SHAH ALAM: Budget 2019. Defence and Home Ministries. The national security sector – Defence and Home ministries – were allocated RM30.9 billion from a total allocation of RM314.5 billion of the 2019 budget. The allocation for the Defence Ministry under the 2019 budget (see latest story, for the latest figures) has been set at RM15.3 billion, a reduction of RM100 million from last year’s funding of RM15.4 billion.
From the RM15.3 billion, RM13.0 billion is allocated for the Operating Expenditure (OE), increased of some RM700 million compared to 2018’s figure of RM12.2 billion. The Development Expenditure however saw a marginal increase from RM3.297 billion in 2018 to RM3.647 billion this year.
Spent cartridges flies out from the Sharpshooter turret on the IFV 25 Gempita variant.
The Home Ministry received an allocation of RM15.62 billion an increase of some 300 million compared to last year’s one of RM14.7 billion. The OE allocation decreased by RM40 million to RM12.565 billion from RM12.9 billion in 2018. The increase in allocation for this year is for the DE which rose to RM3.087 billion this year compared to RM1.847.
PDRM Air Wing AW139 9M-PMC taken in Mar. 2017
This is likely due to the inclusion of the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) which was previously under Prime Minister’s Department since it was established in 2005. Interestingly, the MMEA is getting RM469 million under the DE in the budget though most likely this is the payments for the NGPC and OPV.
The latest CGI of the MMEA OPV being built by THHE Destini.
Apart from MMEA, the Home Ministry is also now responsible for the Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCOM) previously also under the Prime Minister’s Department. For 2019, ESSCOM is getting an allocation of RM74.5 million compared to RM36.7 million. As usual no details were provided for the DE spending.
Polaris MRZR. PDRM bought 10 of these buggies for ESSCOM duties.
As for the OE for the military, it appears all three service got their budget slashed. RMAF took the biggest cut some RM500 million slashed from its budget, from RM1.455 billion last year to RM602.36 million. RMN one is cut from RM966.789 million in 2018 to RM 349.584 million in 2019.
Sukhoi Su-30MKM from the 11th Squadron – M52-09 and M52-18.
This will likely mean that RMAF flying hours will be cut while days at seas for RMN is reduced. It is also a clear indication that the upgrades for Nuri, Hercules and Hawks while funding to relife the MKM is also off the table.
RMAF A400Ms in a four aircraft formation at the Merdeka Parade rehersal.
Despite the cuts to the OE, it appears that the salaries and allowances of the military have been bumped up slightly, a good thing for morale of course.
Soldiers from the 10th Para Brigade at the 2019 Merdeka parade. PDRM picture
As for the DE, allocation for the three services and tri-service programs have been increased though it is likely that this are for programs already in the pipeline.
The recently delivered GM 200 radar which forms part of the Starstreak NG deal.
The Army DE budget increased from RM770 million in 2018 to RM877 million for 2019, most likely for the Gempita, MD530G, 105mm guns and the refurbishment of M109 SPH. The LCS and LMS program is also likely the bulk of allocation for RMN in 2019 which see a slight increase from RM1.259 billion to RM1.267 billion.
The latest CGI of the LMS.
RMAF DE budget also got bumped to RM349 million from RM223 million in 2018 but most are likely tied to the A400M procurement. Tri-service equipment allocation is also higher at RM410 million in 2019 compared to RM133.5 million in 2018 though this is most likely for the Starstreak NG deal and also the equipment for the new Joint Force headquarters being built in Kuantan.
*updated on Nov. 21. The Defence Ministry has received an extra allocation of RM1.4 billion to the OE allocation.
— Malaysian Defence
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For the development expenditure (DE or what i like to call CAPEX) we can safely guess that for TD and TLDM that would be mainly for the Gempita AV8, LCS Gowinds and LMS. For something like the TUDM’s MKM overhaul, that is usually under operating expenditure (OE or OPEX) right?
As for the MKM overhaul, marhalim did you manage to ask more about it? I really want to know if the current 10 year overhaul could be extended to 14 year interval like what was agreed for IAF Su-30MKIs
Other TUDM items many would like to know is the status of nuri, hercules and hawk upgrades. Are they still on or has been shelved?
Same old years Budget. No MRSS, MPA and MRCA. That’s all I can say
So.. no news about slep for migs? Now airforce strength & readiness are reduced for another year. Hope nothing happens during this phase.
