SHAH ALAM: More stuff courtesy of Op Benteng. Op Benteng, the integrated operations against illegal immigrants, transnational crimes and smuggling launched in June, last year, has been a boon to the armed forces and the other government agencies involved in it.
The Army for example has got scramblers, one tonners and other stuff for its operations. The navy has got radars as well as the Fast Combat Boats. The air force has also got a number of stuff together with the police which got one-tonne trucks as well.
The Kawasaki 250cc scramblers for the Army procured under Op Benteng.
Now it appears that the RMAF will also got Janes reference books as well for Op Benteng. The ePerolehan website today issued a quotation notice
PERKHIDMATAN PUBLIKASI JANE’S BAGI KEGUNAAN OP BENTENG TAHUN 2021
According to the quotation notice, the air force needs three copies of JANE’S ALL THE WORLD AIRCRAFT IN SERVICE SOURCE BOOK , seven JANE’FIGHTING SHIP, two copies EOD CBRNE DEFENCE
EQUIPMENT and four copies of MINES EOD OPERATIONAL GUIDE. The quotation notice closes in seven days.
Anyhow, an over-the-top and cringe worthy video by 10 Para Brigade has gone viral thanks to a Facebook post by Singapore Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam.
Pathfinders from 10th Para Brigade conducting a jump into the sea as part of their on-going exercise. Picture published by BTDM on August 13.
He did not say it directly but hinted heavily that it was meant for an external audience. The responses in the comment section proved that many understood what he was hinting. And to think that some had think highly of the minister before. I am not linking the post here, you can search for it yourself on Facebook.
— Malaysian Defence
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EOD, CBRNE and Mines, cant phantom why these army engineers skillset becomes air force’s need to know. I dont think airmen will find UXO, mustard gas, Manta mines during Ops Benteng patrols.
I am hoping TLDM can make full use of Ops Benteng and the recent AS intrusion & shootout to push the sitting Government for quick resolution to the LCS conundrum. If just needs more money to complete, now is the time to ask for more also ask for more LMS once LCS issue have been settled.
In the first place why need to tender?. Really dont understand. Just go buy from the publisher direct. Cheap n easy
Nimitz – “I dont think airmen will find UXO, mustard gas, Manta mines during Ops Benteng patrols”
Why assume it’s for “airmen” per see? Could be for PASKAU or non flying elements of the RMAF which are tasked with handling explosives/chemicals and require some form of reference. Also the tender may have been released as part of or ostensibly for Ops Benteng but who’s to say that – like other stuff ordered – they no have a utility beyond Ops Benteng?
For future china incursion maybe?
Fazrin,
For any peacetime or wartime threats we might face …. Not everything we do is driven by the Chinese threat.
Lee,
During your time with the Rangers was it common for Ranger officers to be seconded to the RMR and vice versa?
The reason I’m asking is because I met an ex 2 Rangers officer. During May 13th he was placed in command of a RMR platoon and deployed in K.L. He said it was common practice then.
@Lee Yoke Meng
All media publication is controlled item, and publishers need to have valid permit from and published materials are usually vetted by Home Affairs (MOHA). Unless Jane’s has the appropriate & valid licenses and permits, it will take a 3rd party to source overseas publications. One way around it would be if the Government’s own publishing arm were to reprint for local or internal consumption (ie such as SIRIM QAS standards).
The company I worked for use to subscribe to various Jane’s publications. They are not “controlled” and no permit of any sort is needed to subscribe to them or bring them in. Nor is any “3td” party needed to source them. Anyone with a credit/debit card can order them. Back in the 1990’s at one point I was a subscriber to “Janes Defence Weekly”; I had no permit; subscribed by myself. As part of the process they do ask you to fill in a form with various questions but that’s for marketing purposes.
IIn the past Jane’s use to provide FOC to various embassies; ministries and even oil & gas companies.
There was a period when “ADJ” was sold at newsagents until they started running Israeli ads. Same with “Asian Defence & Diplomacy” and “Asian Aerospace & Airports” which at one point was readily available at newsagents; the owner moved to Singapore to get around the Israeli and issue. Even “Military Technology” and “Naval News” (both from Monch) was sold at newsagents at one point.
In the “good old days” publications were handed out free during trade days at exhibitions. Later to non “official” people they were sold cheaply.
