Malaysia makes armed forces more attractive to young graduates

Malaysia makes armed forces more attractive to young graduates

V.K. CHIN, The Star, Asia News Network, Kuala Lumpur

Defense Minister Datuk Seri Abdul Najib Tun Razak has proposed
that future graduates joining the armed forces in future will
start with the rank of captain instead of lieutenant.

Another incentive is that they will receive a salary instead
of an allowance while under training.

The proposal is aimed no doubt at encouraging more graduates
to join the force which has never been attractive to school
leavers in the past.

At the same time it is also one of the measures being taken to
upgrade the quality of the armed forces.

There is a likelihood that graduates will take a closer look
at employment opportunities in the army and this is not
necessarily due solely to the incentives being offered.

With the economic slowdown, jobs are difficult to come by and
many graduates have found themselves in the unenviable position
of being unemployed.

With fewer jobs being available, graduates and school leavers
will have to cast a wider net in their search for work.

Many young Malaysians are put off by army life because of the
discipline and therefore give it low priority in looking for a
career.

To the adventurous, there is a certain glamour in such a
profession and if the prospects of promotion are good, it should
be able to interest more graduates to join it. But it is unlikely
that there are many opportunities in the army due to financial
constraints.

The military may also be interested in only certain graduates
to become its officers.

In any case, the army will not interest those with scientific
and engineering qualifications as these graduates should have
little difficulty in finding work after graduation.

For example, only doctors and dentists have to serve a three-
year compulsory service with the government before they can leave
to set up practice in the private sector.

If not for this regulation, it would have been impossible for
the armed forces and the government to get such graduates to
remain in the public sector.

The army also provides scholarships to eligible students for
them to pursue their tertiary education and these scholars will
have to serve for a number of years before they can go to join
the private sector if they so wish.

Due to the supposedly hard life in the army, it is unlikely
that it can attract many graduates to apply for jobs on their
own.

With better perks and career prospects, and the present dismal
economic situation, more fresh graduates may consider such
offers.

Actually, an army career is not all that bad and discipline
and regimentation may be good for the majority of Malaysians.

The experience is certainly enriching and those who have had a
dose of it will have a new perspective of life in general.

Perhaps the only setback, if it could be described as one, is
that army personnel live in a world of their own with little
contact with the outside world.

They live in quarters, mix with their colleagues and families
and do their own thing together.

Their daily needs are therefore looked after by the Defense
Ministry and some of them have become so dependent on things
being done for them that they might find it difficult to adjust
to the outside world once they leave the army.