KUALA LUMPUR: RMN got a new chief today, Admiral Datuk Abdul Aziz Jaafar (pic) who took over from Tan Sri Ramlan Mohd Ali. If you took time to read Aziz biography below as listed by the RMN website, you’d notice that he is not one of the Lekiu admirals. In fact, he is from the corvette squadron, which may be the reason he is more down to earth than the rest of the admirals in the navy.
The only reservations I have is the entry that he is a keen golfer. Anyway, lets just hope Aziz will sort out the Lekiu batch 2 mess and also the future needs of the RMN especially the pretty archaic patrol and FACs squadrons. It may not be as pretty as an LPD but these vessels are more important for Malaysian security than a two billion ship which would account for half of the annual RMN budget just to ferry around trucks and personnel.
Aziz biography as featured by RMN website.
ADMIRAL DATUK ABDUL AZIZ BIN HAJI JAAFAR
PSAT PJN DPMS DMSM PAT JSM KAT KMN BCM AMN PPS PPA MA Adv Dip Mgt Sc ncc psc
Admiral Datuk Abdul Aziz Jaafar assumed his appointment as the Chief of Navy on 1 April 2008.
Admiral Datuk Abdul Aziz Jaafar was born in Sungai Udang, Malacca on 7 May 1956. He joined the service in 1974 and was then commissioned into His Majesty’s service as a Sub-Lieutenan in 1977. He had his secondary education at the Sekolah Menengah Masjid Tanah and later at the Royal Military College, Sungai Besi.
Throughout his 31 years in service, Admiral Datul Abdul Abdul Aziz has held various appointments both at sea and ashore. He was the Chief of Staff to the Fleet Operations Commander in 2001. In July 2002 he assumed duty as Commander, Naval Region 2 in Labuan. In July 2005 he was appointed as Assistant Chief of Staff Human-Resources in RMN Headquarters. He was appointed as Fleet Operations Commander for 6 months on 27 January 2006 until 28 July 2006 before taking up his last job as the Assistant Chief of Staff Defence Operations and Training at the MAF Headquarters.
Admiral Datuk Abdul Aziz was a commissioning crew for 4 RMN ships namely KD PAUS in Hong Leong-Lurssen, Malaysia ( 1976), KD SRI INDERA SAKTI in Bremen, Germany (1980), KD KASTURI in Kiel (1984) and KD LAKSAMANA MUHAMMHAD AMIN in LA Spezia, Italy (1999). He has has command of 3 RMN ships before, such as KD BAUNG in 1986, KD MUSYTARI an Offshore Patrol Vessel from 1994 to 1996 and KD LAKSAMANA MUHAMMAD AMIN from 1999-2001. He was the Senior Officer Afloat while commanding RMN Missile Corvette KD LAKSAMANA MUHAMMAD AMIN from 2000 to 2001.
Admiral Datuk Abdul Aziz has attended various professional and career courses locally and abroad. Among the courses were International Navigation Specialization Courses, United Kingdom in 1980, Malaysia Armed Forces Staff Course in 1991 and Naval Command Course at the Naval War College, United States in 1995. Whilst undergoing this course, he pursued his MA studies majoring in international Relations at the Salve Regina University graduating with distinction.
Admiral Datuk Abdul Aziz is married to Datin Sarah Tun Abdul Ghafar. He has wide range of interests. He is a keen golfer and an avid reader. His favourite subjects are sports, international relations, leadership and management.
In recognition of his services, Admiral Datuk Abdul Aziz has been bestowed the Darjah Mulia Seri Melaka (DMSM) by the HE the Governor for the State of Malacca which carries the title of Datuk, the Malaysian Armed Forces award “Pahlawan Angkatan Tentera”(PAT), the National award ” Johan Setia Mahkota”(JSM) and “Kesatria Mangku Negara”(KMN) and the State Award “Bintang Cemerlang Melaka”(BCM).
— Malaysian Defence
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haa, interesting how you worry about him being an avid golfer. i understand what you mean. btw, what is an lpd?
Lets cross our fingers hoping he will solve the question of the frigate batch 2 and continue to modernize our navy..
LPD is a Landing Platform Dock, it is not able to go to the beach directly unlike a Landing Ship Tank. Aziz commanded Indera Sakti, an LPD.
Why I have reservations about golf being the Admiral’s passion? It reminded me of what someone in Mindef told me about a higher up was doing during the Al Maunah incident. What was the guy doing even after the alert was raised? Playing golf of course. and he continued to play (after a good night sleep of course) until he was told to get his backside on the ground.