PETALING JAYA: We all know our politicians are a strange breed. Every now and then we hear politicians screaming that “the defence budget iwas passed without any debate”. Well this week and last was the time to debate about the defence budget and what happened? No one bothered of course.
You can bet that if next year, they proceed with the MRCA purchase, one smart aleck will start screaming again…sheesh.
Why is it so hard to ask? Again its above my pay grade but below are sample questions for the Defence Minister. It will not be hard the minister to answer the questions, it does not affect operational secrecy. Of course they (MPs) can ask anything but godammit ask, you may get an answer!
1) Why does Mindef needs 15,000 civilian staff?
2) Can you tell us how the defence allocation is divided among the services? Of the amount allocated how much money is for remuneration, operations etc
3) A small number of non-Malays served in the Armed Forces. Has the Armed Forces gotten around to ask them why they join the service?
4) Some 100,000 National Service trainees are selected each year. Why couldnt the Armed Forces conduct a survey to determine why the younger generation shunned the services?
Ex-servicemen with one-day service can also gain under Veteran’s Act
Bernama
Tuesday, December 14th, 2010 08:49:00
KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Armed Forces Veterans Act will ensure ex-servicemen were better taken care off, even if their service was only for a day, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said.
He said the Act, which was approved by the Cabinet last Friday and would be tabled at the next Parliament sitting, only required members to register as veterans.
“Even those who served the armed forces for only a day, will also get to enjoy benefits under this Act,” he said when winding up the debate on the Supply Bill 2011 in the Dewan Rakyat today.
–Malaysian Defence
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View Comments (16)
Marhalim,
Let's face it our BN and Opposition MPs have very little interest on the military and they don't take the trouble to learn the organization.
If their understanding of military plannning, operations and logistics and the theory of military deterrence is not that commendable, how do you expect them to contribute to the defence debate?
Also I have the feeling that if the Opposition Party come to power they will slash the defence budget drastically like what is happening in the UK.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
all politician need military training. only then they stop talking nonsense
Marhalim: Theres no need for military training, just common sense....
I agree with u loreng, it will b 2 late when the outsider will breakthrough our national defence, for them defending the nation is not importance.
Any news on the tender for 155 mm SPH? This is one area where i believe we are very short though. Apart from the ever reliable but antique Mod 56 105 mm otto melara (around 150-200)since 1968, we only have 22 Denel g5 155mm, 12 FH70 (i believe retired already due to barrel exhaustion), 36 Astross (is this considered artilery piece?) and the 8 120mm SPH mortars plus several hundred 81mm mortars.
Marhalim: Unfortunately, no, Kamal. Thats the reason I was bloody piss off when no MP rose in parliament to ask what things are going to be procured with the 10th MP.....It remained a long shot anyway as the Army has other pressing priorities...
kamal, don't think the ASTROS can be described as artillery per se. Interesting enough, the 2 ARTHUR's are operated by the 2nd ASTROS regiment, which gives us a good idea as to what the army intends to use the ASTROS for if bullets start flying for real.
Marhalim: Astros is considered rocket artillery while guns are called tube artillery...so both are gunners...guns are faster in the reloading department while rockets gives the saturation effect...
Me, I want the MPs to dig up the steyr thing, the lawsuit etc.. nationalize sme with new management personnel who put national interest first..
Marhalim: If I got the money, bro, i will buy over the company and hand it back to the government though I will insist on being on the BOD not for any reason but to ensure that it remained on the ball. I have met many of the SME personnel and I believed many are patriots ...And I will pay when i used the ammo....
As for investigating the Steyr debacle, it cannot happen at the Dewan Rakyat, only a Royal Commission will be able to dig the truth. Anyhow you cannot point finger at anyone for the debacle its a shared responsibility, from the management, Mindef, EPU and the Old Man himself...
Thats right, the ASTROS does not have the precision capability like the HIMARS but like the Grad is perfect the saturation role. Kamal, certain army units at section level still use 60mm mortars for illumination and fire support. The RUAG MAPAM anti-personnel round is being manufactured under licence by SME.
Marhalim, you posted a report here some time back about the Auditor General's report concerning the defective helmets. Seems the helmets were sourced from China. There is a company it seems [Brit technology], based in Melaka, that has exported helmets to Afghanistan, Iraq, Mongolia, the Middle East, but they didn't manage to sell anything to MINDEF.
My take is there should not be any defense industry in Malaysia in the first place unless we have economies of scale and defense budget at least twice what we are having now. Pakistan can afford to have their own defense industries as their budget itself is at least USD 5 billion which about 3 times ours (before other foreign assistance), plus due to the very cheap labour rate, they can afford to produce defense article at relatively competitive price either guns or even submarines.
MArhalim: Well it depends, we can never have economic of scale for everything. And more importantly whether we can fund these factories even if we do not receive export orders. Thats one of the reason Pakistan and Singapore defence budgets are much,much higher than ours, they are not simply buying new things, they are also paying for their defence industries .
Yes, they have received small orders here and there but they have not yet reached the economics of scale like those in US and in Russia. Nonetheless they are committed to fund these projects for the long term. It does not make economic sense of course, but in the world of strategy it does.
We also saw the same thing but we tend to be clouded by short-term, affordability is a dirty word here.
If we do not have the stomach or the capability to fund these projects for the long term then we should stop having wet-dreams about them and purchase our arms abroad and make sure that we reserved funds for the next 30 years so we can maintain them during that period.
I am all for a huge gun factory in Malaysia if the gun in question is a laser blaster!
Otherwise a small plant that produce 1,000 guns or even less a year will be enough but the powers that be must be ready to fund it forever.....
Firstly, to Marhalim ,thanks for the blog.
Secondly, There's always hope somethings can be changed for the better.
Thirdly, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and Happy Holidays.
Take care.