THERE are still people who misunderstand the role of the army, Deputy Defence Minister Liew Chin Tong said today. 

He said the military’s role remained misunderstood even though he had explained it at length. 

“During peacetime, the military has the role of assisting the agencies and taking part in international missions. The military is the last resort for the country,” he said in a statement today. 

Liew said misconceptions were evident in the article on the armed forces by tycoon Koon Yew Yin and the statement of former Sabah chief minister Harris Salleh, calling for role of the armed forces to be reviewed in view of the country’s financial position.

Koon had yesterday suggested on his blog that armed forces personnel should replace foreign workers on the Felda plantations as one of the means to address the country’s bloated civil service.

“As you know, the armed forces personnel are doing nothing except eating and sleeping,” he wrote.

“In fact, almost all of them have never fired a shot except at target practice. Some of them should replace the foreign workers in the Felda plantations.”

The article has since been removed following stinging criticism. 

Harris had wanted the MPs to move a motion to review the role of the armed forces so that the billions saved could be put into rehabilitating the economy, which has taken a severe beating due to numerous scandals, including the 1MDB affair.

He said army personnel not deployed to guard the country’s borders should be rented out to private companies as security guards as well as to build a road along the Thai border for patrol purposes.

Liew said these misconceptions were deeply regretted. 

“Si vis pacem, parabellum,” he said, which is Latin for “If you want peace, prepare for war”.

“I urge all Malaysians, regardless of their race, economic class, military or civilians to understand the role and the sacrifices of our military and to be more careful when issuing such statements in the future.” – August 13, 2019.