Back then the “good ol days” vs today’s era. Back then there were plenty of kopitiams, now there is only Starbucks and its ilk. Things change. Every hardcopied reading material are being screened in country before reaching our hands, so don’t bother trying to openly get Playboy mags.
None of Jane’s publications require a permit to bring in – period/full stop. If and when a publication is held by Customs; yet it’s checked (whether it’s the “old days” or now) but it doesn’t change the fact that defence publications are not a controlled item; do not require a permit to bring in and can be ordered by anyone with a debit/credit card.
The reason the RMAF sourced Jane’s publications via a tender is not because it’s a controlled or restricted item ….
Marhalim,
I took a peep inside his (the minister) FB page, and like you said, lots of rather paranoid and butthurt comments – aimed at us, of course, ranging from fighter jets unable to fly to Covid to our political tussle. Meroyan tak tentu pasal, probably because unable to get cheap petrol and food from JB.
Funny thing is these people seriously believe they are in similar situation as Israel back during 6 Day War in 1967. There’s nothing of value in SG that’s worth declaring war for. It’s simply reassuring to know that even in so-called “advanced” and “civilised” SG there are cheap politicians.
Material purchase for own personal use and those bought for an organisation whether its private, public, or learning institution is much different.
The reason for tender is because of open procurement policy in place now.
@ASM
Regardless, they, as a whole, are much more united citizen than ours divided by race, religion & politics. Tell a group of their country is shit and most will chastise you. Do the same to a group of Malaysians and half will agree with you. The end justify the means and in the end that’s all that matters.
@Joe,
That may be true, but I observe that our pattern of behaviour is similar to countries that have political and press freedom (to a certain extent), unlike Singapore which is a token democracy whose rule resembles the CCP, as in a single party rule with minimal political opposition. However when a push does come to a shove I would think most will do the right thing, hopefully.
In this case irrespective of whether Jane’s publications are bought for “private, public, or learning institution” is immaterial because they are not and never have been controlled or restricted and no permit of any sort is needed to bring them in.
Anyone – irrespective of profession – can order them without any hassle; that’s the point I’ve been driving at. There was a local publication which was restricted to industry readers and I provided the reason why.
@ASM
Political & press freedom is a Western idea that was pushed to us as something natural, but it is not as Western mores and Asian mores are quite different. Whatmore, in Western countries themselves have restrictions on the “freedom” they perceived, they too have censoring, crackdowns on protests, political, race & religious alienation, so its ironic many “enlightened” in Asia are pandering to their ideology when they clearly aren’t practising what they preach.
In the end, results matter, and they have achieved much success despite the lack of such “freedom”.
“Political & press freedom is a Western idea that was pushed to us as something natural, but it is not as Western mores and Asian mores are quite different. Whatmore, in Western countries themselves have restrictions on the “freedom” they perceived, they too have censoring, crackdowns on protests, political, race & religious alienation, so its ironic many “enlightened” in Asia are pandering to their ideology when they clearly aren’t practising what they preach.”
Ultimately one needs political and press freedom so that the public is informed and enlightened of what the government is doing with their tax dollars, their national and natural resources, their soldiers lives and so on. As has happened in many countries, an unsophisticated public will lead to corruption, aristocracy and perpetuation of a ruling class. This is not to say that democracies are perfect- the war in Afghanistan would have been different if so- but that the ability to keep governments accountable and change them is nonetheless important. For every Afghanistan, there are examples of dictators starting wars to incite nationalism and divert attention from their own failings.
One could also say that democracy and free elections themselves are Western ideas that Asians should not adopt, and indeed many Chinese and Asian dictators are saying the same. The fact that there are prosperous Asian democracies with free press and free elections -indeed, former dictatorships in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan- shows that press and political freedom are not alien to Asians. Why certain people here admire the Chinese dictatorship and wish to see its hegemony over neighbouring Asian democracies in the name of racial nationalism is a very sad thing.
We don’t have to look far to see what would happen if we lose the ability to change or choose our leaders or have information on what they are doing denied to us. Fortunately we did not completely lose these things, or we would have been stuck with certain leaders for life.
If some people feel that certain rights are too Western for them, they don’t have to exercise them. For the sake of keeping their politicians honest however, they are better off not destroying them or handing them off to their politicians.
