RM2 million or more for sending our army to guard England's Buckingham Palace is an extreme waste of fund when that money could be used to protect our waters and borders. England is not short of protection for their home land security. Malaysia home security is riddled with holes.
Take Sabah waters for example, with rampant entry of illegal immigrants from the Philippines to Sabah, the government of the Defence Ministry is not doing anything to control the problem. Protect Sabah waters instead of sending our army for sight seeing to London.
In another example, the border between Sarawak and Kalimantan need more security to prevent unwanted entry of illegals from Indonesia to Sarawak. Kuching has been hit with spates of armed robberies and house-breakin by criminal gangs with members from Indonesia. Those crimes doesn't seem to be reduced. Why? Because there are still a lot of lubang tikus at the Sarawak-Kalimantan border. And what is the army doing ? Sending their troop for vacation to London.
MD Updates:
* Jun 13, 2008: Royal Malay Regiment tour of duty at Buckingham Palace ends
Extracted from : sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=21370
London public duties
Maria J.Dass
PETALING JAYA (April 8, 2008): The cost to send 122 members of the Royal Malay Regiment (RMR) to serve in “London public duties” in England for two months will be shared with the British government.
A Defence Ministry’s public relations division spokesman said it was a cost sharing mission between the two governments.
“They invited us there so they will bear some of the costs and we will pay the rest,” she said.
Earlier, the Defence Ministry in a press statement had said there were some mistakes in news reports on the cost of the mission. When asked, the spokesperson declined to reveal the actual cost.
On April 7, Bernama reported that the team will depart for London on April 16 and is expected to start their duty on April 18 until June 12. The trip (including insurance, attire, flight tickets) cost almost RM1.9 million, the report said.
The ministry said the cost mentioned in the article was not accurate but agreed that it was for insurance, attire and flight tickets.
The ministry also denied that the team will be attired in ceremonial temperate dress, comprising a red coat, black pants and a bearskin cap as stated in the report as they would be donning their army (Tentera Darat Malaysia) uniform.
The 1st Battalion of the RMR will be the fourth Commonwealth nation, after Canada, Australia and Jamaica, to be "honoured" in performing the Public Duties in England.
One of the tasks awaiting the RMR team is to guard Buckingham Palace, the official residence of the British Monarch.
Acting director of the Malaysian Army public relations office Colonel Fadzlette Othman Merican said the idea was proposed by Chief of General Staff of the United Kingdom, Sir Richard Dannat during an official visit to Malaysia in February last year.
They will also participate in the Changing of the Guard ceremony at the forecourt of both palaces, as well as conducting night patrols, guarding the palace's check-posts and be a part of the quick reaction force. The team would be given accommodation in the Wellington Barracks in central London.
2 comments:
Thanks for visiting my site. Cheers.
Well, i am afraid i have to disagree.....if anything, this raises the profile and professionalism of RMR, who i myself, have trained with in Malaysia as part of the Coldstream Guards, many years ago.
Also, i believe, that this also shows the first "Muslim" country ever to have been bestowed this honour, regardless of being part of the Commonwealth.
I am also sure, that all members that took part, were hughly proud of taking part, and in effect, will probably not happen again for a long time. The aspect of the RMR, being able to "up the anti" so to speak, and perform their duties outstandingly, and the PR involved, is worth more than any 2 Million price tag!.
Some Malaysians really need to step back and look at the big picture on this....and as far as the troops are concerned, this will be one story they will carry with them forever...no doubt, a high moment in their career.
Cheers
Doug Sumner
Ex 2nd Bt Coldstream Guards.
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