Two news reports today do not inspire confidence that the trouble-prone national service (NS) training programme has learnt from all its weaknesses, defects, blunders, mishaps and disasters, including 12 trainee deaths in the past three years, viz:
- The failure to notify the second batch of 35,046 trainees two months before they are to report for training on March 18, as announced in November last year. Instead, notification was only issued three weeks before March 18. (Sin Chew Daily)
- The Star report “NS camp chief gets the boot” on the sacking with immediate effect of Camp commandant Zulkarnain Abdullah after he criticized the management of the three-star Kisana Beach Resort National Service (NS) camp in Kelantan, which had been described as “camp hell” by the first batch of trainees there. The most recent case of national service trainee death, Prema Elenchelian, 18, from Cheras Perdana, Kuala Lumpur on Feb. 27 is from the camp. Zulkarnain alleged that he was sacked for protecting the health, safety and welfare of the 400 trainees and criticizing the shabby conditions of the resort’s management company, Rimbun Kisana Development Sdn. Bhd.
The instant sacking of “whistleblower” camp commandant Zulkarnain does not inspire confidence that the National Service Training Department is prepared to give top priority to the interests and welfare of the national service trainees as compared to the profiteering camp and resort managements.
Zulkarnain, who received his dismissal letter from the NS Department on Thursday evening and was barred from attending the NS closing ceremony marking the end of the first NS programme this year, is clearly being punished for the New Straits Times report of the same day, “Trainees say it’s hell but company begs to differ”.
The report carried the trainees’ litany of complaints, which “run from boring exercises, run-down dormitories and grubby food to camp managers who just do not care”, with horror stories such as:
- squalid dormitories which had faulty electrical appliances or no regular supply of running water;
- “There are six fans in the dorms, but only two work. The faucets let out air and mosquitoes when you open them and the only water to bathe in is groundwater. When we take our bath with the groundwater, which is infested with mosquito larvae, we will come down with rashes.”
- Food served “atrocious and laced with insects and maggots”;
- Food always “arrives late, especially now that the dining hall has been shut down, and we are given nasi bungkus (packed rice).” The camp’s dining hall was sealed by Pasir Putih district council authorities on Feb 26 after inspectors found that it did not adhere to guidelines.
Zulkarnain said he had repeatedly raised these problems with the camp management, which had ignored the pleas.
Rimbun Kisana Holdings chairman Tengku Azran Badrul Tengku Mohd Adnan denied the claims, describing them as “personal and ill-intentioned”, asking if the camp was sub-standard, how it could get a three-star rating from the National Service Training Department.
This is a question Malaysians would want answer. Zulkarnain should be commended for speaking out against the deplorable conditions detrimental to the health, safety and welfare of the trainees.
But this is another case of the whistleblower being punished for exposing weaknesses and defects of national service training camps, which will completely undermine public confidence that the National Service Training Department is serious about a full revamp of the national service training programme after the recent spate of mishaps and disasters, including:
- NS transport fiasco in January;
- Two NS trainees deaths for the first batch of NS trainees – Ili Ameera, 17, from Seremban and Prema Elenchelian;
- Asilalatin Abdul Basir, 17, formerly of SMK Ibrahim I in Pasir Mas, suffering paralysis and loss of the use of her legs and unable to feel anything from the waist down after undergoing a routine physical exercise at Camp Teluk Rubiah in Sitiawan, Perak, last month.
Recently, public demands have escalated for the suspension of the national service training programme until there is a full review and revamp to overcome its weaknesses and defects, and even outright calls for its cancellation and for the programme to be introduced during the schooling period.
The latest developments, particularly the arbitrary sacking of whistleblower Zulkarnain, will reinforce the public demand for the immediate suspension of the national service programme as it demonstrates the incapability of the National Service Training Department to give top priority to the life, health, safety and welfare of the trainees above all other considerations.
Pay a visit to this “3 star” resort summer camp and see what the conditions are really like. Who awarded this “3-star” status to this camp? How many “stars” are the other camps?
Our “national service” is becoming a joke among the international community. Unlike those in other countries where national service is really a boot camp where trainees are trained in weaponry and are required to sacrifice their lives to defend the country when necessary, ours is more of a summer camp where parental consent is required for them to go to the firing range and the like! There are complaints (some justified) aplenty and conditions seem to vary from camp to camp.
I think a thorough review is necessary (although Najib and Lee Lam Thye may feel “semua-nya” OK) starting with the whole administration. National Service is now becoming a big business for many priviledged parties.
