No racial quota for armed forces jobs, says military chief

 

General Affendi Buang says the armed forces is committed to attracting youths of all races and religions.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) does not set any racial quota for the recruitment of soldiers, said Chief of Defence Forces General Affendi Buang.

He said the notion that only a particular race was favoured was a misconception as the recruitment of armed forces personnel was subject to applicants’ meeting the stipulated conditions.

“MAF has never set quotas for any races when conducting its selection and recruitment process, so there should not arise any notion that the forces are only for a particular race.

“Selection is done in a fair and transparent manner without taking into consideration any differences in race or religion,” he said in an interview in conjunction with the 88th MAF Day at Wisma Perwira ATM here.

Affendi said an analysis of the recruitment exercise for young army personnel between 2017 and 2020 showed that non-Malays constituted 20% to 25% of the intake every year.

“For young recruits in the navy, the recruitment (of non-Malays) showed an increase to 18% between 2016 and 2020.

“For the RMAF, in 2019, the applications (of non-Malays) made up 19.5% of the overall applications and last year, the figure was 24% of the total,” he said.

Affendi said non-Malays currently made up 14.49% of MAF personnel.

“Although the number of non-Malays in service may seem to be low, they are playing a meaningful and commendable role in ensuring the country’s peace, security and sovereignty,” he said.

He said MAF was committed to continuing with efforts to attract youths of all races and religions to join it. - FMT