia, it is time to evolve. Less “synergy”, more therapy. Less hashtags, more helplines. Because, in the end, free Milo is nice but mental health is what keeps the company running. And trust me, resignations cost more than therapy sessions. Always. So, as you sip your artisan coffee and prepare for another “resilience webinar”, remember this: The real resilience isn’t in pretending everything’s fine; it is in building systems that help people when it’s not. Now, if you’ll excuse Makcik , she’s off to write her next love letter to HR departments everywhere because this commentary, sayang , follows right after the real conversation lit up theSun ’s front page yesterday. You heard it here, second... but sassier. AzuraAbas is the associate editor of theSun. Comments: letters@thesundaily.com

featuring an employee dramatically announcing “I QUIT!” during a town hall. Try explaining that to investors. So, dear corporate darlings clutching your Montblanc pens and KPI dashboards: counselling is not a cost centre; it is damage control. It is the difference between having a workforce that shows up bright-eyed and one that is Googling “how to fake my own death convincingly” during lunch hour. And before anyone says, “but we already offer external counselling benefits”, let’s be real – outside therapy costs as much as a monthly car loan. When an employee is already choosing between groceries and Grab rides, do you think they will fork out RM250 per session just to talk about workplace burnout? If companies don’t provide it, people will keep bottling things up, bingeing K-dramas till 3am and showing up to work powered by caffeine and emotional denial. Let’s make it simple: your office doesn’t need another foosball table, bean bag or pastel “You Got This!” poster. What it needs is a professional counselling unit, staffed by real therapists, who listens before stress swallows your employees

LETTERS letters@thesundaily.com

Include small traders in economy plans I REFER to theSun report dated Sept 15, “MPs divided over night business concept”, which discussed proposals to expand Malaysia’s night-time economy by looking to models in Amsterdam and Sydney. Such ideas can boost tourism and enliven cities after office hours. India offers a useful example. Its Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act 2014 formally recognises street vendors, issues licences, designates vending zones, and most importantly, protects livelihoods from arbitrary eviction. By ensuring no vendor is evicted without due process, the Act aligns with Article 19(1)(g) (right to trade) and Article 21 (right to livelihood) of the Indian Constitution.

FPMPAM urges govt to revisit fee cap THE government’s decision to raise the upper consultation fee cap for private general practitioners (GP) to RM80 while maintaining the outdated lower cap of RM10 is concerning and raises questions about its potential impact on the sustainability of private primary care services in Malaysia. reimbursement, handing managed care organisations (MCO) and TPA a ready-made tool to suppress fees and dictate terms – undercutting consultation time, continuity and patient safety. The Federation of Private Medical Practitioners Associations, Malaysia (FPMPAM) urges the government to immediately revisit and rectify this decision by: Act 1998 or Malaysian Medical Council Code of professional conduct. 0 Launch a national campaign for change. FPMPAM will remain open to working with TPA that respect professional autonomy, transparency and the law. However, any GL that compromises clinical judgement, limits treatment options or endangers patient care will continue to be unacceptable. There may be political

While the objective of stimulating the national economy is commendable, we must ensure that in the rush to promote the “night economy”, our existing small traders and hawkers – who have long been the backbone of the people’s economy – are not marginalised. Small traders generate income that not only sustains their families but also circulates back into the community. Every ringgit earned is spent on household needs, suppliers and local services. This cycle strengthens grassroots economic growth. Yet, recent media reports and social media posts have shown how local authorities in Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh and other states have confiscated basic belongings of hawkers during enforcement operations. Umbrellas, small tents, folding tables, chairs, gas cylinders, food items and even clothing are seized. These actions strike directly at the hawkers’ ability to survive. Most of these confiscations occur because traders lack licences or operate in restricted areas. But confiscating goods – often without return – amounts to double punishment: loss of capital, loss of goods and loss of daily income. Such measures undermine their basic right to livelihood.

Malaysia has no equivalent nationwide protection law. Our Local Government Act 1976 allows local councils to make by-laws but these usually focus on control and enforcement rather than livelihood protection. This leaves hawkers vulnerable to arbitrary and inconsistent actions. It is important to note that Article 5 of the Federal Constitution guarantees that no person shall be deprived of life or personal liberty, save in accordance with law. This has been interpreted to encompass the right to live with dignity, which necessarily includes the right to sustain a livelihood. Malaysia should move towards a progressive legal framework that not only regulates but also safeguards the livelihood rights of hawkers and small traders. Finally, MPs should first understand the real grievances and the needs of small traders in this country before the “night economy” issue is brought to Parliament or debated as a matter of national policy. K. Kunasekaran Ipoh

For over three decades, private GPs have operated under an outdated Schedule 7 fee structure that does not reflect rising inflation, regulatory compliance costs, staff wages or medical indemnity premiums. The newly revised range also remains below the rates in Schedule 13, which has had a ceiling of RM125 since December 2013. This decision – made despite repeated representations to the Health Ministry, Parliamentary Select Committees and even direct memoranda to the prime minister – shows that economic modelling has overtaken practical healthcare realities. While the government may have acted on advice from health economists seeking to preserve affordability by maintaining a low floor price, this logic fails completely in a third-party administrator (TPA)- dominated market. The RM10 “floor” immediately becomes a corporate anchor for

0 Synchronising Schedule 7 fees with Schedule 13, which itself was last reviewed 12 years ago. 0 Prohibiting TPA and MCO from pegging reimbursement rates to the statutory minimum. 0 Aligning community GP fees with Schedule 13 to remove the two- tier disparity between clinics and hospitals. FPMPAM will take the following steps: 0 Call for deregulation of all consultation fees. 0 Advise GP to unbundle charges in line with transparent costing. 0 Advise medical practitioners to continue rejecting any TPA instructions or guarantee letters (GL) that restrict or compromise patient care. 0 Publish, based on verifiable evidence, a list of TPA with contracts that contravene the Private Healthcare Facilities and Services

implications if the government continues to prioritise the interests of TPA over the sustainability of primary care. Should this trend persist, the impact will be felt by patients – through clinic closures, longer waiting times and fewer treatment options – and public accountability will inevitably follow. A government that loses the trust of doctors and patients will also lose the moral legitimacy to speak for healthcare reform. The government must decide whether it stands with patients and doctors or with corporate intermediaries who profit from their suffering. Dr Shanmuganathan Ganeson

President FPMPAM