So much about protecting whistleblower. puitt! The bolehway is to prosecute the whistleblower and lock them up. If that doesn’t work, there is still boleh-ISA.
How many more children lives must be ‘traded’ for fortunes to sleazy companies and corrupted officers? This NS circus never gives me good feeling since day one.
That is the Malaysia boleh style encouraged and practise by BN and UMNO. also by the other parties like MIC and MCA. And that is why this country is going down the drain
Abolish NS for girls. I see no reason to have girls attending unless there are some other reasons that I do not know. With a number of cases involving girls, I am not confident of the NS training/infrastructure, curriculum, trainers etc unless the government can give an undertaking and guarantee for the safety of our daughters leaving to the hands of others.
My opinion is, abolish the whole NS programe!
Too much money is spent and it does not benefit the people or the nation except those transport operators, food/uniform suppliers and corrupted officers. I am quite sure this programe have helped churned out a millionaires already. What we have right now is a ridiculous sham, nothing else.
If the govt is serious, have a proper full year programe or a National Service similar to that Singapore, yes plenty to copy from our tiny-dot neighbour!
It was reported in the press that Lee Lam Thye was shaking tears at the funeral of the NS student Prema.
What is the use of shaking crocodile tears for the reporters when the urgent matter was to deal with all the problems associated with NS programme which is getting hotter by the day.
Why look for scapegoats like Camp commandant Zulkarnain Abdullah to sack while the structural defects of NS programme are not being addressed.
Camp commandant Zulkarnain Abdullah is not the problem, sacking him is not going to contribute to the resolution of the loads of problems of the NS programme, will it?
It is always and another case of the misplaced priorities of the current administration of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
Sorry, correction:
“I am quite sure this programe have helped churn out a few millionaires already.”
Looks like in this country if you fall in line to protect the corrupt you are good and will be rewarded but if you bring out anything for the good of the people and the country and touch the nerves of the corrupt, you will be punished. The corrupted are heavily protected and thats the way this country is. It will remain this way till Kingdom comes for this Bolehland. The corrupted will become more corrupted, the non-corrupted will be influenced to be corrupted, the anti corrupted ones will be chastised and finally this land will be only for the corrupted and if you are not of them there will be no place for you.
Jong Says:
March 10th, 2007 at 7:48 pm
“I am quite sure this programe have helped churn out a few millionaires already.â€Â
Well, the annual budget for NS exceeds RM500 million. Except for churning out the millionaires, I don’t see how such exorbitant costs to run the NS can commensurate with the present benefits seen from the program!
Can someone from DAP tell Lee Lam Thye (ex-DAP) to please examine his conscience before givng such complete support to NS. The infrastructure isn’t up to par and isn’t ready for such massive mobilisation of people. The trainers aren’t sufficiently well trained. This NS thingey was cobbled together with such haste, it cannot be ‘clean’!!
The principle of NS is a good idea. But unless the people are ready and the government is ready, we are just not ready!!! It’s time to go back to the drawing board, pure and simple.
There is no big rush for the NS. We are not at war! Shelve the program for 2007, 2008 and 2009. Then plan properly to begin afresh in 2010.
It’s better to start such a program later than have all the multiple woes snowball & nobody seems to know how to solve those stupid problems year in and year out!
Najib should either use his brains or simply ship out! Such incompetence is inexcusable, intolerable and utterly irresponsible!
BTW, if Najib can’t even run an NS with boys and girls who are 100% obedient, how can he run a war!!! So, how can we trust him to run the Ministry of Defence.
Hey, Pak Lah – cabinet reshuffle-lah.
Nothing is going to work if corruption is biting everywhere. That explains why the government has achieved many failures. How can they have good success when things are done to benefit their cronies and their own pockets only under the disguise of benefiting the rakyat.
What will happen to EPF after taking over RHB. I can assure you a few years down the road ( maybe 2-3 years time) there will be reports of massive losses by EPF through RHB. I think there had been many occurrences where EPF suffered heavy losses because of bad management and playing with the rakyat’s money, In 1986 and 1977 there were massive looses because of speculation in the stock market. I would also like to ask the PM on his statement that they are capable of knowing what they are doing. What happened to MBBS (Malaysia Borneo Building Society) which is also a financial instuition? If they are capable and also capable of finding the right people why the massive losses. Maybe he has forgotten about this fiasco.
If Sime Darby cannot ran a Bank with all its commercial experiences and networking what then is EPF. To me it is nothing more than filling up somebody’s pockets through its huge commissions on the Sale and Purchase. Whatever losses later on is the rakyat’s money and that is why the dividends are miserable all these years. I hope uncle Kit can investigate on this.