@AM
If democracy is defined as people choosing their leaders, it is not alien to us Asians. Throughout the ages, China’s dynasties rise & fall with the people blessing. A prosperous dynasty will have happy people, a bad one will have people’s revolt & rebellion eventually a downfall of the old and rise of a new dynasty. It is democracy if viewed thru the millennium. If CCP were to badly perform like Gorbi’s USSR, it will fall by the people and replaced by the people. That age have not yet come and will not in the foreseeable future, do recall that China’s history is measured by dynasties not by years or decades or even by individual rulers.
I digress, the point is whatever espoused by the West isn’t alien to us but how we define such is according to Asian mores and it is only wrong if one starts to define the same according Western PoV. In fact there is no right or wrong. Ask around you, many will say Spore has more freedom & liberties than here, you just need to know that stepping out from that line will have serious repercussions.
Their press freedom isn’t draconic if what is said is factual and backed up with real hard facts & data, something that many seem to forget when reporting or sharing “news”.
“If democracy is defined as people choosing their leaders, it is not alien to us Asians. Throughout the ages, China’s dynasties rise & fall with the people blessing. A prosperous dynasty will have happy people, a bad one will have people’s revolt & rebellion eventually a downfall of the old and rise of a new dynasty.”
Poppycock. Most of us want to be able to change governments without having to see people tortured or soldiers and their countrymen killing each other in “revolts & rebellion” because party secretaries or emperors don’t step down. By the standard you mentioned, every single country in the world is democractic, even North Korea.
You are okay with people starting “revolts & rebellion” to change a “bad” government (your words). But you don’t believe that people (Asians) should have the right to discuss it among themselves or to achieve the same aim through an election.
” the point is whatever espoused by the West isn’t alien to us but how we define such is according to Asian mores and it is only wrong if one starts to define the same according Western PoV. ”
There is no reason that an Asian must enjoy less freedom than a Westerner. Like said, if you don’t like to exercise your rights, just don’t exercise them. You can sit back and let the government do what it wants with your future. If you don’t like to see your countrymen exercise their rights, I can’t help you.
“Their press freedom isn’t draconic if what is said is factual and backed up with real hard facts & data, something that many seem to forget when reporting or sharing “news”.
“Ask around you, many will say Spore has more freedom & liberties than here, you just need to know that stepping out from that line will have serious repercussions. ”
So you are saying they are more democratic than us, and are their people are more educated, well informed and are free to speak up, and they are also more prosperous by far despite having no resources…
To be very clear, I assume here you are talking about Singapore and not China. Because in China you can try something as harmless as expressing your view on how to run the economy, or bring up “real hard facts & data” on government corruption or drug safety scandals to really bring down heaven’s wrath upon yourself.
@AM
As I said, your definition is thru Western lenses, just like how the West refused to understand the cultures and believes of other civilisations, preferring to treat us as uncultured savages, seeking to “free” us from our ignorance and bring us “enlightenment” thru colonisation. Yeah right.
Truth is far from it, one just need to be more open and less myopic, do not blindly believe everything the West tells us. If you think the West won’t take action on those reporting their Government scandals, just ask Snowden and Assange. The West espouse liberties & freedom onto other countries yet clamp down on their own people (#BLM). The Western world don’t practice what they preach.
As for Spore, if you really believe they are worse of than us, I won’t bother to convince you, you can ask those you know if they prefer to live & work as Malaysian or Sporean.
@joe
It is ironic that you are taking advantage of your democratic rights to criticize what you call a “western” definition of democracy and to argue that Asians don’t deserve these rights. If you in fact lived under the system that you advocate for us Asians, you would not be free to express a differing view at all.
joe “”As I said, your definition is thru Western lenses, just like how the West refused to understand the cultures and believes of other civilisations, preferring to treat us as uncultured savages, seeking to “free” us from our ignorance and bring us “enlightenment” thru colonisation.””
It’s okay. Many dictators have used the same excuse to justify their rule and to divert attention from their abuses and failings. By claiming that “Western” ideals are unsuited to Asians and that Asians don’t deserve the same standards of freedom, brutal ruling classes fooled people into letting them rule for far longer than they should have.
joe “As for Spore, if you really believe they are worse of than us, I won’t bother to convince you, you can ask those you know if they prefer to live & work as Malaysian or Sporean.
To the contrary, I said that Singapore is more democratic than we are. Their people are more educated, more informed and more free to express their views, which has led to them being more prosperous than us by far despite having no resources.