THE Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) does not set any racial quota for the recruitment of soldiers, Chief of Defence Force Gen Affendi Buang said. 

He said the notion that only a particular race is favoured to join MAF is a misconception as the recruitment of personnel is subject to applicants meeting the stipulated conditions.

“MAF has never set quotas for any race when conducting its selection and recruitment exercises, so there should not arise any notion that MAF is only for a particular race,” he said in a special interview in conjunction with the 88th MAF Day at Wisma Perwira ATM in Kuala Lumpur.

“Selection is done in a fair and transparent manner without taking into consideration any differences in race or religion.”

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 intakes every year.

“For young recruits in the Royal Malaysian Navy, the recruitment (of non-Malays) showed an increase to 18% between 2016 and 2020,” he said.

“For the Royal Malaysian Air Force, 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 non-Malays currently make up 14.49% of MAF personnel.

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

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

“This includes undertaking online promotions and widening announcements on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter as well as the website of every service,” he said.

“Apart from this, promotional activities will also be held through exhibitions and career talks at national-type Chinese and Tamil schools, universities under the Defence Ministry and public and private agencies.” Brochures and pamphlets will also be distributed in schools and other relevant organisations to enlighten the people on career opportunities in MAF.

MAF works closely with government agencies, elected representatives and civil society groups to create awareness of its recruitment exercises, he said. – Bernama, September 17, 2021.