The screwup of the NS is embarrassing. The sacking of Zulkarnain is a complete disgrace. Why an individual who take his job seriously, and pointed out the shortcomings responsibly is sacked?
So, our twisted system only allows shoe-polishers who sing praises, irregardless of happenings. That explains why everything is in the mess. Which right minded person will take initiatives in his/her work then?
I personally think Datuk Lee Lam Thye is a nice guy but to what extent he has been corrupted by the BN is difficult to gauge at this juncture. He has personally done lot for the people, esp those in KL during his days in the DAP.
The old good saying of “if you cannot beat them, you join them” or you leave them. But in this case he had choose to join them and inadvertently or otherwise must have acquired the BN malady.
Correct me if I am wrong, did I hear TanSri Lee Lam Thye on tv3 mention that the sacking of Zulkarnain is an administrative matter, beyond his jurisdiction?
Comeon, don’t give us those jazz, Tansri. Speak up man, speak up for a guy who is trying to do his job. Stand up and be counted, don’t just point fingers! Help to haul the bad guy out, expose him!
I used to have so much respect for Lee Lam Thye in his DAP days. [deleted]
The whole scenario is like the ACA case where the whistleblower is persecuted while the criminals is protected with al the might of the BN.
If Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye tries to defend Camp commandant Zulkarnain Abdullah, he will also be sacked instantly. But better that he be sacked than to make excuses for all the short comings of the NS problem. I am sure Malaysians salute Commandant Zulkarnain Abdullah for his courage, but do they do the same to Lee Lam Thye? The unnecessary deaths of the unfortunate trainees be on his conscience to his dying days.
“Our “national service†is becoming “a joke among the international community. Unlike those in other countries where national service is really a boot camp where trainees are trained in weaponry and are required to sacrifice their lives to defend the country when necessary…†Sheriff Singh
First, we do not have a national service. So get that right!
Boot camp?? In military terms these are the basic courses ranging from 9-11 weeks depending on which wing of the military you’re talking about. The Army, for example, trains its recruits over 9 weeks during which the recruit is put through intense training to prepare himself or herself for a life in the Army – not to sacrifice his life to anything!. Boot camp is not all about weapons handling. Boot camps prepare you mentally and physically for a life in the Army. You learn how to put on your uniforms, do foot drills, how to salute and classroom sessions on regulations, map reading etc. You don’t touch anything resembling a rifle until the fourth week of a nine-week programme. The same type of training you’d go through if you’re to enlist in the Boys’ Wing of the Royal Military College – as opposed to the Cadet Wing, where the aim is make professional soldiers out of you.
“Unlike those in other countries where national service is really a boot camp where trainees are trained in weaponry…†Singh
I bet you’ve never handled a rifle in your life lah, baai..!
“National Service†is what it says! In S’pore it is two years of your lives spent in the Army, Air Force or the Navy. The same with South Korea and Israel.
“Our “national service†is becoming “a joke among the international community.†Singh
Don’t kid yourself. The international community does not care.
I wrote this in a letter to malaysiakini before I started my blog and it should provide something to ponder this weekend
http://malaysiawatch2.blogspot.com/2007/03/malaysians-wake-up-or-tragedies-will.html
In Bodohland, if you are a whistleblower and if you work for the government, you are either cold-storaged or fired. Ramli of the ACA and now Zulkarnain are the latest examples. If you are a whistleblower and if you don’t work for the government, they either intimidate you or they throw the OSA at you.
The truth hurts, and they will do whatever it takes to suppress it. We have to vote out these thieves.
“He has personally done lot for the people, esp those in KL during his days in the DAP.” – pwcheng
Yeah, I agree and he was much lighter, more energetic then, without his TanSri.
Najib is preparing these kids. Prepare them for what? Not for war but after a war. Imagine after a war, there would be no food and water. You wont even have a bed and pillow to lay your head. Forget about TVs and fans. You just have to rough it out with the mozzies. SO if they can survive this hell, they can survive any hell.
Thank you Najib for your hindsight. Thank you for the well spent money. Those who became millionaire from this programme wont last a day after a war.
And if what Mr Whistle Blower said is true, those trainees should stand by him. Please get the word around and get them to speak up. With internet it doesnt matter where they are now. Just set up a forum and all of those who had gone thru hell can say and spill more beans.
3-star in a 10-star rating? Next time please get those top fellas to test out the facilities first before offering them to the students.