Breakdown in the Development Expenditure
Army RM877.3 million
Navy RM1267 million (RM1.267 billion)
Airforce RM349 million
Tri-service RM410 million
As for the MMEA Development Expenditure, RM469 million for 1 year is IMO plenty to fulfil the services Pelan Perancangan Strategik Maritim Malaysia 2040 (PPSMM 2040) . Continuous expenditure of the same amount annually will amount to more than USD500 million per rancangan malaysia 5 year plans, which can easily buy more OPVs like my plan here
https://www.malaysiandefence.com/apmm-plans/
With that kind of DE budget, i believe MMEA could aquire the numbers of OPVs and PVs that they wanted (if they stick to what kind of ships they are getting now and resist the temptation to goldplate), and TLDM could pass all the OPV works to MMEA in 5-10 years time.
Starting 2021 (rancangan malaysia ke 12), IMO the DE for all 3 services should be at least RM1.5 billion per year, or we can forget about even getting LCAs or MRSS.
Deficit at 3.7 .LOL. Now ph make more debt than najib.haha.
The govt have to make do what best out of a bad situation. I think the entire armed.forces have to be restructured. For eg Navy 15 to 5 is a good start. However can we combine the bases. Can we reduce airbases by 2? How much can that save without cutting down on training for example? Do we need so many types of transport planes..do the RMAF have to operate VIP planes? How big is our army? How about reducinh duplication of roles between Home and Defence.ministry.
Its hard questions during hard times. We need to save to spend more on DE and operational OE esp training
Just wondering, since next year there is a special allocation of 15mil for LIMA’19 next year, would this cover the costs for the airshow TUDM usually flies or is TUDM expected to cover it within it’s own operational budget?
Reply
It will cover the cost of the airshow including RMAF
Already no $ for extend mkm life..now cut additional mean ask our RMAF use Hercules/A400m to guard our home?
Where is our Mat Sabu..diam sahaja? U can’t do anything because the final decision is from Minister of Finance & PM.
I don’t get it. Does it mean the funding for continuing MKM slep has been cut? Are they trying to mothball the fleet so soon?
Reply
No they have not started the MKM SLEP yet.
Sorry to be pedantic but a reduction to 13.9 from 15.4 billion is 1.5 and not 1.9 billion.
Reply
Yes you are right, my bad.
@ marhalim
I don’t know if your numbers are correct but the biggest OE cut should be the navy with more than RM600 million cut compared to 2018. 2018 was tough for the navy and 2019 with only 1/3 OE I don’t know if it will severely curtail operational taskings.
Btw our 2019 defence budget is officially smaller than even The Philippines. 2019 malaysia RM13.9 billion vs the philippines RM14.6 billion (PhP183.4 billion)
I’m afraid sooner or later we’ll be the weakest military force in ASEAN if this trend (cutting defence budget) continue
Even if Mat Sabu open up his mouth, nothing much he can do.
Abolished GST is the way backward.
The budget is not as bad as expected. Cutting OE could be the death knell for our Russian jets fleet and left us just with the hornets and hawks. Would be fine so long we don’t come up with heated situation with indonesia or China.
For the navy it would means they need to hasten the retirement of older hulls and maybe should only concentrate on combat role with sea patrol totally going to MMEA
Yes, the budget is not as bad as it appears.
It is actually on a level with many countries at 1.25% of GDP. (BTW some NATO countries have complained and said 2% is supposedly too high. I don’t agree, but just to show you we are not the only ones in budget crunch.)
Anyway. Perspectives, gentlemen.
Look at our strategic position right now. There is no sovereign threat for the foreseeable future. Our real problems remain terrorism, border incursion and EEZ protection, just as it has all our life as a nation. In ASEAN countries make economic war not military. Arguably that is the budget we are trying to increase.
We had some nice weapons and units thanks to slick political manoeuvres and timing the end of the Cold War. But frankly these toys are not critical to survival at this point in time.
Much as I myself like to have these things and the sovereign insurance they provide, be realistic – we have bigger problems in the economic areas.
So far this is a “holding pattern” budget in most areas. There are a few indicators where we might go next but that’s all speculation.
Tun M’s recent speeches & interviews at foreign visits would have hinted under his administration, Malaysia will reinforce its neutral and pacifist stance when it comes to foreign relations and settling potential disputes. Also, a “veiled” declaration of envisioning MAF adopting a JSDF-style modus operandi. All these suggest that military budget would be cut and priority would be shifted to areas like education and nation development. I think this is a move in the right direction. This might also be a great opportunity for China to built up its military strength so much so that there is nothing ASEAN can ever do to hope to ‘catch up’ and will then resign themselves to doing normal policing jobs within their border, thereby avoid wasting taxpayer money in useless regional arms race and focus instead on building up the nation.
