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LETTER | National Service 3.0: Know your priorities

LETTER | The need to revive the so-called national service training (PLKN) should be debated along with the objectives of the programme.

National service in most other countries is meant to train young citizens in various basic military skills and discipline so that these youngsters may be conscripted should there be a need to do so.

This need is indeed distantly remote at this point in time, especially when there are so many other areas which require our attention and financial considerations.

The prime minister has appealed to the private sector to assist flood victims financially (while millions were offered to war-stricken victims). And here the MPs are wasting valuable time and energy debating on the PLKN Issue.

I simply do not understand the rationale. There may be other considerations to which we are not privy. Whatever they are, priorities are definitely wrong and seriously untimely.

Struggles all around

We are faced with increases in food prices by the day. Small and medium enterprises and employers with large numbers of foreign workers are deluged with increasing operational costs as a result of increased mandatory minimum wage and Employees Provident Fund entitlement.

The overall business environment is still reeling from the effects of the Covid pandemic. The country is juggling the balance sheet overpayment of its RM1.5 trillion debt, increase in civil servants’ salary and pension and routine operational costs.

MPs should instead put their heads together to identify areas that affect the rakyat's welfare - affordable food, lower living costs, productivity, better standard operating procedures for hospital maintenance and government assets, better education and health systems and greater happiness index.

Less important projects and schemes should be shelved for as long as our priorities are not set right.

Most important, is the overwhelming racial and religious narrative, which is often used to derail many well-intentioned ideas and suggestions.

The government has failed miserably as it is simply too weak in its political will to do so. We are indeed extremely disappointed over this issue.


The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.


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