In the papers we have only heard of certain people saying that NS was good and fun. I wonder how many % were those satisfied comapred to those who were unsatisfied? Is the media being fair to them in not highlighting their case? About time a blog be set up for this.
NS = National ShxT!
And till now, have any of the top ministers’ kids being chosen to attend this FUN CAMP? How lucky can they be? What are the odds of not even one single ministers’ kid being chosen? Even if chosen, were they being placed in 3-star or 10-star camp?
And to Lam Thye. Pls dont fool use with your tears. This is not the first death. Did you cry during the 1st death? 2nd? 3rd? Sometimes after crying for so long we run out of tears. I wonder how long you can still cry.
Are we like IRaq or Afghanistan whereby we have to let our kids go thru such trainings? Can any of them secure a job later in life after graduating from the many FAMOUS LOCAL Universities in 5 years time?
If there is gonna be a war, why worry? We have our SUBMARINES bought at highly inflated price that would surely gives us the edge over other CHEAPER models.
War is not for us. We are a peaceful country. The only way to destroy us is thru our own leaders. We dont need outsiders.
Many parents that I know talked about their children and National Service. What surprised me was the idea behind National Service in the first place. Nation Building
Most people here do not have a real understanding the purpose behind NS, but we all understood that NS is to prepare the Nation to defend itself when required. Malaysia is as far as I can see, is not at war with anyone, we are not like many western nation sending their troops to fight in Iraq or Afghanistan or even having a very big presence in peace keeping mission either within the region or elsewhere in the world.
So, why NS in the first place ? The aim of NS is nation building amongst the youth of Malaysia and the aim of it is to run boot camps like the army does. What the army does is to turn a civilian into a solider who will be part of a organized and effective fighting force. It is not to change the minds of our youth into believing that they are Malaysians and yes, it is part of brain-washing. However, please let me explain why. A normal civilian joints the defense force. The defense force is designed to defend a nation = war. In war, we are not going to ask the other side to put down their weapons and hand-cuff them….we are going to pick up automatic weapons that are design to kill and the army will want to know that the person who is going to pull that trigger and kill another human being. Now, I do not know how many Malaysians can do that naturally but that is what a boot camp is design to do. Brain wash you into doing something that you normally would do.
For us to feel like Malaysian only be changed if everyone in the country are made to feel like Malaysian first – Malays, Chinese, Indians, Ibans, Kadazans, Bajaus or Muruts. When we are asked the question, what nationality are you and not get an answer Chinese/Indian Malaysian. You do not get Singaporean saying Chinese Singaporean or an Australian claiming Malay Australia ?
It not about expensive tanks, submarines, plane or if NS is running properly with all the summer camp trimmings. It about policies and if the Govt policy is not working, then hopefully Malaysian are mature enough see what is wrong with their country.
How many of you with internet connection have login to YouTube recently? There are many things posted by other Malaysian. Some good and some bad. However, because it not edited and control by Malaysia, it provides another point of view, like blogging. In other word, there is no chance of being misinterpreted or misquoted as alot of leaders have claimed. We can see them for what they are really like.
National Service (NS) is all about creating opportunities to award contracts under conditions of non-transparency to political cronies justified under the guise of promoting national unity at the expense of our children.
Shabby conditions, poor training facilities, poor food in NS camps in spite of lucrative contracts awarded testify the need to keep costs down and the mark up for those awarding up.
Instances of drowning, a rape allegation, brawls and other violence, a break-in, gangsterism and deaths testify the risks to which our children are exposed.
Racial polarization caused by national policies of bumiputra-non bumiputra dichotomy testify the hypocrisy of using NS as pretext to build national unity by a 3 month stint.
Crass money making from public funds under pretext of high moral ground of national unity enforced bis a standard hypocrisy of a corrupt facilitate the awarding up.
Whistleblower like Zulkarnain gets the sack because the sham of the program cannot be exposed.
Our Tan Sri saying that Zulkarnain’s sacking was an administrative matter, beyond his jurisdiction?.
Or shedding tears at the funeral of the NS student Prema?
What’s the point? Search the conscience and ask whether social respectability and position is high enough price to pay for one to clasp his heart, deny the truth, and say “semua-nya†OK�
Murky drinking water can cause gall bladder stones. Get ready to be sued, Najib.
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/nst/Sunday/National/20070311080506/Article/index_html
“We were without water for almost half of our training… the water from the tap was always murky. We complained to the camp authorities on the first day after our arrival, but nothing was done.”