Budget comparisons with the Philippines aside, our current and upcoming assets are more advanced. Dah hutang banyak kan, nak buat camne..
To all
Gulf of mexico does not automatically mean whole of it belongs to mexico
Persian gulf does not automatically mean whole of it belongs to Iran (Persia)
Indian Ocean does not automatically mean whole of it belongs to India.
We should not give in to absurd Chinese claim that the whole of South China Sea belongs to China. This bullying by China towards malaysia, philippines and vietnam need to be firmly told off.
Perhaps we should decrease our army size and get the police to take on more paramilitary duties. I don’t think our army is that competent anyway except for the Rangers, Paras and other special forces. Say, cap it at 60000, and retool the volunteer forces like RELA & ROTU/ Wataniah. Quit whining and wishing for more toys. Even if we complete our 10 year MKM servicing and get the LCS into the water, let’s slow down and reconsider if we need more new toys for the next 5-10 years. I think it’s better to have more citizens trained and armed than having more specialized assets that are only bought in small quantities.
Hey, I love the armed forces bros but the politicians are all muddled up when it comes to defense priorities. That’s a fact… 🙁
What is now needed is something that can do day to day security and surveillance tasks better and more cost effective.
For the army this would be more better ISR equipment (UAVs, anti UAVs, digital comm network) and soldier personal systems.
For the navy it could mean passing most of peacetime patrolling to MMEA, with MMEA getting newer but cheaper peacetime-optimised OPVs and PVs.
For the air force it could mean concentating on getting capabilities that could support security activities, mostly ISR, MALE UAVs, maritime patrols. Retiring older platforms and consolidating types (for example helicopters, light fighters).
This could probably go on up till 2025. So the top brass need to plan carefully so that each procurement must give something tangible towards day to day defence of malaysia.
@…
“This bullying by China towards malaysia, philippines and vietnam need to be firmly told off.”
And how are we to do that? By sending a few MMEA OPVs over? The Chinese can put more and bigger than you can. They can and will escort every single fishing boat with their own Coast Guard and prevent yours from enforcing the EEZ.
Be careful. Fishery wars with decent people only go up to ramming each other. Fishery wars with PRC will easily escalate to shots fired with intent to kill.
@Monk
Setuju dengan Monk, walaupun budget dipotong tp aset ATM dan APMM (coastguard) yg kini dan akan datang lebih banyak dan advance drpd beberapa buah negara asean (kecuali Singapore) termasuk aset yang sedang dibina dan akan dibeli seperti LCS,LMS,OPV,IFV,APC,Light Attack Helicopter,SPH,TH dll.
The making of a new sick man of Asean is incoming…
@ chua
We must never ever be in a position to agree to china saying the south china sea is chinese territory. We must always show our act to protect and defend resources and fishing rights in our 200nm EEZ that is enshirned in UN UNCLOS law
http://www.un.org/depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/UNCLOS-TOC.htm
What the hell is going on? “Hutang banyak” becomes main reason to cut defence budget.
I strongly not agree defence budget by bloodyhell “nobita”.
If PH not ready to repay “hutang banyak” then no need to becomes today goverment.
2019 budget is highest in our history but defence budget are worst. Maybe mat sabun can order stride to develop microphone bomb for future soldier
The threat from China is real! The publication of their new map in 2014 which include most of SCS including the territorial waters of Sabah n Sarawak shows China’s disrespect for Malaysian territorial integrity. Furthermore their building of artificial islands in the Spratlys complete with military assets further shows their intent of making real their territorial claims; Malaysia has no choice but to response bravely by increasing its defence budget n buying more sophisticated weapon systems especially more fighters and AEWACS for the RMAF and bigger and better ships for the RMN. The Army should start building its amphibious/ marine capability in case they need to recapture back Sabah/Sarawak from a China’s invasion.
