Kuala Lampur, May 20 -- The New Straits Times editorial on May 16 rightly sounded the alarm: Malaysia is facing a full-blown nursing crisis - not just in numbers, but in experience, morale, and the soul of our healthcare system.

For decades, we've exported our best nurses to countries that see what we refuse to: their worth.

From the UK and Australia to the Gulf and Singapore, Malaysian nurses are snapped up for their skill, discipline, and compassion.

And why not? They're trained in a system that still delivers quality - despite being underpaid, understaffed, and undervalued at home.

But here's the bitter irony: as global demand for Malaysian nurses grows, we are bleeding them out of our own hospitals.

We aren't just short of hands,...