A Malaysian woman has sparked a discussion online after praising a Klinik Kesihatan for requiring patients to show their physical IC before receiving a queue number.
Posting on Threads, she said photos of the document were not accepted, even for patients who already had an appointment.
She welcomed the checks, saying she believed they could prevent Rohingya and other non-Malaysians from improperly accessing benefits meant for citizens. However, her post did not provide evidence of such misuse.
Physical IC checked at two counters
In a follow-up comment, the woman explained that patients previously could obtain a queue number simply by saying they had an appointment, with their physical IC checked at the payment counter.
During her recent visit, she said the document was required at both the queue number counter and the payment counter.
Without showing it, patients could not obtain a number, according to her account.
Even a staff pass wasn’t enough
One commenter, who identified themselves as a Ministry of Health (MOH) employee, shared that their staff pass was not accepted despite displaying their IC number.
They praised the staff member handling checks at the clinic entrance for enforcing the requirement.
Other commenters suggested using MyKad readers and fingerprint verification to strengthen identity checks.
Some also discussed documentation and payment requirements for non-citizens, with one pointing out that MOH facilities still accept UNHCR cards.
‘Hasn’t this been around for years?’
Not everyone felt the practice was something new.
One commenter said their local clinic had implemented similar checks for about a year. Another recalled having to show a physical IC for roughly 13 years.
Others argued that checking identification was a basic procedure that should already be consistently enforced.
Responding, the woman said she had attended pregnancy check-ups at the clinic over almost nine months and was pleased to see firmer checks during her latest visit.
She later acknowledged that the requirement might have existed for some time, with the difference being how strictly it was enforced.
While she initially described it as a “new system”, her account does not establish that MOH has introduced a new nationwide policy.
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