If we reduce flying hours on the MKMs, so be it but get our Honorable Mat Sabu to ask and beg PM on his knees for a sum that makes SLEP available to MKMs & keep them flying! I don’t believe we can buy anything yet at least for 10 years! So please YB Mat Sabu, if you’re as good doing a proposal as you’re blabbing in Parliament, ask for a nod from PM enabling YOU to scour the friendly countries to buy secondhand off the shelf fighters that doesn’t require much retooling. I agree we are not at the receiving end of a Chinese barrel (yet) and as Chua mentions, our economic issues are bigger. So let’s turn our armed forces into a better trained entity enough to defend our borders and give a bully at least a ‘bloody nose’ before our allies arrive on the scene. Leave the warmongering to Indonesia and Vietnam
It’s sad thinking we may have to retire the mkm at its young age but this could be more to international politics rather than its operation cumbersome and cost. If the US continue with further sanction on Russia for Ukraine, Crime and US political involvement, the Mkm is screwed anyway even if we have the money to maintain and operate it unless we get the senate exemption like India, Vietnam and Indonesia even Indonesia is thinking postponing the purchase of Su35mkm ( that is based on the MKI) until clearer situation with regards to the US sanction parameter.
@…
“We must always show our act”
You show and act. But you do halfway stuff like patrolling, isn’t going to matter much. Just pointing out something I’m sure YOU know.
@Taib
What “allies”? You know why we are here? Because we are still clinging on to our NAM pride – refuse help from any superpower, and refuse to help anybody. We don’t want to be friends with anybody, not even Saudi – all cakap banyak only.
For a very small person in the big scheme of things that’s a damn arrogant attitude to take. So here we are.
No budget for RMN submarines? Never mind, semua ini salah najib
Kamal:
” unless we get the senate exemption like India, Vietnam and Indonesia”
Those nations have something MY has not (Kings card).
” Indonesia is thinking postponing the purchase of Su35mkm ( that is based on the MKI) ”
It is Su35SM not Su35mkm…it based on Su27skm. It is operated by one pilot.
why so many new commenters talking rubbish. and i didn’t realise annuar musa was a reader here
Chua, we still have the 5 nation defense agmt. We are in this situation because …yes, mishandling of procurement by MinDef and the previous govt. By the very same token, I am convinced that YB Mat Sabu is not doing a good job, not doing his absolute best in prioritizing what to acquire and what defer – so much so he’s just agreeing to whatever money’s assigned to his ministry. He should be fighting for ATM, not just making noises that sound palatable to Parliament and the obtuse public. I’m sorry, even if I am resigned to 2019 being a washout year for defense spending, YB Mat Sabu’s performance STINKS to high heaven.
@ chua
” But you do halfway stuff like patrolling, isn’t going to matter much. Just pointing out something I’m sure YOU know ”
Patrolling is NOT halfway stuff. It is what matters most (proof of presence) in showing our intent of securing our EEZ without firing a shot. We must never let down our patrols in our EEZ even if we must put our tiny boats against huge coast guard ships. Defence is more than just wanting to wage war you know…
@ taib
Agree with you to a certain extent. IMO the menhan should fight for malaysia, not for ATM, as sometimes what ATM want is not always the best in the overall scheme of things. BTW surely he (and timbalan menhan) now knows that complaining and actually deciding what is the best for defence is two totally different kind of fish.
“Yes, the budget is not as bad as it appears. It is actually on a level with many countries at 1.25% of GDP. ”
Which goes to show how badly we need to restructure the economy. The only way to sustainably grow the defence budget is to sustainably grow the economy and not by chasing GDP on the backs of Bangladeshis that we import by the millions. This will require overhauling everything from education to the entitlement mentality that so many have. And yet some of you hold MO1 as the hero we don’t deserve.
Equipment isn’t getting any cheaper. The longer you put this off, the lower you will be on the pecking order when it comes to buying what you can afford.
“The Chinese can put more and bigger than you can. They can and will escort every single fishing boat with their own Coast Guard and prevent yours from enforcing the EEZ.”
The fishing boats are themselves weaponized in China’s version of a hybrid war at sea. They are government subsidized and have more than a coincidental penchant for operating wherever the government has a territorial dispute with another country. When it was South Korea’s turn, they lashed their boats together (to make them harder to tow off) and killed a South Korean coast guardsman in a brawl.
Off topic
Spain to swap unwanted A400M transporters with KT-1 and T-50 trainers with South Korea
https://www.defensenews.com/air/2018/11/05/south-korea-and-spain-seek-deal-to-swap-trainer-jets-for-airlifters/
@AM
Exactly! Well said, everything.
@Taib
FPDA? Neither UK nor Aus will stick their necks out very far for us. Nor will SG be interested. NZ is a gone case.
