KUALA LUMPUR: If you read my earlier posts, you would have known that I had proposed that the National Service should be consolidated with Rela, Civil Defence, Wataniah and the police Reserve. The consolidation would give a full time/part time volunteer force numbering around 1 million (if all NS trainees volunteered after their training).
My argument is that since we are spending about RM500 million a year to fund the NS training we might as well get as much as possible.
With full time Civil Defence/Rela personnel to watch over the armouries and maintain watch over the camps ( to be set-up at district level and a state hq), my Utopian NS will be something that we all will be proud off. The NS units will be responsible for security, engineering and fire and rescue.
The full timers will be augmented by the volunteers trained by the NS department. Minister Radzi Sheikh Ahmad at the people at the Internal Security ministry, apparently have something in mind. (see story below
Instead of consolidating, they want to spend more money on a volunteer force which seemed to be working outside the community. Do you really know anyone who is a Rela member? What about a reserve police man or a Wataniah soldier.
And at the moment we are talking about get our priorities right.
— Malaysia Defence
Rela May Be Upgraded To Department
KANGAR, Oct 28 (Bernama) — Will Rela, the People’s Volunteer Corps, which has been around for 36 years, be one day upgraded to a department?
Mohd Radzi, who is also the Member of Parliament for Kangar, nevertheless said it was time for Rela to be turned into a department as rebranding of the movement, but this would depend on the government’s decision.
He said a study was being carried out for the purpose and would take some time before the government could make a decision.
He said Rela members had a special relationship with the local communities as they were part of them.
“Rela’s role has been recognised by society, what more their involvement in checking the presence of illegal immigrants, besides rendering assistance in other areas or situations like security surveillance and emergencies.
Since given the powers to check on and detain illegal immigrants on Feb 1, 2005, Rela had arrested 8,244 of them in 2005, 25,045 in 2006 and 24,770 in the first eight months of this year.
Mohd Razdi, who is satisfied with the role played by Rela thus far, said the members not only sacrificed their time and energy but also their money to buy uniforms as the government provided uniforms for only 30,000 of them.He said the government would also be forming a Rela elite squad to be at the forefront in handling certain cases.
“Each member of the elite squad has certain skills, including mastering certain foreign languages,” he said, adding that the setting up of the squad would start with Kuala Lumpur.”The squad members need not be professionals but must have certain qualities and capabilities.”
He, however, did not say whether they would be given a special allowance.Rela which was etablished on Jan 11, 1972 now has 488,832 members, mostly men, in 9,628 platoons throughout the country.– BERNAMA