Cabinet okays scaled-down NS plan
To cut cost, only 100,000 young men may be recruited for the
national service programme which will kick off next year
By Brendan Pereira
KUALA LUMPUR - The Malaysian Cabinet has approved plans to launch
the country's national service (NS) programme next year but decided
to scale down the number of youths involved to cap the cost of the
programme.
The Straits Times understands that about 100,000 young men could be
involved in the programme, a sharp drop from the 450,000 young
Malaysians who were expected to be enlisted.
Advertisement
Prohibitive cost was the sole reason for the decision to scale down
the scheme. The decision was made by a committee set up to plan for
national service earlier this year.
The scaling down was decided on Wednesday, but officials were
tight-lipped about the decision or the content of the programme,
saying that several details still needed to be ironed out.
A comprehensive national service package for 450,000 youths would
have cost the government several billion ringgit a year, with some
estimates putting the final figure at RM5 billion (S$2.3 billion).
That outlay would have been difficult to justify at a time when
uncertain global economic conditions have slowed growth in the
country.
The Straits Times understands that legislation governing national
service will be tabled in Parliament next month.
The Malaysian government last year proposed introducing national
service for 18-year-olds to instil patriotism and discipline in
them and to encourage the mixing of races.
Since then, a committee headed by Defence Minister Najib Tun Razak
has worked to shape the content of national service with feedback
from political parties and non-governmental organisations
(NGOs).
To cut cost, the committee suggested that training be conducted on
existing college campuses. It also identified 54 tertiary
institutions as training centres.
The committee also proposed that the national service stint be for
six months and include a military component.
But in recent months, there have been suggestions that as a
cost-saving measure, the duration of the training stint be
shortened.
It in still unclear what criteria will be used to select national
service trainees.
Several NGOs have proposed that those who are working or are
continuing their studies be exempted from national
service