@…
Patrol then. Just watching only. Because watching is all we can do.
@ chua
If patrolling is halfway stuff, what do you suggest we do instead of patrolling to defend our territory and EEZ? Can you do better than abang mat?
Off topic
IAF in-house repair depot has completed its 1st Su-30MKI overhaul. The Su-30MKI is planned to be overhauled by both HAL and IAF own depot at a ratio of 3:1 aircrafts. The overhaul interval at the agreement with Sukhoi has also been increased from 10 years to 14 years.
https://www.deccanherald.com/national/overhauled-sukhoi-handed-over-699950.html
@…
My answer would not be liked by many, but it boils down to – seek a close alliance (read: sponsorship) with somebody. It can be with some UAE country if the “Great Satan” is to be avoided.
First acquire the resource base to do. Then only do. Anything more than that is simply barking.
@ chua
Then do what? What do you do if not patrolling? Pre-emptive strike of chinese bases in Hainan?
@…
Read answer above.
Then you may ask, what would you do if you have more resources?
Garrison and develop your own claimed territories. Set up your own AA/AD and ADIZ zone. Aggressively intercept violations of EEZ borders. Conduct FONOPS.
Basically, raise the price of EEZ violation to a level that an enemy cannot accept.
@ chua
Do you really understand what EEZ is? There is no such thing as violation of EEZ “borders”. That is why the US is doing FONOPS, to show that there is no legal restriction in sailing in EEZ of other nations.
EEZ is not a territory, either of Malaysia or China. territorial seas is only 20NM from coast, so the chinese 9 dash terratorial line has no legal bearings in any court of law.
Can china sail in malaysian EEZ? Yes
What they cannot do is to block, restrict and harass malaysians doing economic activities like fishing and oil and gas exploration, and protecting chinese ships doing so in malaysian EEZ. These can be done by MMEA and does not require anti-ship missiles or submarines.
RIP LIMA.
Who is going to exhibit at the world’s most expensive defence exhibition now, when ATM has no money to spend, and Tun calls arms dealers shameful
@…
What you said “oil and gas exploration” intrigued me. Can China plonk their oil & gas rigs within our EEZ? If their ships can come in & out freely, might they also bring in floating exploration rigs without violating any international laws (not that they care anyways)?
@…
The US FONOPS is not a matter of EEZs, it’s about asserting that the Spratly region belongs to nobody.
The Chinese 9-dash line is based on the argument by China that their territorial waters (and also EEZ) extends to the Spratlys and beyond.
Legality is at the moment disputed with no clear-cut answer. I’m not saying this because I support China, I’m saying this because the UN hasn’t laid down a definite answer.
The violations I refer to are Chinese fishing boats in Malaysian EEZ, and Chinese Coast Guard escorting their boats and preventing EEZ enforcement.
@ joe
No they cannot as EEZ means exclusive economic zone, ie in our case exclusive to malaysia.
@ chua
Nope, FONOPS has always been about what US says as “excessive EEZ claims”
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.businessinsider.com/defense-department-map-shows-chinas-naval-operations-in-maritime-eezs-2018-8
And our answer to the chinese coast guard should always be APMM, not TLDM as not to infer that it is a military action. That is why i wrote the piece on APMM future plans.
While the chinese coast guard will be countered by APMM, these new super destroyers is why we need subs and our long range MKMs as a deterrence. Of course we won’t win but we must show that we are willing to defend our rights would not go down without a fight, and as victims we can count on help from friendly countries.
https://i.imgur.com/xK54j7E.jpg
@…
Hmm, I see. Thanks for info. Though I do recall EEZs being quite contested between ASEAN countries, much recently us & Brunei.
If China successfully claims the Spratlys & neighbouring islands as their own, their EEZ would then overlap ours, I believe. In that case, their superior Coastguard (with frigate class ships) would probably able to deter any efforts to chase away their exploration rigs. If we don’t show our seriousness to guard our EEZs from the start, this scenario might happen sooner rather than later.
“Garrison and develop your own claimed territories. Set up your own AA/AD and ADIZ zone. Aggressively intercept violations of EEZ borders. Conduct FONOPS.”
Indonesia will soon have a large enough navy and coast guard to do this, if it doesn’t already. It already has a large enough marine corps to garrison its islands and enough sealift vessels of various sizes (many of which are capable of amphibious operations) to support construction and ongoing logistics. It has the budget levels to get the OPVs it would needs but doesn’t yet have.
