If public opinion was a battle the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) had to fight, the two Scorpene submarines would be sitting at the bottom of the sea by now, submerged for good.

Adding to the submarines' infamy, the RM3.4 billion procurement according to the RMN, was a move to prevent a repeat of the ‘1511 episode' when the Portuguese invaded Malacca.

RMN chief Laksamana Abdul Aziz Jaafar said he was confident of the capability of the two French-made submarines in protecting Malaysia's sovereignty.

Here's a collection of posts in social media reacting to the statement:

John Ng Mc: It took the government 501 years after the Portuguese attack on Malacca to buy the two submarines. That must be the biggest joke of all time, what would our government think of next?

We are already an international laughing stock with many a policy, this time around other countries will laugh their eyes to tears. We really have leaders with childish brains, giving childish answers.

Kai Fan: Who the hell would want to attack Malacca today? There's nothing in Malacca worth invading, except chicken rice balls.

Steven Lee: The Straits of Malacca is narrow and shallow, and submarines are useless in these conditions.

American submarines had to remain surfaced when traversing the Straits. This is also the reason that Malaysian submarines are based on the east coast and East Malaysia.

Assuming that someone wants to invade the west coast by sea, the submarines can't do anything to stop the invasion. This admiral is really talking nonsense and an idiot to think that people will believe him.

OneJohn Smith: Kidding, right? No one is fighting/invading over spice routes anymore.

D-man Wong: Better buy some motorcycles too as the Japanese will come down by bicycle.

John Goh Hong Leong: Might as well say buy now and wait for a time machine (to be invented), then send them back to 1511 and destroy the Portuguese armada before they attack Malacca.

Aarif Iman Abdullah: Which idiot came up with that? Come on! That was some 500 years ago.

Tan Shiaw Uen: Seriously? Who else except the Americans will start a war? And if America attacks us, do you think that with the two subs that couldn't submerge (are going to) protect the poor port?

Lee Choong Sing: If we have people of this calibre and mentality helming RMN, we (will) lose the war before it even starts.

Ruben Ruben: Our military is rated one of the best in the world because of our guerilla warfare style.

The battle of Mogadishu saw our elite special forces saving the American helicopter pilots as depicted in ‘Black Hawk Down', thought the movie did not really portray our armed forces.

Why bring politics into the picture? It's embarrassing. Those hardcore soldiers don't need to be mixed in this soup. No sane general would actually use 1511 as a reason (for the submarines).

Benjamin Woo: I was laughing to myself when reading this.

Hello! If we are going to be invaded again, it'll take more than two little submarines to stop them, and it won't take three days as well.

Soo Ching Pin: We know the real reason was to prevent the poverty of certain parties in the submarine deal.

Fadzly AG: The foreign army only needs to send intercontinental ballistic missiles to attack us. Those subs are useless indeed.

Raymond Soosai: Two subs can't even detect Indonesians crossing over to Malaysia daily, and we want to worry about invasion already.

Ng Jiunn Jye: In my memory of Malacca's history, we lost because Sultan Mahmud Shah was busy dreaming to win the heart of Puteri Gunung Ledang. Lack of leadership. Just like what we have today.

Patrick Khoo: The subs arrived 500 years too late. Malaysia boleh?

Yong Leng Kee: In 21st century, any invader will likely attack from air, and in less than 24 hours, the game will be over. What is the use of the subs?

Ng Shu Feng: That shows our Navy's quality - instead of planning the future, we try to avoid the past.

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