The Armed Forces are calling for all Malaysians to contribute to the developing of a White Paper on the defence of the country, its chief General Zulkifli Zainal Abidin said today.
In urging Malaysians to participate in Defence Ministry's online survey for the White Paper, Zulkifli said the people's involvement is being sought in the spirit of defending the country.
"We have an online survey, and I believe that all rakyat should take this opportunity to contribute to this White Paper.
"Because the concept (in this effort) is whole government and whole of society, which means that the rakyat has to be with us in doing this White Paper.
"In the spirit of defending our nation as a whole, all of us must be together," he told reporters after presenting Hari Raya contribution to soldiers at Wisma Pertahanan in Kuala Lumpur this morning.
Zulkifli was commenting on the document being developed by the Defence Ministry to further strengthen Malaysia's defence strategies.
He said the writing of the White Paper started in January and has been progressing well.
A draft copy was presented to Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad on May 21 by a team from the ministry, led by Defence Minister Mohamad Sabu.
According to Zulkifli, the prime minister has agreed to some of the strategic suggestions by the Ministry of Defence on the government's commitment to defence strategies, plans to develop the defence industry and the roles of NGOs, industry players and the rakyat.
"This is still in the drafting stage, and God willing, we will engage with the rakyat when it is finalised.
"They can do it now as well, through the online survey platform," he told reporters.
Zulkifli said the Armed Forces hopes the White Paper can be tabled in Parliament this October.
Latest development plans to be outlined
It was reported in January that the Defence Ministry was working on the White Paper, which outlines the Armed Forces’ current capabilities and latest development plans.
It was initially expected that the document would be tabled in Parliament in September, according to Mohamad.
On a related matter, Zulkifli said they are now giving focus to protecting the country's digital sovereignty.
The approach came as a measure to improve protection for the country in today's digital era.
"The focus of the country's defence and security (this year) might be different from that of previous years.
"Furthermore, we are in the cyber era, (so) there is an approach to defending the nation in what we call as e-sovereignty," he said, without elaborating further. - Mkini
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