Straits Times
MARCH 15, 2004
Malaysia's National Service trainees on riot
KUALA LUMPUR -- Hundreds of trainees of Malaysia's first national
service call-up took part in a weekend of riots after four of their
colleagues were beaten up by camp officials, state media reported
on Monday.
Police quoted by the Bernama news agency said the violence erupted
late on Sunday in Sarawak, east Malaysia, after a heated row
between three medical staff of the national service programme and
two trainees.
Mr Stanley Jonathan Ringgit, the Bintulu deputy police chief, said
the situation worsened when two other trainees, who rushed to the
aid of their friends, were also beaten up by the three staff
believed to be drunk.
He said four trainees received outpatient medical treatment.
During the incident, the trainees threw stones, damaged chairs and
smashed up the windscreen of a car, Bernama reported. Police were
called in to bolster security and restore order to the camp, which
houses some 600 trainees.
More than 28,000 youths began the national service training on Feb
16.
The government says the objective of the RM500-million (US$132
million) pilot programme is to build a generation of
self-confident, patriotic youths with noble values and develop
multiracial harmony and unity.
The programme does not involve weapons handling but physical
training includes unarmed military-style exercises such as basic
self-defence and jungle survival skills. -- AFP
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