No discrimination in Malaysian Armed Forces, says general

KUALA LUMPUR: There is no institutional racism in the Malaysian Armed Forces, says Reserve Force Division director-general Brig-Jen Padman Bhaskaran (pic).

He said that the perception of institutional racism is not only misleading but detrimental to efforts to recruit other races to join the military.

"The have never been quotas for any races for its selection and recruitment process, so there should not arise any notion that the Armed Forces is only for a particular race," he said.

"Selection is done in a fair and transparent manner without taking into consideration any differences in race or religion," he said when contacted.

Brig-Jen Padman said that the Armed Forces as an organisation is hierarchical in structure, adding that only a few appointments are available for the posts of Brigadier-Jeneral onwards as such officers commands or carry out staff functions from the formation levels and above.

"As a senior officer in the army and being a non-Malay Brigadier-Jeneral, it is my responsibility to attest some facts on the topic (of supposed racism in the military)," he said.

"People who are associated closely with the MAF – especially the army – know for a fact that in the last 10 years, non-Malays have held higher ranks up to Leftenan-Jeneral, albeit with a low rate of recruitment for other races," he added.

He also said that when contacted on Saturday (Oct 2) that non-Malay medical officers have risen through the ranks based on their expertise.

Brig-Jeneral Padman, who has been in the military for 40 years, said currently, more than 430 posts are designated for the ranks of Colonel and above in the army.

"15% of the posts are filled by non-Malays, with 13 Brig-Jen and Major-Jeneral appointments," he said.

"In the army, promotion at all levels are based on individual excellence, meritocracy, seniority, vacancy, corps specialisation and the best man for the job criteria irrespective of race and religion," he added.

He said that a fundamental aspect of the military is camaraderie beyond boundaries of ethnicities.

"Currently, all recruitment is done online, followed by a final selection board, which is strict with no negotiation on the process. Non-Malay officers are also deployed in the recruiting team to ensure the reliability of the process and to avoid dscrimination," added Brig-Jen Padman.

He also said that non-Malays from Peninsular Malaysia are the smallest group of people to join the Armed Forces, adding that over the last five years, only 5% of non-Malays applied for officer selection and less than 1% applied for rank-and-file recruitment.

"He added that the MAF took note of this and has implemented various promotional initiatives such as the seven-to-seven programme to increase the enrolment of non-Malays, especially Indians, by 7% within seven years.

"The peaceful environment that all Malaysians enjoy now is due to the bravery of the servicemen and women in the MAF, who risk their lives on behalf of our country and citizens," added Brig-Jen Padman.