Just as importantly it has a large population that possesses the political will to carry out such operations.
“Garrison and develop your own claimed territories. Set up your own AA/AD and ADIZ zone. Aggressively intercept violations of EEZ borders. Conduct FONOPS.”
Indonesia will soon have a large enough navy and coast guard to do this, if it doesn’t already. It already has a large enough marine corps to garrison its islands and enough sealift vessels of various sizes (many of which are capable of amphibious operations) to support construction and ongoing logistics. It has the budget levels to get the OPVs it would needs but doesn’t yet have.
Just as importantly it has a large population that possesses the political will to carry out such operations.
As I see it, the question rests on the extent of economic leverage that China has on Indonesia. Another matter is how many ships and marines Indonesia can spare from operations elsewhere in their territory, though I think enough can.
Looks like there’s budget adjustment of rm1.4bil
https://twitter.com/MSabu_Official/status/1064448982963806208
@ akmal
That is a good news
@…
“FONOPS has always been about what US says as “excessive EEZ claims””
Excessive EEZ claims, due to the extension of China’s territorial border by acquiring the Spratlys. Meaning, the US is contesting China’s claims of the extended EEZ, rather than any other sector of EEZ e.g. in the East China Sea.
a = b = c, we are really talking about the same thing, I’m surprised you’re quibbling over terminology.
“we can count on help from friendly countries.”
Not sure about that. Thanks to our proudly independent non-aligned policy we do not have any real allies who will gallantly “tarungkan nyawa” to intervene together with us in a losing battle against the whole might of China. Our neighbours are at best allies of convenience and we can’t even get them to SAY a united word against China let alone FIGHT.
I am not aware of Indonesia having any territorial dispute with China. Therefore their involvement in any Spratly crisis is moot. Apart from some fisheries dispute near Natuna waters they have not had any major issue with China. Natuna is also out of China’s “nine- dashed line”. I stand corrected.
@ chua
No we are not talking about the same thing. Read back your comments. I am countering your statement that FONOPS isnt a matter of EEZ. FONOPS is everything to do with EEZ, and it is not directed just to China alone. FONOPS is even directed to malaysia and vietnam, us destroyers sailing close and bombers flying over malaysian and vietnam reefs in the spratlys. US considers our EEZ claim around layang2 is “excessive” as rocks cannot have its own EEZ. Your intent of defending EEZ “borders” shows that you barely understand what EEZ is. EEZ is NOT our territory, and NOT chinese territory either. The only thing “exclusive” to us in our EEZ is economic exploitation of the area, means fishing, mining, oil and gas extraction from the area is exclusive to Malaysia and other countries need to ask our permission if they want to do economic exploitation of the area. Other than that they are free to sail in our EEZ without any restriction. So Chinese fising boat fishing in our EEZ is a serious violation of UNCLOS agreement, and we can lawfully take action on the fishing boats.
http://www.reparationlaw.com/resources/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/law_of_the_s-ea-.jpg
As for friends. We have FPDA, we have Japan. Many countries like indonesia, india are non aligned, in our case our non aligned is still defensively close to UK, australia and NZ, as they are bound by treaty to defend us.
“in our case our non aligned is still defensively close to UK, australia and NZ, as they are bound by treaty to defend us.”
FPDA does not commit ANZUK to assist us, only to enter “consultations” in event of attack or tensions.
It also does not cover East Malaysian territory and the EEZ.
@ AM
In the event of attack or tensions, they have been there for us before (konfrantasi) even in east malaysia. Aussie Orions based in Butterworth has many times conducted operations in malaysian EEZ in support of malaysian armed forces. Not explicitly stated in FPDA does not mean they wont be there for us, as history has shown.
Deterence does not equal intervention in war. UK, Aussie and NZ support is minimal – they don’t have the resource or money or risk getting in a war! Ter value is deterence.
But even then. the biggest deterence is the real posibiliti of a joint SG-MY armed force..not becuz if we like one the other but becuz of survival. An Indonesia army officer told me. It more real then then the orang putih coming to aid.
Too bad years for years of mistrust limit this cooperation.
“they have been there for us before (konfrantasi) … Not explicitly stated in FPDA does not mean they wont be there for us, as history has shown.”
Actually, konfrontasi ended in 1966 while the British were still responsible for our defence. Most UK forces had left by 1971, the year FPDA was established in place of their direct presence.