As
far as I know, as a former army officer who earned an Agong's
commission, no country other than Malaysia allows units other than the
military to use military ranks. I
checked with some friends, retired and serving military personnel, from
Singapore, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, the United
Kingdom, India and Pakistan, and they confirmed this.
I
wonder what it would feel like for someone without the right
credentials, qualifications and experience, to wear the rank of a
major-general, lieutenant general or general with two, three or four
stars respectively on their shoulders, for example. Does
he know the implications and the duties and responsibilities of people
with two, three or four stars on his shoulders adorning his uniform?
Of
late, we seem to see many people being conferred with senior military
ranks by different people who may not have the authority to do so or
"who may only assume such authority", such as ministers and heads of
departments. Recently,
even a president of an association of people, who are entertainers, was
given the honorary rank of lieutenant-colonel (Rela).
The
association he leads is not even involved in the business of keeping
peace and security of the country. What are the criteria used in
granting him an honorary rank? Do ministers or heads of departments have
the authority to confer such ranks? Rightfully,
in this country, only the Yang di-Pertuan Agong has the authority to
confer commissions to officers of our military, that is, after they have
completed an approved scheduled theory and practical training for at
least one year.
We
have our own Royal Military College to train qualified candidates to
become military officers. Upon successful completion of their officer
cadet training, they are commissioned by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong as
second lieutenants and they are then sent to various units to serve.
There
are others, after completing basic training locally who are sent to
officer cadet schools either in the US, Australia, New Zealand, the UK,
India or Pakistan. These officers will receive their commissions from
the heads of state of their respective countries of the military
colleges they go to.
All
officers of the Malaysian armed forces take the oath of allegiance and
loyalty to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and country which states, more or
less, as follows, "I solemnly swear that I will support and defend the
country and the Constitution of Malaysia, the King and country, against
all enemies, foreign or domestic, that I will bear true faith and
allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any
mental reservations or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and
faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to
enter."
The
oath of allegiance is accompanied by a full-length photo and
fingerprints of all ten fingers of the officer and not just the
thumbprint as is done in other oath or agreement documents. As
the officer progresses in his career, he will have to undergo further
training, attend courses and sit and pass scheduled examinations at
various stages of his career before he gets promoted to lieutenant,
captain, major and so on, and he is given added responsibilities to
shoulder until he gets to be a four-star general.
The
higher the rank, the fewer are the holders. In the Malaysian armed
forces, the rank of four-star general is accorded to only four officers
-- the Panglima Angkatan Tentera (chief of the armed forces), Panglima
Tentera Darat (chief of the army), Panglima Tentera Laut (chief of the
navy) and Panglima Tentera Udara (chief of the air force). Every
ranking and non-ranking personnel in the military know exactly what
their specific roles, duties and responsibilities are, and they are well
trained and equipped to carry out their respective roles properly.
Every
one of them knows where they stand in the line of command. He or she
may be in a section, platoon, company or a battalion or even in larger
organisations such as a brigade, division or in an army corp or an army
group and so on. The
Malaysian Volunteer Corps Act 2012 (Rela Act) came into operation on
June 22, 2012. As members of the Volunteer Corps, Rela members are not
military officers but in the schedule (Section 22) of the Rela Act,
officers of Rela are accorded ranks exactly like the military with the
ranks of major up to general, considered as officers, and from the rank
of private up to captain, they are known as members.
The insignia and rank designs, including the number of stars used, are almost exactly like the ones used by the army. Rela
personnel, officers and members, wear uniforms that have a
military-like look complete with berets and they are now commonly seen
everywhere: to take care of traffic at weddings, at shopping complexes,
markets and schools. Their
presence may give a wrong impression to foreigners and tourists who may
think that military personnel are being deployed everywhere and
questions may rise about our security situation.
Worse
still, foreign journalists may wrongly assume they are army personnel
when writing about the indiscretion of some Rela officers. We,
former and existing members of the Malaysian armed forces are unclear
about the rationale for the use of military ranks by Rela. I
do not think that the formation of Rela and the drawing up of the Act
were discussed with the Defence Ministry. The Act makes light, if not
fun, of military ranks.
Rela
officers and members may use insignias to indicate the respective and
different positions or appointment, but they must never use insignias
and ranks similar to the ones used by the military. Military
insignias and ranks are only for military use and it must be treated
like a trademark or a copyright of the Malaysian armed forces. They
also must not wear uniforms that are similar or exactly the same as
military personnel. This has to be observed, respected and honoured by
all.
Military
uniforms, insignias and ranks must be restricted in their use to
military officers only. Of course, officers providing essential services
such as at the ports and railways, for example, who during an emergency
or a war, may be mobilised as military personnel, are allowed to use
uniforms, military ranks and insignias similar to the ones used by the
Malaysian army and that is provided by law on certain official
occasions. In
a wedding ceremony of a celebrity not too long ago, the groom put two
stars on his shoulders similar to the stars used by an officer with the
rank of Major General in the army on the military ceremonial dress he
wore at his wedding and he even had people who looked like police
officers as sword bearers.
Only
genuine military and police officers are entitled to the services of
sword bearers to parade or perform at their weddings and no one else. All
the above questionable acts have made a mockery of military ranks and
military uniforms and the novelty of being officers of all ranks is now
lost. No
one seems to be in control of the situation. In addition to that,
neither the defence minister nor the senior serving military officers
have said anything about the situation. If
similar actions happen in the countries I had mentioned earlier, there
would surely be a big hue and cry about it. People there respect and
honour dearly people in the military and their rights and no one makes
fun of them.
They
are proud of their soldiers, officers and other ranks (veterans), who
have fought in the various wars in the past either in defending their
country or their sovereignty. If
the use of military uniforms, insignias and ranks are not controlled or
restricted in this country, we will soon have military style
organisations complete with military uniforms and ranks and they can
create unnecessary problems that may undermine the country's peace,
security and prosperity.
Captain (Rtd) Hussaini Abdul Karim, Shah Alam, Selangor
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