SHAH ALAM: Back in December 2022, it was reported that the 31st Infantry Brigade (31st IB) will be moving to Bintulu by the end of 2023. In May, this year, it was announced that the move will take place in December. That said the Army has yet to officially announce the brigade’s transfer to Bintulu though.
I believed it would happen soon or in the process as on January 10 it was announced two units from 31st IB – 6 and 10 Rejimen Sempadan – will come under the command of the Ninth Infantry Brigade (9IB). 6 RS is located at Kem Junaco, Sibu while 10 RS is based in Bau, Kuching, 250km away from Sibu. In return, Ninth IB handed over the 20th Royal Malay Regiment (20 RMR) which is based in Miri.
The 91B is headquartered in Sibu, while 31st IB is currently based at Kem Junaco, also in Sibu, since 2016, a year after it was established. The camp is a former PKLN facility.
The transfers made sense – logistically – as the distance between Miri and Sibu is around 409KM while it is about 212KM between Miri and Bintulu.
That said the 19th RMR camp is Sungai Petani, Kedah even though its brigade, the Fourth Mechanised Brigade, is located in Kuantan, Pahang.
It is likely that delays in moving the 31st IB headquarters and its associated units to Bintulu are due to the lack of facilities and quarters there. Work on the new 31st IB camp has only started early this year, like the facilities for RMAF there.
31st IB other unit, 7 RS, is based in Bintulu, at a temporary camp in Kidurong. It was previously based at Samalaju camp, a former PLKN camp north of the city. It is likely some units of 31st IB are now based at Samalaju camp. The regiment in the news previously. The other infantry unit in Ninth Brigade, is 3 Rejimen Renjer Di Raja, also based in Sibu.
Meanwhile, it appears changes to the top leadership of the Armed Forces will take place on January 31. As the appointment is decided by the King, I will not make anything public apart from this note. It will be a doozy if it happens, more surprising compared to previous change of commands in 2018 and 2013.
On January 14, it was announced that the Seventh Royal Malay Regiment (7RMR) was administratively transferred from the Fifth Infantry Brigade (5IB) to the Thirteen Infantry Brigade (13IB). This was part of the restructuring under the Army Eastern Field Command as with the transfers between 9IB and 31IB (above). 5IB and 13IB come under the Fifth Division which is based in Kem Lok Kawi in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.
7RMR is based in Tawau while 5IB is located at Kota Belud on the western part of Sabah. 13IB is located at Felda Cenderawasih in Lahad Datu, 149KM north of Tawau. The brigade is expected to move to Desa Kencana camp, which is being constructed near Felda Sahabat, once it is completed.
— Malaysian Defence
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View Comments (10)
No wonder I saw massive movement of military personnel and vehicles between Sibu-Bintulu-Miri along the newly completed Pan Borneo Highway.
Previously a brigade size army camp was planed not far from Bintulu airport and gazetted in Land and Survey directory as Federal Land. I am not sure if Government is still want to utilize that piece of land for an army camp.
But the construction of it is yet to start, so currently the are two army camps in Bintulu:
1) Kuala Segan Camp for 2nd Battalion 510 Territorial Army)
2) Kidurong Camp for 7th Battalion Border Regiment (a shop lot Kidurong Central and being renovated for army camp)
I don’t think they used Samalaju Camp anymore as it was quite in run down conditions.
Its not only an army that used shop lot for a camp, but Malaysia Maritime Agency also used shop lot at Junction Five (near Bintulu flyover) for their based.
Ah, no wonder the move to Bintulu is delayed as the Samalaju camp is in a bad condition.
surprising as in ?
wait for it.
With PLKN back on the menu, will TDM handover back these repurposed camps back to the program? Where will these currently based units can go to or will it be incentive to build new camps?
AFAIK no as the Defence Ministry has stated that the PLKN training will be conducted Askar Wataniah camps across the country. It must be noted that most of the old PLKN camps were ran and managed by cronies of the then government.
So basically 31 briged is no longer a dedicated rejimen sempadan brigade?
Will this also happen to 30 briged too?
Is the 32 briged Sabah still on?
If RS brigades now considered as normal BIS infantry brigades, just renumber 30 and 31 briged as normal brigades (14 and 15 brigades) and disband Rejimen Sempadan altogether. Convert all RS battalions into normal RAMD or RRD battalions.
Technically, 32 Briged is still on but when it will take place is beyond me. It will depend on what the Army or the chief wants next.
like it or not our military still retain vestigial traditions from British army, and that is assets and officers from certain regiment cannot simply transfer to another regiment.
There's also significant differences in training et cetera.
also even with BIS implementation the RS still need to do a lot of catch ups in term of equipments.
keep the RS as the first line of defense in the border and equip them according to their role as that will allow both RAMD and RRD to engage threats elsewhere and be more flexible
PLKN in AW camps, so their getting a more real army experience then unlike the summer camp of the previous incarnation. I wonder what this generation of parents will say about that.