KUALA LUMPUR, May 5 (Bernama) -- The 16th Chief of the Malaysian Armed Forces Tan Sri Dr Abdul Aziz Zainal, who was Chief of Army from 2004-2007, has been appointed chairman of the National Service Training Council to monitor the re-implementation of the National Service (PLKN) 3.0, effective from April 14 (2025) to April 13, 2028.
Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said his appointment had been approved by His Majesty, Sultan Ibrahim, the King of Malaysia in accordance with the provisions of Section 7 of the National Service Training Act 2003 (Act 628) before it was announced.
He said the reintroduction of PLKN after it was last scrapped in 2018, reflects the government's unwavering commitment to building a patriotic nation with strong character and admirable values.
“We believe that while it may not be possible to ensure 100 per cent of our citizens are patriotic, love the country and willing to sacrifice for the homeland, at the very least we can earnestly establish a process or special intervention that will ensure a large part of our society continues to uphold strong patriotic spirit,” he stated during a presentation of Certificate of Appointments for the chairman and members of the National Service Training Council at Wisma Pertahanan today.
The ceremony was also attended by Armed Forces chief, Gen Datuk Mohd Nizam Jaffar and Royal Malaysian Air Force chief, Gen Tan Sri Mohd Asghar Khan Goriman Khan.
Mohamed Khaled said that in line with the provisions in Part III of the National Service Training Act 2003, the establishment of the National Service Training Council is a necessity to act as a body that plays an important role in advising the Minister on all matters related to national service.
“This Act also provides that this council shall consist of members appointed by His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, on the recommendation of the Minister.
“This council shall comprise a chairman, five members representing the government and not less than three but not more than five other members representing the major races in Malaysia,” he said.
Previously, Mohamed Khaled had presented the letters of appointment to the five appointed government representatives, namely secretary-general of the Ministry of Defence Datuk Lokman Hakim Ali and secretary-general of the Ministry of Education Datuk Ts Dr Aminuddin Hassim.
The other three government representatives are secretary-general of the Ministry of Higher Education Datuk Dr Anesee Ibrahim, secretary-general of the Ministry of Youth and Sports Datuk Ts Dr K. Nagulendran and secretary-general of the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development Datuk Dr Maziah Che Yusoff.
Meanwhile, the representatives of the major Malaysian communities are president of the Malaysian Youth Council Mohd Izzat Afifi Abdul Hamid (Malay representative), deputy president of the Malaysian Youth Council Soon Honn Keong, (Chinese representative) and Universiti Sains Malaysia lecturer Prof Datuk Dr Sivamurugan Pandian (Indian and Sikh representative).
Also appointed is the Secretary of Domestic Affairs and Research Division in the Sabah Chief Minister's Department, Datuk Abang Shahminan Abang Sahari as the Sabah state representative while the Sarawak representative will be announced later.
-- BERNAMA