“We were served tasteless and low quality food. The authorities should look into this as everyone was unhappy with the food.”
Another trainee said she often skipped meals as the food served was horrible.
WHy was NS needed in the first place? To foster inter-racial ties? WHy the need to do so if the govt didnt screw up the harmony by shouting various damning slogans and wielding keris to show their might.
We know who supplied the uniforms to the army. For NS, may I know which company got the contract to supply every year and at what price? New intake every year (no. of intakes x nett profit = massive profit). GUARANTEED!
well, if i was in tt camp, then i would juz skip all meals. get myself weak fr lack of nutrition n then get sent to hospital n out of camp hell. but then there is always e risk of not being sent to hospital, delay delay till i die. or when in hospital, more delays or i treated by incompetent doctors who simply jab me n then i die.
i did hav e experience of having a doctor from a public clinic who was going to give me a jab. luckily i noticed that he did not release the air bubbles from the syringe before jabbing me else i would have died very painfully in less than a minute after the jab. so much for competent doctors in our country. scolded him like shit walked out of e clinic n banged the door. was angry like hell.
There is not an iota of doubt that it is the government which is practically run by UMNO that is creating all the racial disharmony. The damage is enormous, equivalent to a volcano crater and these hare brained guys are trying to close it with toothpicks.
Obviously the NS to foster racial harmony will never work but will work well to create a few millionaires from their selected cronies.
To ahkok1982 1:04pm
You should had taken the syringe with the air bubbles in it as proof and then sued the arse off the doc who tried to murder you.
Many have written about the problems related to NS and it is time the whole scheme is sent back to the drawing board.
http://malaysiawatch2.blogspot.com/2007/03/national-service-back-to-drawing-board.html
Corruption and lack of integrity is the main culprit of the majority of ills facing Malaysia.
We have all these ‘tidak apa’ attitude, because they know they can get away with it because of their connections and money.
Even when lives of our innocent children are at risk and some lost, we still see them laughing their way to the bank !!!
Pure evil…that’s all I can say.
It was reported in today’s The Star (13 March) that our Najib somemore said, “Three months is not enough to achieve the NS Programme’s objective of instilling in Malaysian Youths good values such as dedication, commitment and bravery..The government is willing to consider extending national service to one or two years because three months is not enough to build up character and instill good values in Malaysian youthsâ€Â.
I suggest that even 2 years will not be enough as mindsets have already been hardened by the many years of separate development of young Malaysians.
Heck even in the boarding schools our bullies are being created in their exclusive environment.
I suppose those receiving lucrative contracts worth more than RM500m each year have done the calculations as:
3 months NS = RM500m x 20% profits = RM100m
therefore 24 months NS = RM800m profit.
Since the DPM has challenged parents to consider 2 years sacrifice for NS, we should also challenge the NS Dept to provide the following:
No incidents related to the following:
No abuse by trainers
No deaths or serious injuries in camps
No transport problems
No food poisoning in camps
If these can be achieved for say 2 years, then we can consider a longer NS scheme but the plan should cover ALL youths.
I am surprised none of the affected parents have brought any legal action against the NS council and government. It is within their rights to do so.
How many of our ministers and rich and famous’ children are in the NS, does anyone have the figure? and who gives out THREE stars anyway, what are the star ratings?
Kisana Beach Resort National Service (NS) camp in Kelantan, Rimbun Kisana Holdings chairman Tengku Azran Badrul Tengku Mohd Adnan.
Why is a national programe under some holding? sendirian berhad?
who is responsible for the children?
would the gomen care to elaborate?
The NS program makes use of private facilities like camps that get the contract to provide housing and perhaps food at RM20 to RM30 per day per trainee.
It would be good if the figures are published and the camp owners but maybe all under OSA.
The original budget for NS was about RM600m per annum.
Looks that even now the mainstream press is trying to sokong a longer NS period but I totally disagree
http://malaysiawatch2.blogspot.com/2007/03/wrong-approach-to-national-service.html
I was a trainee in Kisana Beach Resort (1st Jan 07-11th Mar 07) and I know every little detail of everything that had happened.Speak to any of those in Kisana at the same time that I did,they will all say the same thing-the commandant was wronged and that he was the very few administrators in camp who sincerely cared for our welfare and was sacked due.I as well as my fellow Kisana trainees believe he was the scapegoat of a faulty and inefficient management.I do not deny the shortcomings of Kisana Beach Resort but many of us developed a camaraderie amongst ourselves and the trainers;something many Malaysians can learn to develop…