SERDANG: The Defence Ministry will study the reasons behind the low participation of Reserve Officers Training Unit (Palapes) members in the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) after their graduation, says Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin.
The Defence Minister said the initiative would include improving the Palapes curriculum and training content to ensure that students’ participation at the university level brings lasting benefits and does not end without continuity after graduation.
"We want more of them (Palapes students) to at least become reserve members of the MAF. We will also look into the factors preventing them from continuing to serve after leaving university,” he told reporters after delivering the Defence Minister’s Executive Lecture at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) here Thursday (Sept 4).
Also present were Chief of Defence Force Gen Tan Sri Mohd Nizam Jaffar and Defence Ministry secretary-general Datuk Lokman Hakim Ali.
Palapes is a military training programme at public universities involving the three branches of the MAF - the Army, Navy and Air Force - aimed at producing young reserve officers with discipline, vision and patriotism.
Mohamed Khaled said strengthening Palapes participation is also crucial for the ministry’s target of achieving a one-to-one ratio between regular and reserve soldiers, compared to the current 121,000 regulars and 34,000 reserves.
Meanwhile, Mohd Nizam said only about nine per cent of Palapes cadets join the MAF upon graduation each year, while another 30 per cent do so after securing employment.
In a separate matter, Mohamed Khaled said the Defence Ministry will utilise allocations prudently if the government approves the proposal to raise defence spending to 1.5 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2030.
"The main focus is to strengthen military assets and realise the establishment of the MAF future force. Everything must follow the rules, it doesn’t mean that once funds are available, we can just buy anything.
"We will wait for government approval and the first rolling plan next year,” he said. - Bernama
