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• As I see it the Minister of Defence is responsible to the Nation that the MAF is capable of carrying its roles and functions as stipulated in our Constitution.

  He should be aware of the regional military development that could threaten the physical security of Malaysia and organize national defence accordingly that is affordable and sustainable.

  The military solution does not lie in the type of expensive military hardware that we purchase for the country but in the will of the population.

  The Minister of Defence is responsible the national will always be there to support the MAF. Otherwise our defence will always look hollow.

• Good. Never really like him anyway.

• When your neighbour is armed to the teeth with pistols, shotguns and all sort of listen devices, can you sleep in peace?It means your physical security is threatened psychologically! Don't we all know that?

  We don't have to match him by buying expensive defence systems which later turn out to be white elephants anyway but to look for military solutions from the strength of our own people and the advantages of our physical terrain and environment(if we know how to use them).

  Our political and military leadership better learn fast from the successes of military forces that have less superior systems and yet can beat their foes at their own terms.Remember even the famous Israeli Defence Forces got a beating from the Hezbullah in Southern Lebanon a few years back if you know how to organize your military defence.

  Can we ask our Army Generals how they managed to do that?And therefore stop buying expensive military systems which are useless in our environment.

• "Can we ask our Army Generals how they managed to do that?And therefore stop buying expensive military systems which are useless in our environment."

  Well, that would involve turning Johor into Southern Lebanon. I'm not sure if digging up the Iskandar Corridor to build bunkers, machine gun nests and anti-tank positions while arming the populace with assault rifles, RPGs and mortars, while mining the roads with anti-tank mines and IEDs is a productive use of land in a time of peace.

  Singapore remain our military allies (something called FPDA, my friend) and also economic partners. In case you didn't know, LKY actually offered to fly in an Aussie heart surgeon when Dr M had a serious heart condition all those years ago.

• Are you sure you want to trade in Malaysia's position as the second most developed economy in S.E Asia for the basket case that is called Lebanon? War will destroy many things, including your infrastructure and your economy. War will also accelerate the departure of the middle class.

  I'm sure Hezbullah is willing to fight Israel to the last Lebanese. The Lebanese army does not like that fact that the Hezbullah is better armed than them and if they were better equipped would love nothing better than to drive these parasitic nutcases out of Lebanon so that they can avoid being caught in the cross fire. Lebanon used to be a nice place in the 1960s. The place has gone to hell since the Lebanese Civil War.

  You might as well invite the Indonesian vigilantes from the People’s Democratic Defense to defend Malaysia (see: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/indonesian-vigilantes-ready-to-invade-malaysia-leader-claims/334277). I'm sure they are willing to fight other countries to the last Malaysian.

• Check is right, I don't think Singapore would want to go to war with anybody, they love life so much. Eventhough they are better armed than MAF, do they have the stomach to spill guts? I doubt that. many of us have friends and relatives down south. In fact, Johore would benefit the most when SIN prosper. Then everybody sleeps well

• loreng, Malaysia has it's own threat perceptions and so does Singapore. I'm baffled why many Malaysians like to go on and on about the Singaporean threat. The threat is from
  non-state actors like terrorism and guarding out waters and borders from encroachment, not from any neighbour. The country we should be watching out for is Indonesia not Singapore.
  Look at your history, which country opposed the formation of Malaysia, and tried to destabilise us with the Konfrontasi. Which country had a large number of citizens who beat the war drums when the Jerong class FAC was led out from their waters near Ambalat??

  Anycase, until we get our act together and start getting better quality leadership, we are our worse enemies.
  What we need is a defence minister with proper leadership qualities not some joker who goes strutting around in a Gerak Khas beret he didn't earn.

• Actually, it's kinda comforting to know that my neighbour is a little paranoid. It's the people with very small peepees and very large egos that I am more concerned about......

  YB Zahid has been an embarrassment at Kementah and a bit of a joke since he stepped into the job. No.1 had to put him somewhere as an UMNO VP and MINDEF was a reasonably safe place to stash him. He needed his cousin to helm the mess that was KDN.

  The utterly brilliant battalion in every constituency was sheer Guinness, i.e. drunk ramblings that ought never have come to light. After that it was damage control and Kementah was effective run by remote from JPM. The Minister has succeeded in doing exactly nothing of note in his tenure, which I think is not a bad thing.

  I sincerely hope that No.1 does not send his cousin over from KDN which is right now a complete and utter mess. The minister has a track record of bungling since his time over at Youth & Sports (as it was then) that has not improved at all with time. Education...bungled. KDN...trigger happy coppers and Sultans illegally detained.

  I want Rembau for the job. Yes....Rembau. Why? Why not? If Jerlun can get a ministry...as s/o Dr.M........

  Marhalim: It wasnt me that said that Dear Cousin will be sent to Jln Padang Tembak. It was some one very close to No 1...as for Rembau, RPK had already vouched for him which was unfortunate of course....

• azlan...strutting around in unearned berets is a tradition amongst ministers and has entirely to do with us as a nation of pembodeks.

• Let us look from this angle.

  A state's military organization, doctrine, training and national mobilization plans gives a clue as to how the state would behave should there be a political conflict.The Batu Siputeh is one example.

  A state has many interests: economic, political, social, historical and last but not least is military interest.

  Hope our military leadership does not get distracted by the false trail of military diplomacy (FPDA, exchange visits, etc) which look good on paper but means nothing when CORE national interests are at stake.

  Why states go to war? When military deterrence cease to exist between two conflicting states, political leaders tend to be trapped by the groupthink of the utility of military force over other means to resolve a serious political conflict with the opposing state.

  Our military leadership has the responsibility to put the military deterrence equilibrium in balance with Singapore for our sake.

  In the face of budget cuts and diminishing national resources, we have no choice but to use our present strengths to the best possible outcome and effect.